Remember Bushnell, he is not alone!

 Active-duty officer sets himself on fire to protest U.S. support for Israeli military operations in Gaza

On February 25, Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty officer in the U.S. Air Force, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in the United States to protest U.S. support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza, Palestine. Before setting himself on fire, he shouted: "I will no longer be complicit in genocide" and "Free Palestine".

Bushnell, male, 25 years old, belongs to the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron of the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing of the U.S. Air Force. He has been on active duty since May 2020 and is an expert in network defense operations. Bushnell live-streamed his self-immolation on the gaming video platform Twitch.

Bushnell posted on social media before his death: "What would I do if my country was committing genocide?" 

The New York Post disclosed on February 27 that before Bushnell set himself on fire, he claimed that U.S. soldiers were directly involved in "killings" in the Gaza Strip. Bushnell's friends revealed to reporters that Bushnell had shared a lot of military insider information with him the day before the self-immolation incident. He said: "We have troops in the tunnels of Hamas, participating in those killings." Regarding these "killings", he said very straightforwardly: "The US military is directly involved in the genocide against the Palestinians."

The Washington Post reported that Bushnell’s comrade-in-arms Pierpont reported that Bushnell was very disgusted with the U.S. military’s “reckless use of force” and had considered retiring early.

According to the New York Times, the United States had deployed special forces in Israel as early as October last year. 

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta (October 8, 2023). 

In fact, this is not the first similar incidents that have occurred in the United States. On December 1, 2023, in front of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta, a woman holding a Palestinian flag used gasoline to set herself on fire and was seriously burned. 

Bushnell represents a group

There has been constant opposition in the United States against Israel's excessive use of force, which has resulted in a large number of Palestinian civilian casualties. Protests have mostly been held outside Israeli diplomatic missions in the United States. Bushnell's self-immolation incident greatly shocked mainstream American society, and many cities held memorial activities for Bushnell.

On February 26, people from many places in the United States held memorial activities for Bushnell outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington. 

Josephine Guilbeau, who is a former Army intelligence officer went to pay his respects ,s aid Aaron's death should not be meaningless, his message needs to be spread and we need to support others who feel the same way.

On February 28, several American veterans burned their military uniforms during a vigil in memory of Bushnell in Oregon, USA. The veterans took turns throwing their camouflage uniforms into a burning trash can. One of them poured fuel into the trash can while taking the lead in shouting the slogan: "Remember Aaron Bushnell, he is not alone!" The event was held in front of a large banner that read: "Veterans say: Free Palestine! Remember Aaron Bushnell."

Bushnell “you’re trying to awaken the consciousness with self-immolation” - American scholar David Cortrighe said to National Security Daily on February 26.

The burning incident spread, and many US government officials resigned

On March 27, Annelle Sheline, a foreign affairs officer in the Office of Near Eastern Affairs of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. State Department, publicly announced her resignation in protest of the U.S. government’s continuing provision of military assistance to Israel. She said: "Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy, and his last message before his death has haunted me to this day."

Sherin pointed out that Israel’s killing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank constitutes “genocide”, but the US government is still providing diplomatic and military support to Israel. Unable to serve a government that facilitated Israeli atrocities, she decided to resign.

Schelling said her office is responsible for "promoting human rights in the Middle East" and that over the past year she had become convinced of the department's "mission and important work." But since the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out, she found that the credibility of the so-called "human rights advocates" in the United States has almost completely collapsed.  Sherin said, "Over the past five months, more than 90 Palestinian journalists have been killed."

This is the second official of the US State Department to resign after the outbreak of the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. On October 18, 2023, Josh Paul, Director of the Bureau of Political and Military Affairs of the US State Department, announced his resignation on social media. Paul said at the time that he "cannot afford the moral compromise that comes with military aid to Israel" and criticized the Biden administration's decision to provide lethal weapons to Israel as "destructive, short-sighted and unjust."

The Washington Post stated that this protest resignation reflected the growing opposition within the US government. U.S. government employees have expressed their dissatisfaction in a variety of ways in recent months. At the State Department, officials have repeatedly posted on internal dissent channels questioning the Biden administration’s Palestinian-Israeli policies. Hundreds of USAID employees also signed a joint letter in November last year asking the Biden administration to promote a ceasefire in Gaza.

As the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip continues to worsen, the American public's support for Israel continues to decline. A poll released by the consulting agency Gallup on March 27 showed that the American public's support for Israel's war has dropped sharply, from 50% in November last year to the current 36%, about 55% of the respondents do not support Israel's military actions.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict caused heavy casualties

On March 25, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2728, calling for an "immediate ceasefire" by all parties in Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan, thereby achieving a "lasting" truce, and demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This is the first time a ceasefire has been explicitly called for in a Security Council resolution since a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out on October 7 last year.

But the war continues.

On April 1, the Israeli army carried out an air strike on the World Central Kitchen, an international charity in Gaza, killing seven staff members and triggering condemnation from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Poland and other countries.

According to a CNN report on April 4, three people familiar with the matter revealed that the U.S. government has recently authorized the transfer of more than 2,000 bombs to Israel. The Washington Post posted on social media X on the 4th that the Biden administration admitted that it approved the transfer of more bombs to Israel on the day the charity organization "World Central Kitchen" was attacked.

Reuters reported on April 6 that after the Israeli military air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed seven aid workers from the charity organization "World Central Kitchen", on the 5th, 40 Democrats, including former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Members of the House of Representatives jointly sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling on the United States to stop sending weapons to Israel.

The health department in the Gaza Strip said on April 6 that since the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out on October 7 last year, Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip have killed 33,137 Palestinians and injured 75,815.