Rest in Peace, comrade: Aaron Bushnell and the cost of conscience

As Aaron posted on Facebook: “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.”

On February 25, 2024, a 25-year-old U.S. Air Force serviceman, Aaron Bushnell, stood outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., turned on his Livestream, and declared:

“I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”

Then, as the world watched, he set himself on fire while shouting, “Free Palestine!” until he collapsed to the ground.

The horror of his final moments, the unbearable weight of his conviction, and the silence that followed in many corners of power all speak volumes. Aaron Bushnell’s final act was one of defiance, an indictment of a world that normalizes the mass suffering of Palestinians while punishing those who dare to challenge it. He was not the first to self-immolate in protest, and tragically, he may not be the last.

But let us be clear: This is not an endorsement of self-immolation. Suicide is categorically forbidden in most faiths and ethical traditions. In Islamic teachings, life is sacred, and self-harm is prohibited. The struggle against oppression must be waged through perseverance, patience, and righteous resistance.

Yet, while I do not and cannot endorse his final act, I cannot ignore the depth of heart and conscience that led him to it. Nor can I ignore what his actions reveal about the psychological and moral burden that people of conscience now bear in a world complicit in genocide. The weight of that burden is breaking many.

Aaron Bushnell’s death is not just about one man’s pain; it is a symptom of the moral crisis engulfing us all. His story has been twisted by mainstream media, reduced to speculation about mental health, or dismissed as a tragedy of one disturbed individual. But Aaron was not confused. He was lucid, deliberate, and prepared. He had arranged for his assets to go to a Palestinian charity. He had informed the press in advance. His final words were not of despair, but of conviction.

Aaron grew up in Orleans, Massachusetts, in the isolated Christian Community of Jesus compound. He later joined the U.S. Air Force, excelling in cybersecurity and DevOps engineering. In recent years, he became deeply critical of U.S. imperialism and the military-industrial complex, particularly its role in supporting Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. Friends and colleagues describe him as a thoughtful, deeply empathetic individual, someone who could not turn away from the suffering of others.

That suffering is nowhere more evident than in Gaza, where over 49,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s latest offensive began. Entire families have been wiped out. Schools, hospitals, and places of worship have been reduced to rubble. Civilians are being starved as Israel continues to restrict food, water, and medical aid. The International Court of Justice has ruled that there is a plausible case for genocide, yet world leaders continue to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover.

The horror in Gaza is not just statistics—it is the cries of children buried under debris, the wails of mothers cradling lifeless bodies, and the exhaustion of doctors performing surgery without anaesthesia. It is generations of suffering, compounded daily by bombs and blockades. And it is this reality that compelled Aaron Bushnell to act in the most extreme way possible.

The world did not listen to Aaron Bushnell when he was alive. Will it listen to him now?

I, for one, will make a donation in his name to a Palestinian charity. I invite you to do the same. This is not about glorifying his death, but about amplifying the cause for which he gave his life. He wanted the world to wake up. If we let his message fade into silence, then we are complicit in that which he so desperately sought to expose.

Aaron Bushnell, you had a heart of gold and a conscience that shames most of us. May you rest in peace. May Palestine be free.

Faisal Kutty is a Toronto/Los Angeles-based lawyer, law professor, and regular contributor to The Toronto Star. His articles also appear in Newsweek, Aljazeera, Zeteo, and Middle East Eye. You can follow him on X @faisalkutty