Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi’s husband, Hamid Mazhar Ali, spoke at a memorial ceremony held at Eygi’s grave in Didim, Aydın, on the second anniversary of her death. Ali said the legal process in the United States remained at the same point it had been on the day Eygi was killed and that no progress had been made in two years.
Ali said that no investigation had been opened in the United States despite his persistent applications and that the family’s pursuit of justice had yielded no results. He said the family would continue following the process at both the Washington state and federal levels.
“The pain is as intense as it was on the first day”
Ali said the pain of losing Eygi had not eased and that he thought about his wife constantly. He said he missed hearing her laugh and joking with her, adding that he had been forced to learn to live with the pain over time.
Ali said Eygi had supported struggles for peace and justice in different parts of the world since her youth. He said Eygi had worked passionately for peace and justice not only in Palestine but around the world.
He criticized the US position
Ali said events that began in 2023 and the severe humanitarian situation in Gaza had deeply affected Eygi and influenced her decision to travel to the region. He said the continuation of this situation would anger and disappoint Eygi.
Ali argued that the United States applied a double standard between its rhetoric on justice and its approach to Israel. Saying that this stance angered him, Ali said Rachel Corrie’s family had experienced a similar situation. Corrie was an American peace activist who was killed in Gaza in 2003.
Corrie was killed beneath an Israeli bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home. Ali said justice had not been served despite Corrie having been born and raised in the United States and having an American family.
Eygi’s killing
Israeli soldiers opened fire during a peaceful demonstration held in the occupied West Bank in support of Palestinians. Eygi, a human rights activist who also held US citizenship and was attending the demonstration, was shot in the head and critically wounded.
Eygi was taken to a hospital in Palestine but died on September 6, 2024. Eygi, who volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement, took part in peaceful civilian activities supporting Palestinians.
Eygi was buried in Didim, Aydın, on September 14, 2024. Ali said the family would continue seeking justice not only for Eygi but for everyone who had been unjustly killed in different parts of the world.
The toll in the region
More than 73,000 people have been killed and more than 174,000 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 8, 2023. Since the attacks on Gaza began, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 12,000 injured and approximately 24,000 detained in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers in the occupied West Bank.
