Set himself on fire in protest of the Gaza war

Aaron Bushnell was on fire – but no permanent ceasefire is in sight

Elina Pahnke

This is a cultural article that is part of Aftonbladet's opinion journalism.

Published at 03.30

Aaron Bushnell, 25, was an employee of the US Air Force. He died after setting himself on fire outside Israel's embassy in Washington: "I am no longer going to participate in a genocide," he said on film.

Aaron Bushnell, 25, was an employee of the US Air Force. He died after setting himself on fire outside Israel's embassy in Washington: "I am no longer going to participate in a genocide," he said on film.

   Photo: Aftonbladet

On Sunday, February 25, Aaron Bushnell stands outside the Israeli embassy in Washington.

He is twenty-five years old and wears a military uniform.

The sun shines on him. He films himself saying, "I am an active duty member of the US Air Force, and I am no longer going to be a part of genocide."

He continues: “I am about to participate in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have experienced in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it is not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided should be normal”.

Then he sets himself on fire.

We have entered the third season of protests. Despite massive resistance, Israel does not stop bombing Palestine.

In Rafah, where the majority of Gaza's residents have fled on Israel's orders, those who survive the bombing are now at risk of starvation. Sweden participates in the hunger attack by stopping aid to UNRWA. At the same time, the US is blocking the demand for a cease-fire, by once again vetoing the UN Security Council.

Three days after the vote, Aaron Bushnell pours gasoline over his head. He takes out a lighter and shouts Free Palestine!

This protest in solidarity with Gaza becomes for a moment a mirror image of what is going on in Palestine

Then he burns, just as the young Tunisian Mohammed Bouazizi burns in December 2010, when he sets himself on fire to show dissatisfaction with his government - what will later be described as the origin of the Arab Spring. He burns, as the Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns in June 1963, when he sets himself on fire in protest against Vietnamese rule.

And now? No permanent ceasefire in sight.

That's why Aaron Bushnell is walking into the Israeli embassy this Sunday, wearing a uniform that testifies to who he is expected to be.

This young man, meant to fight in someone else's name, whose title and citizenship make him a pawn in the US-funded war, saw only one way to regain control of his body: by rendering it useless. Only then could he establish that he has value, and that other people's lives have value, and that that value is not determined by what we produce or who we are complicit in destroying.

As Aaron Bushnell collapses, a police officer runs up to the flames.

In front of him lies a 25-year-old man, taking his last breaths. This protest in solidarity with Gaza becomes for a moment a mirror image of what is going on in Palestine.

Instead of putting out the fire, and trying to save the life that is in danger, the police aim their weapon at the burning pile of bones. Then another person appears, and shouts something. At first it is only faintly heard, but then it is caught on the young soldier's recording.

“I need a fire extinguisher, not a gun!”