Washington, D.C.– The deadly capturing of a 26-year-old Turkish-American protester within the occupied West Financial institution has sparked recent requires america to carry Israeli armed forces accountable.
However supporters say justice for U.S. residents killed by Israeli troopers has lengthy been elusive, and plenty of accuse President Joe Biden’s administration of double requirements towards Israel and its navy.
Friday’s capturing claimed the lifetime of 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a twin U.S.-Turkish citizen who was within the small city of Beita, south of Nablus. Mount Sbeih in Beita to participate in demonstrations in opposition to unlawful Israeli settlements.
In the course of the protest, witnesses mentioned an Israeli soldier shot Ezgi Eji within the head and he or she collapsed in an olive grove. She later died of her accidents at Lafidiya Hospital in Nablus.
Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was one of many first U.S. officers to reply to the killings, calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “act to avoid wasting lives.”
Blinken himself was requested concerning the killing at a information convention later within the day, the place a reporter requested him about continued U.S. navy support to Israel.
“I simply wish to specific my deepest condolences, the condolences of america authorities, to the household of Eisenur Ezgi Aji,” Blinken responded. “We remorse this tragic loss.”
He mentioned the Biden administration would “collect the info” and “take motion” if needed.
“My highest precedence is the security and safety of Americans wherever they’re,” Blinken added, echoing the same assertion by Jack Lew, the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
.@SecBlinken: Do one thing to avoid wasting lives! https://t.co/2g4hKCa330
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) September 6, 2024
Justice is elusive?
However supporters query the administration’s dedication to U.S. safety abroad, notably within the occupied Palestinian territories.
They level to a collection of high-profile killings by Israeli forces and say Washington has failed to carry them accountable.
For instance, earlier this yr, an off-duty Israeli police officer and a settler opened hearth on 17-year-old U.S. citizen Tawfiq Ajaq close to his ancestral West Financial institution village of al-Mazraa ash-Sharqiya. Shot to loss of life. Investigation into the case is ongoing.
In 2022, an Israeli sniper additionally shot and killed Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, a U.S. citizen who was reporting from the Jenin refugee camp within the West Financial institution.
The Israeli navy later acknowledged that its troopers fired the deadly bullets however dismissed it as an accident and refused to punish anybody concerned. Though the FBI launched an investigation practically two years in the past, it has not offered any updates or options.
That very same yr, 78-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Assad died after being detained by Israeli troopers at a checkpoint close to his residence in Gilgiria. America in the end refused to chop funding for the power regardless of its document of abuses.
Different examples date again greater than a decade. In 2010, one other teenager, Furkan Dogan, a twin U.S.-Turkish citizen, was killed when Israeli commandos boarded a ship attempting to ship support to Gaza.
In 2003, an Israeli soldier drove a bulldozer and crushed Washington resident Rachel Corrie to loss of life as she protested in opposition to the destruction of Palestinian properties.
Her title was Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, and he or she was not the primary American citizen to be killed by the IDF whereas peacefully protesting Israel in Palestine or just working there.
From Rachel Corrie to Shireen Abu Akleh, the unhappy listing goes on. https://t.co/yOxTAxNpNq
— Monica Marks (@MonicaLMarks) September 6, 2024
White Home response
Concerning Friday’s killings, the Biden administration mentioned it could depend on Israel to research the incident.
“We’ve got contacted the Israeli authorities to request further info and an investigation into this incident,” White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokesman Sean Savitt mentioned.
He added that the federal government was “deeply disturbed by this tragic loss of life”.
The Israeli navy issued an announcement saying that its troops “retaliated with hearth on the principal instigator of the violence, who threw stones on the troops who posed a risk to them.”
It mentioned it was investigating stories “{that a} foreigner was killed on account of a capturing within the space.”
Critics of Israel, considered one of America’s closest allies within the Center East, fear this might result in a reluctance to hunt justice in circumstances the place its troopers seem like at fault.
For instance, on Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) highlighted the lengthy delays in looking for accountability.
“For years, American Muslim and Palestinian American organizations have known as on the Division of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI (FBI) to handle crimes in opposition to Palestinian People killed by the Israeli authorities and related actors,” Robert McCaw Robert McCaw mentioned.
double requirements
America turned the primary nation to acknowledge the state of Israel in 1948 and has maintained shut relations with the Israeli authorities ever since.
Washington offers $3.8 billion in navy support to the nation yearly. That quantity has elevated because the begin of Israel’s Gaza warfare in October because the Biden administration pledged extra weapons and assist.
The warfare started with an assault by the armed group Hamas on southern Israel. About 250 folks had been captured within the assault, a few of whom had been killed in Gaza.
Amongst them is Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen. Advocates on Friday questioned whether or not the Biden administration would decide to looking for the identical accountability within the Ezgi Agee case because it did within the Goldberg-Poulin case.
Yohan Lieberman, co-founder of IfNotNow, an American Jewish rights advocacy group, wrote on social media platform
However Lieberman questioned whether or not Ezgi Eji’s loss of life would spark the identical outrage. “will [Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris] Nonetheless acknowledge her? he requested.
Political analyst Omar Badal additionally pointed to Biden’s public statements following Goldberg-Poulin’s killing.
“Bear in mind: When Hersh Goldberg-Pohling was killed, Biden mentioned ‘Hamas leaders pays for these crimes.’ We’re about to see once more who can kill People with impunity ,” Badal wrote.
As of Friday afternoon, Biden had not but responded to the killings.
Launch an FBI investigation and search the extradition of the killers. #dosomething https://t.co/3tkibOtO5a
— Mike S. Omerman (@MikeOmerMan) September 6, 2024
What does accountability appear like?
Some advocates took to social media to demand concrete measures to deliver Ezgi Eygi’s killers to justice.
“Launch an FBI investigation and search the extradition of the killers,” wrote Michael Omerman, analysis director on the Washington, D.C.-based group DAWN, which advocates for democracy within the Arab world.
CAIR, in the meantime, known as on the Justice Division to research and prosecute all “Israeli officers, troopers and unlawful settlers” who killed not solely Ezgi Eygi however different People akin to journalist Abu Akleh.
The report famous that the division earlier this week unveiled costs of terrorism, conspiracy to commit homicide and sanctions evasion in opposition to Hamas leaders.
“Now that the Division of Justice has demonstrated the power and willingness to prosecute Hamas crimes in opposition to Israelis and Israeli-People within the Center East, it should apply the identical uncompromising authorized rigor to prosecuting crimes in opposition to Palestinian-People. carried out by Israeli troopers and settlers,” mentioned McCaw, CAIR’s director of presidency affairs.
“The Division of Justice should act rapidly and decisively to deliver justice to all Americans, no matter racial background.”
Omar-Mann went a step additional, calling on america to be held accountable for all human rights violations, no matter who’s focused.
He famous {that a} 13-year-old Palestinian woman was additionally killed by Israeli forces in a separate incident close to Nablus on Friday.
“Only a reminder to not choose the worth of a life or the crime of taking a life based mostly on what passport the sufferer could have,” he mentioned.
