Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by no means noticed an injustice that didn’t transfer her personally.
That’s how associates bear in mind the American Turkish activist, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces within the occupied West Financial institution final week. They are saying she was identified for her empathy, joyous presence and drive to assist oppressed individuals, irrespective of who or the place they’re.
For a lot of in Eygi’s neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, Aysenur — pronounced Aysha-Nour — was a reputation synonymous with laughter and compassion.
“She was a light-weight in any room,” Kelsie Nabass, a good friend of Eygi, mentioned.
“She all the time had the most important, brightest smile on her face. She was the good friend within the room that may make jokes and little aspect feedback and simply be sure that the vibe was all the time enjoyable. She was very heat and really, very inviting.”
Eygi was 26 years outdated. She had large desires and needed to attend graduate college to get a legislation diploma. Her life was lower quick when an Israeli soldier shot her within the head as she was attending an illustration towards an unlawful settler outpost on September 6. Israel has acknowledged its forces “seemingly” fired the deadly bullet.
“She went there to witness the Palestinian individuals and their struggles,” Nabass mentioned. “She was dedicated to the liberation of the Palestinians, and I believe that dedication was her driving pressure to be there within the first place.”
In accordance with associates, Eygi has been attending protests all through her life, going again to 2016 – when as a youngster, she joined activists at Standing Rock to reject an oil pipeline that posed a risk to Indigenous individuals’s ingesting water in North Dakota.
“From a really younger age, she has been a social justice warrior. She all the time fought towards inequities,” Nabass mentioned.
“I do know that the Palestinian individuals had been crucial to her due to the oppression that they’ve been going through for the final 75 years. And I do know that she stood for the liberation of not simply the Palestinian individuals, however the liberation of all individuals.”
‘Large sister power’
Eygi was born in Turkey, however she grew up in Seattle on the US West Coast, the place she attended the College of Washington (UW).
Those that knew her say she had a outstanding means to convey individuals collectively, making a neighborhood round her hospitality, meals and advocacy, particularly through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Her killing has been felt deeply within the varied social circles that she traversed and related.
Bitaniya Giday, a UW scholar, lamented that she’s going to now not be capable of hear Eygi’s tales and be taught from her activism.
“It’s been a terrific tragedy,” Giday advised Al Jazeera. “I’m simply deeply saddened by the truth that I’ll by no means get to know her higher … She had a deep community. Within the bigger neighborhood, we misplaced a comrade. We misplaced an advocate. We additionally misplaced a sister. And for me, I really feel like I misplaced a mentor.”
Juliette Majid, one other good friend of Eygi, careworn that the activist cared for the rights of marginalised individuals within the US and internationally.
“She wore her coronary heart on her sleeve, and he or she was very caring,” Majid mentioned, including that Eygi had “large sister power”.
Eygi’s dedication and easy-going nature had been obvious even to those that knew her in passing, like Lubna Alzaroo.
“She was only a very, very joyful individual; that was my impression about her,” Alzaroo, who solely met Eygi as soon as, advised Al Jazeera. “She was simply very type, had actually type eyes and a really stunning smile. She was very simple to speak to.”
Requires accountability
The Turkish American activist’s associates say nothing will fill the void left by her absence or compensate for her loss. For accountability, they need the US authorities to heed her household’s name for an unbiased investigation into her killing.
Earlier this week, the Israeli navy mentioned that Eygi was seemingly shot “not directly and unintentionally”.
After the Israeli evaluation, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris each known as the killing “unacceptable”, however they did not again an unbiased probe.
Furthermore, the household has not heard from President Joe Biden, who typically calls the kin of US residents killed overseas.
“We have now waited for President Biden to choose up the cellphone and do the precise factor: to name us, provide his condolences, and tell us that he’s ordering an unbiased investigation of the killing of Aysenur,” Hamid Ali, Eygi’s companion, mentioned in an announcement earlier this week.
Majid, Eygi’s good friend, mentioned she will be able to solely amplify the household’s calls for for an unbiased investigation.
“She was a US citizen. She deserves this, and her household deserves justice, and that’s what I need. I need the US authorities to take this significantly and to get justice for Aysenur and maintain the responsible events accountable,” mentioned Majid.
Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, and different officers seem like utilizing unusually direct language when criticising Israel for killing, however Giday mentioned something wanting assembly the household’s calls for is “not sufficient”.
On Wednesday, US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Senator Patty Murray despatched a letter to Biden and Blinken requesting “a right away, clear, credible, and thorough unbiased US investigation” led by the FBI.
Sixty-six Washington state legislators additionally made an analogous demand in a joint assertion this week.
In Ezgi Eygi’s reminiscence
The northwestern state has beforehand been via the ache of getting a resident killed by the Israeli navy: In 2003, activist Rachel Corrie was intentionally crushed and killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza.
Whereas there was by no means any significant accountability for her demise, Corrie — who was from Olympia, Washington — has change into an emblem of Palestinian rights activism within the US.
Greater than 20 years after her brutal killing, it’s not unusual to see Corrie’s posters at Palestine solidarity demonstrations.
The reminiscence of Eygi may even stay on, her associates pledge.
“We shall be speaking about her endlessly. I do know I’ll carry her reminiscence ahead till the day I die, whether or not I’m in Seattle or not. I’ll convey her reminiscence in each house I enter. We’ll all the time bear in mind her,” Giday mentioned.
However she struggled for phrases when she considered her good friend as somebody who shall be remembered however not bodily current — like Corrie.
“I’ve heard about Rachel for a very long time. It’s arduous to suppose of Aysha as a martyr as properly proper now,” Giday advised Al Jazeera.
