On Feb. 25, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old serviceman of the U.S. Air Force, immolated himself outside the gates of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. He committed the act to protest against U.S. complicity in the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In particular, he wanted to confront Americans who block out what our bombs do to thousands and thousands of Palestinian children, to see what it means for a human body to be incinerated.
In a Feb. 26 article, “Aaron Bushnell Burned Himself Alive To Make You Turn Your Eyes to Gaza,” Australian journalist Caitlin Johnstone declared: “As I write this, there are with absolute certainty people digging through Bushnell’s history searching for dirt that can be spun as evidence that he was a bad person, that he was mentally ill, that he was steered astray by pro-Palestine activists and dissident media — whatever they can make stick. If they find something, literally anything, the smearmeisters and propagandists will run with it as far as they can.”
Sure enough, the same day that Johnstone posted her piece, a slew of typical character-assassination pieces started to appear in various mainstream media outlets in an attempt to smear Bushnell and blur the message of his sacrifice. Typical was an one in the New York Post titled “U.S. Airman Bushnell Who Fatally Set Self On Fire Raised in ‘Abusive Christian Cult’ Said To Engage in Mind Control.” Similar trash appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, London’s The Guardian, etc.
The “journalists” who penned these various screeds are more than likely facing a fate of immolation themselves, in the eighth circle of the Inferno.
