Aysenur Eygi, a 26 year old Turkish-American citizen and recent graduate from the University of Washington, tragically died on September 6th while participating in a protest near Beita in Samaria. There are multiple stories as to what took place and all attempts to figure out what really happened is quite challenging. Here are the stories, the responses, and the scenario that most likely took place.
Although it is currently being portrayed as an intentional and cold-blooded murder by the IDF, the “facts” of this event massively contradict one another. The only thing that seems to be unanimous between all parties is that Eygi was participating in a protest that had been put on by Beita, a community near Nablus (Shechem). Beita frequently hosts “protests” on Fridays opposing the Israeli settlement of Evyatar, which was legalized in June, 2024. This is where the “facts” begin to vary.
The International Solidarity Movement, which Eygi was a member of, claims that the protest was primarily made up of men and children praying. They then claim that this action was met with tear gas and live ammunition from the IDF. On the contrary, other reports claim that the demonstration on Friday involved Palestinians partaking in rock throwing and the IDF responding with tear gas and live ammunition.
What the media will not share is that Palestinians often instigate violence on Fridays. Friday is a holy day for Muslims and provocative mosque services compel many religious muslims to participate in destructive behavior against Israelis. Oftentimes there are rock throwings, fires, and violence on Fridays because of this.
What the media also will not tell you, is that rock throwings are extremely dangerous, and are considered a violent form of terrorism. Jews have even been killed by rock throwings in the past.
What actually happened at this protest?
While the extent to which Eygi was involved is not certain, it is known that she was present at the protest. According to statements from the IDF, Eygi was not the aim, but was instead a casualty of the IDF aiming at a “key instigator of a violent riot”.
The IDF’s statement is unchanging, but other reports show little to no relation to one another. In fact, in this article by CNN there are three claims regarding Eygi’s death that directly conflict with each other. Each eyewitness has a different testimony from the other, though all agree that Egyi was killed in cold blood. One witness claims that Eygi was killed while crouching behind a dumpster and the IDF fire was unnecessary because the crowd was standing still. Another claims that as the group was fleeing from IDF fire, Egyi was shot in the back of the head. To further complicate the story, another witness claims that Eygi was standing beside an olive tree when she was killed.
Some witnesses have even gone so far as to say that since Eygi was shot in the head, it is proof that she was targeted by an IDF soldier who intentionally murdered her without reason.
The lack of evidence should result in suspicion
These discrepancies, in theory, should lead readers to have doubts about the legitimacy of the story, but this does not seem to be the case. In the meantime, Israel has come under intense fire for the situation. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made this strong statement in response to the incident:
“We’ve seen reports of excessive force by Israeli security forces against Palestinians… It’s not acceptable. It has to change. And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government.”
President Joe Biden, though he recognized the event was a horrific mistake, also condemned Israel:
“I am outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi… There must be full accountability. And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again. The violence in the West Bank has been going on for too long….”
Based on these statements, it is clear that neither Blinken nor Biden have concerned themselves with the events which took place prior to the shooting, but have rather focused on chastising and manipulating Israel. Any death is a tragedy, however, the fact that this “protest” was most likely violent and a threat to the soldiers who had been tasked with defending the area provides desperately needed context for this story. If Aysenur and the protestors’ intentions were to peacefully protest settlement expansion, there should have been no rocks thrown and, in turn, no need for tear gas nor live ammunition.
Though there have been at least four different stories regarding the events that took place, the world has already convicted Israel of a heinous crime, even if they are not guilty.
No, Hamas and their Iranian supporters are.
Unfortunately these people that get involved with the Palestinians are on the wrong side of history and they don’t even know it.
When does the US Govt ever pressure the PA to investigate any of the attacks and killings of Israelis by their people and bring full accountability to ensure it never happens again?
They love thugs and terrorists….look at our inner cities….any flavor of thugs you can find (not only blacks)
Well said!
No Israel is doing the right thing in defending the country against terrorism.
The Palistinians need to either go to another Arab country or live under the laws of the nation of Israel. The USA has numerous people from other countries but they are required to follow the laws of the USA or suffer legal consequences.
It should be no different in Israel.
Settling for two countries in that small area is not practical or wise.
Good article that explains the reasons for the protest. The sniper needs to be held accountable though. I pray for all of the Israelites that peace may one day come for you all.
Ps
Do not give up the Philadelphia section of Gaza.
So what is going in to this “Creative ” PILE of people (ie, Blinken, poo poo Biden, and more in the US and other nutty country leaders!!..If any of them are RESPECTABLE PEOPLE??
Why in the world can people not ALL BE CARING and RESPECTFUL??
NOPE, I guess not in this life??
nO THEY TRY to handle Israel the way they want: SAD!
HOW MANY READ THE BIBLE ON THE SAVING OF THE JEWS??
The problem may be simply stated: Israel is defending itself against a neighboring entity (now Hamas) whose sole, sworn aim is the destruction of Israel. Nothing less. Hamas has a particular capacity for using “peaceful demonstrations” to cover for violent attacks. They are unscrupulous and are more than willing to use “Palestinian” citizens as human shields. So, well-trained as they are, it is no small wonder that the IDF is hyper-vigilant to the possibility of “peaceful demonstrations” turning violent. It is ridiculous for the Biden (or any American) administration to put the blame for incidents such as this on Israel. Incidents such as this, or the murder of hostages from 10/7 last year, are entirely on Hamas and its Arab supporting states.
Dealing with Hamas seems very much to me like the old joke about the tired scorpion who arrived at a riverbank. The scorpion saw a horse grazing, went up to the horse and said “if you will give me a ride across the river I promise I won’t sting you.” So the horse let the scorpion get on its back and swam across the river. When they reached the other side the scorpion suddenly stung the horse. The horse said “hey!You promised you wouldn’t do that!” The scorpion said “sorry, I couldn’t help myself, It’s just my nature”
It would seem that anyone who comes to a war zone, stands in or participates in a riot, should have run away when the first shot was fired. To stand in a rock-throwing crowd, when these rocks are aimed at soldiers or police, is foolish. One should have enough sense to get far away. But why would anyone remain in such a situation? Did she have no brains, or was she contemplating suicide and thought she’d leave that up to chance? Strange isn’t it? Trump was intentionally targeted but credits his turning his head at the right moment to G-d. Just a thought- but I encourage a minute being taken to consider why such things happen or don’t happen. Maybe it is to show everyone that joining in violence is not a good choice.
There is no question that Israel is under attack from all major countries in the world. By not condemning and calling these Palestinian protests antisemitism we have sent the wrong message to the world. The strong bond that was formed just a short time ago between the USA and Israel has all been shattered under the Biden administration. The peace accord was such a wonderful beginning to what could’ve been a time of peace. Unfortunately the world seeks to start wars in as many countries as possible. Allowing and promoting these Palestinian riots in so many countries in the name of free speech is a joke. Every nation that has allowed these protests on university campuses and in some cases shutting down massive areas in cities need to be stopped NOW. This isn’t free speech, this is lawlessness at its worst by millions who really have no idea of what they’ve been drawn into. I pray that common sense and level heads rule again. This is just how the holocaust began many years ago. History is definitely repeating itself.