JAWS statement on the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell

On February 25, 2024, an Air Force soldier of the so-called United States, Aaron Bushnell, gave up his life to oppose the ongoing genocide in Gaza by self-immolating outside the “Israeli” Embassy in Washington, D.C. Expressing a desire to no longer be complicit in the genocide, Bushnell highlighted the fact that his demonstration paled in comparison “...to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers.” He understood that the settler-colonial nature of the “Israeli” state and its imperialist US backing are directly behind the current onslaught on Gaza.

Bushnell was preceded by a protestor from Atlanta, Georgia—name unknown—who self-immolated outside the Israeli consulate last December 1 and is thought to have survived with critical injuries. Self-immolation has a history in protesting the devastation sown by U.S imperialism, first becoming popular in the West in opposition to the Vietnam War.

Both Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) praised Aaron’s protest. Hamas blamed the U.S. government for his death, while the PFLP said, “...Palestine will be victorious as long as it has deeply engraved itself in the conscience and consciences of the world, and history will record in gold letters the names of all the symphathizers and free people of the world who stood with it and sacrificed their lives for its sake” (RNN).

We echo the Palestinian Resistance’s gratitude for Aaron. Although he was a member of the most murderous army in the world, his death shows his cognizance of his role in the genocide. His drastic attempt to help stop it expresses a level of repentance necessary for complicity in a genocidal death machine. We decry any dismissal of this act of teshuvah as a symptom of mental illness.

We acknowledge his full agency in his decision, and are only saddened that we cannot continue to struggle with him in the future as we strive to topple the ‘American’ empire that drives dissenters towards such drastic actions.

May Aaron’s memory be a revolution, and may the Palestinian resistance in all its forms receive the same admiration. We eagerly await the day where their lives will be honored in a free Palestine.