By Saif Sharabati
I first met with Aysenur Ezgi Eygi last May at a student encampment in the United States. We were there standing in solidarity with Palestine and against Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza at the University of Washington. At the time, Ayse was one of those leading and taking a prominent role in the student movement.
The young Turkish-American was motivated to seek justice for Palestinians and many other causes during her university life and afterwards.
As life brought us together seeking liberation for the Palestinian people, the Ayse I got to know was a great person - so nice, kind and a brave, strong leader. The 26-year-old was a very outgoing person with a lot of friends - always smiling and with positive energy.
Ayse was always willing to help others and check on her friends - how they are doing and if they needed any help with anything, even if she was busy and had so much going on.
Equality for everyone
Among some of the defining features, I remember Ayse's incredible drive. She balanced this alongside her humour, trying to make people happy. But she also had a serious side when it came to her activism.
Her social conscience often involved spending significant time organising. Ayse loved Palestine so much and took on an important role in planning at the university encampments - liaising with students and university management.
She achieved this while balancing her learning as a student, working hard on her finals to allow her to get the good grades to eventually graduate from the University of Washington.
Ayse was that person who believed justice involved not only fighting for the Palestinian cause, but also fighting for equality for everyone.
Her journey as a young activist, developing her social conscience, also involved travelling overseas. A couple of years ago, she went to Myanmar to observe the genocide against the Rohingya people in Southeast Asia.
In the US, in the city of Seattle, which she called home since leaving the Turkish city of Antalya at a young age, Ayse was also active in pushing for racial justice, getting involved in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, among others.
Ayse was so honest; she always did things from her heart and with so much love, no matter the cost. I remember how Ayse loved life and how excited she was about continuing her education and visiting the occupied West Bank.
West Bank visit
Ayse was really motivated to go there, to bear witness to the reality on the ground and the reality for Palestinians who have faced the full force of military occupation since 1967 in the West Bank and its subsequent ethnic cleansing.
Since Israel's assault on Palestinians intensified last October, the military has killed more than 41,000 people, mostly women and children. While in the occupied West Bank, Israel has now killed close to 700 people and injured more than 5,700 others.
In this context, during our frequent interactions exchanging messages, Ayse confided in me how her dad and other university professors were so scared about her presence there.
But she was defiant. Ayse still wanted to go there to the occupied West Bank to support Palestinian resistance against the occupation. To witness exactly what it looks like and to come back and continue sending that message to the world - a narrative that is often censored.
Ayse was aware of the dangers, and she still wanted to go - to make her mark and to stand with the Palestinian people experiencing genocide while an indifferent world does nothing in Gaza.
The reason why she went there alongside other peace activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is to continue sending that message and to show the reality of the Israel occupation and its barbarism to the world.
My last phone call with Ayse was just a few hours before she was killed. I was with her on the phone for more than two hours.
At that time, I felt that Ayse was really speaking about her experience from her heart. She told me how terrible the occupation is and how hard it is to live under it - a reality that Palestinians like my family and I have felt. I was arrested there in the past; undercover forces arrested my brother. My father was also arrested and even shot in the leg on one occasion.
Life under occupation
Across the occupied West Bank and as far as the holy city of Jerusalem, going through checkpoints, you experience the apartheid and the dangers firsthand.
Many Palestinians often get shot and killed for doing nothing. My Palestinian friends there have suffered the realities of this, surrounded by checkpoints, with threats to their homes or denying them or guests entry or exit to or from their community. Many also face the injustice of waiting long hours.
During our call, Ayse shared stories she heard from locals and all the suffering the occupation has caused.
We also talked about her experience in Jerusalem and how Israeli soldiers did not let her into the historic Al-Aqsa Mosque.
She also faced the full force of the occupation, a daily reality for Palestinians. She told me about how Israelis took her passport at the border, making her wait a very long time while questioning her about the details of her trip, before eventually letting her in.
We will remember Ayse, someone who lived for justice and Palestinian liberation until her death. We will never forget her. The world will never forget her, and we will continue fighting until the occupation ends.
The main issue she discussed was the suffering of people under occupation, despite only being there for a few days.
Legacy
Before her tragic killing, Ayse had made plans. She was supposed to be meeting my family in the city of Hebron after a couple of days, but that never happened.
We will remember Ayse, someone who lived for justice and Palestinian liberation until her death. We will never forget her. The world will never forget her, and we will continue fighting until the occupation ends.
We will always continue on the path she forged and to amplify her message of justice and equality to the world until it changes.
The legacy of Ayse has been to bring people from her community together. In her memory, community organisers and justice groups will gather, inspired by her strength and conscience, to work together towards the change Ayse knew was hard but always wanted to pursue.
The author, Saif Sharabati is Palestinian American born in Seattle, WA, but was raised in the occupied West Bank. Since he moved back to Seattle in 2021, Sharabati has become involved in Palestinian solidarity activism and served as a prominent voice regarding Palestine in his community.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of TRT Afrika.
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