Aaron Bushnell (TW suicide)

[pixy0stix]

Aaron Bushnell was an active duty Air Force member who committed self-immolation in protest against Palestinian genocide. He died from his injuries.

apnews.com/article/israel-us-embassy-man-fire-air-force-f730a09009ce56d818f87a8f4dcc6ca7

US airman dies after setting himself ablaze outside Israeli Embassy in Israel-Hamas war protest

WaPo did a background story on him - wapo.st/3SUOre1

[pixy0stix]

From that article, I was shocked to learn that he wasn't the first to self-immolate in protest against the war.

[VillainV]

I’m not typically squeamish about stuff like this, but I literally could not bring myself to watch the entire video. It was absolutely horrifying. I do not know this Airman, but have been in long enough that they all feel like “one of mine” and I can imagine the pain that his family and unit are going through.

Additionally, this has been a huge topic of conversation in my unit this week. We led our students in discussions about the video (some had seen it, many had not). Local protests by student organizations, and protests at other universities, kept us out of uniform on campus the last few days. Not necessarily because there’s any danger, but to make sure we don’t further inflame tensions that are already pretty high.

[pixy0stix]

I have not watched one second of the video. I could not and will not.

[SwimDeep]

I saw and read about Bushnell earlier this week, and I still don't have the words.

[underwaterrhymes]

I can’t watch the video and I have complicated feelings about this.

I do not think this accomplishes anything other than taking the life of someone who cared about the genocide in Palestine. I also think his background of living in places of high control (the religious compound and the military) probably led him to feel deeply uncomfortable in situations where he had no control and this felt like the most powerful option he had.

It also makes me sad that he left his cat to his neighbor and a fridge full of root beer to his friend. That sounds deeply lonely to me.

But, also, more people need to be saying Free Palestine. Not setting themselves on fire, but standing up.

[shauni27]

I feel sick to my stomach reading these articles. He was so young and it sounds like he could have lead an incredible life helping others in a crusade for social justice.

As an aside, does anyone know why most of the articles about Aaron specifically and this topic in general refer to self immolation but sometimes it says "set themselves on fire"? what is the distinction?

Either way, I find this to be such a disturbing way to die. My heart hurts for Aaron and his loved ones.

[Bad Dingo]

I mean, he was an anarchist who said Israel doesn't have a right to exist and he supported the rape, torture, and murder of innocent people on 10/7 by terrorists.  But this board has definitely turned from 'we should listen to the words of the group being discriminated against/marginalized/attacked' to 'Jewish people are evil and support genocide'.  So there's that.

www.adl.org/resources/blog/anti-israel-activists-terrorist-organizations-hail-aaron-bushnell-martyr-after-self


"A review of Bushnell’s social media accounts indicates he held strong anti-Zionist and anarchist views.



Bushnell made multiple extreme anti-Israel posts on Reddit. “Israel is a white supremacist, ethnonationalist, settler-colonial apartheid state… it has no right to exist,” Bushnell wrote on February 3, 2024. In an October 24, 2023, post, he appeared to condone Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, writing, “Can you or I really say that Indigenous people are wrong for retaliating against colonizers who are rubbing their domination in their face?”



Bushnell used the anarchist symbol as his profile photo on the Twitch account he created to livestream his act, and his username was “LillyAnarKitty,” another apparent anarchist nod."

[pixy0stix]

Mar 1, 2024 8:43:44 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

But this board has definitely turned from 'we should listen to the words of the group being discriminated against/marginalized/attacked' to 'Jewish people are evil and support genocide'.  So there's that.

Please point to where this is happening.

[Bad Dingo]

Mar 1, 2024 8:53:38 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Mar 1, 2024 8:43:44 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

But this board has definitely turned from 'we should listen to the words of the group being discriminated against/marginalized/attacked' to 'Jewish people are evil and support genocide'.  So there's that.

Please point to where this is happening.

Believe the people who are experiencing the aggressions?

one example from just the other day saying that Israeli people, not just the government are supporting the genocide. 

You don't have to believe me if you don't want to.

[Bad Dingo]

Or what about a thread that mourns the loss of a "martyr" and not one ever about the individuals who were raped and murdered or the ones that are still being held captive?

[pixy0stix]

Mar 1, 2024 8:59:37 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

Or what about a thread that mourns the loss of a "martyr" and not one ever about the individuals who were raped and murdered or the ones that are still being held captive?

Who is mourning the loss of the martyr here? I felt it is important to talk about him because my social feed on Instagram is flooded with artwork celebrating his act (mostly from artists and black activists I follow).

[Bad Dingo]

I appreciate your perspective and I definitely am not going to get into a lengthy debate because you are more eloquent than I could ever be. However,  how are posts in this thread not examples of mourning him? An antisemite and anarchist who committed an unhinged act.

[underwaterrhymes]

It is possible to condemn both what happened on October 7th and to call what is happening in Gaza a genocide.

People condoning Hamas’s attack is hugely problematic and anti-Semitic.

However, it’s also hugely problematic to not recognize that what is happening in Gaza is atrocious. It is not anti-Semitic to call the slaughter of thousands of innocent people a genocide.

[Bad Dingo]

What is happening in Gaza is atrocious. But this guy literally said the massacre on October 7th was ok and called for. I don't know why I need to explain or justify that that is disgusting.

I won't get into the fact that many Jews are in fact indigenous to the Middle East (myself included) and left because of religious persecution.

[pixy0stix]

I appreciate your perspective, and for me it's important to remember that as much as I try to separate the Religious from the State, that for others it is not possible because the two are so deeply entwined.

I didn't see the Israeli comment (or I probably did but it didn't register). On the surface, it is not factually wrong. Support for the war in Gaza is high in Israel. Like most things, though, it's complicated. Reuters had this article back in January - www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/enduring-pain-keeps-public-support-gaza-war-strong-israel-2024-01-18/

People's support (in general) is going to go towards the narrative they are pushed. Hence, again, why I posted this thread. Bushnell's death is gaining a large traction on social media and discussing it can help combat misinformation.

[underwaterrhymes]

I absolutely agree it’s disgusting to say that the attacks on October 7th were justified. But I think it’s equally disgusting to say that the genocide in Palestine is justified.

[fryjack2]

Mar 1, 2024 8:58:01 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

Mar 1, 2024 8:53:38 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Please point to where this is happening.

Believe the people who are experiencing the aggressions?

one example from just the other day saying that Israeli people, not just the government are supporting the genocide. 

You don't have to believe me if you don't want to.

Is this directed at me? You can tag me if so.

It’s ridiculous to try to claim that there aren’t Israelis supporting what is happening when there is plenty of video footage showing just that. Pixie posted an article speaking to it as well. I am not naive enough to think that no Palestinians support Hamas or its actions. Of course there are. I do not.

I have not mentioned this story because I do not support anything he did except his last statement- “free Palestine.” Plus, the asinine footage of guns drawn by very aggressive looking police at a man who clearly was not capable of harming anyone as he was dying.

And believing and listening to just one voice in what is going on, and saying things like that in an attempt to make people feel what? Guilty for considering Palestinians in addition to Jewish people and Israelis? is kinda bullshit. Especially when both are experiences horrific things. One doesn’t need to trump the other.