Saturday, September 14, 2024

Dual American-Turkish Citizen Aysenur Eygi In Nablus Protest Shot Dead

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                   

Palestinian activists lift a banner and portraits of slain Turkish-American International Solidarity Movement activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi during a funeral procession in the West Bank city of Nablus, September 9, 2024. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)  Eygi, a 26-year-old from Seattle who held U.S. and Turkish citizenships, was buried in her hometown in the town of Didim on the Aegean Sea. 

Aysenur Eygi
Dual Turkish-American national Aysenur Eygi, 26, was shot dead Friday, September 13, in Samaria  while taking part in a protest against Israeli settlement activity at Beita Junction, near Nablus in the northern West Bank (Samaria).   Her friends want an investigation but not by IDF.
 I'm starting with Aysenur Eygi herself.  Why was she, a recent graduate in the States in journalism, at a protest in the West   Bank?  Why a Turkish woman in Judea-Samaria with Palestinian protesters?   To get a  story?   That's pretty obvious.  Most people realize that such a protest will get more serious and might start shooting, which is  what happened.  
                        Major Populated Arab towns near Jerusalem 
Aysenur was in Nablus.  "Nablus is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately 49 kilometres (30 mi) north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim,  home to An-Najah National University, one of the largest Palestinian institutions of higher learning, and the Palestine Stock Exchange. Nablus is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) known to us as (PA) Palestinian Authority.
Yet, she was an International Solidarity Movement activist.  It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, a third generation Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American; and George N. Rishmawi, a Palestinian activist.

The organization calls on civilians from around the world to participate in acts of non-violent protests against the Israeli military in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It has been criticized for working alongside other groups to pressure Palestinian artists to boycott the One Voice Peace Summit and for helping to undermine the Summit by creating a competing event. ISM and affiliated groups critical of the Summit say that One Voice fails to fully support Palestinian rights guaranteed under international law. which is questionable.  

The ISM's website describes the organization as a "Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles". The land of Eretz Yisrael or Israel was changed in the year 135 by the Romans who had burned down Jerusalem in the year 70.  They re-named the land for the Jews' worst enemy, the Philistines because they had rebelled with leader Bar Kokhba  that year taking back the land .  It not only embarrassed the Romans, but they were furious.  

It emphasizes international volunteers are not there to "teach nonviolent resistance" but to support resistance through nonviolent direct action, emergency mobilization and documentation.  

Israel is at war.  War is known to be hell; hell for all involved.  It isn't like a videogame.  Eygi was in the middle of a protest gone wild with bullets flying.  She shouldhave known better.  She was accidently hit by a flying bullet.  

The documentation groups  are those with the spotlight on the "evil" Jewish IDF. 

 Anything they do isexpected to mar the IDF reputation.  They expect it to happen, and help it along.  

The protest was against the continued expansion of Israeli settlements and had attracted violence prior to the incident. Witnesses (Palestinians)  reported that IDF forces had confronted the activists and shot at them with tear gas and live ammunition to force them to disperse. About thirty minutes after the confrontation, protestors reported that two IDF snipers on a roof about 200 yards away opened fire, killing Eygi and wounding a Palestinian teenager in the leg.

Blinken said the U.S. deplores this tragic loss and that the U.S. is focused on gathering the facts of the shooting.

“First things first, let’s find out exactly what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that,” Blinken said.

“As you have heard me say many times before, I have no higher priority than the safety and protection of American citizens around the world, wherever they are. It's something I take with the utmost seriousness. When we have more info, we’ll share it, make it available and if necessary, we will act on it.”

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett also issued a statement.“We are deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, today in the West Bank and our hearts go out to her family and loved ones,” the statement said. “We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident.”

Israel Defense Forces released a statement regarding the incident on its X and Telegram social media accounts, saying: “Today, during Israeli security forces activity adjacent to the area of Beita, the forces responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them.”  It's quite possible that was Eygi throwing rocks and such, sometimes things worse than rocks, like broken blocks of cement.

“The IDF is looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review,” the statement said.  The IDF has apologized.  

Smoke rises after an explosion during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp, August 31, 2024; Inset: Staff Sgt. Elkana Navon, who was killed amid the fighting in Jenin. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed; Courtesy)

The incident comes as the Israeli military pulled out of the city of Jenin and its three refugee camps early Friday following a 10-day operation in the occupied West Bank. Fighting in Jenin accounts for the deaths of 21 of 39 Palestinians who local health officials say were killed during the Israeli operation. The military says most have been militants.According to an initial IDF probe, troops carrying out a raid in Jenin encountered two gunmen, considered to be prominent members of the Hamas terror group. The soldiers exchange fire with the two terror operatives from close range, killing both of them.  Four soldiers were hit by the gunmen, including Navon who later died. One of the wounded troops, an officer, was listed in serious condition.

In 2017, Jenin had a population of approximately 50,000 people, whilst the Jenin refugee camp had a population of about 10,000, housing Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine War. The camp has since become a stronghold of Palestinian militants against British colonialism and Israeli occupation, being the location of several incidents relating to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Resource:https://www.timesofisrael.com/fierce-clashes-in-jenin-as-idf-continues-major-west-bank-operation/

http://timesofisrael.com , day of war 344.  

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