Graphic: via Politico
On July 19, Politico published a must-read article by two American humanitarian surgeons who have volunteered in disaster and war zones around the world. Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an orthopedic and hand surgeon from North Carolina, and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma and critical care surgeon from Northern California, went to Gaza in March for two weeks to volunteer at the European Gaza Hospital.
Feroze Sidhwa, left, operates on a man who was shot. | Feroze Sidhwa, left; Mark Perlmutter, right Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Mark Perlmutter
With great humanity and heart, they describe—in painful detail—the most depraved genocidal hell that Israel has brought down on the Palestinian people in Gaza. They describe the suffering, the cruelty, the nightmare conditions of working in a hospital whose “horrors defy description.” They describe the demoralization and desperation of the staff—sick, exhausted, hungry and themselves having lost family, friends and experienced nine months of blood and guts and orphaned children and screaming parents and bullets and bombs.
In this, Drs. Perlmutter and Sidhwa confront the role the U.S. plays in backing and funding this genocide. They write:
The moment the United States cuts off military aid to Israel the bombs will stop falling and the troops will withdraw. We must decide, once and for all: are we for or against murdering children, doctors and emergency medical personnel? Are we for or against demolishing an entire society? Are we for or against starvation?
Are we for or against peace?
Read this. And fully confront—and urgently act to stop—what your government is consciously and actively funding, in your name.