 This week, a U.S. Air Force member named Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire to protest the genocide in Gaza after receiving classified military information. His last words were "Free Palestine!" It can be easy to write off this sort of extreme protest as a mental health mistake. But that that would mean missing the incredibly powerful statement Bushnell made. As Palestinian poet and journalist Mohammed El-Kurd pointed out, according to mainstream U.S. society, if a soldier sacrifices themself to protect U.S. interests, they are seen as a hero. But if they sacrifice themself to protest the genocide the U.S. is funding, they are "mentally ill.”
Let's take a moment to reflect on some of Aaron Bushnell's words: "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." I'm not sharing his words to shame folks who haven't taken action to protect Palestine. I'm sharing them to ask you to take action now. We need public outcry. We need to demand that politicians vote against funding to Israel. We need to demand that the U.S. stop fucking vetoing a ceasefire resolution at the UN. Our What To Do About the Violence in Israel/Palestine? article has some suggestions for how you can take action to protect Palestine. There can be no sexual justice without basic safety. There can be no consent without freedom. Edited to add: We are now raising funds for a sex educator and his family to flee the violence in Gaza. Please consider supporting the GoFundMe if you can: Gazan Family Rescue Fund. Comments are closed.
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