Aljazeera.net correspondents
Nablus- American activist Aisha Nour Azghi was martyred after being shot by the Israeli occupation army in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, following her participation in a peaceful solidarity event organized by the town’s residents to reject settlements on their lands for about 4 years.
Aisha – or “Isnur Azki” as her name appears on her American passport – was killed by a live bullet that penetrated the left side of her head. Her injuries were described as “very critical,” according to Fayez Abdul Jabbar, an ambulance officer in the town of Beita.
Abdul Jabbar explained to Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the distance from which the occupation army fired bullets at the foreign solidarity activists and the demonstrating citizens was very close, estimated at only 200 to 250 metres, which led to Aisha being injured and her martyrdom a short time later.
Abdul Jabbar pointed out that they provided first aid to the injured activist, and then transferred her to Rafidia Governmental Hospital in Nablus, “and she had some vital signs,” according to him, but her health condition worsened further due to the severe bleeding caused by the bullet, which led to her death shortly after arriving at the hospital.
premeditated murder
Regarding the nature of what happened, Musa Hamayel, an activist against settlements in Beita and one of the official organizers of the event, said that the occupation army was deployed heavily in the Karm Nimr area near Jabal Sabih, south of the town of Beita, before organizing the event, and was present at a close distance from the demonstrators.
Hamayel added in a phone call to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “As soon as we finished the Friday prayer, the occupation army, as usual, began firing tear gas canisters to disperse us, and followed that up directly and intentionally with live bullets. It fired two bullets, one of which hit the foreign solidarity activist Aisha in the head, while another young man was injured by shrapnel from the second bullet in his thigh.”
He stressed that the heavy presence of the occupation and the deployment of its soldiers around the area where the solidarity event is held weekly indicates that they deliberately target the demonstrators, especially the solidarity activists, as the soldiers shot and wounded an American solidarity activist of Thai origin less than a month ago.
“These major confrontations between the demonstrators and the occupation army did not occur to warrant this great amount of violence and repression from the occupation soldiers,” according to Hamayel, who added that the occupation has begun to deliberately suppress the march and end it quickly, especially with the presence of solidarity activists, whose number in today’s event reached 12.
Various Palestinian political parties and factions condemned the Israeli occupation’s crime of assassinating the foreign activist. Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas said in a press statement after visiting Rafidia Hospital, where the activist’s body lies, “I tell US President Joe Biden that the occupation killed the American activist with American bullets in a peaceful march, just as it killed the children of our people in Gaza and Jenin before.”
Douglas called for an end to the “crazy war” on the Palestinians, and held the Israeli occupation government and what he described as the “unjust world” that supports the occupation government responsible for this crime.
The Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Barghouti, considered what the occupation is doing in terms of killing Palestinians and foreign activists and protecting settlers in return as a “crime.” He said in a press statement that reached Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “Israeli fascism will not be deterred without imposing sanctions and boycotts on it, and we want to see what the American president and his administration will do in response to the Israeli army killing an American citizen.”
Targeting solidarity
Ayşe Nur Izgi – or “Isnur Izki” – (26 years old) is an American activist of Turkish origin. She was born in the city of Antalya in Turkey and studied psychology at the University of Washington in the United States of America. She worked in some centers as a social worker and then worked in a tourism company.
Aisha arrived in Palestine only 3 days ago, as a volunteer in the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), as part of a team of foreign solidarity activists who come to the West Bank to show solidarity with the Palestinians, especially in areas that are directly exposed to attacks by settlers and the occupation army. This is her first participation in solidarity with the people of Beita.
For about 4 years, the residents of the town of Beita have been organizing peaceful demonstrations to reject the settlement on their town’s lands in the Jabal Sabih area. Since then, the settlers have returned to come in large numbers, and have built a religious school and mobile homes. Although the occupation army later evacuated the settlers, it did not prevent their visits to the area.
For his part, Wael Al-Faqih, an activist in attracting foreign solidarity, condemned the occupation’s assassination of activist Aisha, and told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the occupation has begun to deliberately target them directly, and that the attacks on them are being carried out by the army and settlers alike, “as if it is sending messages that they have become a target for it.”
Al-Faqih explained that with the approach of the olive season, they have issued numerous invitations to attract foreign supporters to support the citizens and help them in picking their olives, and he stressed that their presence is very important “as supporters and documenters of the occupation’s crimes.”
Although the number of solidarity activists has declined in the past few years due to the occupation’s harassment, arrests and deportations, they have recently intensified their solidarity visits and participated in confronting the attacks of settlers who attacked them in more than one place, as they documented in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, a month ago.
