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"The U.S. cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the illegal actions of the extremist Israeli government," the senator said.
Days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken signaled that there would be no U.S. inquiry into Israel's killing of Turkish American activist AyÅŸenur Ezgi Eygi in the occupied West Bank last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday called on the Department of Justice to open an investigation of the young campaigner's death.
Eygi, a 26-year-old activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and recent graduate from the University of Washington, was shot in the head, allegedly by an IDF sniper, during a September 6 demonstration in Beita against Israel's illegal apartheid settlements. Eyewitnesses said Israeli forces killed Eygi with "a deliberate shot to the head."
"There will be no accountability if the United States defers to the extremist Israeli government to investigate its own actions."
Sanders noted that both U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, both called for "full accountability" for Eygi's killers.
"Let's be clear: There will be no accountability if the United States defers to the extremist Israeli government to investigate its own actions," he said in a statement.
Sanders continued:
There was no accountability when 17-year-old Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, an American citizen from Louisiana, was shot and killed in January. He was a senior in high school.
There was no accountability when another 17-year-old American, Mohammad Khdour from Florida, was shot and killed in February.
There was no accountability when Dylan Collins, an American journalist for Agence France-Presse, was targeted by Israeli tank fire in October. Six journalists were wounded in the attack, which killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. The group was clearly marked as press.
There was no accountability when American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot in the head by the Israeli military in May 2022. She was also clearly marked as press.
And there was no accountability when another American, 78-year-old Omar Assad, died after being bound and gagged by Israeli security forces.
"None of these Americans were armed," Sanders stressed. "None of them posed a threat."
Sanders also mentioned the hundreds of Palestinians—including more than 140 children—who have been killed by Israeli occupation forces and settler colonists in the West Bank since October.
"There has been no accountability for repeated Israeli settler attacks, enabled by security forces, on Palestinian towns and villages," he said. "No meaningful response to the burning of Palestinian homes and businesses."
"This is a clear pattern," Sanders contended. "These are not mistakes. This is policy: Shoot first, ask no questions later."
"These are not mistakes. This is policy: Shoot first, ask no questions later."
"By continuing to credulously accept the explanations of an extremist Israeli government whose stated goal is to annex the West Bank and push Palestinians off their land, the United States makes a mockery of its values and abdicates its responsibility to investigate and respond to attacks on its citizens," the senator said.
"The U.S. Justice Department must open its own, independent investigations into these attacks on American citizens by the Israeli security forces," he asserted. "The FBI should immediately collect testimony and forensic evidence. And President Biden must act to bring real pressure to bear to change Israeli policy."
"The United States cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the illegal actions of the extremist Israeli government," Sanders added. "We cannot allow American citizens and innocent Palestinians to be killed with impunity. We must act."
Sanders' admonition came a day after a trio of Democratic U.S. lawmakers from Washington state—Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal—demanded the Biden administration investigate Eygi's death.
The parents of Rachel Corrie—a 23-year-old American ISM activist who was crushed to death by a U.S.-supplied bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes in 2003—this week also called for an independent investigation into Eygi's killing.
While admitting that it is "highly likely" that Israeli troops killed Eygi, IDF officials called the killing "unintentional," claiming the fatal shot "was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of... a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks" at occupation forces.
Biden came under fire for repeating Israel's claim, with observers noting that time and again, journalistic and other investigations have concluded that Israeli forces deliberately targeted their victims.
In stark contrast to the U.S. response to Eygi's killing, Turkey—of which she was also a citizen—said it would seek international arrest warrants for whoever shot her.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is trying to obtain arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and a trio of Hamas leaders—at least one of whom has been assassinated.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal said that "we cannot simply accept" the Israeli military's claim that its killing of Aysenur Eygi was "an accident."
U.S. President Joe Biden faced furious backlash on Tuesday after regurgitating the Israeli military's claim that its killing of an American citizen in the occupied West Bank last week was accidental, a narrative that eyewitnesses have denied.
Speaking to reporters, Biden said the killing of 26-year-old human rights activist Aysenur Eygi—a recent graduate of the University of Washington—was "apparently an accident," adding that the bullet that struck her in the head "ricocheted off the ground."
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) denounced Biden's statement as "unacceptable" and "outrageous."
"We cannot simply accept the IDF's version that this was an 'accident,'" said Jayapal. "We do not know that, it's why we need an independent investigation. What accountability will there be when we keep supplying the weapons against our own laws?"
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in response to Biden's remarks that "if you are an American, your president not only provides Israel with the bullets that Israel uses to kill you."
"Not only does he not object after Israel has killed you," he continued. "Much worse, he even comes up with insulting excuses to exonerate Israel for murdering you."
The U.S. president's comments mirrored a statement issued earlier Tuesday by the IDF, which said its internal inquiry "found that it is highly likely" that Eygi "was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her" but at another demonstrator whom the Israeli military described as "the key instigator" of a "riot."
"This was no accident and her killers must be held accountable."
Eyewitnesses have disputed the Israeli military's characterization of the moments before the IDF fatally shot Eygi.
Haaretz reported Sunday that it spoke to three eyewitnesses who said that Israeli soldiers shot Eygi "for no reason" and that "there had been no clashes at the time."
"First we heard a shot and it hit a dumpster that two volunteers were sitting behind and then there was a shot that hit Aysenur in the head," one eyewitness, identified as an American told the Israeli newspaper. "I was immediately just so shocked when I saw her laying on the ground, not moving. It was a direct shot to the head, it was not an accident. She was being extra safe out of all of the volunteers, she and her friends were standing the furthest back, in the safest spot that we thought."
Hours after echoing the Israeli military's findings, Biden issued a statement Wednesday saying he was "outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi," adding that "the shooting that led to her death is totally unacceptable."
The president went on to once again cite the results of Israel's internal investigation, noting that it indicated Eygi's killing "was the result of a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation."
While pledging to "continue to stay in close contact with Israeli and Palestinian authorities regarding the circumstances that led to Aysenur's death" and calling for "full accountability," Biden did not pledge to launch a U.S. investigation.
Kamala Harris, the vice president and Democratic nominee, released a separate statement Wednesday calling Eygi's killing "a horrific tragedy that never should have happened."
"Israel's preliminary investigation indicated it was the result of a tragic error for which the IDF is responsible," Harris added. "We will continue to press the government of Israel for answers and for continued access to the findings of the investigation so we can have confidence in the results. There must be full accountability."
Eygi's family, which has pushed Biden to order an independent probe of their loved one's killing, said Tuesday that the U.S. president has yet to call to offer his condolences directly.
Hamid Ali, Eygi's partner, said Tuesday that "for four days, we have waited for President Biden to pick up the phone and do the right thing: To call us, offer his condolences, and let us know that he is ordering an independent investigation of the killing of Aysenur."
"This was no accident," Ali added, "and her killers must be held accountable."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, she said, "has done nothing to stop settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank, often encouraged by right-wing ministers."
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal blasted Israel's government on Friday after Israeli forces reportedly killed American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi while the 26-year-old was protesting the expansion of settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank.
"My heart goes out to Aysenur's family, friends, and loved ones," Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement. "This is a terrible tragedy, and I extend my condolences to all those in mourning today. My office is actively working to gather more information on the events that led to her death."
Eygi, who had dual citizenship in the United States and Turkey, graduated from the University of Washington earlier this year.
"I am very troubled by the reports that she was killed by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers," said Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Citing witnesses, AJ+ reported that Eygi was killed by a "deliberate shot to the head" in the town of Beita, near the settlement of Evyatar.
"The killing of an American citizen is a terrible proof point in this senseless war of rising tensions in the region."
The congresswoman charged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "has done nothing to stop settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank, often encouraged by right-wing ministers of the Netanyahu government."
"The killing of an American citizen is a terrible proof point in this senseless war of rising tensions in the region," added Jayapal, a critic of Israel's 11-month assault of the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 40,878 Palestinians and led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
The U.S. government has provided Israel with diplomatic support and billions of dollars in military assistance since it launched the assault on Gaza in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas-led attack, in which more than 1,100 people were killed and over 240 others were taken hostage.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American in Congress and a fierce critic of the Israeli government, responded to Eygi's killing by calling out American diplomats in a series of posts on social media Friday.
Matthew Miller, a spokesperson at the U.S. State Department, said that "we are aware of the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank. We offer our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones. We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death, and will have more to say as we learn more. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens."
Noting his statement, Tlaib said: "Hey how'd they die, Matt? Was it magic? Who or what killed Aysenur? Asking on behalf of Americans who want to know."
The congresswoman slammed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his "complete and utter failure in keeping Americans safe," and urged him to "do something to save lives!"
Tlaib also reposted Zeteo News reporter Prem Thakker's list of Americans killed by Israeli forces. In addition to Eygi, they include teenagers Mohammad Khdour and Tawfic Abdel Jabbar; World Central Kitchen worker Jacob Flickinger; journalist Shireen Abu Akleh; and peace activist Rachel Corrie.
"Today, yet another U.S. citizen was shot dead in the West Bank, almost certainly by Israeli soldiers," said Win Without War executive director Sara Haghdoosti, urging President Joe Biden's administration to direct the Federal Bureau of Investigation to launch an immediate investigation.
"Today's tragedy is not a one-off," she stressed. "Violence in the occupied West Bank, driven by right-wing settlers and backed up by Israeli security services, has been increasing since the horrific attacks of October 7th and has spiked in recent weeks. In the last 10 days alone, Israeli security forces have killed 36 Palestinians in the West Bank, including eight children."
Haghdoosti noted that "in February, President Biden declared that settler violence in the West Bank constitutes 'an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States' and promised strict sanctions against those responsible for harming civilians there."
"Eygi's killing is both a confirmation of and a challenge to the president's declaration: A U.S. citizen has been slain, and now it is up to the Biden administration to use the many tools at its disposal to determine who is responsible and hold them accountable," she argued.
"The Justice Department announced indictments this week for Hamas leaders involved in killing U.S. citizens—an entirely appropriate action when Americans are killed abroad," she added. "We are horrified by Hamas' murders, including that of U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin last week. The Goldberg-Polin family deserves justice, and so do Aysenur Eygi's loved ones."
This post has been updated with comment from Win Without War.