Life and legacy of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi honored in Washington documentary

WASHINGTON, United States (MNTV) — The life and enduring influence of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last year, has been memorialized in a new documentary screened in Washington, D.C.

Produced by Zumrut Sonmez, an executive producer at Turkish broadcaster TRT World, the film — titled Under an Olive Tree — was shown at Busboys and Poets, a well-known cultural venue in the U.S. capital. After the screening, a panel brought together Eygi’s sister Ozden Bennett, her husband Hamid Ali, members of the production team, Palestinian activists, and relatives of other Americans killed by Israeli forces or settlers.

Eygi, 26, was a Turkish-American activist from Washington state who devoted her work to Palestinian rights and broader struggles for social justice. On Sept. 6, 2024, she was fatally shot in the head by an Israeli soldier while joining a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank town of Beita. Her death has spurred calls for accountability and a U.S.-led inquiry, but Washington has so far deferred to Israel’s internal investigation.

Bennett said the documentary offers an accurate portrait of her sister’s ideals and journey. She explained that the film shows who Aysenur was, how she became the person she was, and what ultimately led to her death. For anyone unfamiliar with her story, Bennett said, it presents a faithful and fair representation.

She also noted at a press conference on Capitol Hill, alongside U.S. lawmakers and families of other Americans killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers, that meetings with Congress members have brought little progress. While many lawmakers have expressed support, she said, there appear to be limits to what they can do. Letters sent to the State Department and the Department of Justice seeking an independent investigation have gone unanswered. Reflecting on the past year, Bennett said her family has had to balance grief with the effort to pursue justice, adding that several other Americans have been killed by the Israeli military in the West Bank since her sister’s death, and that it does not have to be this way.

She was deeply committed to justice

Eygi’s husband, Hamid Ali, described her as a joyful and playful person who nevertheless held a deep sense of fairness. He recalled a family trip when she laughed while standing on a mountain ledge, teasing his mother, who worried for her safety. That moment, he said, summed up her personality — lighthearted yet unwavering in her dedication to standing up for what was right.

Gulay Kaplan, interview producer for the documentary, said the team wanted to ensure Eygi’s life was carefully documented for history. She explained that they aimed to show she was not the first, and sadly would not be the last, to lose her life in the pursuit of justice. Bearing witness to Eygi’s commitment to fairness, and through her to all Palestinians and others who had made similar sacrifices, was crucial for them.

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate detained for months by U.S. immigration authorities over his campus advocacy, also addressed the event. He said successive U.S. administrations had been complicit not only in these killings but also in obscuring accountability, and that the student movement is working to change that. He expressed hope that such sacrifices would not be in vain.

During the panel, Bennett introduced Craig and Cindy Corrie, parents of Rachel Corrie, the American activist killed in 2003 while trying to block an Israeli bulldozer demolishing homes in Gaza. She also welcomed relatives of Palestinian-American victims: Hafez Ajaq, father of Tawfiq Ajaq, who was killed by Israeli soldiers in January 2024; Kamel Musallet, father of Sayfullah “Saif” Musallet, killed by settlers in July; and Zeyad Kadur, uncle of Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Palestinian-American currently detained in Israel.

The discussion was moderated by Brad Parker, associate director of policy at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a member of the legal team supporting the Eygi family’s pursuit of justice.