A momentous - world shaking - action for Gaza? [Content Warning - discusses self harm and mass atrocity events]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Note: in my “from the news” posts, quotes are shown italicised and blue, my comments are in a different shade of blue, and “good” items are shown in green. I have loosely grouped the posts where such seemed reasonable, but that is subjective (i.e., my opinion - others are free to disagree), and challenging, as some posts belong in multiple “groups”. 

As a child in the 60s, I was moved - shocked, but also moved by their depth of feeling - of several  Buddhist monks in Việt Nam who died by self  immolation in protest against the corruption, violence, and bigotry of the South Vietnamese government. 

Remembering that it was also an act of self immolation that triggered the Arab Spring, we have now seen a similar event, one that - because it was willingly committed by a US service member - may well have even greater impact in our hyper-connected world.

For news reporting on this, see:

“US airman dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli embassy | Israel War on Gaza News | Al Jazeera”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/26/us-airman-who-set-himself-on-fire-outside-israeli-embassy-dies      “Suicide vs genocide: Rest in power, Aaron Bushnell | Israel War on Gaza | Al Jazeera”   https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/2/26/suicide-vs-genocide-rest-in-power-aaron-bushnell      “US air force member dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli embassy”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/25/man-set-himself-on-fire-israel-embassy   “Aaron Bushnell, 25, declared he will ‘no longer be complicit in genocide’ before setting himself alight in Washington DC”      “US airman dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli embassy”   https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-airman-dies-after-setting-himself-fire-outside-israeli-embassy-reports-say-2024-02-26/   “Aaron Bushnell: US airman dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington”   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68405119      “US airman dies after setting himself ablaze outside Israeli Embassy in Israel-_____ war protest”   https://apnews.com/article/israel-us-embassy-man-fire-air-force-f730a09009ce56d818f87a8f4dcc6ca7      “U.S. Air Force member who set himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in D.C. has died”   https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-air-force-member-set-fire-israeli-embassy-dc-died-rcna140455      “Air Force member dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy”   https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/26/air-force-member-fire-death-israeli-embassy-00143269   “According to a video circulating online, the airman repeatedly shouted “free Palestine” during his protest on Sunday”      “US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington”   https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-outside-israeli-embassy-in-washington/      

 

PS - additional news links I have subsequently found are: 

“US Serviceman Dies After Setting Self on Fire Outside Israeli Embassy to Protest War in Gaza”   https://time.com/6821425/israel-embassy-air-force-protest-fire-self-immolation-aaron-bushnell-latest-updates/   &   “The History of Self-Immolation as Political Protest”   https://time.com/6835364/self-immolation-history-israel-hamas-war/   (which includes past incidents I did not know about - one related to the war in Gaza dating to December)   &   “Malcolm Browne: The Story Behind The Burning Monk”   (regarding one of the incidents in Việt Nam I mentioned)   https://time.com/3791176/malcolm-browne-the-story-behind-the-burning-monk/   This is an interview, and includes   “I read once what President Kennedy said about your photograph. He said, “No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one.””      “What We Know About the Man Who Self-Immolated in Front of the Israeli Embassy”   https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/aaron-bushnell-self-immolation-what-we-know.html      “Aaron Bushnell Protest: What is self-immolation? What you ought to know about this political protest”   https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/aaron-bushnell-protest-what-is-self-immolation-what-you-ought-to-know-about-this-political-protest-101709113692252.html      “Pentagon Reacts To Aaron Bushnell's Self-Immolation At Israel Embassy - Newsweek”   https://youtu.be/xGabJxibZYg?si=SLkgH-hZK1sVVsau   (note that the statement says further information is to come)      an opinion that “The self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell should serve as a wake up call for the military”   https://www.salon.com/2024/02/28/the-self-immolation-of-aaron-bushnell-should-serve-as-a-wake-up-call-for-the-military/      “Self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell”   https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Self-immolation_of_Aaron_Bushnell&oldid=1210831838   (The live link, which will inevitably eventually include commentary that I have not read as of the time I added the previous link, is   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation_of_Aaron_Bushnell)  

and 

“The Burning Man”   https://theaimn.com/the-burning-man/   “In another distinctly American moment, a cop or Secret Service officer runs up and unholsters his gun and points it with two hands at the man dying on the ground. Did he expect fire from within the fire?   ...   The U.S. media did not know how to handle the tragedy.   ...   Establishment news sources immediately set about the business of diminishing Bushnell’s act.   ...   Colleagues who knew him in the military as a software engineer-in-training, described him as kind, soft-hearted, and caring, the diametric opposite of the angry radical as he is being portrayed in widespread reporting.   ...   Given American media’s response to Bushnell’s dramatic act, expecting a political swing against Israel is a waste of intellectual energy. He is clearly being marginalized ... but people frustrated with their ability to have an individual impact on horrible situations can sometimes ... act ... with more courage than can be comprehended by observers. Self-immolation is not a new form of political protest and has had some historic importance.”  

PPS - a more recent article provides some human insight: 

“Aaron Bushnell was my friend. May he never be forgotten | Levi Pierpont | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/02/aaron-bushnell-death-washington-gaza  

I ask you to write to your elected representatives (if you are in a nation that has them), urging your representatives to honour the self sacrifice of this serviceman by refusing to condone the genocide in Gaza.

 

PS - as an example, this is the email I have just sent (if you use this as a starting point, do NOT forget to take out my personal reflections in the second paragraph - which I have highlighted and struck through in this copy [but not the original] to aid any who do): 

Dear Members of Parliament,

Protest death in the USA against the genocide in Gaza [Content Warning - discusses self harm and mass atrocity events]

As you are by now no doubt aware, a serving US service member has committed death by self immolation against the genocide - as an example of the reporting, see “US air force member dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli embassy”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/25/man-set-himself-on-fire-israel-embassy   “Aaron Bushnell, 25, declared he will ‘no longer be complicit in genocide’ before setting himself alight in Washington DC”     

As a child in the 60s, I remember the protest deaths by self immolation of several Buddhist monks in South Việt Nam - and in the 90s met someone who had witnessed one of those events. I am also mindful that the self immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia was the event which triggered the Arab Spring (which was then driven by pressures that had been building for some time).

I consider that the self sacrifice of Aaron Bushnell may turn out to be a similarly significant act - possibly a turning point in official attitudes towards the genocide being committed by Israel in Gaza as part of its self destructive Pyrrhic "victory" against the vile terrorists who committed such acts of barbarity on 7^th October last year.

In any case, I consider it high time for Australia to ensure that, while we continue to support Israel's continued existence (whilst noting the thousands who have been protesting against the Netanyahu government for several years - and the charges of corruption against Netanyahu), we are acting decisively against the genocide that, in its state of shock and horror, Israel is committing against Palestinians - including babies, toddlers, and children.

I consider it likely that history will judge those who did not - nearly as harshly as those who failed to act in the 1930s and 40s.

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

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Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.

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