ACPC Staff Report
Early Friday afternoon, an individual set themselves on fire outside the Consulate General of Israel in Midtown Atlanta in what appears to be an act of protest against the ongoing, U.S.-backed genocide in Palestine.
The Atlanta Police Department (APD) confirmed that a Palestinian flag was recovered from the scene. More than 15,000 Palestinian people have been killed, including 6,150 children, by Israeli air strikes in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in which approximately 1,200 were killed. Protests across the U.S. have intensified as the death toll has continued to rise. Israel resumed its attacks on Gaza on Friday when a weeklong truce expired.
The APD did not publicly identify the individual. Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department Chief Rod Smith disclosed that the individual suffered “100-degree burns” and is in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital. Police radio traffic from the incident described the individual as “completely covered in third degree burns.” Atlanta Police Chief Darrin Schierbaum did not say if the individual had been charged but called the self-immolation an act of arson.
A security guard received third degree burns while attempting to put out the fire and was also transported to Grady for treatment.
The APD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited an apartment off Howell Mill Road in Atlanta in connection with the incident. Police also took custody of a white Chevy Volt from the scene that was registered to that address. It is unclear what connection either the vehicle or address has to the incident. Schierbaum that the self-immolation was not being investigated as an act of terrorism, rather an act of “radical protest.”
Predominantly Jewish pro-Palestinian activists organized a candlelight vigil in solidarity with the person who set themselves on fire. Adam Brunell led the vigil in a Jewish prayer of healing. “In Judaism, we say may their memory be a blessing, and may their memory be a revolution,” Brunell said. “I hope all these folks whose lives have been taken – I hope they become a revolution. That’s my prayer.”
“A person wrapped themselves in a flag and lit themselves on fire, which to me speaks of so much desperation,” said Fig, who is Jewish. They also cited the long history of self-immolation as a radical act of protest and expressed frustration with the lack of more radical actions in protest of the genocide in Gaza, saying, “I hope [the person who self-immolated] can find some solace and community in us standing in solidarity and uplifting their voice. But even saying that doesn’t do it justice.”
The Impact of Self-Immolation in Protest Movements
Self-immolation, a form of protest characterized by setting oneself on fire gained notoriety as an act of protest during the Vietnam War. In 1965, devout Quaker Norman Morrison self-immolated outside the Pentagon in protest of the Vietnam War. Two years later, Nhat Chi Mai, a devout Buddhist, burned herself to death outside the Tu Nghiem Temple in protest.
Locally, in 2018 U.S. Air Force veteran John Michael Watts self-immolated on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta in protest of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs poor treatment of veterans with PTSD. In August 2023, Israeli Defense Force veteran Bar Kalaf set himself on fire. Kalaf participated in Israel’s 2008 war on Gaza, which killed nearly 1,400 Palestinian people. The Israel Defense Ministry repeatedly denied Kalaf’s application for mental health benefits due to post-traumatic stress disorder.
In 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire in response to the confiscation of his wares and mistreatment at hands of local officials. Bouazizi’s act was a catalyst for widespread demonstrations against economic hardship and political repression in Tunisia.
The outrage and sympathy Bouazizi’s death generated led to massive protests, eventually causing the Tunisian President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, to resign and flee the country. This event ignited a wave of similar uprisings across the Arab world, known as the Arab Spring, challenging and in some cases toppling long-standing autocratic regimes.
“Maybe they wanted the whole world to riot,” Fig said of the individual self-immolated Friday. “And what are we doing, just standing on the street corner?”
Leave a Reply