Journal of Other Forum Analysis

[Taco Bell Tower]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-2?post=119722524#post-119722524

Reminder that he gave his life for the Gaza population currently undergoing a genocide by a colonial power that the Western world is allowing to happen.

RIP Aaron.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-2?post=119723562#post-119723562

User banned (2 weeks): misrepresenting other members; prior history of inflammatory and dismissive commentary

I do not think it wise to frame self immolation suicide as a noble endeavor of giving your life for a cause.

Its tantamount to endorsement and shameful.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-2?post=119723835#post-119723835

You could at least have the respect of reading and understanding why Aaron did it, and also mention the plight of the Palestinian people, instead of trying to fingerwag at members for recognizing Aaron's motives under the spurious guise that that mere recognition means folks somehow don't care about mental health.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-3?post=119724549#post-119724549

That kind of voice is more valuable alive than dead.

I think Aaron said what he wanted to say loud and clear, and he was far louder than the millions of people who have been protesting this already.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-3?post=119725134#post-119725134

I mean I think cynically the general public will completely forget about him in a week or two: this isn't the first time this has been done on this issue and nobody really remembers the last person who did it either

I don't think the public's collective memory has any bearing on the fact that we are currently talking about Aaron Bushnell and not the millions of other people around the world who have simply marched or donated. This is not to say that marching and donating are useless. It is to simply say that he singlehandedly has gotten more attention for protesting the Palestinian genocide than most others who have tried.

If someone on this forum posted that they were going to do this, would your first reaction be to support them in their action or tell them to not commit suicide?

My first reaction would be to act in accordance with administrative procedure regarding open expressions of suicidal ideation. But I'm not sure what the question has to do with my post.

I also want to, once again, remind people that Aaron Bushnell deliberately sacrificed himself as a form of protest against the Palestinian genocide that Western countries, namely the US, have been allowing to happen.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-3?post=119725254#post-119725254

Will the PM of Israel stop killing people in Gaza now that there's one less protester on the planet? Will the Biden Administration suddenly stop funding Israel in this man's honor?

They're not going to do that in response to the marches either.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-3?post=119726001#post-119726001

talk is cheap. The only difference between him and the people donating and protesting is that people are talking about his name, but this isn't about him in the first place and if anything I'd say putting him into the conversation has only destracted from discussion of the cause itself

Much of the discussion online I've seen about Aaron is directly related to the Palestinian genocide; people are directly noting the cause as to why he did this and making personal statements and art in response.

It's really only here that I've personally seen his protest completely hijacked and derailed to discuss mental health instead.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-3?post=119726217#post-119726217

Again you're lionizing suicide by putting it on a level above actual protesting. You should not do this.

No air at all should be given to anything that resembles endorsement or approval of suicide.

I am not putting it above other protests. It is, in itself, another form of protest. I literally would not encourage people to go out and do this, and understand myself I do not have the conviction to self-harm over my beliefs. However, I will also not condemn Aaron either, nor will I allow you or anyone else to distract from the reason he did this for too long, which is that there is currently genocide in Gaza going on of which our government is complicit in allowing to happen.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-4?post=119726442#post-119726442

Where online?

Twitter

Who?

Twitter users.

Just type in Aaron Bushnell and there's far more mention about Palestine and Gaza than what can be mustered here by people who say they claim they care about minorities.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-4?post=119727162#post-119727162

It won't. And it was a waste of a life.

As is the thousands of Palestinians who have been killed as a result of Western-sanctioned genocide.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-4?post=119727519#post-119727519

Would anyone disagree with that? Fuck Israel and fuck Biden for supporting it.

Plenty of people disagree with it because the United States is currently allowing the Palestinian genocide to happen, and a significant contingent of American citizens openly support Israel's committance of that genocide.

My point however is to make sure that Aaron's statement, both his words and his act, are not lost or whitewashed. By his own words, he did not do this as a depressive cry for help. He did it to protest Western imperialism and the Palestinian genocide.

I want more people in this thread to openly say that instead of trying to railroad the discussion to be about whether or not he was mentally unwell (likely not) or whether or not his singular action will change the conflict (no singular action will.)

He shouted "Free Palestine" while literally on fire. The least we could all do from the comfort of our keyboards and phones is say the same.

Free Palestine.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-5?post=119730102#post-119730102

So a man gives his life in form of protest to genocide, and some people's first instincts are:

- Say they shouldn't have done it, lecturing in the usefulness of the protest, very comfy while on a gaming forum
- Question their mental health, armchair diagnosis (as if being aware that thousands are dying, while the country you serve plays quite the part, isn't depressing enough)

If these type of protests gets forgotten and "don't work", its because of people like you.

RIP Aaron.

It is literal whitewashing happening in real time, and frankly I find it fucking intolerable.

Here are the man's words quoted verbatim from the video he took of himself, for people who are acting confused about why he did this:

"My name is Aaron Bushnell. I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force, and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal. Free Palestine."

https://www.resetera.com/threads/aaron-bushnell-us-airman-sets-himself-on-fire-in-protest-of-palestinian-genocide-outside-israeli-embassy.821301/page-5?post=119730669#post-119730669

I see little difference between this and pro-terrorism propaganda.

Then you are politically illiterate.

Aaron Bushnell was not a terrorist. He did not want to be complicit in the genocide of Gaza.