Last week, 26-year-old Turkish-American activist Aysenur Eygi was brutally murdered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). She was killed as she protested, alongside several other activists with the International Solidarity Movement, against settlement expansion and settler terrorism against Palestinians in Beita; a village located in the illegally occupied Palestinian city of Nablus.
Multiple eyewitness accounts asserted that Eygi, along with the other demonstrators, posed no threat and were protesting in an area where no combatants were present. But that did not matter, as the IDF fired live rounds into the crowd of activists which struck Eygi in the head and killed her instantly.
The Joe Biden administration, including Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, has yet to issue a vindictive statement condemning the Israeli army for the cold-blooded murder of Ms.Eygi. Collectively, Washington’s reaction to the IDF murdering Aysenur Eygi has been disgraceful for a litany of reasons.
Firstly, the U.S. provides Israel with $3.8 billion annually in military aid and has given Israel over $300 billion worth of military and financial aid since 1948. This includes missiles, cluster bombs, and American-manufactured assault rifles often used by IDF battalions in the illegally occupied West Bank. It’s revolting that the United States, a global superpower, cannot muster the moral and political courage to end the flow of such weapons to Israel, which are actively being used to kill U.S. citizens like Aysneur Eygi. This same U.S.-funded military is using those weapons to facilitate genocide in Gaza and accelerate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, paving the way for more illegal settlements.
Beyond the U.S. unwillingness to impose an arms embargo, the incredibly weak and pathetic responses given by U.S. leaders in the wake of Eygi’s death must also be scrutinized. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken opined that Israel needed to make “some fundamental changes to the way they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.” In saying that, Blinken fails to acknowledge the fact that the Israelis have no legal basis for being in the West Bank to begin with. Had there been no illegal occupation of Palestine, Eygi would still be alive today.
Blinken also stated that “no one should be killed for attending a protest.” His comments were weak, signaling a massive indifference towards Eygi’s murder. On the other hand, Biden issued a disgusting statement insisting that the Israeli killing of Eygi was “an accident, the bullet ricocheted off the ground, she got hit by accident.” Someone should tell Biden that a sniper rifle is a weapon that requires deliberate precision.
However, the embarrassment did not stop there. On Monday, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel was being pressed regarding Aysneur’s murder. However, Patel refused to publicly acknowledge that the IDF killed Ms. Eygi. When asked if he had any doubts that it was an Israeli soldier who killed Eygi, Patel told reporters, “I’m not going to get ahead of the process here.”
To add insult to injury, President Biden has reportedly not spoken with her family to grant them condolences for losing their daughter. It is inexcusable, and sheer cowardice, for the President of the United States to not even interact with the family of a slain American. Biden may eventually do so, but waiting several days to grant condolences is a major insult.
Speaking of Eygi’s family, they are rightfully demanding an independent investigation into her death. The State Department has made clear it will not be investigating her murder and is hoping instead that Israel investigates her demise. The IDF has reported that they have already looked into the matter and determined that Eygi was “unintentionally” and “highly likely” killed by an IDF soldier.
The United States should not accept their determination. Israel cannot be trusted to conduct an impartial investigation into its wrongdoings. After Rachel Corrie, Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Assad, Mohammad Khdour, and Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, now Aysenur Eygi joins the long list of Americans whose murder Israel labels “an accident.” Thus, it makes no sense to believe that this army accused of a grave crime could fully hold themselves accountable. If anything, history has demonstrated it is more likely Israel will exonerate itself of any wrongdoing. It is abhorrent and disgraceful that the United States government could stand idly by, refusing to ensure that Aysenur Eygi’s family seek justice for this unholy crime.
Aside from the fact that the U.S. refuses to investigate Ms. Eygi’s murder, perhaps the most disturbing fact from this ordeal lies within the Biden administration’s gross hypocrisy. In February, when Iran-backed militias killed three U.S. soldiers during an attack on Jordan’s airbase, Biden proclaimed that ‘if you harm an American, we will respond.” Israel has just killed yet another American citizen, and the administration refuses to issue substantial consequences. This is hypocrisy at its finest. For the disgraceful response to Eygi’s killing essentially manufactures future consent for Israel, and possibly other nations, to kill American citizens with impunity.
Abdelhalim Abdelrahman is a Palestinian-American writer and analyst located in Michigan. His work focusing on Palestine has been featured in The Hill, New Arab, Foreign Policy, and Responsible Statecraft.
