Households of a number of Individuals who’ve been killed by Israeli troopers and settlers gathered in entrance of the Capitol on Tuesday to demand the U.S. authorities maintain itself and Israel accountable over the shortage of justice for his or her slain family members.
The press convention, led by Rep. Pramila Japayal (D-Wash.), comes days after the one-year anniversary of an Israeli soldier fatally capturing Seattle-based activist Ayşenur Eygi whereas she was peacefully observing a protest within the West Financial institution.
“There were no calls for justice for her, no commitment to investigate her unlawful killing by Israel. This government has remained steadfast in their silence to our demands for an investigation ever since,” 26-year-old Eygi’s sister Ozden Bennett stated.
“What will it take for the Department of Justice to live up to its name? Why are some American lives worth fighting for, while others are not?” she continued. “Why is it that the U.S. government is swift to act as long as the perpetrator isn’t Israel?”
Celal Gunes/Anadolu through Getty Photographs
The State Division, which has dealt with the instances of Individuals killed in Israel, didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s request for remark. Previously, the company has referred questions on such instances to Israel, whose uncommon investigations into itself extra hardly ever result in accountability.
Since 2022, not less than 10 Individuals have been killed by Israeli violence within the West Financial institution and Gaza. Each the Biden and Trump administrations have declined to behave on calls by victims’ households to each maintain Israel accountable and to conduct an impartial, credible and thorough investigation into the incident.
“I don’t want to hear any more condolences from leaders. I don’t want to read another story or meet another family who mirrors our own loss,” Bennett stated. “We’ve heard enough condolences. We’ve lost enough lives. We’ve demanded justice long enough, and we’ve received nothing.”
Additionally talking Tuesday have been family members of 20-year-old Floridian Sayfollah Musallet, 17-year-old Louisianan Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar, 23-year-old Washingtonian Rachel Corrie and 16-year-old Floridian Mohammed Ibrahim. Mohammed has been imprisoned by the Israeli navy since February with out trial, and his family members say he has misplaced important weight whereas coping with scabies.
“All these things that we was taught as kids — about liberty, about humanity — it does not apply to the Israeli government only,” stated Tawfiq’s father Hafez Ajaq, a U.S. citizen who arrived within the nation as a teen. “They have the right and they have the OK from our government to do such things and such acts without being punished, without being punished at all.”
Nasser Nasser through Related Press
The households careworn that whereas Israeli violence towards Individuals has elevated after invading Gaza in 2023, such incidents have occurred for years. Cindy Corrie spoke of her daughter, who was attempting to forestall Israel from destroying a Palestinian household’s house in Rafah 20 years in the past when troopers ran her over with their bulldozer. Since then, her mother and father have fought for justice — not simply in Rachel’s case, however for all Individuals who’ve been killed by Israel with none accountability.
“Rachel’s dad, who is here, often points out that the U.S. government sends two very different messages to Israel,” Cindy Corrie stated. “One is the diplomatic request for investigations. The other is the billions of dollars in continuing military aid. Which message do you think the Israeli government hears?
“We believe if there had been real consequences in Israel for Rachel’s killing and for any of the killings of U.S. citizens that followed, perhaps the other families standing with us today would not have had to make this trip to tell the stories of their loved ones killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers,” she stated.
