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Hamas praises man who burned himself to death outside Israeli embassy

Aaron Bushnell has also received celebrations from far-left 2024 presidential candidates Cornel West and Jill Stein.

Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. Credit: Krokodyl via Wikimedia Commons.

Hamas said in a statement that Biden “bears full responsibility for the death of U.S. Army pilot Aaron Bushnell due to its policy that supported the Nazi-Zionist entity in its war of extermination against our Palestinian people.”

Hamas said Bushnell gave his life “to shed light on the Zionist massacres and ethnic cleansing against our people in the Gaza Strip.”

Cornel West, the far-left independent 2024 presidential candidate, similarly offered praise, writing on X: “Let us never forget the extraordinary courage and commitment of brother Aaron Bushnell who died for truth and justice! I pray for his precious loved ones! Let us rededicate ourselves to genuine solidarity with Palestinians undergoing genocidal attacks in real time!”

Dr. Jill Stein, a presidential candidate for the far-left Green Party, wrote on X: “Rest in power Aaron Bushnell” and “May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now.”

Antisemitic rock artist Roger Waters posted a video of Bushnell killing himself as the Pink Floyd song “The Gunners Dream” played in the background. Waters wrote that Bushnell was an “All American Hero.”

A friend has described Bushnell as an anarchist. Unverified postings on Reddit also suggest staunch anti-Israel views. In a posting responding to someone describing the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on civilians and tourists, Acebush1—an account identified as Bushnell’s that has since been wiped—wrote: “There are no Israeli ‘civilians’ or tourists who have no part in the oppression of Palestine.”

The user claimed that since he was not Palestinian, he was “in no position to endorse or condemn Hamas’ actions,” that “there are no Israelis without the genocide of the Palestinian people” and that “Israel is a settler colonialist apartheid state.”

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