07/09/2025
Today marks one year since the Israeli military murdered Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year old Turkish-American human rights volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, during a peaceful demonstration in Beita, in the occupied West Bank. In recent years, over 19 Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli forces in Beita during peaceful demonstrations.
For the past year, her family and loved ones have been asking for an independent investigation and accountability for her murder, but the U.S. government has done nothing to bring justice to her and to the people who loved her. Many have demand for a credible and independent investigation into her killing and an end to Israel impunity. A forensic investigation by the Washington Post affirmed what witnesses that day said: Ayşenur was murdered and the Israeli government is responsible for her death.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal said, ”We cannot simply accept the IDF's version that this was an 'accident "We do not know that, it's why we need an independent investigation. What accountability will there be when we keep supplying the weapons against our own laws?"
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that "if you are an American, your president not only provides Israel with the bullets that Israel uses to kill you." "Not only does he not object after Israel has killed you," he continued. "Much worse, he even comes up with insulting excuses to exonerate Israel for murdering you."
Israel and US know who assassinated Aysengur Eygi. The facts are already known to the Israeli military, the U.S. military, and the U.S. government. They know exactly who assassinated International Solidarity Movement (ISM) member and U.S. citizen Aysenur Eygi on September 6, 2024.
Ayşenur had traveled to the West Bank to witness and stand in solidarity with Palestinians who are resisting the ongoing land theft, colonization and forced displacement by the Zionist Occupation.
On the afternoon of September 6th, 2024, in the town of Beita, near Nablus, Palestinians as well as Israeli and international activists, including Ayşenur, gathered for the weekly Friday prayer and peaceful demonstration to protest against the Eyvatar settlement built on a hill in the town outskirts. After the prayer ended, Israeli soldiers fired a large amount of tear gas as well as live ammunition, and Ayşenur and others retreated down the hill.
Nearly half an hour after the demonstration had concluded, Israeli soldiers – who had occupied the roof of a house 200 meters away from the group, up the hill from the olive grove, where Ayşenur was standing – again fired live ammunition. The first shot that the soldier fired ricocheted and hit the leg of a Palestininan boy from the village. The soldier fired a second shot directly at Ayşenur’s head. She was first rushed to a clinic in Beita, and then to the Rafidia hospital in Nablus, where she was pronounced dead.
They know which unit was in Beita village for the peaceful prayer demonstration against the illegal Israeli settlement of Evyatar. They know the names of the snipers who fired the shots. They also know the names of the Israeli soldiers who killed the 17 Palestinians who have been assassinated in Beita in the past four years since 2020. So the Israeli military knows perfectly well who killed Aysenur and they also know who killed the 17 Palestinians who have been murdered by Israeli military in Beita since 2020:
Ayşenur grew up in West Seattle, WA, spending summer days scootering around Seattle Center while her father worked. She helped organize a student walkout after the 2016 election against the hateful rhetoric of Donald Trump. She traveled to Standing Rock to stand with Native tribes in protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Ayşenur was an active member in the UW Liberated Zone in 2024 holding the University of Washington accountable to their complicity in the occupation of Palestine and genocide in Gaza. She graduated in June 2024.
The Washington State House read a resolution recognizing Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi’s life and activism.
Ayşenur’s sister Ozden Eygi Bennett said: “Ayşenur’s death was no accident. It was a targeted, brutal act—a cold and unjust killing of a young woman who devoted her life to peace. And while our hearts ache with grief, we are also filled with a deep, burning determination to make sure that her death is not forgotten… This resolution is a crucial step, but it is just the beginning. It’s a recognition of her life and legacy, but it’s also a stepping stone in the fight for justice… We will not be silent. We will not stop demanding justice. We will not stop fighting for the truth. And we will not rest until this government does what it is obligated to do: investigate the death of an American citizen.”
