A Connecticut man is desperately trying to get help from United States officials after he claims that his son and wife are not being allowed to leave Israel because of their Palestinian heritage.
Mahar Abdelghani said his wife Intifada and 14-year-old son Musa, who are American citizens, were supposed to fly back to the U.S. on Aug. 14 after a routine trip to the West Bank to visit family members.
According to Abdelghani, Israeli authorities allegedly denied them departure from Ben Gurion Airport to fly back home to Connecticut because they’re Palestinian.
The Meriden resident, who moved to Connecticut from California in 2013, also alleges that his wife was searched unnecessarily over eight times by airport security staff and told to undress in front of male officers while being verbally degraded. In addition, he claims that security officials detained them for 12 hours after rejecting their U.S. passports and requesting Palestinian Authority documents despite the fact that they are U.S. citizens.
“When I first found out, I thought I would be angry, but fear instantly took over me because I couldn’t be there to protect them,” Abdelghani said. “Because when they do these things under the guise of security, and then hold my family in detention for 12 hours, while we know there’s hostilities back in the streets of Tel Aviv against Palestinians, I’m in absolute fear. This has happened to other people, too. But the West Bank is our home land. We will always go back despite knowing there is chance we may never come home.”
The Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Intifada and Musa Abdelghani arrived at Ben Gurion Airport with valid U.S. passports and confirmed Lufthansa tickets back to Connecticut. Intifada is a naturalized U.S. citizen and Musa was born in Indio, California.
“My fear is they will find any reason to arrest my son and I’ll never get him out. Because that’s what we are seeing right now,” Mahar Abdelghani said, referring to another teen who is currently detained in a military prison in Isreal due to a claim that he threw rocks at Israeli soldiers.
According to officials, a 16-year-old Palestinian-American named Mohammed Ibrahim from Florida has been detained in an Israeli prison since February 2025, while his family continues to plead to the U.S. government for intervention in his case.
Abdelghani has sought assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, the State Department, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, and U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal without any results, he said. The U.S. Embassy has advised the family to hire a lawyer. He said he has been in contact with his wife and son and that they are currently safe in the West Bank.
“The State Department has ignored all responses so far from our Connecticut elected officials,” Abdelghani said. “On every entity, when it comes to the American Embassy, Blumenthal, Murphy and Hayes’ offices, they have all been ignored so far by the State Department.”
The CAIR-CT is aiding the family and recently called on state elected officials and the Trump administration to demand the immediate release of Intifada and Musa.
“The U.S. government must act now to bring Intifada and Musa home,” said CAIR-CT chairman Farhan Memon. “This case raises troubling questions that go beyond one family. Are American citizens being treated differently abroad because of their Palestinian heritage? Why haven’t Connecticut’s elected officials intervened more forcefully to protect their constituents? These are fundamental issues of equal treatment, freedom of expression and government accountability that demand answers.”
Israel was admitted into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program in 2023 on the condition that it provides reciprocal treatment to all American citizens, including Palestinian- and Arab-Americans, Memon said. The program requires that U.S. citizens be able to enter and depart Israel on equal terms, regardless of national origin or heritage. Memon said that it appears Israel is violating the program based on the treatment of Intifada and Musa.
“I am tired of hearing ‘deal with it, you’re Palestinian.’ That breaks my heart,” Abdelghani said. “I am an American. I am a human. I am speaking up because I can only imagine my son will end up in prison or worse. I don’t care about the politics, I want my family to come home.”
The Courant reached out to Blumenthal and Murphy but did not hear back in time for this story.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
