MOSHE HILL OPINION COLUMNS FEBRUARY 28 2024
Late Sunday, news broke that an active-duty US Airman lit himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. He shouted “Free Palestine” and “I will no longer be complicit in genocide” as he burned. His act of violence amid what is obviously severe mental illness should be viewed as a tragedy, yet it is celebrated by Hamas supporters who want to see Israel’s destruction, claiming that this is a great moment for their cause. More than that, this is the natural conclusion of a society that uses the mental illness of others for political gain.
An individual’s mental illness becomes publicized in numerous ways in the media landscape. Certain mass shootings are headlines for weeks, while others are not. People who claim to be another gender and have radical reconstructive surgeries to appear different are plastered on magazine covers and given awards and television shows.
This follows the path of “tolerance, acceptance, celebration” that has been the trend of leftwing causes going back 40 years. Abortion was “safe, legal, and rare” long before it became “shout your abortion.” Gay marriage was a nonstarter by both parties until Barack Obama needed to win re-election in 2012. Democrats and Republicans, by polling data, were dead even on the issue of illegal immigration, until it became clear that illegal immigrants could be used for political gain.
This trendline is clearest when it comes to Pride-related causes. Anyone old enough to remember the Clinton administration will remember the massive push for “tolerance” in the early 2000s. As long as people are “tolerant” of any and all activities, nothing more will be asked of them. The public did not see the slippery slope and complied. Tolerance quickly turned into “acceptance,” which then turned into forced celebration of every activity, regardless of morality or religious affiliation.
This is actively happening with mental illness that leads to violent action. For years, mass shootings that are clearly based in mental illness are glorified, while those that occur due to gang violence are suppressed. Why is that? The goal is to blame guns for shootings, while 100% of the time it was a person who pulled the trigger of said gun. Blaming guns means you can blame the Second Amendment, the NRA, and Republicans. It means more donations and votes.
It also accepts mental illness, because it ignores it. How many investigations are being done on the percentage of mass shooters who are on antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication? How many studies are occurring over the prevalence of paranoid schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, or any of the hundreds of diagnosable illnesses in these cases? Absolutely none.
That’s because mental illness is being tolerated and accepted, because it can be used as a political weapon. If a mentally ill person shoots up a school, that’s millions of dollars in donations to the first person who says to ban the Second Amendment. On the contrary, the first person to say that antidepressants may be a factor gets pilloried by the millions of people who are on the same drugs. There’s no benefit to addressing the issue from that direction.
What we are seeing in this self-immolation case, however, is something new. One doesn’t need an advanced degree from an Ivy League institution to say that if you set yourself on fire while yelling “Free Palestine,” you are mentally ill. Yet all leftwing social media reaction to this violent act has been celebratory. “A hero and a martyr. May his death not be in vain. May it be a wake up call where we see the end of the genocide and the start of a free Palestine,” said a Harvard MPA who is a pro-Hamas activist.
What happens when another mentally ill person sees all of these plaudits and accolades to this man who, once again, set himself on fire shouting “Free Palestine”? Someone who is detached and disaffected and wants to become instantly famous? Will he pick up a gun and go shoot up a synagogue? Will he build a pipe bomb? Will he commit suicide? These are not questions those on social media are asking because they don’t care. As long as he commits any of those acts while shouting “Free Palestine,” it’s acceptable.
Celebrating violent acts caused by mental illness will only invite more of it. It needs to stop now.
