One year on, family of US citizen killed by Israel still seeking justice

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Washington, DC – One twelvemonth aft Israeli forces killed United States national Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, her hubby Hamid Ali says disorder and sorrow proceed to grip his life.

“It’s been precise achy adjusting to beingness without Aysenur – an bare house, seeing the effect it’s had connected her begetter and her family. The connection I’d usage to summarise is confusing,” Ali told Al Jazeera.

Remembering Aysenur

Eygi, who was of Turkish descent and lived successful Seattle, Washington, was 26 erstwhile she was killed. Those who knew her accidental she was joyous and empathetic.

She had been engaged successful activism from a young property and was profoundly moved by injustices successful the US and abroad. Both Ali and Bennett described her arsenic astir “childlike” successful her compassion and playfulness.

“She ever had that benignant of childlike essence to her, that curiosity, that silliness,” Bennett said. “She was specified a special, saccharine – sometimes annoying – sister that I conscionable miss truthful much.”

Ali believes it was that authenticity that drove her to activism.

“She was idiosyncratic who had to unrecorded by her values and her beliefs, and she had to accidental however she felt,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“So that’s the benignant of idiosyncratic she was, and that’s precisely wherefore she felt similar doing the activism that she did successful the states wasn’t enough. She felt similar going to the West Bank was the adjacent happening that she was capable to do.”

Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and soldiers successful the occupied West Bank has deepened since the outbreak of the warfare successful Gaza successful October 2023.

At slightest 2 much US citizens person been killed successful the territory since Eygi was shot.

In July, settlers bushed Florida-born 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet to death. Less than 3 weeks later, Khamis Ayyad, a father of five and erstwhile Chicago resident, was besides killed successful different settler attack.

In some cases, the families are calling for a US probe into the killings, citing statutes that would alteration specified an investigation, including the US-Israel Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).

But the Trump medication has lone called connected Israel to analyse its ain abuses. Israel seldom finds wrongdoing successful the behaviour of its forces against Palestinians and their supporters.

Similarly, erstwhile Eygi was killed past year, the medication of then-President Biden called connected Israel to analyse the incident, but it failed to motorboat its ain probe.

‘The hypocrisy is staggering’

That deficiency of accountability is simply a recurring pattern. In each 10 cases of Americans being killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers since 2022, nary transgression charges person been brought against the perpetrators

The victims see seasoned Al Jazeera newsman Shireen Abu Akleh, who was changeable successful the caput portion wearing a agleam bluish overgarment labelled “press”.

Rights advocates person called the inaction a signifier of impunity for those who termination Americans overseas. They hint the inclination backmost decades, arsenic acold backmost arsenic 2003, erstwhile an Israeli bulldozer ran implicit activistic Rachel Corrie successful Gaza.

She had been trying to support a Palestinian location from demolition astatine the clip of her death.

Corrie, who was besides from Washington state, is present 1 of the icons of the Palestinian origin successful the West. Still, nary 1 has been held accountable for her killing.

Ali drew a parallel betwixt his wife’s decease and Corrie’s killing.

“It was the aforesaid with Rachel Corrie, and that was 20-plus years ago, truthful this isn’t thing new, unfortunately,” helium said.

“We cognize the pattern, but it’s inactive frustrating each the aforesaid and highly hypocritical.”

Despite that frustration, Eygi’s household members person been bringing their demands to US lawmakers and officials successful an effort to support the lawsuit alive.

Last year, they met with then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but according to Ali and Bennett, the apical US diplomat conveyed an inability – a proverbial shrugging of the shoulders – to question justice.

But days earlier Eygi was killed, the US Department of Justice filed “terrorism, execution conspiracy, and sanctions-evasion” charges against Hamas leaders aft the sidesplitting of the US-Israeli captive Hersh Goldberg-Polin successful Gaza.

For Bennett, the opposition successful the US attack is clear. “It sends a connection that not each American lives are equal,” she told Al Jazeera.

Raed Jarrar, the advocacy manager astatine the US-based rights radical DAWN, said the US nonaccomplishment to prosecute accountability for Eygi and different US citizens killed by Israel shows that Washington “values Israeli impunity much than American lives”.

“The hypocrisy is staggering. When US citizens are killed by anyone else, the US authorities mobilises each diplomatic, economical and subject instrumentality astatine its disposal to request justness and accountability,” Jarrar told Al Jazeera.

“But erstwhile Israel kills Americans, the US accepts Israeli ‘investigations’ and excuses, sends much weapons, and shields Israel from planetary accountability.”

‘Irrelevant’ Israeli probe

An archetypal Israeli subject study aft the sidesplitting of Eygi said she was apt killed by “indirect and unintended” fire. But witnesses person said she was targeted successful the caput by a sniper.

There person been reports that a broader Israeli probe into the incidental was besides launched, but determination person been nary nationalist announcements astir its results.

The Israeli government’s Foreign Press Department did not respond to Al Jazeera’s petition for comment.

But Bennett said the household is not expecting immoderate measurement of accountability to travel retired of an Israeli probe.

“The Israeli probe – to america – is irrelevant due to the fact that it’s not due oregon acceptable to person Israel, the perpetrator of the murder, analyse itself,” she said.

For Ali, justness for Eygi whitethorn look elusive, but if her representation tin assistance successful the liberation of the Palestinian people, helium said that would easiness his consciousness of loss.

“I’m not needfully assured that it volition hap anytime soon, oregon that accountability volition travel anytime soon, but I cognize successful 1 signifier oregon another, it volition come,” said Ali.

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