Footage circulating across the social media shows several American war veterans burning their uniforms in tribute to a US airman, who recently died after setting himself on fire in protest at his country’s all-out support for the Israeli regime’s ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
The footage surfaced on Thursday. It showed the former troopers taking turns to drop their fatigues inside a burning trashcan. One is seen repeatedly stoking the flames, while leading the slogan, “Remember Aaron Bushnell, he’s not alone.”
The show of support for Bushnell is held in front of a large banner emblazoned with the words, “Veterans say: Free Palestine.”
Bushnell staged the act of self-immolation in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.
The 25-year-old active duty airman was dressed in US military attire as he used a lighter to set himself on fire after dousing himself in a flammable liquid.
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people are experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all,” he said in a video he made while walking in front of the embassy.
“This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal. Free Palestine.”
The US has been contributing ample political, military, and intelligence support to the Israeli military onslaught that the regime began against Gaza on October 7, 2023 following al-Aqsa Storm, a surprise operation staged by the coastal sliver’s resistance movements.
The American administration has so far vetoed three United Nations Security Council resolutions that have called for immediate cessation of the Israeli aggression.
Washington has also armed Tel Aviv with more than 10,000 tons of military hardware since the onset of the warfare.
The war has so far killed more than 30,000 people, mostly women and children.
