The family of a Turkish-American activist killed by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank is strengthening their months-long demand for an independent, US-led investigation into her death – this time in the US capital.
Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi’s loved ones joined advocates and progressive lawmakers on Tuesday in calling on the Biden administration to fight for justice and accountability on behalf of the 26-year-old American citizen. She was shot dead by an unidentified soldier on September 6 when she volunteered as a peaceful international observer for Palestinians protesting the illegal expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“Through letters and conversations, we have asked the administration to keep its word: ‘If you hurt any American, we will respond,’” Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said at a news conference.referring to a comment President Joe Biden made at the time of Eygi’s murder. ‘Well, we’re here. We’ve been here and it’s time to respond.
“It is time for an independent, US-led investigation into her murder, and into all US citizens murdered by Israeli military operations,” she continued. “It is time to put an end to the guns and bombs that are fueling a campaign of death and destruction. It is time for those responsible to be held accountable.”
Hamid Ali, husband of slain activist Aysenur Eygi, speaks during a press conference outside the Capitol, demanding justice and accountability for Israel’s killing earlier this year in the West Bank, in Washington DC, United States on December 17, 2024. Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
Both the White House and the State Department expressed frustration with the Israeli government in the immediate aftermath of Eygi’s killing, although the slain activist’s family said this week that Biden still has not called them. The White House did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment.
The government’s disapproval prompted the Israeli military to conduct a preliminary investigation of itself, which found it “highly likely” that a soldier had shot Eygi “indirectly and unintentionally” during a “violent riot.” Biden, who has provided unconditional military support to Israel, appeared to support the conclusion at the time, calling Eygi’s death “the result of a tragic mistake.”
But evidence and credible eyewitness accounts suggest that an Israeli sniper deliberately shot Eygi in the head from an elevated position about 30 minutes after the protest ended. She was in an olive grove more than 200 meters away from the Israeli forces.
“I was stunned – did I really have to accept that an Israeli soldier accidentally shot her in the head from hundreds of meters away? And that my own government found this statement acceptable enough to refrain from holding the responsible foreign military accountable? Hamid Ali, Eygi’s husband, wrote in The Hill on Saturday.
At the press conference, Ali said he and Eygi had just celebrated their third anniversary when she was killed.
On Monday, Eygi’s family met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to demand a US investigation into her death. The secretary was attentive, the family said. But they said he was essentially repeating the same vague rhetoric used in other cases of Israel killing Americans — such as activist Rachel Corrie, who was run over by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003; journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank in 2022; or Omar As’ad, an elderly man who was killed that same year after Israeli forces forcibly detained him as he walked home from his friend’s house in the West Bank.
A vigil was held outside the White House in memory of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the American activist killed by Israeli forces during a peaceful protest in the West Bank in September. Eygi’s sister Ozden Bennett speaks at the vigil in Washington DC, United States on December 16, 2024. Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
The family left the meeting not optimistic about the U.S. pursuit of justice for Eygi, Sister Ozden Bennett said Monday. Blinken told them that the administration is still waiting for Israel’s broader investigation into the incident, although such investigations rarely lead to discipline.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller echoed Blinken’s sentiment on Monday, telling reporters that the US has taken Eygi’s case “extremely seriously.” but that no actionable change will occur until the Israeli military releases its investigation into itself. On Tuesday, the Palestinians sued the State Department for violating US law by failing to suspend military aid. following cases like that of Eygi.
“More than a hundred members of Congress have called for an independent investigation into Ayşenur’s death, and I have also had numerous briefings with top State Department officials – in person, on the phone, in groups, individually with me, in which I advocated for Ayşenur and her family,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D), who represents Eygi’s hometown of Seattle, said Tuesday.
“Let me say this very clearly, so that there is no doubt about where I stand: I am absolutely appalled by the lack of commitment in this matter, the lack of attention from the State Department… to the well-being and security of our own American citizens,” she continued. “Nothing I have heard from the State Department gives me any assurance that the killing of an American citizen by the IDF is being treated with the urgency it deserves.”
The West Bank has seen increasing military and settler violence amid Israel’s now 14-month US-funded bombardment of Gaza, an offensive that is now described as genocidal by much of the international community. Eygi was unapologetically pro-Palestinian and reportedly told her professor at the University of Washington that she was going to the West Bank because “she had to testify for the sake of her own humanity.”
“From what I have learned about Ayşenur, I know she would not want us to demand justice for her alone,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said Tuesday. “So I stand here and honor her by saying: we will save lives, regardless of creed or ethnicity.”
