American journalist sets himself on fire over US media's complicity in Israel's war on Gaza
An American journalist from Arizona who attempted to self-immolate in Washington DC said he became overwhelmed by how the US media, and by extension himself, framed Israel's war on Gaza and the killings of innocent Palestinians.
Samuel Mena on Saturday attended a pro-Palestinian rally, where he gave a speech about objectivity and both-sideism and chided American newsrooms for their coverage of the war.
"It is we, the American Journalists, through lazy negligence at best or through corporate influence at worst, created the environment, incubated, and carried to term the tools that the leaders of our government would use to dismantle the truths of the world in which we live," Mena said in his speech, which he posted online a day before Saturday's rally.
"To the 10 thousand children in Gaza that have lost a limb in this conflict, I give my left arm to you. I pray my voice was able to raise up yours, and that your smiles never disappear," Mena said before lighting his left arm on fire.
Quickly, police officers and members of the public put out the fire, and Mena was later hospitalised for his injuries, which were non-life threatening.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Mena is the second person to light himself on fire in Washington DC in protest against Israel's war on Gaza. Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty member of the US Air Force, died in February after self-immolating in front of the Israeli embassy.
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people are experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonisers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal. Free Palestine," Bushnell said in a video he made while walking in front of the embassy.
Arizona Family, Mena's employer, said in a statement posted on its website that he is no longer an employee of theirs.
"Arizona’s Family expects its newsroom employees to conduct themselves with neutrality and objectivity. Mena is no longer an employee," the company said.
The rally Mena attended was to commemorate one year since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups led a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people - around 373 Israeli soldiers and nearly 700 civilians. About 240 were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
In response, Israel immediately declared war on Gaza, launching an indiscriminate aerial bombing campaign followed by a ground invasion of the besieged enclave.
Israeli forces have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the official death toll from the Palestinian health ministry. However, experts estimate the true death toll is much higher.
Israeli forces have bombed schools, UN shelters, mosques, residential buildings, and laid siege to hospitals. The Israeli military has killed UN workers, international humanitarian aid workers, doctors, and journalists.
Still, much of the American media landscape has framed Israel's war as a war on Hamas, not Gaza as a whole.
"A 139 square mile strip of people has been levelled, and yet, children still rise from the ashes of a home they once knew, and vow to get vengeance against their loved ones' murderers, and we the American journalists call it a war against Hamas," Mena said in his speech.
"How many Palestinians were killed that I allowed to be branded as Hamas? How many men, women, and children were struck with a missile cosigned by the American media? Cosigned by 'Samuel Mena Jr?'"
Mena said he joined the journalism industry to "serve the people of the state of Arizona that I call home. And now, I understand the reality that is maintaining face for the American Empire".
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
