Palestinian American Abdulsamad Abdulaziz fights to invest in occupied West Bank despite Israeli settler pogroms

Palestinian American businessman Abdulsamad Abdulaziz, 54, has resumed operations in the occupied West Bank at his industrial facility, a stone quarry, after settlers attacked it in the early hours of Sunday and burnt its contents, including heavy machinery, despite losses estimated at $700,000.

The quarry targeted in the violent attack is near the Ein Samia area between the villages of Kafr Malik and al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah. Although located in "Area B" under the Oslo Accords, meaning it falls under Palestinian Authority civil jurisdiction, including licensing, it has constantly been attacked by Israeli settlers.

Abdulaziz warned in comments to The New Arab that abandoning the site would result in the loss of more than 1,500 dunums of land belonging to the villages of Kafr Malik and al-Mughayyir.

He remains determined to stay at the site and restart operations using machinery from other industrial facilities that he owns.

Abdulaziz, who holds US citizenship, first invested in Palestine in 2005 after returning from the United States and deciding to remain in Palestine, living in his hometown of al-Mazra'a al-Sharqiya, northeast of Ramallah.

"I returned from the United States in 2005 and decided to stay in my homeland. At the time, my daughter was six years old, and my youngest son was two. I have five children. I preferred to raise them here," Abdulaziz remarked.

"My older brother did the same. I established a stone-cutting factory and stayed here. Incidentally, settlers tried to burn down that stone-cutting factory about a year ago," he added.

Abdulaziz opened the quarry that was attacked nine years ago.

He chose the location because it is classified as "Area B", as well as for the quality of its raw materials, particularly gravel.

He developed the site and, together with his partners, purchased around 270 dunums, turning it into an industrial zone.

Since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in 2023, Abdulaziz has faced repeated attacks by Israeli settlers, who routinely smashed the windows of offices at the site, as well as the windows of bulldozers and other heavy machinery.

This time, however, the attack was more violent.

Around 20 settlers stormed the site and attacked three security guards with clubs, sticks and pepper spray. The guards managed to escape after suffering broken arms. Then the attackers set fire to trucks, excavators and bulldozers.

Trucks transporting products from the quarry also continue to come under attack, Abdulaziz noted.

Speaking about continuing to invest in Palestine despite everything, Abdulaziz said, "I hold US citizenship. My partners and I invest here so we can remain steadfast in this country and raise our children here."

"We did not want our children to live in the United States, even though they hold US citizenship. Instead, we brought them here, they grew up here, and they now run the business," he added.

Abdulaziz believes Israeli settler attacks specifically target Palestinians who also hold foreign passports to force them to leave the country and abandon their property so settlers can seize as much land as possible.

Despite this, he remains determined to stay and continue investing.

Together with his partners, he owns five companies employing 250 people.

Abdulaziz stressed that the quarry will not stop operating because it has contractual obligations with other companies.

It also supplies the cement and concrete factories that he owns with the raw materials they need, and shutting it down would result in even greater losses.

"US President Donald Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Let him see what is happening and how it makes no difference to them whether the person they attack holds US or Palestinian citizenship," Abdulaziz said. "They talk about terrorism, and this is terrorism itself. Settler terrorism is the real terrorism."

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.