Shafaqna India: Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s parents wish for her to be laid to rest in Didim, Turkey, the place of her birth. The 26-year-old Palestinian activist was tragically shot and killed by Israeli soldiers last Friday while protesting against illegal Israeli settlements in Beita, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Turkish officials worked diligently to secure the repatriation of Aysenur’s body, with a burial planned for Friday in her hometown.
Aysenur, a recent University of Washington graduate, was protesting against an Israeli settlement in Evyatar when she was shot in the head. The incident occurred during a peaceful demonstration.
A significant funeral procession was held in Nablus on Tuesday, with senior members of the Palestine Authority (PA) escorting her body, draped in a Palestinian flag and keffiyeh, through the town before it was transported by a Palestinian ambulance.
Sam Chesneau, co-founder and director of the Seattle-based American-Muslim organization Wasat, where Aysenur was a member, described her as an “old soul, wise beyond her years,” and praised her caring nature and profound thinking. Chesneau noted that Aysenur’s death serves as a reminder to reject apathy and embrace our beliefs and humanity.
From Aysenur’s family home in Didim, her aunt Gulay Yeniceoglu told local media that Aysenur was deeply compassionate and could not ignore injustice. She was killed during a demonstration against the illegal settlement in Evyatar, which was established on Palestinian land in the West Bank in 2013.
Witnesses to Aysenur’s death, including Italian activist “Mariam,” have disputed Israeli claims that her death was accidental. Mariam, who was with Aysenur as she was transported to Beita and then to Nablus, described the shooting as intentional, stating that they were clearly visible to the army and that the shot was aimed directly at them.
A friend of Aysenur, who had recently arrived in the West Bank, expressed shock at the timing of her death, noting that they had only just begun their involvement in the protest.
Israel issued a brief statement acknowledging that Aysenur was “highly likely hit indirectly and unintentionally” by its forces. The military expressed “deep regret” over her death, claiming the bullet was intended for a different target.
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), with which Aysenur was volunteering, confirmed that the protest was peaceful. Aysenur’s killing has drawn comparisons to that of Rachel Corrie, another US citizen who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting in Gaza in 2003. Corrie’s death was later deemed an accident by an Israeli civil judge.
Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak, present at the protest, reported that live ammunition was used against demonstrators. He described the shooting as deliberate, noting that 17 people have been killed in demonstrations in Beita by Israeli forces since 2021.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the killing as “unprovoked and unjustified,” calling for significant changes in Israeli military practices. However, President Joe Biden appeared to support Israel’s characterization of Aysenur’s death as an “accident.”
Following the incident, Aysenur’s family, through the ISM, called for an independent US investigation into her death, separate from Israeli military oversight. The UN Human Rights Office has also called for an “independent international investigation” into violations in Palestinian territories.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to take “every legal step” to ensure that Aysenur’s death will not be in vain, including a potential appeal to the International Court of Justice, which is already examining charges against Israel for potential genocide.