As anti-Palestinian provocations by notoriously racist Israeli football hooligans triggered riots in central Amsterdam on Thursday night, Israel and the far-right government of the Netherland along with other Western leaders are rushing to portray the violence as ‘anti-Semitic pogroms’ even as the Dutch police said investigations are ongoing and refused to comment on the ethnicity of the Dutch citizens arrested overnight.
Turkish citizens have taken to the streets in Izmir to demonstrate against the docking of an American warship, expressing solidarity with Palestinians and their opposition to US all-out military support for Israel amid the Gaza genocide.
A group of veterans from the US armed forces burnt their uniforms in a show of solidarity with the airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington in a protest over the war in Gaza.
The Air Force identified the Airman who died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy on Feb. 25 as Senior Airman Aaron James Bushnell, a cyber defense operations specialist assigned to the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing.
Originally from Whitman, Mass., the 25-year-old Bushnell first joined the Air Force on May 5, 2020. His duty station was the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. His duty title was innovation services technician, and his decorations included the Meritorious Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and Air Force Training Ribbon.
One of the last things Aaron Bushnell wrote was: “Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during Slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or the apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?” The Answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.” The world would be a better place if people like Aaron Bushnell lived on, fought day after day, onward into the future. The courage Aaron Bushnell possessed to do what he did, would better serve us all if he had used it day after day, for as long as possible. Waking up to the reality of US foreign policy leaves one isolated, angry, frustrated, and confused. We all have to work on creating a path from there to here today, where we all work together to make the world a better place tomorrow.
Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old soldier in the United States Air Force, died on Sunday after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC in protest of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.
Protestors unfurled banners reading ‘The whole world is watching’ and ‘Palestinians should be free’ at the base of the landmark. [Stephanie Keith/Getty Images via AFP]
Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace group unfurl banners reading ‘Palestinians should be free’ at the base of New York landmark.
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