The family of an American woman shot and killed while protesting in the occupied West Bank has blamed Israel for her death and called for an independent investigation, saying in a statement that an Israeli-led probe would be inadequate.
Two witnesses told the CNN Aysenur Eygi was shot in the head by Israeli forces in response to a protest near the city of Nablus. The 26-year-old was taking part in a weekly protest against an Israeli settlement near the Palestinian village of Beita, they added.
The Israeli military has admitted firing on protesters and a US National Security Council spokesman said earlier that the US had contacted Israeli authorities to “request an investigation into the incident”.
But this Saturday (7) the family said that this would not be enough.
“We welcome the White House’s statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Aysenur’s murder, an Israeli investigation is not appropriate,” the statement said.
“We call on President (Joe) Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a US citizen and ensure full accountability for those responsible.”
The statement also said Eygi “was killed by a bullet that the video shows came from an Israeli military sniper.”
Eygi held both American and Turkish citizenship. U.S. authorities are investigating the deadly incident and the Turkish government has said it holds Israel responsible for his death.
Eygi, who graduated from the University of Washington this spring, was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the same pro-Palestine activist group as Rachel Corrie, a U.S. citizen killed in 2003 while trying to stop an Israeli bulldozer from razing Palestinian homes in Gaza.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said its troops “responded with fire against a main instigator of violent activities who threw stones at the forces and posed a threat to them.”
The Israeli military is “investigating reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of gunfire in the area,” the statement added.
The ISM said none of its members threw stones during the protest.
“Aysenur was more than 200 meters away from where the Israeli soldiers were and there was no confrontation there in the minutes before she was shot,” the statement said.
“Regardless, from such a distance, neither she nor anyone else could have been considered a threat. “She was killed in cold blood.”
‘She was kind, brave’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was working to “gather the facts” of Eygi’s killing and offered condolences to his family – but did not suggest any immediate policy changes related to his death.
Even when there were determinations that Israeli forces were responsible for the killings of Americans in the West Bank – such as Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh – the US did not alter its policies and continued to provide significant military support to these forces.
National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said earlier that the US was “deeply disturbed” by Eygi’s death. “We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask for more information and to request an investigation into the incident,” he added.
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew confirmed that Eygi, who was born in Turkey, was the victim and said the embassy was “urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of his death”.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned Eygi’s death, saying it held the Israeli government responsible and confirming that she was also a Turkish citizen. “We will continue to bring to justice those who killed our citizens,” spokesman Oncu Keceli said.
The family’s statement honored Eygi as “a fiercely passionate human rights activist” who was also active on campus in student-led protests “defending human dignity and calling for an end to violence against the people of Palestine.”
“Like the olive tree under which she lay, where she took her last breaths, Aysenur was strong, beautiful and nourishing. Her presence in our lives was needlessly, illegally and violently taken away by the Israeli military,” he said.
“Aysenur was a loving daughter, sister, partner and aunt. She was kind, brave, silly, supportive and a ray of sunshine.”
Protests in Beita are common. The Palestinian town is located near a crumbling Israeli settler outpost known as Evyatar. The settlement was not authorized by the Israeli state until it was legalized earlier this year. All Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.
This content was originally published in Family of American killed in the West Bank blames Israel, demands investigation on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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