On Feb 25, 2024, active duty member of the U.S. Air Force Aaron Bushnell set up his phone and began a livestream on Twitch. Bushnell stood in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C and set himself on fire as he yelled “Free Palestine.”
Self -immolation–the act of lighting oneself on fire–is a form of protest that began to occur frequently in the 1960s. Thich Quang Duc, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, is a prominent name in the history of self-immolation. Quang Duc set himself on fire to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. Likewise, Bushnell was protesting against the violence occurring in Gaza.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, there have been 30,717 Palestinian deaths since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War on Oct. 7. In the livestream Bushnell recorded, he can be heard saying, “I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”
Before Bushnell’s act he says, “I will no longer be complicit in genocide.” This statement has created controversy on the internet. Numerous people have taken to social media to express concerns about Bushnell’s mental health. They believe the Israel-Hamas conflict is a coverup for an underlying issue. They have also looked upon self-immolation as a “violent” and “immoderate” act.
However, there have been many others who look at him as a hero. “You have to be brave in order to do something like that,” says Elkhart HIgh School senior George Dibley. “Bushnell definitely wanted to bring more awareness to the situation–and regardless of your stance, you have to admit that he did get people talking,” he adds.
At 25 years old, Aaron Bushnell made a decision that many wouldn’t. He chose to sacrifice his life in order to bring attention to what he deemed as wrong. Writer for The Guardian Moira Donegan says, “A person of such profound commitment and depth of feeling could be more useful to the world alive than dead.”
