Israeli army kills American International Solidarity Movement volunteer during demonstration in Beita, Nablus
During the weekly demonstration in Beita, Palestine, on the morning of September 6th, 2024, the Israeli army intentionally shot and killed an International Solidarity Movement (ISM) human rights activist named Ayşenur Eygi. The demonstration, which primarily involved men and children praying, was met with force from the Israeli army stationed on a hill. Initially, the army fired a large amount of tear gas and then began using live ammunition. Ayşenur, who we consider a martyr in the struggle, was the 18th demonstrator to be killed in Beita since 2020. She was an American citizen of Turkish descent. The Israeli forces fired two rounds. One hit a Palestinian man in the leg, injuring him. The other round was fired at international human rights activists who were observing the demonstration, striking a human rights activist in the head. Eygi died shortly after being transported to a local hospital in Nablus. Fellow ISM volunteer Mariam Dag (a pseudonymn) was on the scene, and witnessed the fatal injury of her comrade. She said: *“We were peacefully demonstrating alongside Palestinians against the colonisation of their land, and the illegal settlement of Evyatar. The situation escalated when the Israeli army began to fire tear gas and live ammunition, forcing us to retreat. We were standing on the road, about 200 meters from the soldiers, with a sniper clearly visible on the roof. Our fellow volunteer was standing a bit further back, near an olive tree with some other activists. Despite this, the army intentionally shot her in the head.* *This is just another example of the decades of impunity granted to the Israeli government and army, bolstered by the support of the US and European governments, who are complicit in enabling genocide in Gaza. Palestinians have suffered far too long under the weight of colonization. We will continue to stand in solidarity and **honor the martyrs until Palestine is free.”* . . . *[email protected] <[email protected]>* *Beita: Years Of Struggle Against Settlement Expansion* by Michael Arria and Qassam Muaddi, Mondoweiss, September 6, 2024 https://mondoweiss.net/2024/09/israeli-army-kills-american-activist-in-occupied-west-bank/ . . . The village of Beita, south of Nablus, has been the scene of a civil resistance movement since 2021, when Israel began the building of the ‘Evyatar’ settler outpost on Mount Sabih, on private lands belonging mostly to Palestinians from Beita, and also from the neighboring villages of Yitma and Qabalan. Beita became a symbol of civil resistance, with most of the community participating in daily protests that culminated on Fridays, opening with Friday prayers at the closest location to Mount Sabih and evolving into confrontations with Israeli forces. Since 2021, at least 14 Palestinians have been killed in Beita’s protests by Israeli forces, and hundreds have been injured or wounded. In July 2021, Israel decided to evacuate the settlers from Mount Sabih after reaching an agreement with them that allowed them to maintain a religious school in the location. In the meantime, Palestinian landowners and farmers were still prevented from accessing their land on the hilltop. Israeli settlers organized mass marches on Mount Sabih throughout 2022, demanding to be allowed to resettle the outpost. The marches were often headed byIsraeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who used Evyatar as a rallying symbol of the far-right settler movement in the West Bank. In July 2024, the Israeli army officially confiscated 35 dunams of Beita’s land on Mount Sabih, including the Evyatar outpost as a ‘military area’, reigniting mass protests in the village, which continued to attract more international activists. “Protests had begun to become limited to Friday prayers before October 7, but after the official confiscation last July, we understood that this is not an issue of settlers alone, but part of a larger political plan by the Israeli government to annex all of the West Bank,” Mahmoud Barham, an activist in Beita told Mondoweiss. “Since the beginning of the protests three years ago, the [Israeli] occupation has revoked all working permits in Israel of men in Beita, and they are in the thousands, cutting a main part of their families’ livelihood, and those permits continued to be revoked for the majority,” said Barham. “The occupation has imposed checkpoints at the entrances of Beita, and has doubled night raids and arrests, although there is no armed resistance here, only civil resistance,” he pointed out. “All the lands confiscated are private, and settlers work jointly with the army to grab them, which is why the army has killed 14 people of our community in an attempt to suppress the protests. Aysenur has become today Beita’s 15th martyr since 2021,” he added. “It was the first time that she came to Beita and I had the chance to talk to her briefly before the Friday prayer,” said Barham of Aysenur. “She was very polite and respectful, very aware of the settlement danger and the case of Beita, sympathetic to our cause from a humanist standpoint” Barham said. “She stood beside us during the prayer in the protest location, and there were no confrontations,” he recalled. “Then, after the prayer, young men began to walk down the valley to protest, and the army fired the first two bullets. One hit a young man in the thigh, and the other hit Aysenur in the head,” he detailed. The Israeli army was quoted by Israeli media saying that its soldiers opened fire at lower body parts of “rioters” after stones were thrown at them. # # # *UN demands 'independent probe' into Israel's killing of US activist* The Cradle, News Desk, September 7, 2024 https://thecradle.co/articles/un-demands-independent-probe-into-israels-killing-of-us-activist The UN has called for a "full investigation" into Israel's killing of a US citizen in the occupied West Bank during a protest against illegal Jewish settlements, the BBC reported on 7 September. Israeli troops killed Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, with a gunshot to the head as she took part in the weekly Friday protest in the town of Beita near Nablus. In response to the killing, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said: "We would want to see a full investigation of the circumstances and that people should be held accountable." . . . Middle East Eye notes that statements so far from US officials regarding Eygi's killing are in "stark contrast" to remarks that followed the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual US-Israeli citizen and Israeli soldier taken captive by Hamas on 7 October. ( https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/aysenur-ezgi-eygi-israel-killing-US-response ) . . . On Sun, Sep 8, 2024 at 3:49 PM abraham Weizfeld PhD via groups.io <eibieman= [email protected]> wrote: > > > [image: International Solidarity Movement - Palestine] > > > > [image: International Solidarity Movement (ISM) human rights activist > Ayşenur Eygi - via her family] > > *Statement from the family of Ay**ş**enur Eygi* > > Today our family and our community are in shock and grief, as we wrestle > with the reality that our beloved Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi is gone. Like the > olive tree she lay beneath where she took her last breaths, Ayşenur was > strong, beautiful, and nourishing. Her presence in our lives was taken > needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military. > > Ayşenur was a loving daughter, sister, partner, and aunt. She was gentle, > brave, silly, supportive, and a ray of sunshine. She wore her heart on her > sleeves. She felt a deep responsibility to serve others and lived a life of > caring for those in need with action. She was a fiercely passionate human > rights activist her whole life — a steadfast and staunch advocate of > justice. > > Ayşenur just turned 26 and graduated three months ago from the University > of Washington, where she studied Psychology and Middle Eastern Languages > and Cultures. She was active on campus in student-led protests, advocating > for human dignity, and calling for an end to the violence against the > people of Palestine. Ayşenur felt compelled to travel to the West Bank to > stand in solidarity with Palestinian civilians who continue to endure > ongoing repressing and violence. > > A U.S. citizen, Ayşenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was > killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter. > We welcome the White House’s statement of condolences, but given the > circumstances of Aysenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not > adequate. > > We call on President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary of State > Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of > a U.S. citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties. We > ask the public for privacy as we grieve and try to make sense of the > unimaginable tragedy that is Ayşenur’s killing. > > Posted onSeptember 7, 2024 > <https://palsolidarity.org/2024/09/statement-from-the-family-of-aysenur-eygi/> > AuthorISM Media <https://palsolidarity.org/author/rana/>CategoriesFeatures > <https://palsolidarity.org/category/features/>, Reports > <https://palsolidarity.org/category/reports/>TagsAyşenur Ezgi Eygi > <https://palsolidarity.org/tag/aysenur-ezgi-eygi/>, Beita > <https://palsolidarity.org/tag/beita/>, west bank > <https://palsolidarity.org/tag/west-bank/> > > > > > https://palsolidarity.org/2024/09/statement-from-the-family-of-aysenur-eygi/ > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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