(OLYMPIA, WA – 4/23/2025) — Today, the Washington State House read a resolution recognizing Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi’s life and activism. Her family attended the reading of the resolution and spoke at a press conference afterward.
On September 6, 2024, an Israeli sniper killed 26-year-old Washingtonian activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi as she observed a protest in the West Bank against Israel’s theft of Palestinian land. Since then, her family and other advocates have called for justice and accountability for her killing.
Now, the Washington State House has adopted House Resolution 4661 honoring Ayşenur’s life and activism, which was read and celebrated today. Advocates also called for support for Washington State Senate Joint Memorial 8012, introduced earlier this month, which calls for an independent United States-led investigation into the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli military forces, to ensure justice and accountability for Ayşenur.
In her remarks, Ayşenur’s sister Ozden Eygi Bennett said: “Ayşenur’s death was no accident. It was a targeted, brutal act—a cold and unjust killing of a young woman who devoted her life to peace. And while our hearts ache with grief, we are also filled with a deep, burning determination to make sure that her death is not forgotten… This resolution is a crucial step, but it is just the beginning. It’s a recognition of her life and legacy, but it’s also a stepping stone in the fight for justice… We will not be silent. We will not stop demanding justice. We will not stop fighting for the truth. And we will not rest until this government does what it is obligated to do: investigate the death of an American citizen.”
In his remarks, Ayşenur’s husband Hamid Ali said: “Almost eight months later, we have still not received any information about my wife’s killing from our government, despite our repeated calls for accountability. Despite it all, we remain hopeful that this resolution will prompt the next step toward justice and accountability for Ayşenur. The next opportunity for action in Washington state will be the Joint Memorial introduced earlier this year calling for a credible, independent investigation into Ayşenur’s death—the bare minimum due to a citizen of this country, and something which another Washingtonian, Rachel Corrie, still awaits to this day. If Rachel’s killing had been adequately investigated, perhaps Ayşenur would still be with us today. I urge all of you to support this call and in doing so help prevent the possibility of another Rachel or another Ayşenur in our future.”
In his remarks, Craig Corrie, the father of Rachel Corrie who was killed at age 23 in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza, said: “Our families have become friends. We belong to a kind of a club, if you will, that neither family wants to be a part of, but we are very grateful that we have each other. Rachel and Ayşenur had a lot in common… They both still need to have an investigation into their killing. Not just an investigation, but one with public results and accountability held for these killings. We have more work to do, but today is a good day, where we are recognizing a wonderful person.”
In his remarks, Imraan Siddiqi, Executive Director of CAIR Washington, said: “Sadly what we’ve seen over the course of the past year is abject silence from many of our elected officials. Today’s recognition of Ayşenur by the Washington State Legislature is a really good, positive first step. But we have a long way to go. My question to the elected officials out there is: Where are you? An American citizen, who has been here since she was 10 months old, was taken from us in broad daylight… We are here in solidarity with Ayşenur’s family to call on our elected officials to stand up and use their voices to call for an investigation.”
Link to video of the press conference, courtesy of CAIR-WA and For Aysenur.