‘Light in any room’: Friends hail Aysenur Eygi, US citizen killed by Israel

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi ne'er saw an injustice that did not determination her personally.

That’s however friends retrieve the American Turkish activist, who was fatally changeable by Israeli forces successful the occupied West Bank past week. They accidental she was known for her empathy, joyous beingness and thrust to enactment oppressed people, nary substance who oregon wherever they are.

For galore successful Eygi’s assemblage successful Seattle, Washington, Aysenur — pronounced Aysha-Nour — was a sanction synonymous with laughter and compassion.

“She was a airy successful immoderate room,” Kelsie Nabass, a person of Eygi, said.

“She ever had the biggest, brightest grin connected her face. She was the person successful the country that would marque jokes and small broadside comments and conscionable marque definite that the vibe was ever fun. She was precise lukewarm and very, precise inviting.”

Eygi was 26 years old. She had large dreams and wanted to be postgraduate schoolhouse to get a instrumentality degree. Her beingness was chopped abbreviated erstwhile an Israeli worker changeable her successful the caput arsenic she was attending a objection against an amerciable settler outpost connected September 6. Israel has acknowledged its forces “likely” fired the fatal bullet.

“She went determination to witnesser the Palestinian radical and their struggles,” Nabass said. “She was committed to the liberation of the Palestinians, and I deliberation that committedness was her driving unit to beryllium determination successful the archetypal place.”

According to friends, Eygi has been attending protests passim her life, going backmost to 2016 – erstwhile arsenic a teenager, she joined activists astatine Standing Rock to cull an lipid pipeline that posed a menace to Indigenous people’s drinking h2o successful North Dakota.

“From a precise young age, she has been a societal justness warrior. She ever fought against inequities,” Nabass said.

“I cognize that the Palestinian radical were precise important to her due to the fact that of the oppression that they’ve been facing for the past 75 years. And I cognize that she stood for the liberation of not conscionable the Palestinian people, but the liberation of each people.”

‘Big sister energy’

Eygi was calved successful Turkey, but she grew up successful Seattle connected the US West Coast, wherever she attended the University of Washington (UW).

Those who knew her accidental she had a singular quality to bring radical together, creating a assemblage astir her hospitality, nutrient and advocacy, particularly during the Muslim beatified month of Ramadan.

Her sidesplitting has been felt profoundly successful the assorted societal circles that she traversed and connected.

Bitaniya Giday, a UW student, lamented that she volition nary longer beryllium capable to perceive Eygi’s stories and larn from her activism.

“It’s been a large tragedy,” Giday told Al Jazeera. “I’m conscionable profoundly saddened by the information that I volition ne'er get to cognize her amended … She had a heavy network. In the larger community, we mislaid a comrade. We mislaid an advocate. We besides mislaid a sister. And for me, I consciousness similar I mislaid a mentor.”

Juliette Majid, different person of Eygi, stressed that the activistic cared for the rights of marginalised radical successful the US and crossed the world.

“She wore her bosom connected her sleeve, and she was precise caring,” Majid said, adding that Eygi had “big sister energy”.

Eygi’s dedication and easy-going quality were evident adjacent to those who knew her successful passing, similar Lubna Alzaroo.

“She was conscionable a very, precise joyful person; that was my content astir her,” Alzaroo, who lone met Eygi once, told Al Jazeera. “She was conscionable precise kind, had truly benignant eyes and a precise beauteous smile. She was precise casual to speech to.”

Calls for accountability

The Turkish American activist’s friends accidental thing volition capable the void near by her lack oregon compensate for her loss. For accountability, they privation the US authorities to heed her family’s telephone for an autarkic probe into her killing.

Earlier this week, the Israeli subject said that Eygi was apt changeable “indirectly and unintentionally”.

After the Israeli assessment, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris some called the sidesplitting “unacceptable”, but they failed to backmost an autarkic probe.

Moreover, the household has not heard from President Joe Biden, who customarily calls the relatives of US citizens killed abroad.

“We person waited for President Biden to prime up the telephone and bash the close thing: to telephone us, connection his condolences, and fto america cognize that helium is ordering an autarkic probe of the sidesplitting of Aysenur,” Hamid Ali, Eygi’s partner, said successful a connection earlier this week.

Majid, Eygi’s friend, said she tin lone amplify the family’s demands for an autarkic investigation.

“She was a US citizen. She deserves this, and her household deserves justice, and that is what I want. I privation the US authorities to instrumentality this earnestly and to get justness for Aysenur and clasp the blameworthy parties accountable,” said Majid.

Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, and different officials look to beryllium utilizing unusually nonstop connection erstwhile criticising Israel for killing, but Giday said thing abbreviated of gathering the family’s demands is “not enough”.

On Wednesday, US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Senator Patty Murray sent a missive to Biden and Blinken requesting “an immediate, transparent, credible, and thorough autarkic US investigation” led by the FBI.

Sixty-six Washington authorities legislators besides made a akin request successful a associated connection this week.

In Ezgi Eygi’s memory

The northwestern authorities has antecedently been done the symptom of having a nonmigratory killed by the Israeli military: In 2003, activistic Rachel Corrie was deliberately crushed and killed by an Israeli bulldozer successful Gaza.

While determination was ne'er immoderate meaningful accountability for her death, Corrie — who was from Olympia, Washington — has go a awesome of Palestinian rights activism successful the US.

More than 20 years aft her brutal killing, it is not uncommon to spot Corrie’s posters astatine Palestine solidarity demonstrations.

The representation of Eygi volition besides unrecorded on, her friends pledge.

“We volition beryllium talking astir her forever. I cognize I volition transportation her representation guardant until the time I die, whether I’m successful Seattle oregon not. I volition bring her representation successful each abstraction I enter. We’ll ever retrieve her,” Giday said.

But she struggled for words erstwhile she thought of her person arsenic idiosyncratic who volition beryllium remembered but not physically contiguous — similar Corrie.

“I’ve heard astir Rachel for a agelong time. It’s hard to deliberation of Aysha arsenic a martyr arsenic good close now,” Giday told Al Jazeera.