Hundreds of people gathered at the University of Washington campus Friday evening to commemorate the life of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a recent graduate who was killed by Israeli soldiers in early September. Eygi had traveled to the West Bank to demonstrate against settlements in the occupied territory.
Friends and family shared memories of Eygi at the service, recalling her exuberance for life and devotion to activism.
Before a crowd of around 750 people, Eygi’s husband Hamid Ali described canceling the return ticket that would have brought her back to Seattle. Her flight was scheduled for Oct. 29.
“As the day approaches, there is still some force nagging me to go get her at the airport,” he said. “Some days, it still feels like she will be waiting for me when I get home.”
Before going to the West Bank, she got to meet her newborn nephew for the first and last time, shared Eygi’s sister Özden Bennett.
Since her death, Eygi has become a symbol of sorts, Bennett said. She also hopes her sister will be remembered for who she was as a person, she said. She recalled how Eygi had taught herself to rewind VHS tapes of “Home Alone,” a favorite movie, at the age of 2. How she collected gemstones and lined them against the windowsill of their shared bedroom. How she tended to show up late to everything, including Bennett’s wedding.
“I’d love to have the opportunity to have her show up late one more time,” Bennett said.
Eygi was 26 when she died. Born in Turkey, she grew up in Seattle and studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures at UW. Attendees remembered her as dedicated and compassionate, as committed to human rights as she was to her community and friends.
“She had a lot of passions,” said Nadia Nurmukhametova, who met Eygi around five years ago through a community group in Columbia City. “She wasn’t just a social justice advocate. She loved to cook, cats and traveling. She had a very bright energy. She always knew how to make people feel comfortable.”
Amelia Ossorio was a classmate of Eygi’s at UW. They took a politics of translation course together this year, and the two had bonded over language, activism and art. “I remember her passion,” Ossorio said. “Her belief in freedom.”
For Yirede Valencia-Martinez, Eygi was a ray of light in every room she entered. “If the sun was a person, it would be her.” Valencia-Martinez reminisced about their late night conversations, how they would go from restaurant to restaurant, chatting until they got kicked out.
“She wouldn’t want us to be sad,” Valencia-Martinez said. But, she said, Eygi left behind a big gap in the world.
Eygi had participated in pro-Palestinian encampments on campus in spring and was involved in negotiations with administrators over their eventual removal.
In the fall, she traveled to the West Bank with the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian activist group.
The Israeli military last month conducted a preliminary investigation into Eygi’s death and found it “highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally” by its forces. But Eygi’s family is skeptical of the Israeli government’s findings. They’re calling for a U.S.-led investigation into the killing of Eygi, an American citizen.
More than 100 members of Congress, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, have joined calls for an independent investigation, as have dozens of state lawmakers. The Biden administration has not ordered a U.S. investigation into Eygi’s death. Organizers of the Friday service reiterated the demand.
Also in attendance Friday was the family of Rachel Corrie, another U.S. citizen from Washington who was killed while participating in demonstrations with the International Solidarity Movement. In 2003, an Israeli bulldozer crushed Corrie to death while she was trying to block the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza.
“We knew we had to create an event for people to come and grieve,” said Aria Fani, an assistant professor at the department of Middle Eastern languages and cultures at UW who helped plan Friday’s service. Eygi was a former student of his. “Solace is the takeaway.”