Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Westlake Park Saturday afternoon to mourn Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a Seattle activist and recent University of Washington graduate, after Israeli forces shot and killed her Friday morning at a protest against illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. As politicians, including US Representative Pramila Jayapal and US Senator Maria Cantwell, send their condolences, pro-Palestine organizations, the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Justice and Peace, and Eygi’s family demand action. They want the US government to launch an independent investigation and hold her killers to account. Further, to honor the killing of Eygi and more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, organizers asked supporters to keep up the pressure for an arms embargo, a ceasefire, and ultimately, for a free Palestine. 

Eygi, 26, attended Seattle Public Schools, Seattle Central College, and she graduated from the University of Washington (UW) earlier this year, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in middle eastern languages and cultures. 

Her family described Eygi as a “loving daughter, sister, partner, and aunt.”

“She was gentle, brave, silly, supportive, and a ray of sunshine,” her family said in a statement posted to social media. “She wore her heart on her sleeves. She felt a deep responsibility to serve others and live a life of caring for those in need with action. She was a fiercely passionate human rights activist her whole life—a steadfast and staunch advocate for justice.”

Eygi helped to organize the UW encampment protest against Israel's genocide, which ultimately won some concessions from the university’s administration and tuition for at least 20 students from Gaza. 

After graduation, Eygi traveled to the West Bank to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). According to speakers at the Westlake rally, Israeli forces killed her just three days after she arrived. 

“Like the olive tree she lay beneath where she took her last breaths, Ayşenur was strong, beautiful, and nourishing,” Eygi’s family’s statement read. “Her presence in our lives was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military.”

On Friday, the White House said the US felt “deeply disturbed” by Eygi’s killing and called for Israel to investigate. Eygi’s family said an Israeli investigation would not suffice, and that the US must launch an independent investigation. 

“For the past 11 months, we have seen how the IDF has continuously shown an utter disdain for innocent life, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank,” Imraan Siddiqi, executive director of Washington State’s Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA), said in a statement. 

In February, President Joe Biden warned Syria and Iran to expect a “response” if they “harmed an American,” but Siddiqi said the US government has “barely acknowledged” when Israel has killed Americans. In 2022, Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, clearly marked as press while she covered a raid on a Jenin refugee camp. Israeli forces also killed Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old American aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish humanitarian aid ship, in 2010. 

And in 2003, an Israeli bulldozer operator crushed Olympia, WA resident Rachel Corrie to death while she attempted to block them from destroying Palestinian homes in Gaza. Corrie’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, wrote in a statement Friday that the US government has been “unable, or unwilling” to hold those responsible for their daughter’s killing to account. “We need to do better this time,” they wrote. 

“It is very evident that the American government does not care about its people. It's very evident that they are willing to sacrifice your life for their precious Israel,” said Akram Baioumy, the Imam at Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) Seattle, at the Westlake rally.

But Eygi may have felt frustrated that her American citizenship alone garnered so much attention, as UW Assistant Professor Aria Fani, who taught Eygi middle eastern languages and culture, told the Seattle Times. “We’ve become numb to Palestinian loss,” Fani said. 

Israeli forces have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, wounded more than 92,000, and displaced more than 85% of the population since Oct 7. The Biden administration claims to want a ceasefire but refuses to enact an arms embargo to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take the deal. On Thursday, Netanyahu said, “There’s not a deal in the making.” 

Baioumy urged the crowd on Saturday afternoon to let Eygi’s death inspire and further their cause for both an end to the genocide and for Palestinian liberation more broadly. He said even in her final conversations, Eygi implored everyone to do more to help the Palestinian people.

In a group prayer at Westlake Park, Baioumy said, “Oh, Allah, let her blood not be spilled in vain. Let it be a source of awakening and strength for her community and for all who witness her courage. Make her legacy a beacon of light for those who continue to struggle for justice and peace.”