It has been more than five months since the Netanyahu government launched an offensive in Gaza after the Hamas terrorist attack last October. The deaths of more than 25,000 civilians in Gaza during the conflict has provoked numerous demonstrations for peace around the world, demand a ceasefire between the Israeli army and Hamas fighters.
Last Sunday, 25-year-old American soldier Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. and he died in a nearby hospital hours after performing this act of vindication: As U.S. Air Force spokeswoman Rose M. Riley explained, This burning was an act of protest against Israel’s actions in the Gaza Stripand the support of the North American government on Netanyahu’s war policy.
“I am an active member of the Air Force and will not continue to participate in genocide.”, the soldier declared in the video that went viral on social networks, which shows how the American cash was doused with gasoline and then set on fire: “Liberate Palestine,” the man shouted in front of the headquarters of Jewish diplomacy in the American capital. Washington Metropolitan Police transported Bushnell with life-threatening injuries. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died as a result of this “extreme protest” that the soldier said he wanted to carry out.
The Air Force quickly confirmed that the incident had been carried out by a member of the force, and an explosives countermeasures unit investigated a suspicious car parked near the embassy. without finding any element of risk. Also the Israeli embassy issued a statement saying no employees were injured.
This type of demand, which ends the life of the person making it, was popularized by several Buddhist monks who set themselves on fire in various contexts to highlight an issue they considered unfair: The monk Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire in Saigon in 1963 to denounce the persecution of Buddhist believers carried out by the Ngo Dinh Diem regime.