The family of a Turkish American activist who was killed by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank is amplifying their months-long demand for an independent, U.S.-led investigation into her death — this time, in the U.S. capital.
Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi’s loved ones joined advocates and progressive lawmakers 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 on Sept. 6 by a still-unidentified soldier while volunteering as a peaceful international observer for Palestinians protesting Israel’s illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank.
“Through letters and conversations, we have asked the administration to stand on its word, ‘If you hurt an American, we will respond,’” Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said at a press conference, referring to a comment President Joe Biden made at the time of Eygi’s killing. “Well, we’re here. We’ve been here, and it’s time to respond.
“It is time for an independent, U.S.-led investigation into her killing, and all the American citizens who have been murdered by Israeli military operations,” she continued. “It is time to put an end to the weapons and the bombs that feed a campaign of death and of destruction. It is time to have those responsible be held accountable.”
Hamid Ali, husband to slain activist Aysenur Eygi, speaks during a press conference outside the Capitol demanding justice and accountability for Israel killing her earlier this year in the West Bank, in Washington D.C., United States on Dec. 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, though 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 administration’s disapproval prompted the Israeli military to conduct a preliminary investigation into itself that concluded it was “highly likely” a soldier 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 error.”
But evidence and credible eyewitness accounts suggest an Israeli sniper intentionally shot Eygi in the head from an elevated position, about 30 minutes after the protest was over. She was in an olive grove more than 200 yards away from Israeli forces.
“I was dumbfounded – was I really supposed to accept that an Israeli soldier accidentally shot her in the head from hundreds of feet away? And that my own government found this explanation acceptable enough to forgo holding accountable the foreign military responsible?” Hamid Ali, Eygi’s husband, wrote Saturday in The Hill.
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 U.S. investigation into her death. The secretary was attentive, the family said. But they said he essentially echoed the same vague rhetoric used in other cases of Israel killing Americans — like activist Rachel Corrie, who was run over in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza; journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot in the head in 2022 by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank; or Omar As’ad, an elderly man who was killed that same year, after Israeli forces violently detained him while he was walking 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 in September during a peaceful protest in the West Bank. Eygi’s sister Ozden Bennett speaks at the vigil in Washington D.C., United States on Dec. 16, 2024. Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
The family did not come away from the meeting optimistic about the U.S. pursuing justice for Eygi, sister Ozden Bennett said on Monday. Blinken told them the administration is still waiting for Israel’s wider investigation into the incident, though such probes rarely result in discipline.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller echoed Blinken’s sentiment on Monday, telling reporters that the U.S. has taken Eygi’s case “extremely seriously” but that there will be no actionable change until the Israeli military releases its investigation into itself. On Tuesday, Palestinians sued the State Department for violating U.S. law by not suspending military aid, following cases like Eygi’s.
“Over 100 members of Congress have called for an independent investigation in Ayşenur’s death, and I have also had numerous briefings with top State Department officials – in person, on the phone, in groups, individually myself, advocating for Ayşenur and her family,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D), who represents Eygi’s hometown of Seattle, said on Tuesday.
“Let me say this very clearly so there is no question about where I stand: I am absolutely appalled with the lack of commitment on this case, the lack of attention from the State Department … for the wellbeing and the safety of our own U.S. citizens,” she continued. “Nothing that I have heard from the State Department gives me any assurance at all that the killing of a United States citizen by the IDF is being treated with the urgency that it deserves.”
The West Bank has experienced rising military and settler violence amid Israel’s now 14-month U.S.-funded bombardment of Gaza, an offensive much of the international community now describes as genocidal. Eygi was unapologetically pro-Palestinian, reportedly telling her professor at the University of Washington that she was going to the West Bank because “she needed to bear witness for the sake of her own humanity.”
“From what I’ve learned about Ayşenur, I know that she would not want us to demand justice for her alone,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said on Tuesday. “So I stand here and honor her in saying: We will save lives, no matter faith or ethnicity.”
