Biden doubles down on Israeli line in killing of US citizen as Ayşenur Eygi's loved ones still wait for call
Washington DC - As President Joe Biden on Wednesday continued to back Israel's line that the killing of Ayşenur Eygi in the West Bank was an "accident," the family and loved ones of the American activist are still waiting for a call from the White House.
Eygi was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper on Friday while showing solidarity with Palestinians being squeezed off their land by the illegal Israeli settlement of Evyatar.
Already on Tuesday, Biden had adopted the Israeli narrative about the killing, telling reporters: "Apparently it was an accident, ricocheted off the ground and just got hit by accident. I'm working that out now."
In a statement on Wednesday, he again called it "tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation," saying his administration had "had full access to Israel's preliminary investigation."
That same investigation had already been slammed by Eygi's grieving parents, who called it "wholly inadequate" and pointed out the absurdity of claiming that a trained sniper could unintentionally shoot someone in the head.
Witnesses to the killing have also repeatedly placed blame for any escalation squarely on the Israeli forces attacking Palestinians and their allies, who were taking part in Friday prayers. Eygi had reportedly retreated some 200 yards away from the scene and into an olive grove, where she was fatally shot from a distance.
Ayşenur Eygi's family waiting on Biden to "do the right thing"
Although almost a full week has passed since her death, her partner, Hamid Ali, revealed that no one from the White House had even contacted the family.
They were still waiting "for President Biden to pick up the phone and do the right thing: To call us, offer his condolences, and let us know that he is ordering an independent investigation of the killing of Ayşenur."
Instead, the 82-year-old only promised to "stay in close contact with Israeli and Palestinian authorities regarding the circumstances that led to Ayşenur's death."
The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is on the verge of complete collapse as Israel expands its cataclysmic war on Gaza into the West Bank, the territory it illegally occupies and is currently besieging.
Cover photo: REUTERS