A Sickness of the Soul

Aaron Bushnell was a martyr to the cause of antisemitism and genocide

Here’s how you exploit an act of self-destruction

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My first, admittedly uncharitable, reaction to the news that some doofus had torched himself for “Palestine” was that one less Hamas-hugging antisemite made the world a better place. But on reflection I concluded that Aaron Bushnell was a deeply disturbed individual whose suicide was the ultimate ego trip. He shamed himself and disgraced the uniform he wore. But now that he’s gone, may he rest in peace.

For the “anti-Zionist” mob, however, my uncharitable opinion remains intact: These are disgusting people whose antisemitism and ghoulish hypocrisy must turn the stomach of all decent people. It goes without saying that the people who’ve embraced Bushnell as a saint and martyr are not themselves prepared to emulate him. They’re quite prepared, however, to exploit his death for their base purposes, as if it somehow validates their river-to-sea hate campaign against the Jewish state.

Take, for example, this vile screed by Caitlin Johnstone, one of Substack’s most prominent America-hating Jew bashers. The first few paragraphs give you the flavor of it:

One of the main reasons the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell is having such an earthshaking impact on our society is because it’s the single most profound act of sincerity that any of us have ever witnessed.

In this fraudulent civilization where everything is fake and stupid, we are not accustomed to such sincerity. We’re accustomed to vapid mainstream culture manufactured in New York and Los Angeles, airheaded celebrities who never talk about anything real, self-aggrandizing Instagram activism, synthetic political factions designed to herd populist discontent into support for status quo politics, phony shitlib “I hear you, I stand with you [but I won’t actually do anything]” posturing, endless propaganda and diversion from the mass media and its online equivalents which are algorithmically boosted by Silicon Valley tech plutocrats, and a mind-controlled dystopia where almost everyone is sleepwalking through life in a psyop-induced fog.

That is the sort of experience we have been conditioned to expect here in the shadow of the western empire. And then, out of nowhere, some Air Force guy comes along and does something real. Something as authentic and sincere as anything could possibly be, with the very noblest of intentions.

What is there to be said about this lunatic rant? To call what Bushnell did “a profound act of sincerity” and a counterblast again our “fraudulent civilization” bespeaks a true sickness of the soul. Johnstone would have us believe that there’s something authentic and noble about killing oneself for the sake of a genocidal death cult. Naturally she’d never dream of doing a thing like that herself, but Bushnell’s suicide obviously sent a thrill up her leg.

Antisemitism being the socialism of fools, Johnstone’s delusional take on his suicide is only to be expected. It was news to me, and would probably be news to you, that it has had “an earthshaking impact on our society.” On the contrary, decent people feel that Bushnell’s act of self-murder was a horrifying act of selfishness and narcissism, perhaps the product of mental illness, but nevertheless to be deplored. The fact that he did it to promote one of the worst causes in the world, genocidal river-to-sea Palestinian nationalism, can only have deepened their disgust.

Johnstone wasn’t alone in her rush to exploit Bushnell’s suicide. "Please, stop saying Aaron Bushnell was mentally ill,” tweeted CounterPunch editor Joshua Frank. “The real mental illness is witnessing a genocide taking place and not doing a thing to stop it.” He wasn’t referring to October 7, 2023, of course. And from Farhana Sultana, a professor at Syracuse University, came this gem:

They will try to spin-doctor it as mental health issues, but he was rational and clear about his political reasoning, which resonates with the majority of the world. May his sacrifice not be in vain. Indeed. it was legitimate moral outrage and courage against the holocaust and barbarity in Palestine with U.S. full participation. May his sacrifice not be in vain, may his last words on this earth ring true. #FreePalestine.

Fringe presidential candidates Cornel West and Jill Stein also got into the act. West: “Let us never forget the extraordinary courage and commitment of Brother Aaron Bushnell, who died for truth and justice” Stein: “May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now.”

Johnstone, Frank, Sultana, West, Stein, and the rest of the Hamas huggers didn’t know Bushnell personally. They have no idea, nor do they care, whether he had mental health issues or not. Johnstone & Co. celebrate his suicide because they imagine that it furthers their cause—which is the ultimate delusion. Bushnell’s suicide will neither bring about a Gaza ceasefire nor facilitate the destruction of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state. Indeed, the attempt by antisemites to valorize Bushnell’s gruesome death, linking it to their slanderous charge that Israel is committing genocide, will have the opposite effect, exposing the evil of the cause he died for. If there’s anything positive to be said about his act of self-destruction, it’s that.

Aaron Bushnell’s suicide will be remembered, though not for long, as the sad waste of a life. Maybe they’ll name a street in the West Bank for him, though. That would be fitting.