The Shooting of Aysenur Eygi, Echoes From Three Continents and Eras...

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Social Justice Matters: The Shooting of Aysenur Eygi, Echoes From Three Continents and Eras

Aysenur Eygi, 26, was intentionally shot in the head and killed by members of the Israeli Defense Force on September 6, 2024, as she participated in a weekly non-violent protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank towns of Beita and Nablus, Palestine. Aysenur was an American citizen of Turkish descent and a volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Aysenur was the 18th peaceful demonstrator to be killed by the IDF in Beita since 2003. Rachel Corrie, a citizen of the United States and a member of ISM, was run over and killed by a bulldozer as she peacefully protested the demolition of Palestinian houses in Rafah, Gaza Strip. The IDF has denied targeting Aysenur, claiming that they were merely firing warning shots from their vantage point on a hill and that she was struck by a bullet that ricocheted off the pavement. President Biden immediately regurgitated the Israeli government’s account of the killing, which was subsequently debunked by autopsy reports. As the US and global media’s attention on the US and British-sponsored genocide in Gaza has waned in recent weeks, the violence of Jewish settlers and the forced confiscation of Palestinian homes in the Occupied West Bank has not garnered nearly enough attention in the United States and the UK. Over 1,300 Palestinians have been displaced, and 641 structures, mostly homes and businesses, have been destroyed by Jewish settlers and the Israeli army since October 7, 2023. Jewish settlers have likewise forcibly taken over twelve Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. The generational trauma experienced by Palestinian Muslims since 1948 has historical counterparts in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: the Native American and enslaved African populations in the United States and the Indigenous African tribes in South Africa. While many Americans reject the idea of labeling the United States as a settler colonial state, the country’s historical record indeed affirms the accuracy of the designation. The Native American population in the Americas before 1492 and the arrival of Christopher Columbus and thousands of other European settler colonialists is roughly estimated to have been between 60 and 120 million, scattered across North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean islands. As a result of the ravages of settler colonialism in the Western hemisphere, today, there are approximately less than 7 million fully or partially Native Americans in the US and 1.8 million in Canada. A significant portion of the Native American population in the US has been confined to reservations where high unemployment and substandard schools exist, there is a greater likelihood of contracting and dying from treatable diseases, and there are high alcohol and drug addiction numbers with few treatment opportunities. To fully exploit the natural resources and maximize profitability in the “New World,” European settler colonialists forcibly transported and enslaved 12-15 million sub-Saharan Africans to the Western Hemisphere between the 16th and 19th centuries. The decimation of the Native American population in the Western hemisphere, simultaneous with the centuries-long chattel slavery of African people, represents one of the greatest crimes against humanity resulting from settler colonialism. South African Apartheid, a brutally enforced extreme system of racial segregation imposed by White Europeans over Indigenous Black South Africans, lasted for 46 years, from 1948 to 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected President of the country after decades of organized resistance against the ultra-racist apartheid rule. Like their North American Native counterparts and Palestinian Muslims, Black South African’s lands and resources were confiscated by unspeakable violence, and they were forced to live in wretched conditions under repressive rule in areas designated as Bantustans. Their movements and lives were micro-managed by Whites who were fearful of resistance against their rule. Settler colonial states share many social imperatives, perhaps the most pronounced being an uncompromising belief that the colonizers are innately superior to the Indigenous population in all facets of human existence. Secondly, all resistance to settler colonial rule, nonviolent or otherwise, is committed by ungrateful locals who do not appreciate the civilizing benefits of being ruled by superior human beings. So, when Aysenur Eygi was targeted and shot in the head by a marksman from the Israeli Defense Force while peacefully protesting the forced removal of Palestinian Muslims from their homes in the West Bank, or when Rachael Corrie was run over and killed by a bulldozer for peacefully protesting the destruction of Palestinian homes in Rafah, far too many Americans had muted critical responses, if any. Even the US government is complicit in perpetuating injustices against Palestinian people by accepting hollow justifications by the Israeli government for actions like the shooting and killing of a peaceful demonstrator like Aysenur Eygi. The belief in the myth of settler colonial superiority over Indigenous populations militated against their taking principled stands. The shared settler colonial histories, whether in the United States, South Africa, or Occupied Palestine, have yet to evolve beyond their sordid beginnings of racist and systemic brutality against indigenous populations. During the height of the apartheid era in South Africa, an unholy, supportive alliance existed between the apartheid states of South Africa, Israel, and the United States. While the rest of the world decried the subsistence existence, targeted imprisonment, and killings of resistance leaders in the respective country, the Unholy Trinity of United States, Israel, and Apartheid South Africa consistently stood alone in supporting the military, police, and citizens excesses against the indigenous populations, no matter how extreme the actions. The mirror of history reflects an accurate account of the excesses of settler colonial states, no matter how sophisticated and convincing pronouncements to the contrary may be. The Muslim community must be truth seekers as the Qur’an and Prophetic Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). As commanded in the Qur’an: “Oh you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than You)… Quran: An-Nisaa, 4:135 Social Justice Matters is a biweekly commentary and analysis of significant but often overlooked domestic and global events. It is brought to you by ICNA Council for Social Justice.

https://default.salsalabs.org/952ca52e-fbf1-4168-9773-fb71c0b28117/..." width="200" class="CToWUd" data-bit="iit" /> Imam Khalid Griggs Executive Director ICNA Council for Social Justice

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Kofi Bilal Mahmud Eid AlFitr 1443 A.H.

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