The Take: ‘An extreme act’ – Why Aaron Bushnell self-immolated for Gaza
Who was the 25-year-old who lit himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC?

Aaron Bushnell, a member of the US air force, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, in an act of political protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. Bushnell livestreamed his death, saying he no longer wanted to be “complicit in genocide”. How will his message resonate?
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In this episode:
- Talia Jane (@taliaotg), independent journalist
- Lupe Barboza, friend of Aaron Bushnell
- Archana Kaku, assistant professor, College of William & Mary
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Sonia Bhagat and Ashish Malhotra with our host, Malika Bilal. Chloe K Li fact-checked this episode.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik, and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.
Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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