Burning Yourself As War Protests In Gaza, US Journalist: For 10 Thousand Children Who Lose Body Members

JAKARTA - United States journalist Samuel Mena from Arizona who tried to burn himself in Washington DC last weekend said he felt overwhelmed by the way US media and himself frame Israel's war in Gaza and the killing of innocent Palestinians.

The Minister attended pro-Palestinian protests last Saturday, giving a speech on objectivity and favoritism between the two sides, condemning the American media editors' space for their coverage of the war.

"We, American journalists, through laziness or through the worst influence of the corporate, create the environment, incubate, and carry tools that our government leaders will use to uncover the truth of the world we live in," Mena said in her speech, which she uploaded online the day before Saturday's action., quoted from Middle East Eye 10 October.

"For the 10,000 children in Gaza who lost their limbs in this conflict, I will give my left arm to you. I pray that my voice can raise your voice, and so that your smile never disappears," said the Mena before burning her left arm.

Police officers and the community nearby rushed to extinguish the fire when Mena's hand began to catch fire, with Mena then being rushed and hospitalized. The wound is not life-threatening.

The latest conflict in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023, when a Palestinian militant group led by Hamas stormed Israel's southern region, leaving about 1,200 people dead and 250 others held hostage according to Israeli calculations.

In response, Israel carried out indiscriminate blockades, airstrikes and bombings, to ground operations in the Palestinian enclave.

Gaza's health authorities on Wednesday announced the death toll from the Israeli attack since the latest conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, had reached 42,010, while injuries reached 97,720, the majority of children and women, quoted from WAFA.

Israeli forces have bombed schools, UN shelters, mosques, residential buildings, and surrounded hospitals. Israeli attacks also killed UN workers, international humanitarian aid workers, doctors and journalists.

However, most American media have framed Israel's war as a war against Hamas, not Gaza as a whole.

"An area of 139 square miles has been flattened, however, children are still rising from the ashes of a house they once knew, and vowed to take revenge on the killers of their loved ones, and we American journalists call it the war against Hamas," Mena said in his speech.

"How many Palestinians were killed that I let be branded Hamas? How many men, women, and children were hit by missiles signed by American media? Signed by 'Samuel Mena Jr?" he said.

Meanwhile, Arizona Family, the company where Mena works, said in a statement posted on its website, Mena was no longer their employees.

"Arizona Family expects editorial employees to be neutral and objective. Mena is no longer an employee," the company said.

The demonstration attended by the Minister was to commemorate one year since the start of Israel's war in Gaza.

Mena is the second person to burn himself in Washington DC in protest against Israel's war in Gaza.

Earlier, Aaron Bushnell, a member of the US Air Force who was still on duty, died in February after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy.