SEATTLE – The family of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi will speak at a memorial event hosted by the University of Washington’s Middle East Center Friday.
Eygi during a peaceful protest on the West Bank in early September. She was a recent University of Washington Psychology and Middle Eastern Languages graduate and campus
Her killing by the Israeli military was decried by the Turkish government, where she held dual-citizenship and was buried. A prosecutorial investigation into the killing is ongoing according to Turkey’s justice minister.
International human rights advocates argued that Eygi’s death was part of a broader disregard for human rights in the West Bank and Gaza.
“Ayşenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter,” a September statement from Eygi’s family said.
According to Oxfam International, more women and children were slain by the Israeli military over the past year than any other war in the past two decades. Oxfam also claims that these deaths are a significant breach of international law.
The International Criminal Court in May after the United Nations Human Rights Council deemed the violence a genocide against Palestinians.
The Biden Administration condemned Eygi’s death, but the White House also condemned the International Criminal Court’s claims that Netanyahu has committed crimes against humanity in Gaza.
that the Biden Administration has failed to adequately rein in Netanyahu after a year of deadly violence. Sabrene Odeh, an uncommitted delegate at the Democratic National Convention, said in August that the party needed to do more to address Israeli aggression toward unarmed civilians.
“We believe in the inherent dignity of every human being. It’s time to align our actions with our values and enact an immediate ceasefire,” Odeh said.
Both of Washington’s senators after the initial reports of her killing by IDF forces, but as of mid-September the US Department of State refused to launch an independent investigation, opting instead to await the result of the IDF’s own internal inquiry.
Eygi’s family will speak at the UW event alongside organizers, musicians and faculty. The event will commemorate her life while looking to the future of Palestinian liberation organizing.
