Yesterday, this happened. Airman Aaron Bushnell immolated himself in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Just before setting himself alight, he told passersby My name is Aaron Bushnell, I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide.
Bushnell never intended to be a solution. He intended for his death to have meaning, to focus people's attention on the horror that he gave his life to oppose.
And stop with the "unprovoked attack" nonsense. That's like saying the Comanche who killed my great uncle in the Texas Panhandle around 1869 committed an unprovoked attack. The Israelis have been provoking the Palestinians since at least the Naqba in 1948.
I think it's possible that was one of his motives, but with his background and age I highly doubt it was anywhere near the most important one. To Aaron, anyway.
Regardless, he has become a powerful symbol for propaganda against the genocidal Zionist maniacs. His memory is a powerful tool. Those of us who are opposed to genocide in this year of 2024 would dishonor his memory if we did NOT use it so.
I appreciate this perspective. Many of my favourite stop-the-genocide advocates feel the same. But I disagree. And please know I’m not trying to change your mind, but rather am curious about what you might have to say about my perspective, if you’d care to indulge me. I oppose mass bombing of civilians and yet I do not feel I dishonour Aaron’s memory by actively disagreeing with his final actions.
First of all, I did not know Aaron, so I can not be sure I would be adequately advocating on his behalf by leveraging his self-immolation in any way.
But more importantly, propagandizing his self-immolation (which I believe was his intention—and appears to be yours and several other’s’ intentions) is submitting to propaganda as a rightful tool in our society. This is not something I can get behind. Reactionary mobs are not needed. Free thinking humans are.
Where does this lead to? Aaron’s message is not the final word in this situation, you must realize that. He simply increased the intensity and radius of the forever war. So what comes next? If anything, he helped the warmongers feed off this particular war machine a little bit longer by rallying up the anti-warriors into a frothy mob.
I won’t dehumanize Aaron by demonizing him nor will I dehumanize him by turning him into a martyr. He’s human. I still think he was courageous in his final actions, but I don’t see this as the great service many of you seem to believe it is. When you have to become the thing you’re fighting against, you’ve lost. May Aaron rest in peace.
I guess that means that only so-called women children are being slaughtered more efficiently than the Nazis ever managed at Auschwitz. It must be a great comfort to you.
Oh, you repeated some lies. Israel is bombing Syria and Lebanon nearly every damned day, and "Palestinians" refers to the Arabs who were living in the land now called Israel before the settlers drove them into a few enclaves like Gaza. It is a specific identity, and no less real than that of the Jews who conquered their land.
Absolutely. We want there to be no reason for them to exist.
What’s weird though is, just how monstrous does Israel need to get in order for people to see that they’re the problem, and Hamas is only a meager reaction to it?
I did not know that this is the SECOND such act. The HuffPost repoted this morning in their story the same thing happened Dec. 3: "Atlanta Protester Critically Injured After Setting Self On Fire Outside Israeli Consulate -- "We believe it was an act of extreme political protest that occurred," Atlanta's police chief said, adding that authorities found a Palestinian flag at the scene." https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israeli-consulate-self-immolation-protester-atlanta_n_656cb800e4b07b937ff4e44e
I had not seen reporting of that at the time, nor any follow-up reporting.
American hypocrisy is burning bright, hot and oily.
Support all BDS movements and boybott Israeli-supporting corporations whenevr possible.
An active duty service member is much more difficult to ignore. That may not be right, but it is true. This act will force military members and their families to take a long, hard look at what they are being commanded to support, and they're not going to like it at all.
That's important. It's really important. The consequences will be very real.
Absolutely!!! I may be wrong, but I don't recall a similar act by an active duty member of the military.
You know the toads in the White House have to be a little rattled.
I can't imagine being in the military or having family in the military, know they are "led" by the likes of Biden, Trump or any of the idiot moral miscreants in the congress or War Dept.
Of course it's corporate media, what do you expect? And even the corporate media has degenerated, when the Buddhist monk burned himself in the 60s to protest Vietnam that got a lot of coverage. I guess that's what you guys call "late capitalism," and my peeps call demonic level decadence.
Yes they do on both points. I have seen deaf people being shot by police in the US because they could not hear "get on the ground". USA shoot first policy is disgusting. I would NEVER call the police in USA for a damn thing.
My 28 year old grandson is partially deaf. He is also 6'4' tall and is heavy. We went to the DMV to get new IDs/licenses due to a move, and the woman who was working with him suggested he have a "deaf" indicator on his ID. So police would not shoot him if they yelled at him from behind. Because if he did not respond, he would be resisting arrest. We did that, it cost extra, ahaha, but you know the police would not bother looking up his ID.
I am watching to see if this thread is swarmed like the thread in Caitlin's article about this. A concerted effort to say it is all a lie. Like a VFTBNMW troll attack, only much more despicable.
And a policeman aims a gun at the burning man, even while others are trying to put fie fire out with fire extinguishers.
Someone said that the first guy there said "I don't need a gun, I need fire extinguishers" - which neatly sums up, for me, how people must/should feel about the entire US policy - foreign and domestic.
I like your piece so much better. Cait's feels mercenary to me, I can't put my finger on why. Aaron shames us all. But I'd rather see people force the system to kill them then kill themselves. He could have lived for the cause instead of dying for it. And it's hard to not feel like it was a waste. Sure it will have effects, but he could have done something else and left a journal behind.
I'm sure there was a lot going on with Aaron before this happened, and I certainly don't recommend emulating him. The cold, calculating fact is that he made himself a martyr. Martyrs are politically powerful, and he has given decent people a great tool by making the ultimate sacrifice.
We have a duty not just to Aaron Bushnell and his family, but to ourselves. We must make his death mean something positive.
I don't know why you think Caitlin's piece is mercenary, either. It read like it was hurried, like she had to say SOMETHING about it, and I think she did a pretty good job, but it wasn't her best. That said, I'm not so foolish as to not accept your compliment gracefully. Putting me over Caitlin Johnstone is high praise indeed, and I'm grateful for it.
Maybe the hurry is what I was detecting, and yeah her words were great. I think what might also be bothering me is the death and pain worship of this whole event. The system loves to keep people in line with "could be worse" and we regard all suicide as a "cry for help" until a body is produced. Men especially are quite obviously sacrificial in society's eyes.
While I respect his courage, I don't think it was on balance a positive act. And even if it was, that's kind of worse. It just makes horror morally urgent which is distressingly close to the very thing he was protesting against. I don't think burning people should ever be justified, I'll be thinking about this off and on for the rest of my life but as an ethical hedonist, I really think this whole thing was wrong, and not just a "shitty situation" kind of wrong.
I'm rambling. I'm also reminded of the sledgehammer the guy in Seven said people have to be hit with before they pay attention. /deep sigh
I will not even attempt to justify such an act. I can't imagine myself doing it, for one thing. For another, my justification or understanding of why Bushnell did what he did is not required.
With me, partly it's because I'm a veteran. An Air Force guy just sacrificed himself to make a statement that needed stating. I feel honorbound to help him continue to do that now, and I'm comforted in the knowledge that I am far from alone in this.
Well said. What do you think happens now that America has a recent and modern Quang Duc? (With arguably even more spine since Quang had level 11 meditation skills to get him through.) Also, how do the peace movements compare now between this and Iraq. I can't help but feel that Aaron single handedly created a peace movement that history will acknowledge from scratch. America had people like us, but I didn't see mass protects that would have registered. Now, future generations will have to admit at least someone did something. Did the German Nazi opposition have any self immolations? (I know they had some children that opposed them so effectively they got beheaded.) My point is I feel like Aaron didn't just die for the Gazans he died for our legacy.
Fascinating to me how some who deplore Bushnell taking his own life would cheer and call him a hero if his plane crashed or was shot down whilst killing others. Like dying for other peoples' objectives is swell, but choosing your own destiny - how inconvenient.
That is indeed an interesting mechanic. But your injection of a killing act is somewhat redundant. For instance, he could have been killing running the IDF blockade with a truck full of medical supplies.
Ironically, people would be less moved by that. I speculate it's because we are as a species a hideous pain worshipping death cult, who's only redeeming quality is the potential to someday becomes something more, something better.
Well written OB and a great answer to the "what can we do?" question. You are right that Israel today is vastly more vulnerable to sanctions than South Africa ever was. People may have forgotten when both countries were pariah states who cooperated greatly on busting arms sanctions. Israel could revert to that I guess. But stopping this war would be a hundred times easier than stopping apartheid in either country. As we know it would end with a phone call. Recall the fleets, turn off the weapons tap, and Israel would be forced to actually just defend itself instead of acting like a superpower, a Mini-Me version of the United States. They might even have to make peace with the countries on their borders, and the people whose land they are occupying.
Yes, when a Buddhist monk burned himself to death it was a turning point against that imperialist war, hopefully this is the same. Sadly Aaron did pass yesterday, a brave and noble man. The MSM will try to pretend this didn't happen. Thanks for writing about it.
I realize dee inside that to really be supportive, I must be non-violent in how I react to these dastardly acts of despair whilst seeing videos of Israeli celebration. I reviewed the stats on how right wing the Israeli population was yesterday, with the majority of this within young demographic citizens there. That's because they are being nurtured that way as part of their national educational agenda... Again, we as Americans are allowing this. We as Americans are being handed our hat when writing, showing up and attempting to confront our so-called "leaders" like my US Senator Fetterman. Bob Casey isn't much better. Neither respond appropriately. I saw Airman Bushnell take his life, and the part of me that cannot reach that point exploded inside.
Hamas didn't start this. In fact, they were created by the Israeli government, who pays them, you uninformed person. You've been lying to yourself as well if you think Israel is winning a damned thing. Remember what Abagail Van Landers said so many times... Choose your words carefully, as you may have to eat them.
I don't believe "we Americans" are allowing this. We Americans are powerless to stop it. Once there was a major political party against war, death and destruction - now it's a funder and cheerleader for war, death and destruction.
I would have more sympathy for the people in Gaza if they hadn't spent all the billions of dollars taken from western taxpayers on tunnels and rockets. It also didn't help their cause when they raped a young German girl, snapped both her legs in half, and paraded her through the streets in Gaza while the people cheered.
Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. They could have developed their Mediterranean beach front property with those billions but made different choices. What Gaza is experiencing now is the result of fuck around and find out.
The young man setting himself on fire certainly shows more resolve than the dumbass climate protesters throwing tomato soup across plexiglass in front of priceless art. However, both do nothing to move men like myself who are swayed more by logical arguments than emotion.
No, the Palestinians never had a chance in 2005. Israel totally controlled all food, water, and power. They destroyed Gaza's only airport and let it be known they would never allow it to operate. They rationed food so that Gazans had just enough to get by on.
Gaza was an open-air concentration camp for many years before October 7. All of the alleged atrocities committed by Hamas then were almost instantly debunked, in the Israeli press. Israel killed hundreds of its own citizens that day, which should tell you something about that government's character. I didn't make that story up. It comes from Haaretz. Look it up.
You want a logical argument? I think it's illogical for the United States to be ignoring Washington's advice to avoid entangling foreign alliances, and for making war whenever possible so a few can profit off of it. I think it's illogical to piss the rest of the WORLD off at us. I think it's illogical to say America is exceptional.
I think American support for Israel is illogical to the max.
Which bits of Islamic theocratic fascism turn you on the most? Oh - an open air concentration camp fully funded by Iran and brimming with weapons including rockets rained down on Israel constantly?
Ok, I'll bite. Gaza was an open air concentration camp. So the Gazans built tunnels. I hope we can agree on that fact. Now, one would think the purpose of those tunnels would be for the citizens to escape the concentration camp. Did they focus on escaping, or did they focus on attacking innocent Israelis? Perhaps the incident on Oct. 7 was an attempt at escape? Did they mistake that innocent young German girl for a camp guard and accidentally rape her so hard that both her legs were snapped? When they were done with the rape/murder (all in self defense, of course), were they so disoriented that instead of escaping into any of the neighboring Muslim nations, they loaded her corpse into the back of a pickup truck and drove her back into Gaza? Were those not Gazans cheering as the pickup truck drove through their streets?
I get it. You don't like Jews. Even if all the Jews are bad that does not automatically make Gazans good. I'm not in favor of sending money to any foreign nation. We are currently sending money to both sides which is illogical and should stop. We have enough problems.
You don't think America is exceptional. Is there another nation you can point to that is better?
I like Jews just fine. And if they ever escape from a concentration camp and kill some civilians from their oppressors in the process I won't blame them any more than I blame the Palestinians.
I'm not in favor of subsidizing, or bribing, foreign nations. Washington was right about foreign entanglements. Let's clean up our own act, stop waging war all over the planet, and then maybe think about lecturing the rest of the world.
There are lots of other countries with better transportation, medical, and educational systems. It's a long list, but don't try the America Love it or Leave it crap. I'm too old and poor to leave. I'm American, and you're stuck with me and that pesky First Amendment my ancestors fought for.
I think most civilized people recognize that it is immoral to target and murder civilians, even when engaged in a war. If civilians are accidental or unavoidable casualties that is one thing, but specifically targeting them is not acceptable. Unless you want to argue that those who attacked the festival attendees and people inside their homes on Oct. 7 were just confused as to what an enemy Israeli soldier looks like, then you have no legs to stand on in this discussion. You are clearly unable to explain how men supposedly trying to escape a concentration camp decided to take a young German girl, rape her to death, and then return with her body to the concentration camp they were trying to escape from.
Imagine, if you can, a man wrongly convicted of a crime and imprisoned in an American jail. It could be argued that he was morally justified to escape from that jail. It may even be argued that he could be morally justified in harming or even killing a prison guard in his attempt to escape, if it was accidental or unavoidable. What would not be morally justified is for that man to find an innocent woman along his escape route, rape her, murder her, and then drag her body back to the prison that he was trying to escape from, all while the other prisoners celebrated his return and cheered while he pulled her dead body through the cell block. Even if the jail was built on land taken from the mans ancestors through eminent domain, he would not be justified in the raping and murdering of an innocent woman. Even if she was related to some of the prison guards, it would not be justified.
I didn't ask you to name areas that other countries may have better systems than the United States. I asked you to name a country that is more exceptional than the United States as a whole. Moscow has a wonderful subway system, that does not make Russia a more exceptional country. Cuba (supposedly) has a better medical system, that does not make Cuba a better country. What makes our country exceptional are those very rights enumerated in our constitution that set us apart from other countries.
Sadly, I feel that in today's political climate this will be minimized and ignored. The US now been complicit in the deaths of millions for decades, and there's no Walter Cronkite or Huntly/Brinkly to bring it to people's attention.
We have an administration that supports mass death and destruction as well as genocide. In Ukraine, reports are now indicating over a thousand Ukrainian soldiers are killed each day. Busses and streetcars often only have women on them. Zelensky is hated. In our small town on the Dnieper River our neighbors are saying there are regular drones.
Nothing will change as long as Genocide Joey is officially in power, and unlike Vietnam, the corporate media props him up, thanks to Bill Clinton removing the limits on media ownership.
Yes, an incredible act by a martyr, but the US has learned nothing from the last 50 years - except maybe that the US doesn't even get global sanctions when it destroys yet another country.
Bushnell never intended to be a solution. He intended for his death to have meaning, to focus people's attention on the horror that he gave his life to oppose.
And stop with the "unprovoked attack" nonsense. That's like saying the Comanche who killed my great uncle in the Texas Panhandle around 1869 committed an unprovoked attack. The Israelis have been provoking the Palestinians since at least the Naqba in 1948.
Bushnell understood the world of propaganda we live in, so he became that propaganda. Right?
I think it's possible that was one of his motives, but with his background and age I highly doubt it was anywhere near the most important one. To Aaron, anyway.
Regardless, he has become a powerful symbol for propaganda against the genocidal Zionist maniacs. His memory is a powerful tool. Those of us who are opposed to genocide in this year of 2024 would dishonor his memory if we did NOT use it so.
I appreciate this perspective. Many of my favourite stop-the-genocide advocates feel the same. But I disagree. And please know I’m not trying to change your mind, but rather am curious about what you might have to say about my perspective, if you’d care to indulge me. I oppose mass bombing of civilians and yet I do not feel I dishonour Aaron’s memory by actively disagreeing with his final actions.
First of all, I did not know Aaron, so I can not be sure I would be adequately advocating on his behalf by leveraging his self-immolation in any way.
But more importantly, propagandizing his self-immolation (which I believe was his intention—and appears to be yours and several other’s’ intentions) is submitting to propaganda as a rightful tool in our society. This is not something I can get behind. Reactionary mobs are not needed. Free thinking humans are.
Where does this lead to? Aaron’s message is not the final word in this situation, you must realize that. He simply increased the intensity and radius of the forever war. So what comes next? If anything, he helped the warmongers feed off this particular war machine a little bit longer by rallying up the anti-warriors into a frothy mob.
I won’t dehumanize Aaron by demonizing him nor will I dehumanize him by turning him into a martyr. He’s human. I still think he was courageous in his final actions, but I don’t see this as the great service many of you seem to believe it is. When you have to become the thing you’re fighting against, you’ve lost. May Aaron rest in peace.
If that's true, then the Nazi Holocaust never happened. I know it did, for a cousin of mine was in the first platoon of the US Army to reach Dachau.
You are seriously mistaken. Israel is an apartheid state, is committing genocide, and I have every right to oppose funding those genocidal maniacs.
I guess that means that only so-called women children are being slaughtered more efficiently than the Nazis ever managed at Auschwitz. It must be a great comfort to you.
Oh, you repeated some lies. Israel is bombing Syria and Lebanon nearly every damned day, and "Palestinians" refers to the Arabs who were living in the land now called Israel before the settlers drove them into a few enclaves like Gaza. It is a specific identity, and no less real than that of the Jews who conquered their land.
Bullshit. The Allies didn't try to exterminate the Germans. You're reaching, bub.
I've supported BDS for many years and will continue to do so. They are the Houthis of the "Boycott Israel" movement!
That soldier is a hero. His poor family will go through hell as the Psychopathic Zionists mount a campaign of Hate against him!
The fuck. No one here wants to kill anyone. We want the killing to stop. Which is how we are different from Zionists, I suppose.
You want Hamas and Hezbollah to disarm and disband, yes?
Absolutely. We want there to be no reason for them to exist.
What’s weird though is, just how monstrous does Israel need to get in order for people to see that they’re the problem, and Hamas is only a meager reaction to it?
They have already started.
Zionists are fucking demons.
I'd like to think that they'll die by their own sword. A nation so full of hate and vile psychopathy has an expiration date!
😄😁😆😅😁 OMG! What a moron! That's the best you can come up with to try and cover up a ZioTurd Genocide? Karma coming soon. RUN!
ABSOLUTELY!!!
Well said.
I did not know that this is the SECOND such act. The HuffPost repoted this morning in their story the same thing happened Dec. 3: "Atlanta Protester Critically Injured After Setting Self On Fire Outside Israeli Consulate -- "We believe it was an act of extreme political protest that occurred," Atlanta's police chief said, adding that authorities found a Palestinian flag at the scene." https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israeli-consulate-self-immolation-protester-atlanta_n_656cb800e4b07b937ff4e44e
I had not seen reporting of that at the time, nor any follow-up reporting.
American hypocrisy is burning bright, hot and oily.
Support all BDS movements and boybott Israeli-supporting corporations whenevr possible.
An active duty service member is much more difficult to ignore. That may not be right, but it is true. This act will force military members and their families to take a long, hard look at what they are being commanded to support, and they're not going to like it at all.
That's important. It's really important. The consequences will be very real.
Generally, they prefer to take others out with them when they do.
Absolutely!!! I may be wrong, but I don't recall a similar act by an active duty member of the military.
You know the toads in the White House have to be a little rattled.
I can't imagine being in the military or having family in the military, know they are "led" by the likes of Biden, Trump or any of the idiot moral miscreants in the congress or War Dept.
Caitlan Johnstone just dropped a powerful commentary...
https://ohiobarbarian.substack.com/p/aaron-bushnells-sacrifice-and-the/comment/50377213?utm_campaign=comment&utm_medium=email&utm_source=substack&utm_content=comment
Well, that didn't take long ... the Aaron Bushnell story went from being the lede story on HuffPost to being disappeared by 8 a.m.
Figures. NPR didn't even mention it this morning. They're trying to ignore it.
Of course it's corporate media, what do you expect? And even the corporate media has degenerated, when the Buddhist monk burned himself in the 60s to protest Vietnam that got a lot of coverage. I guess that's what you guys call "late capitalism," and my peeps call demonic level decadence.
Late capitalism is just one form of demonic level decadence. We saw the same thing with late master-slave societies and late feudalism.
We may observe the world from different perspectives, but that does not mean we don't see and understand the same things.
That was kind of the point, I was just ribbing you a little. Sometimes you have to laugh, not to cry.
They need to change the name to NHR ... 'Nothing Here, Really!"
Late in the day the story did reappear on HuffPost. Wonder if they got some reader backlash.
Remember Kent State? I wonder how long it will be until we get another one in Joey's even more divisive world.
It does have to do with what people are allowed to see in the media today compared to coverage in the past.
The concerted effort to shut down any online discussion - coverage - is quite obvious. Same tactic, different methodology.
You only get to control the conversation on your own articles/threads/sites/whatever.
Only in USA do the police pull guns on a man on fire, unfcking believable. This shows the true face of USA
https://x.com/AnsrMax/status/1762076050794668071?s=20
Yes. The world needs fire extinguishers, the US brings guns. ALWAYS.
Yes they do on both points. I have seen deaf people being shot by police in the US because they could not hear "get on the ground". USA shoot first policy is disgusting. I would NEVER call the police in USA for a damn thing.
My 28 year old grandson is partially deaf. He is also 6'4' tall and is heavy. We went to the DMV to get new IDs/licenses due to a move, and the woman who was working with him suggested he have a "deaf" indicator on his ID. So police would not shoot him if they yelled at him from behind. Because if he did not respond, he would be resisting arrest. We did that, it cost extra, ahaha, but you know the police would not bother looking up his ID.
Exactly! How will that help when they find his ID after he is already shot. May God protect him from harm.
They are getting just as bad here in Italy.
Italy-Israel: "partners navigating the new era of policing"
https://www.prpchannel.com/en/italia-israele-partners-navigating-the-new-era-of-policing/
I am watching to see if this thread is swarmed like the thread in Caitlin's article about this. A concerted effort to say it is all a lie. Like a VFTBNMW troll attack, only much more despicable.
If it does, I have the Ban button and will apply it liberally.
Let's see how quickly this is either buried or there is a giant smear campaign about Aaron Bushnell.
And a policeman aims a gun at the burning man, even while others are trying to put fie fire out with fire extinguishers.
Someone said that the first guy there said "I don't need a gun, I need fire extinguishers" - which neatly sums up, for me, how people must/should feel about the entire US policy - foreign and domestic.
I like your piece so much better. Cait's feels mercenary to me, I can't put my finger on why. Aaron shames us all. But I'd rather see people force the system to kill them then kill themselves. He could have lived for the cause instead of dying for it. And it's hard to not feel like it was a waste. Sure it will have effects, but he could have done something else and left a journal behind.
I'm sure there was a lot going on with Aaron before this happened, and I certainly don't recommend emulating him. The cold, calculating fact is that he made himself a martyr. Martyrs are politically powerful, and he has given decent people a great tool by making the ultimate sacrifice.
We have a duty not just to Aaron Bushnell and his family, but to ourselves. We must make his death mean something positive.
I don't know why you think Caitlin's piece is mercenary, either. It read like it was hurried, like she had to say SOMETHING about it, and I think she did a pretty good job, but it wasn't her best. That said, I'm not so foolish as to not accept your compliment gracefully. Putting me over Caitlin Johnstone is high praise indeed, and I'm grateful for it.
Maybe the hurry is what I was detecting, and yeah her words were great. I think what might also be bothering me is the death and pain worship of this whole event. The system loves to keep people in line with "could be worse" and we regard all suicide as a "cry for help" until a body is produced. Men especially are quite obviously sacrificial in society's eyes.
While I respect his courage, I don't think it was on balance a positive act. And even if it was, that's kind of worse. It just makes horror morally urgent which is distressingly close to the very thing he was protesting against. I don't think burning people should ever be justified, I'll be thinking about this off and on for the rest of my life but as an ethical hedonist, I really think this whole thing was wrong, and not just a "shitty situation" kind of wrong.
I'm rambling. I'm also reminded of the sledgehammer the guy in Seven said people have to be hit with before they pay attention. /deep sigh
I will not even attempt to justify such an act. I can't imagine myself doing it, for one thing. For another, my justification or understanding of why Bushnell did what he did is not required.
With me, partly it's because I'm a veteran. An Air Force guy just sacrificed himself to make a statement that needed stating. I feel honorbound to help him continue to do that now, and I'm comforted in the knowledge that I am far from alone in this.
Well said. What do you think happens now that America has a recent and modern Quang Duc? (With arguably even more spine since Quang had level 11 meditation skills to get him through.) Also, how do the peace movements compare now between this and Iraq. I can't help but feel that Aaron single handedly created a peace movement that history will acknowledge from scratch. America had people like us, but I didn't see mass protects that would have registered. Now, future generations will have to admit at least someone did something. Did the German Nazi opposition have any self immolations? (I know they had some children that opposed them so effectively they got beheaded.) My point is I feel like Aaron didn't just die for the Gazans he died for our legacy.
Fascinating to me how some who deplore Bushnell taking his own life would cheer and call him a hero if his plane crashed or was shot down whilst killing others. Like dying for other peoples' objectives is swell, but choosing your own destiny - how inconvenient.
That is indeed an interesting mechanic. But your injection of a killing act is somewhat redundant. For instance, he could have been killing running the IDF blockade with a truck full of medical supplies.
Ironically, people would be less moved by that. I speculate it's because we are as a species a hideous pain worshipping death cult, who's only redeeming quality is the potential to someday becomes something more, something better.
If is saves even on Hind it was, on balance, a positive act. He took up the cross. He is a hero.
Crazy times. Sad it comes to this.
Well written OB and a great answer to the "what can we do?" question. You are right that Israel today is vastly more vulnerable to sanctions than South Africa ever was. People may have forgotten when both countries were pariah states who cooperated greatly on busting arms sanctions. Israel could revert to that I guess. But stopping this war would be a hundred times easier than stopping apartheid in either country. As we know it would end with a phone call. Recall the fleets, turn off the weapons tap, and Israel would be forced to actually just defend itself instead of acting like a superpower, a Mini-Me version of the United States. They might even have to make peace with the countries on their borders, and the people whose land they are occupying.
I honour this man's sacrifice. And I'm so sorry it came to this. Free Palestine.
Yes, when a Buddhist monk burned himself to death it was a turning point against that imperialist war, hopefully this is the same. Sadly Aaron did pass yesterday, a brave and noble man. The MSM will try to pretend this didn't happen. Thanks for writing about it.
I realize dee inside that to really be supportive, I must be non-violent in how I react to these dastardly acts of despair whilst seeing videos of Israeli celebration. I reviewed the stats on how right wing the Israeli population was yesterday, with the majority of this within young demographic citizens there. That's because they are being nurtured that way as part of their national educational agenda... Again, we as Americans are allowing this. We as Americans are being handed our hat when writing, showing up and attempting to confront our so-called "leaders" like my US Senator Fetterman. Bob Casey isn't much better. Neither respond appropriately. I saw Airman Bushnell take his life, and the part of me that cannot reach that point exploded inside.
Ohio - time to use your ban button.
Hamas didn't start this. In fact, they were created by the Israeli government, who pays them, you uninformed person. You've been lying to yourself as well if you think Israel is winning a damned thing. Remember what Abagail Van Landers said so many times... Choose your words carefully, as you may have to eat them.
No, I am not misinformed. I suggest you get a plug with a radius of about 8 centimeters so you don't keep putting your head in that place.
I don't believe "we Americans" are allowing this. We Americans are powerless to stop it. Once there was a major political party against war, death and destruction - now it's a funder and cheerleader for war, death and destruction.
Saying that I am powerless is too hard for me right now. We HAVE to get the power back for reasons you and I already know about.
Absolutely - but I don't know how to get rational people in places to make decisions.
My wife tells me I should run for office - I keep thinking about that.
Maybe we both should!
Thank you for getting this out there. I have nothing to add but tears for Aaron and tears for Palestine....Thanks also for everyone's solidarity.....
I would have more sympathy for the people in Gaza if they hadn't spent all the billions of dollars taken from western taxpayers on tunnels and rockets. It also didn't help their cause when they raped a young German girl, snapped both her legs in half, and paraded her through the streets in Gaza while the people cheered.
Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. They could have developed their Mediterranean beach front property with those billions but made different choices. What Gaza is experiencing now is the result of fuck around and find out.
The young man setting himself on fire certainly shows more resolve than the dumbass climate protesters throwing tomato soup across plexiglass in front of priceless art. However, both do nothing to move men like myself who are swayed more by logical arguments than emotion.
No, the Palestinians never had a chance in 2005. Israel totally controlled all food, water, and power. They destroyed Gaza's only airport and let it be known they would never allow it to operate. They rationed food so that Gazans had just enough to get by on.
Gaza was an open-air concentration camp for many years before October 7. All of the alleged atrocities committed by Hamas then were almost instantly debunked, in the Israeli press. Israel killed hundreds of its own citizens that day, which should tell you something about that government's character. I didn't make that story up. It comes from Haaretz. Look it up.
You want a logical argument? I think it's illogical for the United States to be ignoring Washington's advice to avoid entangling foreign alliances, and for making war whenever possible so a few can profit off of it. I think it's illogical to piss the rest of the WORLD off at us. I think it's illogical to say America is exceptional.
I think American support for Israel is illogical to the max.
Which bits of Islamic theocratic fascism turn you on the most? Oh - an open air concentration camp fully funded by Iran and brimming with weapons including rockets rained down on Israel constantly?
Ok, I'll bite. Gaza was an open air concentration camp. So the Gazans built tunnels. I hope we can agree on that fact. Now, one would think the purpose of those tunnels would be for the citizens to escape the concentration camp. Did they focus on escaping, or did they focus on attacking innocent Israelis? Perhaps the incident on Oct. 7 was an attempt at escape? Did they mistake that innocent young German girl for a camp guard and accidentally rape her so hard that both her legs were snapped? When they were done with the rape/murder (all in self defense, of course), were they so disoriented that instead of escaping into any of the neighboring Muslim nations, they loaded her corpse into the back of a pickup truck and drove her back into Gaza? Were those not Gazans cheering as the pickup truck drove through their streets?
I get it. You don't like Jews. Even if all the Jews are bad that does not automatically make Gazans good. I'm not in favor of sending money to any foreign nation. We are currently sending money to both sides which is illogical and should stop. We have enough problems.
You don't think America is exceptional. Is there another nation you can point to that is better?
I like Jews just fine. And if they ever escape from a concentration camp and kill some civilians from their oppressors in the process I won't blame them any more than I blame the Palestinians.
I'm not in favor of subsidizing, or bribing, foreign nations. Washington was right about foreign entanglements. Let's clean up our own act, stop waging war all over the planet, and then maybe think about lecturing the rest of the world.
There are lots of other countries with better transportation, medical, and educational systems. It's a long list, but don't try the America Love it or Leave it crap. I'm too old and poor to leave. I'm American, and you're stuck with me and that pesky First Amendment my ancestors fought for.
I think most civilized people recognize that it is immoral to target and murder civilians, even when engaged in a war. If civilians are accidental or unavoidable casualties that is one thing, but specifically targeting them is not acceptable. Unless you want to argue that those who attacked the festival attendees and people inside their homes on Oct. 7 were just confused as to what an enemy Israeli soldier looks like, then you have no legs to stand on in this discussion. You are clearly unable to explain how men supposedly trying to escape a concentration camp decided to take a young German girl, rape her to death, and then return with her body to the concentration camp they were trying to escape from.
Imagine, if you can, a man wrongly convicted of a crime and imprisoned in an American jail. It could be argued that he was morally justified to escape from that jail. It may even be argued that he could be morally justified in harming or even killing a prison guard in his attempt to escape, if it was accidental or unavoidable. What would not be morally justified is for that man to find an innocent woman along his escape route, rape her, murder her, and then drag her body back to the prison that he was trying to escape from, all while the other prisoners celebrated his return and cheered while he pulled her dead body through the cell block. Even if the jail was built on land taken from the mans ancestors through eminent domain, he would not be justified in the raping and murdering of an innocent woman. Even if she was related to some of the prison guards, it would not be justified.
I didn't ask you to name areas that other countries may have better systems than the United States. I asked you to name a country that is more exceptional than the United States as a whole. Moscow has a wonderful subway system, that does not make Russia a more exceptional country. Cuba (supposedly) has a better medical system, that does not make Cuba a better country. What makes our country exceptional are those very rights enumerated in our constitution that set us apart from other countries.
Sadly, I feel that in today's political climate this will be minimized and ignored. The US now been complicit in the deaths of millions for decades, and there's no Walter Cronkite or Huntly/Brinkly to bring it to people's attention.
We have an administration that supports mass death and destruction as well as genocide. In Ukraine, reports are now indicating over a thousand Ukrainian soldiers are killed each day. Busses and streetcars often only have women on them. Zelensky is hated. In our small town on the Dnieper River our neighbors are saying there are regular drones.
Nothing will change as long as Genocide Joey is officially in power, and unlike Vietnam, the corporate media props him up, thanks to Bill Clinton removing the limits on media ownership.
Yes, an incredible act by a martyr, but the US has learned nothing from the last 50 years - except maybe that the US doesn't even get global sanctions when it destroys yet another country.