The airman, who filmed the incident and could be heard yelling “Free Palestine,” was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after collapsing to the ground.
The U.S. Air Force member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., in an apparent protest against the Israel-Hamas war has died, according to a U.S. official.
Next of kin notification is continuing, so the Air Force won’t release his name until 24 hours after the final notification is complete.
The District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department responded to a call about a person on fire outside the embassy just before 1 p.m. Sunday, and found the flames extinguished by the Secret Service’s uniformed division.
But he live-streamed it and said his name. He is Aaron Bushnell, a brave man who knew he wouldn’t survive the protest he felt he needed to carry out.
I cried when I watched the video. The man inhaling lungfuls of flame and smoke to chant “Free Palestine!” was painful. I hope his family may find some small comfort in the pride they should feel for his courage.
It will be all for nothing if the people don’t unite in demanding that US stops supporting genocide and if they have to, go to the streets and stop this war crime by force.
No, it won’t be nothing. It will always be something. Ineffective, perhaps. Ignored, maybe.
But it’s always something when someone tortures themselves to death for a reason.
Don’t assume it means nothing just because it doesn’t result in what you want.
Comfort? Their loved one is dead. And for what? It would be hypocritical of me to disagree with monks doing it.
All these comments are so okay with it. Like oh well, it was for a good cause! No it fucking ain’t? This is some fucked up glorification of martyrs when in reality, all we accomplished is more pain. His family won’t recover from this, ever.
But hey! All Israel has to do is stop the offensive and all will be dandy! Oh? Ignore those daily non stop dumb fired missiles and if they attack again? Oh well. What’s another 1000 people killed or raped?
I’m sick of people pretending this is an easy fix. As long as hamas exist, Israel won’t stop. Cease fire fixes nothing. But no one here sees past the tip of their nose. Same people were chanting to allow immigrants in because we fucked them up decades ago, because the system can take it! And now will complain about the state of the country, the shortages of food… I have a friend advocating for supplying Africa with means to farm instead of investing into our own farming so we can buy the food from Africa since we can afford it!
I’m just so tired of stupid people. Absolutely zero foresight and jump at first upvoted comment like it’s gospel.
You’re acting like there’s no middle ground between “do nothing” and “murder many thousands of Palestinian women and children (and men who have nothing to do with Hamas).”
Collective punishment is a war crime. Bombing indiscriminately, sniping EMTs and 6-year-old girls, killing people waving white flags with their hands raised just trying to help their families evacuate, telling people to leave their homes with barely any notice and then bombing not only their homes but also the places they told them to evacuate to?
These are not the behaviors of a nation concerned with self-defense. These are the behaviors of a nation trying to eliminate a population.
And all this does is create more extremism. If you managed to survive your family being killed and your home blown up, your entire life being destroyed, when you and your family were just trying to peacefully live your lives, I imagine you’d find it difficult not to wish for the deaths of your oppressors.
Cease fire stops the bleeding. If we’re being charitable and we decide to take Israel’s obvious bullshit at face value, a ceasefire lets them re-evaluate their targets and lets their intelligence have a chance to actually find Hamas rather than indiscriminately murdering an order of magnitude more civilians than Hamas did. And if we’re not being charitable, a ceasefire makes them stop murdering civilians in revenge for a terrorist attack.
You’re right, I let “better” be the enemy of a perfect solution which likely doesn’t exist in this mess.
Gaza is going to be beyond alienated, if hamas strikes again and they will… The next follow up will be absolute.
Situation is fucked no matter how I look at it. But cease fire would buy Gaza more time, Hamas will strike again and then the wrath is going to be 10x worse. Do you agree or is that too pessimistic?
I appreciate your time to spell it out like that, that did strike home.