On February 25, 2023, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old member of the U.S. Air Force walked to the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., poured the contents of a canister over his army fatigues, and lit himself on fire. He died later in the day from his self-inflicted injuries. Bushnell’s final words were “Free Palestine,” a statement he cried out at least six times as the flames consumed him.
I have said much on the subject of the Gaza War. Like all sane people, I have been horrified by it immediately after I saw Israel ready and prepared to conduct a war of destruction and vengeance in response to the October 7th attack by Hamas. I was horrified when they used the biblical reference of Amalek. This did not bode well for a proportionate response.
Well, almost five months later, It is far worse than my darkest imaginings; it is made worse by U.S. complicity; it is made worse by the silence of so many Jews around the world, including in Israel, though there are some voices. I am one, a Jew of conscience, but I personally know no one here who agrees with me. It is lonely, but my conscience is not seared.
So how could this be? Books, esp. great literary and moral philosophical works have kept me grounded and not fall prey to the voices of tribalism and nationalism. I have been truly fortunate to have read the works of a survivor of Auschwitz, a chemist and a brilliant writer: Primo Levi. He said, when asked about Auschwitz:
"Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions."
So, yes, ordinary people particiapting in the destruction of Gaza. What does "Never Again" really mean?
A powerful and insightful statement by Levi. You stand in the company of many great Jewish thinkers including Erich Fromm, who consistently opposed nationalistic impulses throughout his life, consistently affirming universal humanism as the bedrock of ethics and wisdom.
There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate Let us do it to honor Aaron Bushnell, or in memory of Hind Rajab.
Let us call for a No Fly-Zone over Gaza!
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.
I had never before heard the term "self-immolation". I guessed what it meant from the context in which it was used. I don't think it is a horrible word. It is a clinical word that describes a horrible thing. I think you could use the word self-immolation 20 times a day and not be horrified by it. But I don't think you could see someone self-immolate once and not be horrified by it.
It is not the act of another that shocks. It is the motivations leading them to do it that shock. A man falling from a mountain is shocking. A man hurling himself from a mountain is doubly shocking. Even though the first is accidental, and the second intended. Or maybe even because of that.
There is an important fact missing in this reasoning. Palestinians are not committing genocide against the Israelis. Israel has warships, tanks, fighter jets, nuclear weapons, etc. to defend themselves. Israel is not occupied by the Palestinians. Israel has the United States supporting them. Some might even say Israel has the support of the most powerful military on earth. There is zero chance that Israel is defending themselves against genocide in the year of 2024.
If we are going to be morally consistent, which is to say live by some basic commitment to principle, then we will have to ask the important question: if the unjust killing of hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians justifies retaliatory military violence, and if the killing of hundreds of civilians makes an organization "terrorist" in nature, what are we, by logical extension, permitting a people who have been subjected to the killing of more than 20,000 innocent civilians to do in terms of retaliatory military violence? And how are we to label a military organization responsible for killing so many thousands of civilians so disproportionately? It has become abundantly clear that those in positions of power and authority have no commitment to even handed, objective reasoning nor logical or moral integrity. And this is before we factor in The crucial context that you rightly remind us deserves constant mention: that the people of Gaza and the West Bank live in a state of occupation and now siege.
I am so disillusioned and ashamed of my homeland for the complicity in this. The United States has a history of doing things like this and it's appalling
Israeli leadership has been guilty of war crimes since the nation was created.
But I cannot honor Bushnell’s act while condemning it.
If it were an Israeli that committed this act with the stated intention to save Israeli lives, the same people who are canonizing Bushnell would be singing a different tune.
It’s time for the IOC to ban Israel from the Paris Olympics. Unless the entrants can show they are not settlers or have participated in the illegal occupation. Let them know how you feel. https://oscttnet.olympics.com/en-us/request-form-create/
I find this hard to read, because there is an encyclopaedic array of thoughts that criss-cross my mind as I read it. In food terms, this is no snack.
Allow me a couple of observations.
I'm not sure I know what freedom is. I have been in prison three times, and always as a visitor or as a professional. I have seen the bars and the locks, but I have never felt them. When others exercise their freedoms to my disadvantage, I suffer, but I don't know how to prevent their acts. I am free, but I have no ability to prevent the abuse by others of their freedom. Toni Morrison said once that the whole point of freedom is to secure the freedom of others. That must mean that the enemy of freedom is freedom that is exercised in order to restrict the freedom of others.
Freedom is often judged in terms of the law. "It's a free country." We define freedom in terms of the law's prescriptions and proscriptions. Some breaches of law will secure our deprivation of freedom. The French coined the term (Robespierre, actually) liberté, égalité, fraternité, yet only adopted it as a national mantra towards the end of the 19th century. Haiti, which wrested itself free from French colonialism, adopted the triplet way back in 1804. I wonder why Haiti espoused the slogan of its former masters; and why its former masters only espoused the slogan 75 years later. And, more to the point, do either of France and Haiti know what the slogan means? Why, for instance, did the French embody liberty as a statue and gift that to the American nation? What was that meant to accomplish, to signify, to encapsulate?
I have said much on the subject of the Gaza War. Like all sane people, I have been horrified by it immediately after I saw Israel ready and prepared to conduct a war of destruction and vengeance in response to the October 7th attack by Hamas. I was horrified when they used the biblical reference of Amalek. This did not bode well for a proportionate response.
Well, almost five months later, It is far worse than my darkest imaginings; it is made worse by U.S. complicity; it is made worse by the silence of so many Jews around the world, including in Israel, though there are some voices. I am one, a Jew of conscience, but I personally know no one here who agrees with me. It is lonely, but my conscience is not seared.
So how could this be? Books, esp. great literary and moral philosophical works have kept me grounded and not fall prey to the voices of tribalism and nationalism. I have been truly fortunate to have read the works of a survivor of Auschwitz, a chemist and a brilliant writer: Primo Levi. He said, when asked about Auschwitz:
"Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions."
So, yes, ordinary people particiapting in the destruction of Gaza. What does "Never Again" really mean?
A powerful and insightful statement by Levi. You stand in the company of many great Jewish thinkers including Erich Fromm, who consistently opposed nationalistic impulses throughout his life, consistently affirming universal humanism as the bedrock of ethics and wisdom.
I truly wish the act did bring more attention and cause change.
That part is, in part, for us to make a reality.
Here is one thing you can do to honour Aaron Bushnell:
https://open.substack.com/pub/craignelsen/p/yard-sign-campaign-taking-off?r=25hye9&utm_medium=ios
There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
Please sign the petition and share widely.
https://chng.it/CRQ7qw4Gzn
Code pink
https://www.codepink.org/cnngaza?utm_campaign=12_15_pali_update_alert_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink
Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate Let us do it to honor Aaron Bushnell, or in memory of Hind Rajab.
Let us call for a No Fly-Zone over Gaza!
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.
We're at a crunch point. If the ICJ is obtempered, we may be saved. Otherwise, this is war in all but name.
Great article - very thought-provoking, and I appreciate your measured, reasonable analysis of the reasons behind self-immolation. Thanks!
Thank you for the feedback. I'm glad you picked up on my attempt to honor Bushnell's act while also recognizing its inherent horror.
I had never before heard the term "self-immolation". I guessed what it meant from the context in which it was used. I don't think it is a horrible word. It is a clinical word that describes a horrible thing. I think you could use the word self-immolation 20 times a day and not be horrified by it. But I don't think you could see someone self-immolate once and not be horrified by it.
It is not the act of another that shocks. It is the motivations leading them to do it that shock. A man falling from a mountain is shocking. A man hurling himself from a mountain is doubly shocking. Even though the first is accidental, and the second intended. Or maybe even because of that.
There is an important fact missing in this reasoning. Palestinians are not committing genocide against the Israelis. Israel has warships, tanks, fighter jets, nuclear weapons, etc. to defend themselves. Israel is not occupied by the Palestinians. Israel has the United States supporting them. Some might even say Israel has the support of the most powerful military on earth. There is zero chance that Israel is defending themselves against genocide in the year of 2024.
If we are going to be morally consistent, which is to say live by some basic commitment to principle, then we will have to ask the important question: if the unjust killing of hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians justifies retaliatory military violence, and if the killing of hundreds of civilians makes an organization "terrorist" in nature, what are we, by logical extension, permitting a people who have been subjected to the killing of more than 20,000 innocent civilians to do in terms of retaliatory military violence? And how are we to label a military organization responsible for killing so many thousands of civilians so disproportionately? It has become abundantly clear that those in positions of power and authority have no commitment to even handed, objective reasoning nor logical or moral integrity. And this is before we factor in The crucial context that you rightly remind us deserves constant mention: that the people of Gaza and the West Bank live in a state of occupation and now siege.
Thanks for sharing this Dr. Nall
Thanks for taking the time to read it.
Thank you for the thorough explanation.
I am so disillusioned and ashamed of my homeland for the complicity in this. The United States has a history of doing things like this and it's appalling
Honour Aaron Bushnell:
https://open.substack.com/pub/craignelsen/p/yard-sign-campaign-taking-off?r=25hye9&utm_medium=ios
Israeli leadership has been guilty of war crimes since the nation was created.
But I cannot honor Bushnell’s act while condemning it.
If it were an Israeli that committed this act with the stated intention to save Israeli lives, the same people who are canonizing Bushnell would be singing a different tune.
It’s time for the IOC to ban Israel from the Paris Olympics. Unless the entrants can show they are not settlers or have participated in the illegal occupation. Let them know how you feel. https://oscttnet.olympics.com/en-us/request-form-create/
I find this hard to read, because there is an encyclopaedic array of thoughts that criss-cross my mind as I read it. In food terms, this is no snack.
Allow me a couple of observations.
I'm not sure I know what freedom is. I have been in prison three times, and always as a visitor or as a professional. I have seen the bars and the locks, but I have never felt them. When others exercise their freedoms to my disadvantage, I suffer, but I don't know how to prevent their acts. I am free, but I have no ability to prevent the abuse by others of their freedom. Toni Morrison said once that the whole point of freedom is to secure the freedom of others. That must mean that the enemy of freedom is freedom that is exercised in order to restrict the freedom of others.
Freedom is often judged in terms of the law. "It's a free country." We define freedom in terms of the law's prescriptions and proscriptions. Some breaches of law will secure our deprivation of freedom. The French coined the term (Robespierre, actually) liberté, égalité, fraternité, yet only adopted it as a national mantra towards the end of the 19th century. Haiti, which wrested itself free from French colonialism, adopted the triplet way back in 1804. I wonder why Haiti espoused the slogan of its former masters; and why its former masters only espoused the slogan 75 years later. And, more to the point, do either of France and Haiti know what the slogan means? Why, for instance, did the French embody liberty as a statue and gift that to the American nation? What was that meant to accomplish, to signify, to encapsulate?