The world was shocked by the act of self-immolation carried out by member of the United States Air Force (US), Aaron Bushnell. This 25 year old man set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Sunday (25/2) while shouting “Free Palestine”.
In a video circulating, Bushnell said that he no longer wanted to be involved in the genocide that Israel is currently carrying out against Palestine. He also said that his current suffering was nothing compared to the suffering felt by Palestinians.
Due to his actions, the 25 year old man was immediately taken to hospital. However, his life could not be saved.
This is not the first time someone has set themselves on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in the US since Israel's increasingly intense attacks on Palestinians.
In December, a protester set himself on fire in front of the Israeli consulate in the US state of Georgia. A Palestinian flag found at the scene was part of the protest, police said.
History of Self-Immolation as a Form of Protest
Aaron Bushnell/Photo: Special
Historically, self-immolation has been used as an extreme form of protest against political leaders and climate change.
Reporting from the Time page, the practice of self-immolation has existed for centuries, according to an ancient Hindu story about Sati, the wife of a Hindu god who married without her father's consent. It is said that Sati burned herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre, and is used as justification for the long-banned practice of ritual suicide in India.
Self-immolation is also seen as an act of sacrifice performed by Christians who chose to be burned alive when they were persecuted for their religion by the Roman emperor Diocletian around 300 AD.
One of the first and most famous acts of self-immolation in modern history was committed by Thich Quang Duc during the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese monk set himself on fire in Saigon in 1963 to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the US-backed South Vietnamese government. Several other monks followed suit.
US Citizens' Solidarity Action for Aaron Bushnell Who Burned Himself Defending Palestine/ Photo: REUTERS/Allison Bailey
“The average American would say, 'We support democracy, and fight against communism,' and the image of monks choosing this horrible way to die to protest the American government, is truly shocking,” said Michael Biggs, a sociology professor at Oxford University, who studied suicide protests.
Several people in the US also committed self-immolation as a form of protest during the Vietnam War, including a Quaker (people who are members of the Religious Society of Friends, a group of Protestant Christian denominations) named Norman Morrison who set himself on fire outside the Pentagon while holding on to his son.
Recently, self-immolation has also been used by climate activists to protest climate change. In 2018, David Buckel, a retired American lawyer, set himself on fire in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.
In 2022, Wynn climate activist Alan Bruce set himself on fire in the plaza in front of the Supreme Court. “This act was not suicide,” Kritee Kanko, a climate scientist and friend of Bruce wrote on Twitter after the act.
“This is a fearless act of compassion to bring attention to the climate crisis,” he added.
How does self-immolation serve as a form of protest?
US Citizens' Solidarity Action for Aaron Bushnell Who Burned Himself in Defense of Palestine/Photo: REUTERS/Allison Bailey
According to Biggs, it is no coincidence that self-immolation protests began to occur frequently in the 1960s, the same time that television emerged as the dominant medium.
“This is a time when suicide protests are becoming part of a global series of protests, where previously there were only isolated incidents,” he told NPR's website.
Protesters were able to reach a wider audience through technological changes, and the horrific nature of their protests made them stand out, but audiences were not always receptive.
“Suicide protests are a way to draw people's attention and … say, 'We are truly oppressed, because if we weren't oppressed, we wouldn't be willing to die in this incredibly painful way,'” Biggs said.
Biggs said he was confident the passionate protesters would continue to set themselves on fire, as the demonstration still managed to attract public attention.
“While there is no guarantee that this action will have the desired impact, it has achieved results that other forms of protest could not achieve,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to Temple University history professor Ralph Young, self-immolation was a form of despair.
“You feel like there's nothing you can do, or that anyone else is willing to do, so it's the biggest sacrifice, which is yourself,” he told Time.
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