A current member of the U.S. Air Force set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Sunday. According to journalist Karol Markowicz, the man's name is Aaron Bushnell, and he claimed to be protesting the "genocide" occurring in Gaza.
The dramatic scene was caught on video, of which still images have been released.
(WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised)
Bushnell proclaimed he could "no longer be complicit in genocide" after setting himself on fire, eventually falling to the ground and screaming in pain. The USAF is not currently engaged in operations in Gaza.
Police arrived almost immediately, with one drawing a gun. Fire extinguishers were then used, and according to the latest information, the man is still alive and at the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
I'm not sure what Bushnell was hoping to accomplish with this act. Clearly, there's some kind of psychological issue at the base of this, as no normally functioning person sets themselves on fire. With that said, his protest makes no sense. It is not Israel who started the war in Gaza. It was Hamas.
If the war is to end, Hamas must surrender or be defeated. The repercussions of the hostilities fall at the feet of the terrorist government that chose to invade Israel and murder over a thousand people in cold blood. Given that, perhaps he should have made a trip over to the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs instead of the Israeli Embassy.
The moral arguments surrounding the Israel-Hamas war remain severely warped. This all ends the moment the hostages are released and Palestinians decide they want to focus on something other than killing Jews. Until that point, the operation to destroy the terrorist threat in Gaza will continue.