PNN – The self-immolation of an American soldier Aaron Bushnell and the reactions to it can be seen as another sign of the oppression of the people of Gaza and the flow of Palestinian resistance under the aggression of the Zionist regime and the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
According to report of Pakistan News Network, the death of a US Air Force officer who set himself on fire in front of the Zionist embassy in Washington on February 25 in protest against Israel’s genocide in the Gaza war has become one of the hottest issues in the world and exposed the suffering of the people of Gaza in the most obvious way.
This incident happened on Sunday evening local time, and officers took 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell to the hospital. But the media announced hours later, quoting an American official, that he died. “I will no longer be an accomplice to genocide,” the man, dressed in military uniform, said in remarks broadcast online. Bushnell then poured a clear liquid on himself and set himself on fire shouting “Free Palestine”.
Hours before self-immolation, he wrote on his Facebook page: “Many of us like to ask ourselves: “What would I have done if I had lived during slavery? Or Jim Crow laws? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country committed genocide? The answer is, you do it. right now.”
Bushnell’s last words were: “I am about to commit an extreme act of protest.” But compared to what the people in Palestine have experienced at the hands of their colonizers, it is not an extreme measure at all. This is what our ruling class has decided is normal.”
Bushnell’s impulses to selfless action
After Bushnell’s death, protesters gathered at the site of his death and honored his memory. One of the protesters told TRT: He is a martyr like other Palestinians. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. Your courage will not be forgotten. The Palestinian people thank you.
Another ex-serviceman said: “As an ex-serviceman I feel the same way he does about watching genocide.”
Another woman said: “I was deeply moved by this incident, that a young man took his own life to get his message across to the president.”
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Another protester said: “He was an extremely brave and deeply moral man who was trying to awaken the conscience of our society, and I hope that millions of Americans will now support him.”
This is not the first act of self-immolation in America in protest of the Gaza war. Last December, a woman set herself on fire in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta in protest of America’s support for Israel in the Gaza war. The identity of this 61-year-old woman, who was also a former member of the army, has not been announced.
One of the protestors in Washington predicted in an interview with TART that the action of this American pilot will spread the spirit of resistance against the Gaza war to the army. “I don’t think this is the last member of our military who is resisting,” he said. I think there are a lot of Aarons out there in the military. Who is going to be their voice? Who is going to stop this from getting worse?”
“It’s a terrible tragedy, but I think it speaks to the depth of despair that a lot of people feel right now about the tragedy,” Bernie Sanders, a Democratic member of the US Senate, also reacted to the act in an interview with Newsweek. They feel the terrible humanity that is happening in Gaza and I share this deep concern. Children are dying of hunger. People are dying – 29,000 Palestinians have died, two-thirds of them women and children. The United States must stand up to Netanyahu and make sure this does not continue.”
Asked by Newsweek how the international community views the move, Sanders said: “We are increasingly isolated. “The international community understands that what America is doing is a humanitarian disaster.”
“It’s a terrible thing to happen and we’re still one of the few countries in the world that stand by Israel, and I think it’s a huge mistake,” he added. And as you may know, I am doing everything I can to make sure that the United States government does not send Netanyahu funding to continue this war.”
In the virtual space, many users mentioned Aaron as a hero. May El Sadani, a human rights lawyer, wrote in his user account in this regard on X: “Totally heartbreaking. I hope that the memory of 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell will be a good cause. “Hopefully, his sacrifice will be a call to action among those who have the ability to do something, and a stark warning to those who avoid changing course.”
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Aya Hijazi, one of the political activists in America, also wrote: “He is a hero and a martyr. The hope that his death is not in vain and the hope that it will be a wake-up call to witness the end of the genocide and the beginning of a free Palestine. Rest in peace, Aaron Bushnell.”
Journalist Caitlin Johnston also wrote on her account on X: “I feel disturbed and disturbed that I don’t think there is anything compared to what happened to Bushnell. This is an event that should shake the world to see the reality of what is happening.”
Media activist Diab Abu Jahjaj also wrote: “Bushnell’s memory will be cherished. His work, as he himself said, was extreme, but it was his outstanding message that mattered. “His sacrifice is now part of the sacrifices of the Palestinian people in the fight for honor.”
Bushnell’s death and the reactions to it can be seen as another sign of Israel’s clear oppression of the people of Gaza. This cruelty that American politicians and the international community turn a blind eye to is now so obvious that the American army has protested against it.