The Take

The Take: ‘An extreme act’ – Why Aaron Bushnell self-immolated for Gaza

Who was the 25-year-old who lit himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC?

People participate in a memorial during a vigil for US Airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington on February 25 in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Washington, D.C., US, February 26, 2024 — People participate in a vigil on February 26, 2024, for US Airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire a day earlier in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, in protest against the war in Gaza [Allison Bailey/Reuters]

Aaron Bushnell, a member of the US air force, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, in an act of political protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. Bushnell livestreamed his death, saying he no longer wanted to be “complicit in genocide”. How will his message resonate?

In this episode:

Talia Jane (@taliaotg), independent journalist
Lupe Barboza, friend of Aaron Bushnell
Archana Kaku, assistant professor, College of William & Mary

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Sonia Bhagat and Ashish Malhotra with our host, Malika Bilal. Chloe K Li fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik, and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Source: Al Jazeera