Woman killed during West Bank protest attended school in West Seattle

1:13 PM: Thanks for the tips. One of today’s biggest international stories is the death of 26-year-old American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, reported to have been shot by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, during what the Associated Press describes as “a weekly demonstration against settlement expansion.” The UK-based Daily Mail was first to note that Ms. Eygi listed herself on social media as having attended West Seattle High School. A texter tells us they remember her from the Class of 2016’s junior year and sent the yearbook photo shown at right. We have an inquiry out to Seattle Public Schools. We’ll add whatever more we find out.

3:06 PM: Multiple readers also have mentioned that Ms. Eygi attended other local schools including Alki Elementary and Madison MS. Her family is not speaking publicly, according to this statement from the organization with which she was volunteering, the International Solidarity Movement. The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) says in a news release that Ms. Eygi graduated this year from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in Middle Eastern languages and cultures.

ADDED: A statement attributed to Ms. Eygi’s family has been posted on social media by a close friend. In it, they ask the U.S. government for an independent investigation into their daughter’s killing.

Jason September 6, 2024 (1:16 pm)

This is incredibly sad. I stand with her as a human being and a protester. We should be mourning the thousands of innocent children being struck by Israeli bombs too. Israel has become a deadly settler nation. Why are they in the WEST BANK AT ALL?? There’s no Hamas there… They are there to occupy and exterminate Palestinians. That is what. And America helps them. Thank god our rep is one of the few that fights this in Congress.

anonyme September 6, 2024 (3:10 pm)

Jason, I agree with you. I’m far from being anti-semitic, and have a good friend in Tel Aviv. However, the Netanyahu regime is clearly committing genocide, aided and abetted by the US government. The execution of peaceful protestors has been commonplace in Israel for a long time.
lucy September 6, 2024 (3:38 pm)

I disagree wholeheartedly and believe Israel has the right to defend itself.
- anonyme September 6, 2024 (4:42 pm)
  
  An all-out offensive assault on civilians, mostly women and children, cannot by any stretch be considered a defensive action. No court on earth would define it so. Exactly how was Israel “defending itself” when this protester was killed? Forty thousand Palestinians are dead: how many of them were provably Hamas, and how many more children must die to destroy an ideology?
- KT September 6, 2024 (4:58 pm)
  
  In my opinion their right to defend does not include the right to kill innocent people and slaughter whole families. Israeli’s actions are inhumane and they will lose the support of future generations because of their actions. Especially horrifying to see the Israeli government slaughtering thousands of people with the support of American taxpayer dollars..
  - WS98 September 6, 2024 (5:20 pm)
    
    I second this. It baffles me someone would be detached enough to just regurgitate bs talking points in the comment section of a post of this nature. There is no way to vote our way out of this conflict. We must boycott, invest and sanction, and demand the same from our elected leaders.
- Question September 6, 2024 (4:59 pm)
  
  What is it that Aysenur was doing that Israel felt the need to defend themselves against her enough to kill her?
- MacJ September 6, 2024 (5:11 pm)
  
  It’s not “defending” to force people out of their homes and homeland.
- Derek September 6, 2024 (5:14 pm)
  
  So Israel is “defending themselves” in a different location entirely? We are told by mainstream media to care a lot about hostages but what about when it’s one of our own from here in the U.S.? Should U.S. now “defend itself?”
- Tony September 6, 2024 (5:25 pm)
  
  Defend itself? Did you not read that this happened in the West Bank? The only thing that Israel is doing there is colonizing and killing innocent activists.
- Amy September 6, 2024 (6:07 pm)
  
  Lucy- I wholeheartedly hope you don’t live in west Seattle. We don’t need people like you here.
  - Lucy September 6, 2024 (7:17 pm)
    
    I do live here. I was born here. You are the hateful one. Not me. I respect your opinion, and your right to express it, even though I disagree. I wish you no harm. I see things a very different way. It’s ok. I will still be kind to you.
    - Bbron September 6, 2024 (8:36 pm)
      
      hilarious this is the comment you chose to reply to and try to take a seat on a moral high horse. you may not wish Amy no harm, but you sure will support the harm thousands of other’s 1/2 a planet away and label yourself as not “the hateful one”. politeness politics is violence.
    - Sad September 6, 2024 (8:43 pm)
      
      Lucy- There needs to be more people like you! God bless you!
    - Sydney September 11, 2024 (2:58 pm)
      
      Co-sign.
  - Sad September 6, 2024 (7:18 pm)
    
    That is awful of you to say! You must be one miserable person to say something like that! Until we all learn to get along and love one another we are always going to have conflict. We are all surrounded by people we don’t want to live around but we must learn to agree to disagree.
    - Sad September 6, 2024 (10:00 pm)
      
      Derek- I’m sorry you missed what I was trying to get at! I’m not saying I have a view of it is what it is on this subject of Palestine and Israel.That is not where I was going. I was replying to Amy‘s remark on how she hoped that Lucy didn’t live here in West Seattle and saying we don’t need people like you around. I wasn’t speaking upon what is going on in Palestine and Israel. It is sad what happened and I feel bad for her family!
    - Heather September 7, 2024 (4:30 pm)
      
      Thank you for clarifying and expressing a desire for everyone to get along! This means that you, like THE MAJORITY of Israeli citizens, are enraged by Netanyahu’s murderous actions and extremism and it means that you, like them, want to see his reign of terror end. I stand with the majority of Israeli people who, like anti-apartheid protesters in 1980s South Africa, are trying to take a stand against the violence of their current ruling party. Imperialism and ethnic cleansing can never lead to peace. I appreciate that the majority of Israelis understand this and are taking to the streets to call for elections to get rid of Netanyahu and his corrupt regime.
  - anonyme September 7, 2024 (9:54 am)
    
    Amy, this is precisely the kind of attitude that Israel is displaying right now. I may not agree with Lucy, but fully support both her right to her opinion, and her right to be here.
  - Sydney September 10, 2024 (3:38 pm)
    
    Amy, You need to get your heart right. Lucy is your neighbor and so am I. We all get to feel the way we do. Be better.
- Educate yourself September 6, 2024 (6:48 pm)
  
  If someone in the neighborhood commits a crime against me, that doesn’t justify me committing crimes against the entire neighborhood. I shudder that someone who believes I that is the right way to think lives among me in West Seattle and can potentially close their eyes if they think someone is justified in committing crimes. Why bother policing anything like school shootings then? Let’s just let everyone do as they feel is right because they’ll surely have supporters as you clearly demonstrate. Take away the current group names and replace them with Germans and see if you still feel the same. If that idea is fair you would still support it no matter what the groups area… but the truth is people who think this are hypocrites and only feel one group should have the right to commit genocide.
- Michele September 6, 2024 (6:59 pm)
  
  It’s not self defense to indiscriminately bomb civilians, arbitrarily detain and torture civilians, deny food and water, demolish homes … are you even aware of what is going on over there?
- Israeli September 6, 2024 (8:10 pm)
  
  Lucy, thank you 🇺🇸🇮🇱
  - How small of you but not surprising September 6, 2024 (11:10 pm)
    
    On a post about a local community member that was shot in the head by a sniper, you are congratulating the group that did it. But you will be indignant should someone make the same historical comparison. You could have just kept this comment to yourself but your bigotry couldn’t hold back. That speaks more about you.
- AG September 6, 2024 (10:51 pm)
  
  Thank you Lucy. I deplore what Bibi is doing and wish either Hamas or Bibi’s government was negotiating in good faith (neither is), but the facts are that 7 October was a choice Hamas made knowing full well that this was the likely result. That was fine by them and fine by the Iranian money sponsoring them. If they thought they were pulling this stuff on the turn-the-other-cheek folk… sorry, wrong number.
- West Bank not gaza September 7, 2024 (12:05 am)
  
  Lucy, this happened in the West Bank, not in Gaza. Israelis are stealing land from Palestinians. This is illegal. They are illegally annexing land from the West Bank. They are the instigator in the West Bank. There is no claim of self defense in this case.
- Julian September 7, 2024 (5:18 am)
  
  Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, but that shouldn’t mean it has a right to exterminate and oppress the people it governs over. And yes, Israel absolutely governs over both West Bank and the people of Gaza. They have control over the borders, security, imports and exports, resources, electricity, water. But they treat the Palestinians like foreigners when it comes to policing them resorting to military warfare. They should police them like any Jewish neighborhood, but that would require they respect their humanity.
Lauren September 6, 2024 (6:22 pm)

Very grateful for Representative Jayapal.
WestseaMom September 7, 2024 (12:02 pm)

It baffles me how SOME grown adults, especially liberal progressives seem fully incapable of understanding that multiple things can be true at once. Could it be possible that people could be capable of grieving for Palestinians and Israelis? OMG what a concept to care about all humanity rather than feeling this ultruistic need to pick sides and condemn people vs Governments. The inability to understand to give a damn about ALL who are suffering says a hell of a lot about the silent antisemitism that still exists even in our “open minded” community. And it seems that there are just a lot of people who like to be angry, point fingers and assign blame for complex issues that have persisted for decades that they do not fully understand or have any direct connection too that in no way impacts them.
- Bbron September 7, 2024 (2:11 pm)
  
  “silent antisemitism” where’s the antisemitism? are you conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism: an antisemitic trope in of itself? what is there to grieve about on the Israeli side of the West Bank occupation?
  - WestseaMom September 7, 2024 (3:57 pm)
    
    There are still 150 hostages missing for now nearly a year. Do their lives matter to you? The silent antisemitism exists right here on this very blog, if you find yourself only able to grieve Palestinian loss of life and have no empathy for Israeli’s who were murdered, raped and held hostage for nearly a year then yeah…I do think you have a deep, deep problem with Jews.
    - Derek September 7, 2024 (7:32 pm)
      
      150 hostages you say? Israel has killed 40,000+ innocent people in Gaza.
    - WestseaMom September 10, 2024 (12:58 pm)
      
      What’s your point? That those 150 lives are valued less because 40,000 are also dead ? If the answer is YES then obviously you have a problem with Jews.
    - Bbron September 8, 2024 (1:21 am)
      
      and Israel has several thousand Palestinian hostages. again you conflate the state of Israel with Jewish people as a whole which is an antisemitic talking point. and again, what does any of what happened on Oct 7th have to do with the West Bank? you know nothing about me, but you’re so quick the label me antisemitic, yet all I have conveyed in the comments here is that I have an issue with how Israel is conducting itself. I had the same viewpoint towards how the US conducted itself following 9/11. A terrorist attack doesn’t automatically resolve the victim of everything they did to understandably radicalize a population. I don’t agree with violence, and I grieve all loss of life and violence, but ignoring how that happens or the actions of one side just leads to the continued death and further escalation we see here.
    - Sydney September 11, 2024 (3:04 pm)
      
      The antisemitism in this blog is not silent at all. Insanely offensive things are being said blithely with our neighbors’ whole chests and it’s not ok. What is going on in this comments section needs to dealt with by the admin.
  - Sydney September 10, 2024 (3:40 pm)
    
    Stop while you’re behind.
- Sydney September 10, 2024 (3:39 pm)
  
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SM Westside September 6, 2024 (1:36 pm)

And Alki Elementary…..Sad, sad news.

WSB September 6, 2024 (1:40 pm)

Thanks, we got another text mentioning another West Seattle elementary school and were working to confirm that.

walkerws September 6, 2024 (1:40 pm)

Settler colonialists will never stop their atrocities

Sydney September 10, 2024 (3:41 pm)

This is wrong and offensive.

Ummm September 6, 2024 (1:49 pm)

The family hasn’t publicly identified her so it’s weird some user dug up her photo to get it shared.

WSB September 6, 2024 (3:05 pm)

Ms. Eygi’s family has chosen not to speak publicly, according to the statement from the organization with which she was volunteering.

Lauren September 6, 2024 (2:35 pm)

A warning: there are some disturbing videos circulating showing this young woman after she was shot. If you search for her name, proceed with caution.

flimflam September 6, 2024 (3:39 pm)

Thanks for the warning
Bernadette September 6, 2024 (3:56 pm)

Thank you for the warning. I’ve seen enough horrific photos of mangled children courtesy of Israel to last a lifetime.

Tim September 6, 2024 (3:43 pm)

So brave. I have seen on the news how settlers threaten, abuse, and humiliate Palestinians in the West Bank at every chance they can. And murder them on almost a daily basis. Free Palestine! Stop the genocide!

Derek September 6, 2024 (4:09 pm)

Any memorials? I too stand with Aysenur Eygi. Deeply saddened by this. Israel has no business being in West Bank.

JR September 6, 2024 (4:11 pm)

Ezgi was the best human being. She packed a lot into 26 years. I am absolutely gutted and have been mourning her loss all day. I loved her so much. Thank you for the warning about the videos. I hope her family doesn’t see them.

Ryan September 6, 2024 (4:50 pm)

Ezgi was one of my daughter’s best friends through childhood. What an amazing human being and this is more than heartbreaking. My family and I have established a gofundme page that we will be used for donating to her family. https://gofund.me/0821941d

AttyOutlaw September 6, 2024 (7:08 pm)

My sincere condolences to Ms. Eygi’s family and loved ones. It’s horrifying that she has been killed. I believe it’s not inconsistent to say that Israel has the right to defend itself and that Israel has no business shooting at anyone in the West Bank. The U.S. administration is in a difficult spot, but it has consistently stated its support for a ceasefire. This young woman’s death is on Netanyahu’s soul.

AM September 6, 2024 (9:59 pm)

The US has vetoed a ceasefire resolution at the UN several times now. Congress invited Netanyahu, a wanted war criminal, to speak at the Capitol while he has a warrant our for arrest with the ICC. He lied repeatedly during that address. We’re talking out of both sides of our mouth, at best.
Martha September 6, 2024 (10:21 pm)

The US is supplying Israel with bombs and weapons to carry out it’s genocide. Did you miss that detail?
OGCodling September 7, 2024 (8:18 am)

Does Bibi N have a soul to salvage as the essential bete noir of the Palestinian conflict with his arrogant ceaseless support of Israeli WB colonization? He’s as vile and craven as his crony Trump.

R September 6, 2024 (10:45 pm)

Israel has a right to defend itself. They have been targeted forever. This is what war looks like. It’s horrid. There will be many more casualties. We cannot stop it. This could happen on our soil.

West Bank not Gaza September 7, 2024 (12:13 am)

This happened in the West Bank, not in Gaza. The two have different governments. Hamas does not rule in Gaza. Israelis are illegally taking land in the West Bank. Some of Netanyahu’s government approve of this but it is illegal. They are the instigator. This is not self defense and can’t be portrayed as such. Your comment carries no meaning in this case because those living in the West Bank who are being forced off their land by Israelis are the victim.
- R September 7, 2024 (6:53 am)
  
  The whole thing is a mess. My friend was living in Israel for three years and got out of there right before this war broke out. It was crazy watching them shoot Missiles at Israel while we FaceTimed over that three year period. He moved further away at one point because they were so close to his apartment. Hopefully this will end soon.
  - AM September 7, 2024 (11:40 am)
    
    You can’t say “the whole thing is a mess”. Yes, a terrible attack occurred on 10/7, and since then most Israelis have lived in houses with their utilities, gone to school, traveled and eaten 3 meals daily. Palestinians, on the other hand, since 10/7, have been **bombed** daily. There is nothing more to say, Israel is conducting a holocaust and anyone who has eyes can see it. If you’re hellbent on supporting Israel no matter what, you can justify this however you like, but they will be judged for what they are doing to innocent people right now.
Julian September 7, 2024 (5:36 am)

War shouldn’t be carried out against the people over which a country governs, and Israel effectively governs Gaza and West Bank. They have control over the borders, security, resources, imports, electricity, water. If you can control those things you can control the people themselves, and so Israel governs the Palestinians there, but polices them like a sovereign nation when they are anything but sovereign. If a group of Jews in Tel Aviv committed an act of domestic terrorism, Israel wouldn’t bomb the city to smithereens, but they have no problem doing it to Palestinians because they do not respect them as human beings let alone equals with of respect or the right to life or anything for that matter.
Actually Mike September 7, 2024 (10:26 am)

Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself–but that’s not what they’re doing now, in Gaza or in the West Bank. Maybe we can’t stop it, but we can stop being part of the atrocities Israel is committing by putting a stop on shipments of arms, munitions and war technology until Israel stops committing these crimes.

Olive September 7, 2024 (9:49 am)

#Justice4AysenurEygi #SolidarityForever#FreePalestine

Susan September 7, 2024 (1:36 pm)

Rest in Power, Ezgi. Like your endearing smile, Your bright light will shine eternally. You spread so much love and touched so many in your short life. All who knew you are better for it. Sending so much strength, love and support to her family and all those affected by this senseless, heinous act. There are so many just at our community level from Alki Elementary to WSHS to UW who are mourning her death.

Derek September 7, 2024 (2:09 pm)

March happening right now at Westlake for Ezgi Eygi. Rest in peace and Free Palestine 🇵🇸

Scarlett September 9, 2024 (12:34 pm)

Thank god that there are still college students in this modern day who are trying to rouse us out of our apathy and cowardice. I don’t care if they are privileged, they are performing what Thoreau called the duty of every citizen – civil disobediance. What has been particularly craven are those on the sidelines who cheered when these student activists – and mostly fellow Americans – were getting manhandled by police, and at the same time were on their knees to a foreign state. Makes my stomach turn.

WSB September 10, 2024 (8:55 am)

We’ll post separately about this a bit later but for anyone still checking here, a vigil has been announced for Alki at 6:30 pm on Wednesday night:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_uOZUixAMg/

Sorry, comment time is over.