In the absence of a clear and obvious angle to attack Bushnell’s protest, most likely due to his status as a serviceman that would make outright insulting him or suppressing the news itself scandalous, discussions on Western shores have now taken on the familiar framing of mental illness. In Time Magazine’s write-up of Bushnell’s death, the article finishes with a link to the suicide hotline, and asks readers to contact mental health providers if they are experiencing a “crisis.” Mark Joseph Stern, a writer at Slate, seemingly unasked, also wrote on Twitter/X:
“I strongly oppose valorizing any form of suicide as a noble, principled, or legitimate form of political protest. People suffering mental illness deserve empathy and respect, but it is wildly irresponsible to praise them for using a political justification to take their own life.”
Conviction does not exist to the American. To be willing to die in a selfless act for what they believe in only exists for those outside America’s sphere of influence. Many will recall reporting on those who self-immolated in protest in Iran and in Russia for instance where this sort of approach, unwilling to engage with the root of its cause, would not even be entertained, let alone written and published with sincerity. The Arab Spring began with a self-immolation. The self-immolation of Buddhist monks in protest of South Vietnam’s persecution became defining images of the war and its corruption. Within America’s walls however, there is a belief, unspoken and ingrained from birth, that democracy allows for everyone’s voices to be heard and that its representatives are inherently inclined to respond to the people and their widespread wishes.
Desperation at inaction or complicity in terror and atrocity need not apply. Everyone incensed by their government to such an extent must simply have something wrong with them. To be able to go about one’s day knowing that children are screaming from the hunger that is eating their insides and that pregnant women are eating bread made from animal feed, and that the United States is supporting Israel’s creation of this famine, is apparently the real sign of well-adjustment.
I know you have all probably seen the esims for gaza posts circulating. Some of you have probably looked at them and thought maybe you should help out, but have weighed up the daunting process of signing up for something you’re unfamiliar with vs. the gut-wrenching scale of the things people are going through on the ground right now, and you’ve put it off or questioned whether it will make enough of a difference vs. some other future kind of activism you could put that $6+ towards. I’m not calling you out or scolding you, it is natural to feel conflicted and ambivalent about the multiple calls for aid that you are seeing on social media.
but consider this: what would you do if you suddenly had to leave your home? how would you cope? how would you begin to plan where to go next, or figure out what to do to take care of yourself? most likely you would reach reflexively for your phone.
telecoms access is not a petty luxury in 2024. a loaded esim means the ability to call family members and find out where they are and whether they’re safe, and whether they need anything you can provide for them. it means access to maps and regular updates on the situation unfolding around you. it means you can look up whether it’s safe to drink rain water, or how to tie a type of knot you’ve never had to think about before, or how to treat an injury without medical supplies. it means the ability to tell people outside the situation what you are seeing, what you are feeling, what you are thinking. it is an absolutely crucial resource. and it starts at $6 for 7 days.
many many people have observed that internet access is changing the way the world understands genocide. internet access is life or death, and it is shaping modern history in front of you. and it starts at $6 for 7 days.
please, please visit gazaesims.com and spend 5 minutes and $6 to change the way this plays out for everyone.
I don’t know if you realise the level of displacement that the people of Gaza are facing at the hands of Israel right now.
Take Rafah for example, which is in the most southern part of Gaza, it used to be one of the most densely populated areas with over 300,000 Palestinians living there before the start of the aggression. Now, following three months of forcible evacuation and terror by Israel (remember this map?), the number of people living in Rafah went from 300,000 to 1,300,000, some reporting that half of all of Gaza’s population is now condensed in Rafah.
A reporter was describing how not even a single sidewalk is vacant. People are everywhere, yet there is practically no place to live. This of course comes with severe health risks with diseases spreading rapidly, as well as humanitarian risks with no adequate shelter, access to water (Gazans were saying water comes on once every ten days in Rafah), electricity, food or fuel.
But then again, those who are currently displaced have no way to know when or if they are ever going to go back to their homes as Israel destroyed about 70% of homes in Gaza. Additionally, and according to UN reports, due to the insane amount of destruction caused by Israeli bombardment in Gza, it is likely going to take between 7 and 10 years just to rebuild destroyed homes, let alone infrastructure.
Bisan showed yesterday how people have set up their tents in Rafah and it is honestly terrifying to see. All I could think of while watching her video is that the way older Palestinian women would describe their tents following the Nakba is the exact same way these displaced Palestinians are describing theirs 75 years later.
This displacement has obviously always been deliberate as Israeli officials openly declare, and it is also intended to be long term. Displacement doesn’t only mean being forcibly removed from your house, but it also means being removed from your community and land and all the significance they hold. This fragmentation of identity is something Israel has been keen on since its inception as a colonial state built on ethnic cleansing.
