Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi’s murder is so recent that her family still speaks in the present tense when referring to her. Her husband, Hamid Ali, smiles as he talks about their third wedding anniversary, just a few months ago. To celebrate, the young couple took a boat ride around Seattle and ate Vietnamese food. Özden Bennett, Eygi’s sister, talks about her little sister with tears in her eyes.
“It’s like he’s going to get on a plane any day and come back and tell us about his travels and what he learned,” he told the Guardian.
The pain becomes even more intense when they think that Egyi’s murder could go unpunished. “I think the hardest thing for me was grieving the death of my sister and, at the same time, demanding justice. “This is something that the US government, the Joe Biden administration, should be doing proactively. » “I wouldn’t wish it on any family,” he adds.
On September 6, while participating in a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank town of Beita, he was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper. The Israeli military said it was “very likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by soldiers’ fire that was not aimed at her”, but her family called for an independent investigation into her death, saying that the US government supports. them in this effort. But as the family awaits a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, they despair of the White House’s reaction.
Initially, in statements to the media, Joe Biden said that “apparently it was an accident… [la bala] bounced off the ground and [Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi] “She was hit by accident.” He then called for accountability, calling the shooting “unacceptable.”
The girl’s family fears that without an FBI criminal investigation, the soldier who pulled the trigger could remain anonymous, his commander would not face public scrutiny, and America’s closest ally would not be held accountable before the courts for what happened.
Ali says the 26-year-old went to the West Bank because “justice in all aspects of life was fundamental to who she was and what she did.” Bennett describes her sister as someone who always wanted to act on the suffering of others and who felt compelled to travel to the West Bank to continue her activism, which was the cornerstone of her life .
The last time Ali spoke to his wife, it was already dark in Seattle, but it was morning in Nablus and she was preparing for her first protest since joining the International Solidarity Movement, a group created to have observers in the demonstrations in the Philippines. West Bank.
Eygi explained that he had investigated the scene and was aware of the specific risks posed by the protests in the town of Beita. “It was very clear: I will stay behind. “It’s my first demonstration,” he remembers.
A month after the young activist’s death, Biden had not yet called the family to offer his condolences. “Biden has always wanted to appear as a deeply empathetic president, even in the context of the election, unlike other candidates,” Ali says: “I think a five-minute phone call was the minimum in these circumstances and it is not not much.” . ask”.
Bennett points out that the family has spoken with the State Department and is expected to meet with Blinken. His White House interlocutors suggested that Biden’s call take place after that meeting. “If the president wanted to pick up the phone and call us, he certainly could. ” Noted. “[Pero] “Given what he said before his official statement, his failure to call suggests to us that speaking to our family is not one of his priorities.”
Ali said he feels Biden’s reluctance sends a message: “He values American lives differently when it comes to crimes committed by the Israeli military.” »
The White House has yet to provide a formal response to a petition from a growing coalition of U.S. lawmakers over Eygi’s killing. Last month, more than 100 members of Congress wrote to the government demanding that the United States conduct an independent investigation and made concrete proposals for what steps Washington could take if the Israeli executive refused to cooperate.
After Eygi’s killing, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said “there has to be full accountability” but said the United States government would pressure Israel to get answers.
“The fact that the U.S. government, including the vice president, is OK with Israel conducting its own investigation into the murder of an American citizen makes my head explode,” Ali said.
Bennett also mentions the shooting of veteran Al Jazeera journalist and US citizen Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli military raid on a Jenin refugee camp, and what he calls a lack of action by the Biden administration in response. Next month will mark two years since the FBI investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing, amid calls for transparency over its progress or conclusions.
“If real accountability measures had been taken for Shireen’s murder, it is possible, perhaps even likely, that Ayşenur would not have died the same way,” Bennett laments. “Similarly, if action is taken now, accountability is established and true justice is sought for what happened to my sister, we may be able to prevent another family from going through what we are going through.” » According to him, if the United States government fails in this latest test, another death like that of Eygi is “inevitable”.
“The government of Joe Biden or whoever comes next will have blood on its hands if it is not able to defend our own legislation when American citizens are murdered abroad,” concludes the activist’s sister.
Translation by Emma Reverter
