Eygi, whose first name is pronounced “Aysha-nour,” was fatally shot by Israeli forces on September 6, 2024, while participating in a protest against an illegal settler outpost in the occupied West Bank.
As Israel intensifies its assault on Gaza, violence in the West Bank has also been increasing. Since 2022, at least 10 U.S. citizens have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
The administrations of Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump have ignored calls from Eygi’s family for a U.S.-led investigation into her killing, while Washington has continued to provide Israel with billions of dollars in military aid.
Eygi’s sister, Ozden Bennett, stated that she understands justice may not be imminent, but this does not weaken the family’s resolve to keep the slain activist’s memory alive.
“We’re committed to the long-haul journey of seeking justice and accountability and finding meaning in the process of doing that, even if it doesn’t happen immediately or perhaps ever. I’m hopeful it will,” Bennett told Al Jazeera.
“I see us continuing to ask for accountability and justice for my sister because it’s the right thing to do and she deserves that. Every life taken senselessly by Israel deserves that.”
Remembering Aysenur
Eygi, who was of Turkish descent and lived in Seattle, Washington, was 26 years old at the time of her death. Those who knew her described her as joyous and empathetic.
She had been involved in activism from a young age and was deeply affected by injustices both in the U.S. and abroad. Both Ali and Bennett described her as almost “childlike” in her compassion and playfulness.
“She always had that kind of childlike essence to her, that curiosity, that silliness,” Bennett said. “She was such a special, sweet – sometimes annoying – sister that I just miss so much.”
Ali believes that this authenticity is what drove her to activism.
“She was someone who had to live by her values and her beliefs, and she had to say how she felt,” he told Al Jazeera.
“So that’s the kind of person she was, and that’s exactly why she felt like doing the activism that she did in the [United] States wasn’t enough. She felt like going to the West Bank was the next thing that she was able to do.”
Since Eygi was shot, at least two more U.S. citizens have been killed in the West Bank.
In July, settlers beat 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet, a Florida native, to death. Less than three weeks later, Khamis Ayyad, a 40-year-old father of five and former Chicago resident, was also killed in another settler attack.
In both cases, the families are calling for a U.S. investigation, citing statutes like the U.S.-Israel Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that would enable such an inquiry.
However, the Trump administration has only called on Israel to investigate its own abuses. Israel rarely finds wrongdoing in the conduct of its forces against Palestinians and their supporters.
Similarly, when Eygi was killed last year, the administration of then-President Biden called on Israel to investigate the incident but failed to launch its own inquiry.
‘The Hypocrisy is Staggering’
This lack of accountability is a recurring pattern. In all 10 cases of Americans killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers since 2022, no criminal charges have been brought against the perpetrators.
The victims include veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot in the head while wearing a bright blue jacket labeled “press.”
Rights advocates have called this inaction a form of impunity for those who kill Americans overseas. They trace this trend back decades, as far as 2003, when an Israeli bulldozer ran over activist Rachel Corrie in Gaza.
She was attempting to protect a Palestinian home from demolition at the time of her death.
Corrie, also from Washington state, has become an icon of the Palestinian cause in the West. Still, no one has been held accountable for her killing.
Ali drew a parallel between his wife’s death and Corrie’s killing.
“It was the same with Rachel Corrie, and that was 20-plus years ago, so this isn’t anything new, unfortunately,” he said.
“We know the pattern, but it’s still frustrating all the same and extremely hypocritical.”
Despite this frustration, Eygi’s family has been bringing their demands to U.S. lawmakers and officials in an effort to keep the case alive.
Last year, they met with then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but according to Ali and Bennett, the top U.S. diplomat conveyed an inability to seek justice.
However, days before Eygi was killed, the U.S. Department of Justice filed “terrorism, murder conspiracy and sanctions-evasion” charges against Hamas leaders after the killing of the U.S.-Israeli captive Hersh Goldberg-Polin in Gaza.
For Bennett, the contrast in the U.S. approach is clear. “It sends a message that not all American lives are equal,” she told Al Jazeera.
Raed Jarrar, the advocacy director at the U.S.-based rights group DAWN, said the U.S. failure to pursue accountability for Eygi and other U.S. citizens killed by Israel shows that Washington “values Israeli impunity more than American lives.”
Jarrar told Al Jazeera, “The hypocrisy is staggering. When U.S. citizens are killed by anyone else, the U.S. government mobilizes every diplomatic, economic and military tool at its disposal to demand justice and accountability.”
“But when Israel kills Americans, the U.S. accepts Israeli ‘investigations’ and excuses, sends more weapons and shields Israel from international accountability.”
‘Irrelevant’ Israeli Probe
An initial Israeli military report after Eygi’s killing stated that she was likely killed by “indirect and unintended” fire. However, witnesses have said she was targeted in the head by a sniper.
There have been reports that a broader Israeli investigation into the incident was also launched, but no public announcements have been made about its results.
The Israeli government’s Foreign Press Department did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Bennett stated that the family does not expect any measure of accountability from an Israeli probe.
“The Israeli investigation—to us—is irrelevant because it’s not appropriate or acceptable to have Israel, the perpetrator of the murder, investigate itself,” she said.
For Ali, justice for Eygi may seem elusive, but if her memory can help in the liberation of the Palestinian people, he said that would ease his sense of loss.
“I’m not necessarily confident that it will happen anytime soon or that accountability will come anytime soon, but I know in one form or another, it will come,” Ali said.
