Israel's New Protest Movement: Suicide by Fire

Israel is searching for answers after seven people tried to end it all—and make a shocking public statement—with suicide by fire. The first was Moshe Silman, who killed himself with lighter fluid and a match at a rally for the first anniversary of Israel's Occupy movement on July 14. Among the six who followed, all have lived, but one is clinging to life. Their common themes: economic desperation and a hatred of government red tape, reports Global Post.

"It’s a wave, nothing more than a wave," said a police spokesman. But a prominent Israeli journalist has written an op-ed that takes it more seriously: "This is a last call to the despaired who intend to commit suicide: For God’s sake, stop! Stop it!" writes Eitan Haber at YNet News. A doctor at one of Israel's suicide hotlines—which are swamped these days—says he senses "the desire to create an effect. ... It’s a psychological and sociological tempest."