Burnt Offerings | Online Only | n+1
Since Aaron Bushnell’s death by self-immolation this week in protest of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, his detractors have warned about the risk of “contagion,” suggesting that his protest will encourage imitators (who, they imply, share his alleged mental instability). There may or may not be additional self-immolators before the slaughter comes to an end, just as Bushnell was proceeded by a woman, yet to be identified publicly, who burned herself to death outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta in December. But the purpose of lighting yourself on fire is not to encourage other people to...