Aaron Bushnell heightens discourse on extreme protests
Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. on Feb. 25. // Photo courtesy of LinkedIn.
TW: Self-harm, death and violence.
On Feb. 25, United States Air Force soldier Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. Bushnell live-streamed the act on the streaming platform Twitch and stated that what he was about to do was an “extreme act of protest” against what he states is a “genocide” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Aaron Bushnell was born in Orleans, Massachusetts, and grew up in a religious compound called “The Community of Jesus.” After leaving the compound in 2019, he began his military career the following year. In the military, he served as a cyber defense operations specialist where his job was to work on offensive and defensive aspects of cyber security, especially concerning foreign entities.
“I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” Bushnell said. “I am 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.”
Bushnell then proceeded to prop up the phone against an object, giving viewers an unobstructed view of the act. He then poured a water bottle filled with a flammable liquid and set himself on fire while repeatedly shouting “Free Palestine.”
There has been some speculation as to whether Bushnell had a diagnosed mental illness that compelled him to protest in such a way. Some believe that for one to commit an act as extreme as self-immolation, one must have mental health issues. Others believe this is the rarest and loudest manifestation of drawing attention to a cause. It is described to be the most extreme act of protest due to its slow effects on the body and the horrifying imagery it bestows.
There have been many notable examples of this throughout history, a primary example being in Saigon, Vietnam. On June 11, 1963, a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk named Thích Quảng Đức protested the discrimination against Buddhists enacted by the South Vietnamese government by lighting himself on fire at a busy intersection in Vietnam. While many disagree with this extreme method, the haunting images taken of Quảng Đức shocked people and drew attention to the discriminatory policies of the government.
“Aaron Bushnell was a man who set himself on fire, not because he has a mental illness, but because he recognized that this was the only way people will listen,” said Alisha Paracha, a freshman political science major. “You can see this by the headlines on mass media networks. Everyone is covering the guy who set himself on fire, but they aren’t covering why he set himself on fire. He set himself on fire because people were too blind to see the genocide happening in Gaza and he knew that, through this form of protest, people might actually open their eyes.”
Some students share a different concern regarding the protest. They believe that there are other ways to raise awareness for a cause or protest without injuring or mutilating oneself.
“As someone in ROTC, I believe that Americans do have the right to protest for a cause they believe to be fair and just,” said a Hofstra ROTC cadet, who wished to remain anonymous. “However, I do believe that the man that set himself on fire for a ‘free Palestine’ went too far. The fact is, it was dangerous what he did. He could have easily injured other people doing it as well as to believe that your death has more purpose than you alive is just unfortunate.”
Despite the debate about the methods of his protest and its effectiveness, Bushnell’s reasoning for doing it was clear: he wanted to raise awareness of the situation in Palestine and hoped that this would motivate the Western world to finally take action.
“It’s not possible to reconstruct all the factors which would lead [Bushnell] or anyone else to take such a drastic step,” said Carolyn Eisenberg, professor of U.S. history and American foreign policy. “One thing that’s clear is that millions of Americans are disconnected from the gravity of the situation in Gaza and from the American role there. Here, in plain sight, thousands of women and children are being mowed down, with no place to hide. And the United States is arming and paying for this. [Bushnell]’s self-immolation was one man’s effort to direct attention to an ongoing catastrophe.”
Bushnell’s story has also provoked questions among many, leading them to wonder what the extent of the United States’ involvement in the Israel-Hamas war has been for it to lead an airman to protest them.
“For the past few weeks now, I’ve had to look away from the news because it’s heartbreaking for me which is why I didn’t dig too deep into that story, but it’s just because you feel helpless not being able to do more,” said Wally, a graduate student in the Zarb School of Business, who only provided their first name due to safety concerns. “So, I can understand why he might have felt helpless and disappointed so to say, especially since he was a representative of the United States. That’s a tale of the ongoing problem in the Middle East.”
This article is in no way condoning or encouraging self-harm and it is written purely for informative purposes.
