Self-immolation as a protest against what is going on in Gaza

[Shadow Wolf]

Since it helped clarify things for you, perhaps you could explain.

It wasn't serious. That last sentence sounded like it could have been from Beavis and Butthead.

 

[Balthazzar]

US airman dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in Washington​

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/25/politics/man-sets-himself-on-fire-israeli-embassy-washington-dc/index.html

Yikes.

"CNN —
An active-duty member of the US Air Force who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, on Sunday, has died, authorities said.

Aaron Bushnell, 25, of San Antonio, Texas, said in a video of the incident obtained by CNN that he would “no longer be complicit in genocide” and that his suffering was minimal compared to that of Palestinians as the humanitarian crisis persists in Gaza.

He then sets the recording device on the ground before pouring an unknown liquid over himself and igniting it while yelling “Free Palestine” repeatedly. He eventually collapses as police officers rush to douse the flames with fire extinguishers."

That's a very scary event and not because of the airman, but perhaps due to the possible origin of the dousing and last words ... It seems on par with martyrdom and expected reward for being one. That has been the mentality of our openly expressed and voiced adversaries. Palestine is under major duress, while the rest of the known world is subject to the effects of Islamic terrorist groups and their expressed causes.

 

[Regiomontanus]

That's a very scary event and not because of the airman, but perhaps due to the possible origin of the dousing and last words ... It seems on par with martyrdom and expected reward for being one. That has been the mentality of our openly expressed and voiced adversaries. Palestine is under major duress, while the rest of the known world is subject to the effects of Islamic terrorist groups and their expressed causes.

So you think this terrible event could inspire other such acts, or perhaps terrorism? Honestly, I have been expecting something; at some point enough will be enough, for some people.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

For one thing, it's well know that we can react emotionally to the death of one or a few people, because we can learn a bit about them and find a way to connect. We can't connect easily to dozens (and certainly not thousands) and these become just numbers -- and numbers don't elicit that much emotion.

"If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that’s only statistics." -Stalin
Sounds cruel, but it's for our own good that we don't connect to those millions. Amd it takes serious effort to care without being sucked into an emotional blackhole.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

That's a very scary event and not because of the airman, but perhaps due to the possible origin of the dousing and last words ... It seems on par with martyrdom and expected reward for being one. That has been the mentality of our openly expressed and voiced adversaries. Palestine is under major duress, while the rest of the known world is subject to the effects of Islamic terrorist groups and their expressed causes.

The closest I have ever been to the effects of terrorism is seeing it on the telly. That doesn't count as being subjected to it.
Funny your mind went that way. Mine saw images of self immolating Buddhist monks.

 

[Balthazzar]

So you think this terrible event could inspire other such acts, or perhaps terrorism? Honestly, I have been expecting something; at some point enough will be enough, for some people.

I think the event was scary, that it brought to mind expressed causes of our adversaries and that it could be related to terrorism. The origin of reason or cause remains unknown to me, but ... the display itself raises a few red flags.

 

[Balthazzar]

The closest I have ever been to the effects of terrorism is seeing it on the telly. That doesn't count as being subjected to it.
Funny your mind went that way. Mine saw images of self immolating Buddhist monks.

Is it funny? Really? I'm unaware of Buddhist monks and self-immolation, but I have been made aware of hostilities in that region and expressed hatred towards Americans since I was 5 years old. Courtesy of the 11 o'clock news and video imagery of people in the region. I'm 53 now.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I'm 53 now.

Then how do you not know of the Tibetan Buddhist monks who self immolated? One is even a rather famous and well known photo (kind of like the guy standing in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square).

 

[libre]

Most likely having a mental health issue and chose to commit suicide whilst demonstrating his anger over a current issue.

I don't see things that way.
I don't blame others for coming to that conclusion, given that mentally well people shouldn't ever commit acts of self-harm.

I can however understand why an American soldier may choose this path. When American soldiers that are active-duty protest wars openly they can be arrested for defection, dishonourably discharged or even framed as traitors in the press. This is one course of action he could take where no honest person can doubt the sincerity of his convictions.

I think there is a concerted effort by the press to frame this as the actions of just a mentally ill soldier to detract from the actual military decisions that made him distraught and feel complicit in what he understood to be a genocide.

 

[Mock Turtle]

I don't see things that way.
I don't blame others for coming to that conclusion, given that mentally well people shouldn't ever commit acts of self-harm.

I can however understand why an American soldier may choose this path. When American soldiers that are active-duty protest wars openly they can be arrested for defection, dishonourably discharged or even framed as traitors in the press. This is one course of action he could take where no honest person can doubt the sincerity of his convictions.

I think there is a concerted effort by the press to frame this as the actions of just a mentally ill soldier to detract from the actual military decisions that made him distraught and feel complicit in what he understood to be a genocide.

Well he isn't around for us to question his motives sadly but like so many other such instances - as per the monk mentioned earlier - those who do such things must know that this will have zero impact usually, apart from how it gets the public angry, and hence such actions are generally futile. And I was just commenting as to suicides often coming from a disposition or preparation to carry out such, with something triggering this. Much of the public is already angry enough so how would this do anything to affect things?

Edit: And as commented here, he would probably have been more valuable alive than dead:

Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire outside an Israeli embassy. It is our loss he is no longer with us | Moira Donegan

A person of such profound commitment and depth of feeling could be much more useful to the world alive than dead

www.theguardian.com

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

RIP to him. To give your life for a cause in such a way is so tragic but honorable. What is really horrible is that things are so dire with this issue that people feel the need to do such things to be heard. The ignorant judgemental posts in this thread aren't helpful. Self-immolation as a form of protest is very old and morally complicated. I actually thought he might have been a Buddhist because of the religious aspects of it in that religion.

Self-immolation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[anotherneil]

US veterans burn uniforms in solidarity with Aaron Bushnell:

 

[anotherneil]

According to this article, Aaron Bushnell told a friend that there are allegedly US soldiers involved in the genocide going on in Palestine:

Exclusive | US airman Aaron Bushnell claimed to have classified knowledge of US forces fighting in Gaza tunnels on night before setting himself on fire: pal

“He told me on Saturday that we have troops in those tunnels, that it’s US soldiers participating in the killings,’’ the pal claimed.

nypost.com

This needs to be investigated.