Gene Marx
June 7, 2024
Hours before igniting a liquid accelerant in front of the D.C. Israeli Embassy last February, 25-year old U.S. Airman Aaron Bushnell posted a Twitch link on his Facebook page with the caption:
Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?”
The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.
Like many of us, Aaron was overcome with insurmountable guilt. Overwhelmed by the endless, indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian innocents in Gaza by Israeli forces. Shortly before 1 p.m. that Sunday, he told us so in his live stream as he walked toward the Israeli embassy, as he fumbled with the bottle of flammable fluid. Aaron’s “extreme act of protest” went viral, within minutes. Unflinchingly, he showed millions on social media, even hoards of dismissive war state enablers.
During Bushnell’s “profound act of sincerity” the national war narrative was fraying. U.S. military and State Department resignations climbed, as the human toll soared unabated.
After resigning in protest, State Department official Stacy Gilbert remarked,
During Bushnell’s “profound act of sincerity” the national war narrative was fraying. U.S. military and State Department resignations climbed, as the human toll soared unabated.
After resigning in protest, State Department official Stacy Gilbert remarked,
“It drives me crazy when people say, ‘You’re so principled for resigning,’” Gilbert said. “You can’t work in the government that long and be completely principled but I’m practical. I understand compromises and that there are trade-offs. But in the end, I know the difference between right and wrong.”