An active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force, identified as Aaron Bushnell, committed an act of self-immolation outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., shouting “free Palestine” before setting himself on fire. The incident, captured in distressing footage and shared on social media, prompted an investigation by the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department. Bushnell, who died due to his injuries, declared his action as a protest against what he described as genocide in Palestine, stating it was a response to the oppression experienced by Palestinians.
Bushnell, who had served in the Air Force since 2020 and aspired to be a software engineer, reportedly livestreamed his protest on Twitch, although the video was later removed. The incident did not result in injuries to embassy staff but underscored the high tensions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict saw a significant escalation on October 7, 2023, following a surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israel, leading to a deadly exchange of hostilities that has since resulted in thousands of casualties, including a high number of children in Gaza, as reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The act of self-immolation follows a similar protest outside the Israeli Consulate General in Atlanta, Georgia, in December, marking a disturbing trend of extreme political protest. Concurrently, international and domestic pressure mounts on the U.S. to advocate for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, amidst ongoing hostilities and a rising death toll. Despite these calls, the U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution demanding a ceasefire, citing concerns over jeopardizing negotiations between Hamas and Israel, with Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood emphasizing the U.S. position for a durable peace but rejecting immediate ceasefire calls due to Hamas’s stance against a two-state solution.
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