Written By: Isaac Julian, Staff Writer
PROTEST: Aaron Bushnell commits suicide in retaliation against the genocide happening in Gaza.
February 25 marked the day where an active-duty member of the air force, Aaron Bushnell, died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. In an act of protest against Israel’s attack on Palestinians in Gaza, he live streamed himself burning alive while shouting the words “Free Palestine.”
The conflict between Israel and Palestine is not exactly a new development. In 1947, the Partition Plan was created to separate the Arab and Jewish States, resulting in the creation of the State of Israel. This immediately sparked a war, with Israel’s victory splitting the state into territories, like the Gaza Strip, to relocate Palestinians. Tensions never dissipated between these regions, only becoming more violent with the election of the militant and political group Hamas during the Palestinian election of 2006. The current conflict began in October of 2023, with Hamas fighters sending their forces and missiles across the border into Israeli territory. This attack left 1,300 dead and thousands more injured, prompting an immediate declaration of war by Israel.
In the months since, Israeli forces have responded with military assault on Gaza, leading to a total of over 29,000 deaths. Close to 2 million people have been displaced, and over 60% of the homes and buildings have been destroyed by aerial bombings. Israeli forces have surrounded the city, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to starve and suffer with their basic necessities cut off by militant blockades. The casualties brought by Israel have been primarily civilians, with a large percentage being children as young as the age of one.
These attacks are inevitably costly, and that money is being provided by one of Israel’s closest allies, the United States. Government officials have recognized this war, and feel the need to assist the effort by funneling billions of dollars into Israeli offensives. While this response seems justified to those running our country, that sentiment is not shared by all. Twenty-five year old Aaron Bushnell was an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force, based in San Antonio, Texas. Bushnell recognized the civilian deaths happening daily in Gaza, and felt strongly opposed. Prior to his suicide, he streamed himself on social media saying that he “will no longer be complicit in genocide” in his position in the Air Force. He proceeded to light himself on fire with a match after pouring gasoline on himself, standing in front of the Israeli Embassy. Bushnell was rushed to the hospital, but died shortly after. Nobody working at the embassy was harmed, nor anyone else in the surroundings. This was a calculated, tragic act of public protest.
This extreme form of protest has demonstrated what nobody else in this country had been able to prior, and that is the rising urgency for humanitarian aid in Gaza. This movement against government support of Israeli attacks has existed for some time, but it took this public suicide for our country to recognize it. It should not be necessary to commit an act like this to spread awareness about the loss of lives, but evidently that is exactly what it took. Let Aaron Bushnell’s death be a lesson, that standing up for one’s beliefs is never a losing battle. Doing what you can for a cause, even if it challenges the norm, is enough to start a revolution.