Seattle march for Palestine honors UW grad killed

Protesters honor UW grad killed in West Bank

Dozens of people gathered in Downtown Seattle's Westlake Park to honor the University of Washington graduate who was shot and killed by Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers.

SEATTLE - One day after the world learned about the death of Aysenur Eygi, about 150 people gathered in Downtown Seattle's Westlake Park.

"Everybody knew her, we all knew her, she was the flower of this garden that we planted spreading peace," Aziz Junejo, protester said.

Embracing one another with tears in their eyes, the group held a moment of silence. They then used their voices to honor the 26-year-old and call for action and accountability. "Are we going to do everything that we possibly can to carry her legacy forward and see a free Palestine?" one speaker asked the crowd.

The U.S. State Department confirmed Israeli soldiers shot and killed the University of Washington graduate on Friday morning.

"I think this just adds a heightened pressure to show up to demand justice for Aysenur and to demand justice for all Palestinians who have been murdered by the Israeli government and to demand a firm end to the occupation unwaveringly," Taylor Young, one the organizers behind Saturday’s rally and March said.

For Junejo, who has been protesting like this since the early 60’s with his dad, he told FOX 13, it saddens him to still be doing this so many years later. "I’ve seen this for my entire life, this crisis is 75 years old it didn’t happen on October 7th," Junejo said.

He stood on the corner of Pine and 4-th with his signs, and as the group made their way from Westlake Park down Pine Street, marching and blocking roads, he joined them.

As he and the dozens of others marched, it was Aysha Nur who was on their mind. "The shock is there, the fury is there, the sorrow is there, I don’t cry easily but I’ve been crying over this," Melissa Chaudhry, Candidate for Congress in Washington’s 9th District said.

Her husband told FOX 13, "I couldn’t hold my tears yesterday, it’s Rachel Corrie all over again, 21 years ago it was Rachel Corrie," Zahid Chaudhry said. "Today it’s Aysenur, what will it be 21 years from now, your daughter, my daughter, who will it be, it needs to stop."