Blinken Slams Israel On Slain American Activist
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has called for “fundamental changes” to the way Israeli forces operate in the occupied West Bank after the killing of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi at a protest last week.
Blinken’s sharply worded rebuke came after the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that it was “highly likely” that Eygi was “hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire.”
In its initial inquiry into the incident, the IDF said that the shot was not aimed at the activist, but at “the key instigator” of a “violent riot” at the Beita Junction where it said Palestinians burned tires and hurled rocks at Israeli security forces. It didn’t name the alleged instigator.
At a news conference in London on Tuesday, Blinken said Eygi’s killing was “unprovoked and unjustified” and demanded changes to the rules of engagement of Israel forces operating in the West Bank.
“No one, no one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for expressing their views,” he said. “Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change. And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government.”
Blinken added that the United States had “long seen” reports of Israeli forces ignoring extremist settler violence against Palestinians and reports of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinians.
The 26-year-old activist, who was born in Turkey, was shot while taking part in a weekly protest against an Israeli settlement near the Palestinian village of Beita. All Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.
Eygi, a recent graduate of the University of Washington, had been volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the same pro-Palestinian activist group as Rachel Corrie, a US citizen killed in 2003 while attempting to stop an Israeli bulldozer from demolishing Palestinian homes in Gaza.
CNN/Shakirat Sadiq
