Amid relentless world-wide protests calling for an end to Israels aggression on Gaza, Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty member of the US Air Force, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., declaring that he would "no longer be complicit in genocide." His remarks are noteworthy since he is a US Air Force active-duty member and has significantly more knowledge than the average protestor. This self-immolation cannot be easily dismissed as an act of "anti-Semitism," "terrorism," or "insanity." Numerous questions spring to mind: Did this officer voice his disapproval to US Air Force superiors and peers? Did he see anything that made him decide he would not be complicit? How did he get to this point of hopelessness in a democratic country like the United States?
Bushnell was not the first individual in the U.S. to self-immolate in order to protest the US governments support for genocide in Gaza. In the last three months, two people in the U.S. have attempted or risked taking their own lives in an effort to change U.S. policy on Palestine, call for a cease-fire, and end U.S. funding to Israel. In December 2023, a female protester, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, self-immolated outside an Israeli consulate building in Atlanta, in what US authorities described as "an extreme act of political protest.". Further reporting on the identity and the fate of the individual in that case was not pursued by most Western media outlets.
At least six Americans burnt themselves alive to protest the Vietnam War, following in the footsteps of Vietnamese Buddhist monks and nuns who self-immolated in 1963 against persecution by the U.S.-backed Ngô?ìnhDi?m regime. Remarkably, on November 2, 1965, anti-war activist Norman Morrison doused himself with kerosene and set himself ablaze underneath Secretary of Defence Robert McNamaras office at the Pentagon to express his disapproval of Americas involvement in the Vietnam War. Americans also self-immolated in protest against the 1991 and 2003 Iraq wars, the climate crisis, suspected corruption at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and other causes.
Bushnell died for a free Palestine, but U.S. corporate media outlets have tried to suppress the meaning and context of his sacrifice. The New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN purposefully excluded Palestine, Gaza, and "genocide" from Bushnells self-immolation headlines. Most mainstream headlines did not assert Aarons reasons for protest. However, the video, which he live-streamed on Twitch, and the act itself show his moral clarity in his political reasoning, yet the US media spun the narrative as that of a mentally ill, troubled youth. It is evidence of how the politically biased US media portrays self-immolation as an outcome of mental illness or religious extremism.
Arab critics and netizens praised Bushnell as "Americas Bouazizi." The 26-year-old street vendor Mohamed Bouazizis self-immolation in Tunisia sparked the Arab Spring, inspiring pro-democracy movements and uprisings that saw the toppling of several Arab leaders. The US Airmans raises the question: Will it stir US policymakers consciences to protect human rights, a core component of democracy? Will the West wake up from its blind support of Israel? Given the way US foreign policy has unfolded in favour of Israel, it is likely that US media will present some story to make sure that questions that must be raised are not asked.
Bushnells self-immolation underscores the American publics outrage about the official American complicity in the Palestinian massacre in the Gaza Strip. It also highlights the moral dilemma that many US military members have due to their affiliation with "an institution of killing." By livestreaming his death, Bushnell taunted Americans to see the type of carnage that the nation has enabled in Gaza, where Israeli soldiers have massacred over 30,000 Palestinians. According to the UN,the Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territorys population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclaves infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed. Bushnell undoubtedly made the ultimate sacrifice to bring a stop to a genocide conducted, backed, and funded by the Biden administration.
Bushnell sent a message to all people of conscience worldwide, asking them to reject being part of the atrocity.Two US officials openly resigned over Bidens Gaza policy before the airmans self-immolation, using identical sentiments. Josh Paul, head of the US State Departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, resigned in October 2023, saying, "I fear we are making the same mistakes we have made in the past decades, and I decline to be a part of it for any longer." These actions are a manifestation of the rising discontent in American circles about Americas unconditional support for Israel.The airmans highly public act may encourage people in the US government or the military to become more vocal against its injustice war across the world.
Americans have demonstrated against the use of public funds to support Israels genocide, and Democrats have been widely critical of the US governments breach of laws prohibiting the sale of weaponry to groups that violate human rights. In spite of all logic and reasoning, as well as the International Court of Justices ruling that Israel is committing "plausible genocide," the US government continues to support Israel with nearly $4 billion in annual military aid and diplomatic support, including four vetoes of UNSC cease-fire resolutions. The Biden administration is seeking an additional $14.3 billion in armed assistance for Israel, and has twice sidestepped Congress to fast-track emergency military aid. Last month, The Intercept reported that Bidens administration had dispatched the US Air Force to help Israeli forces with bombings in Gaza. Bushnells sacrifice serves as a sobering reminder that no conscientious American would tolerate their governments involvement in the massacre of innocent people.
The tragic event of Bushnell is expected to increase worldwide outrage against Israels unlawful actions in Gaza, notably the claimed "genocide" and impending assault on Rafah, a "safe zone" overflowing with displaced Palestinians. We also expect that the self-immolation will cause a shift in US President Joe Bidens steadfast support for the war, not just in Gaza but also in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. Let his sacrifice not be in vain. How the US responds to the Air Force members self-immolation will reflect how much its own democratic ideals have corroded in its unquestioning support for Israel since October 7 of last year. The writer is a security and strategic affairs analyst
