Aaron Bushnell just couldn\u2019t take any more.<\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t bear to see any more people eviscerated and incinerated by American bombs dropped by Israelis on innocent Palestinians.<\/p>\n
So, in his Air Force uniform, he walked determinedly to the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. and set himself on fire.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What can we say about a young man who would do that to protest his government\u2019s acts of cruelty and genocide?<\/p>\n
It is important we say nothing before quoting his own calmly spoken, final words to the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. 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\u2019s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal. Free Palestine!\u201d<\/p>\n
You can see Aaron\u2019s last minute of life in this video<\/a>, blurred out after he strikes the match.<\/p>\n In it, he shouts, \u201cFree Palestine\u201d six times. The last five are combined with screams of agony before he falls silent.<\/p>\n A voice off-camera, shouts repeatedly, \u201cGet him on the ground\u2026 on the ground,\u201d which is the correct thing to do when someone is on fire.<\/p>\n People frantically rush in with a fire extinguisher. A police officer or uniformed guard appears and points a gun in Aaron\u2019s direction. Someone calls out \u201cI need a fire extinguisher\u2026a fire extinguisher\u2026another one…I don\u2019t need guns; I need a fire extinguisher.\u201d<\/p>\n Why would Aaron do something this extreme?<\/p>\n More of the \u201cwhy\u201d may come to light. But what he said in that video is sufficient. He could \u201cno longer be complicit in genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n Aaron\u2019s motivation is strikingly similar to that of Norman Morrison, a 35-year-old, Quaker activist who set himself ablaze in the Pentagon parking lot below Secretary of War McNamara\u2019s office, November 2, 1965.<\/p>\n In a letter to his wife, Morrison had written, \u201cDearest Anne, For weeks, even months, I have been praying only that I be shown what I must do. This morning with no warning, I was shown\u2026 Know that I love thee but must act for the children in the Priest\u2019s village,\u201d in reference to an article he had read in which a Catholic priest described Vietnamese \u201cwomen and children blown to bits\u201d from U.S. bombing and napalm.<\/p>\n Too many of us in VFP have seen the suffering war creates and it never leaves our memories. All of us agonize over our government\u2019s aiding and abetting the slaughter of innocents.<\/p>\n We prod ourselves, \u201cwhat is the most, the very best thing, I can do?\u201d<\/p>\n That question moves some to learn the history of Palestine that they\u2019ve too long ignored; some to contact elected officials; some to join a public protest; some to go on fasts; some to block roads or congressional offices and go to jail. But it never feels like enough.<\/p>\n Some may perceive fasting to the death or self-immolation as crazy and extreme beyond measure. Others see it as entirely appropriate because the horror protested is itself insane and extreme beyond measure.<\/p>\n Few who care deeply will have the courage to fast to the death or do what Aaron Bushnell did. But in addition to whatever inadequate things we already do, we can, we must, do two more things.<\/p>\n The first is to consciously let people who are pained and grieving at what our government does know that they are not alone. We should not assume our colleagues and comrades know we are aware of their anguish.<\/p>\n Secondly, we can resolve that we will move beyond simply reacting to bestial policies.<\/p>\n