A few months after American aviator Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire to protest the war, two more people are demonstrating.
Two active members of the US Air Force want to leave military service and become conscientious objectors following Washington’s support for the Israeli army in Gaza.
Larry Hébert and Juan Bettancourt say they no longer wish to serve the U.S. military because of its role in the war, which has killed more than 37,400 Palestinians, most of them children and women.
They officially requested, via an existing procedure in the army, to become conscientious objectors, that is to say people who refuse to participate in military service for ethical or moral reasons.
Hebert, a senior airman on active duty in the US Air Force, told Tel Aviv Tribune that there is a long history of conscientious objectors in the United States, including in protest of the Vietnam and Iraq wars.
He said he hoped to emphasize that becoming a conscientious objector was an option for other U.S. soldiers on active duty.
“I think a lot of service members don’t really know what it is or what their rights are,” he said.
While on leave in April, Hébert demonstrated outside the White House, calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to U.S. arms shipments to Israel.
Larry Hebert, Sr. Airman, USAF, inspired by Aaron Bushnell, is in his second week of fasting for Gaza. This week he will be outside the Capitol, talking to many people and handing out the attached flyer. pic.twitter.com/3JmNavKnnJ
– Veterans for Peace (@VFPNational) April 8, 2024
Hebert previously told US broadcaster NBC News that the death of six-year-old Hind Rajab in February was a turning point.
Rajab’s family car was targeted by Israeli tanks and she pleaded for help in a phone call while trapped inside the car with her deceased relatives.
“She almost looks like my daughter, and that was something that was extremely difficult to understand, is that all these children who have aspirations and dreams and lives that many of us live and want, and it is completely unjustified to support what is happening,” Hebert told NBC News, adding that he had worked on a U.S. operation to provide arms sales to Israel.
Airman Juan Bettancourt also said he could not support the U.S. role after watching the news about Gaza.
“I see the massacre of thousands of innocent civilians while the world watches through their smartphones,” Bettancourt told NBC, which reported that the Air Force had acted on 36 requests from conscientious objectors since the beginning of 2021, of which 29 were accepted.
By publicly opposing it, the two men hope to influence the American position on support for Israel.
They were also influenced by Aaron Bushnell, the American airman who set himself on fire in February to protest the war in Gaza.
The United States has provided thousands of large bombs, as well as other munitions and equipment, as well as intelligence support, to the Israeli military since the start of the war on Gaza.
These weapons, including 907 kg bombs, have been used repeatedly in large-scale attacks that have killed many civilians, including attacks on United Nations-run schools that now serve as shelters for Palestinians. displaced.
But earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement sharply criticizing the United States for “denying arms and ammunition to Israel” in recent months.
