Tons of collect on Seattle seaside to recollect American activist killed by Israeli army

SEATTLE — For her twenty sixth birthday in July, human rights activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi gathered buddies for a bonfire at one in all her favourite locations, a sandy seaside in Seattle the place green-and-white ferries cruise throughout the darkish, flat water and osprey fish overhead.

On Wednesday evening, tons of of individuals traveled to the identical seaside in grief, love and anger to mourn her. Eygi was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers final Friday within the occupied West Financial institution, the place she had gone to protest and bear witness to Palestinian struggling.

“I am unable to think about what she felt like in her final moments, mendacity alone beneath the olive bushes,” one in all her buddies, Kelsie Nabass, informed the group on the vigil. “What did she consider? And did she know all of us would present up right here tonight, for her?”

Eygi, who additionally held Turkish citizenship, was killed whereas demonstrating in opposition to settlements in the West Bank. A witness who was there, Israeli protester Jonathan Pollak, mentioned she posed no menace to Israeli forces and that the capturing got here throughout a second of calm, following clashes between stone-throwing protesters and Israeli troops firing tear fuel and bullets.

The Israeli army mentioned Eygi was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by its soldiers, drawing criticism from American officers, together with President Joe Biden, who mentioned he was “outraged and deeply saddened” her killing.

“There should be full accountability,” Biden mentioned in an announcement launched Wednesday. “And Israel should do extra to make sure that incidents like this by no means occur once more.”

The deaths of Americans within the West Financial institution have drawn worldwide consideration, such because the deadly capturing of a distinguished Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, in 2022 within the Jenin refugee camp. The deaths of Palestinians who wouldn’t have twin nationality hardly ever obtain the identical scrutiny.

Eygi’s household has demanded an impartial investigation.

Because the solar set, turning the sky on the horizon a pale orange, buddies recalled Eygi as open, partaking, humorous and devoted. The group spilled past a big rectangle of small black, purple, inexperienced and white Palestinian flags staked within the sand to mark the venue for the vigil.

Many attendees wore conventional checked scarves — keffiyehs — in assist of the Palestinian trigger and carried images of Eygi in her commencement cap. They laid roses, sunflowers or carnations at a memorial the place battery-operated candles spelled out her title within the sand.

A number of described turning into quick buddies along with her final spring through the occupied “Liberated Zone” protest in opposition to the Israel-Hamas war on the College of Washington. Yoseph Ghazal mentioned she launched herself as “Baklava,” a reputation she generally used on messaging apps, reflective of her love of the candy Mediterranean dessert.

Eygi, who attended Seattle colleges and graduated from the College of Washington with a level in psychology this 12 months, helped negotiate with the administration on behalf of the protesters on the encampment, which was a part of a broader campus movement in opposition to the Gaza warfare.

“She felt so strongly and liked humanity, liked individuals, liked life a lot that she simply needed to assist as many as she may,” Juliette Majid, 26, now a doctoral pupil at North Carolina State College, mentioned in an interview. “She had such a drive for justice.”

Eygi’s uncle told a Turkish television station that she had stored her journey a secret from at the least a few of her household, blocking family from her social media posts. Turkish officers have mentioned they’re working to repatriate her physique for burial, per the household’s needs.

Sue Han, a 26-year-old regulation pupil on the College of Washington, solely knew Eygi for just a few months after assembly her on the college encampment, however they shortly grew to become shut, laughing and blasting music in Eygi’s beat-up inexperienced Subaru. Eygi would decide Han up on the airport after her travels. Most not too long ago, Eygi greeted her with a plastic baggie filled with sliced apples and completely ripe strawberries.

Han noticed Eygi earlier than she left. Eygi was feeling scared and egocentric for leaving her family members to go to the West Financial institution with the activist group Worldwide Solidarity Motion; Han mentioned she could not think about anybody extra selfless.

Eygi liked to attach individuals, bringing disparate buddies collectively for espresso to see how they blended, Han mentioned. The identical was true when she would deliver individuals collectively on the seaside, and it was true of the vigil, too.

“I used to be wanting round at everyone sharing tales about Aysenur, sharing tears and hugs, and that is precisely what she would have needed,” Han mentioned. “These new relationships all sharing Aysenur because the beginning seed — it is the legacy she would have needed.”