On April 11, members of the community gathered to hear from Dr. Mimi Syed, Emergency Physician here in South Sound. The event was organized by the Rachel Corrie Foundation in memory of Rachel at the time of her birthday, and also sponsored by PASS – Palestine Action of South Sound.
Our evening together was opened by Cindy Corrie, who voiced the concern and conviction of many… to echo the words of her daughter Rachel who was killed in Gaza on March 16, 2003 … “this has to stop.” In the spirit of Rachel and others who’ve lost their lives in this long tragic struggle, there is a continuing challenge to the powers that be here in the US and in Israel. We gather, we write, we march, we call on those in government, we learn whether and how our efforts are making an impact. And must continue to do more.
There are some very courageous, dedicated ones who are making a powerful impact…. in the saving of lives, the restoring of wounded bodies, the support for crushed spirits; the doctors and other health care providers in Gaza (both Palestinians and committed visitor/volunteers) have much to teach us. They have professional/technical in-the-moment information and insight to convey — especially to their peers and to the powers-that-be (who too often are allowing the carnage to continue.) They also have demanding don’t-look-away stories for all of us to think about and to be engaged with.
Dr. Syed was introduced by Dr. Emily Antoon-Walsh, pediatrician and a founder of the Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism. IUAPR is focused on our collective health – how we treat each other in this very strained time, in particular how people of Palestinian descent and their allies sometimes face the disregard and wrath of others in the community. To consider how a child here in the US may be struggling with the impacts of racism, war and apartheid in a land that is in some ways “far away” — this brings home the damages of a political culture often shaped by racism, exclusion and disregard for the lives of others.
Dr. Mimi Syed is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and Assistant Clinical Professor at the UW and WSU. She is also a very dedicated person willing to leave family and community to journey to one of the most volatile, dangerous and challenging places – Gaza. She was there twice this past year: August-September and December. She has much to share with us – and to ask that we take very seriously and respond to the Palestinian lives made so vulnerable. Dr. Syed’s talk was prefaced with a viewing of “Kids Under Fire,” featuring her and other physicians who show and describe the horrific assaults on children. The girl with a bullet in her brain after being shot by a quadcopter. The boy crawling on the ground after being shot by an Israeli sniper. The utter lack of supplies and space for treatment. It is a very difficult short film to watch. And it should be viewed by all, especially Americans. In the US, our government (our resources, our tax dollars) is responsible for supporting war crimes – condemned by others in the International Court of Justice, and in violation of the Leahy Law which prohibits funding of militaries committing gross human rights violations. We are deeply imbedded in the cruelty that we watch on the screen.
Here are some of the key points that Dr. Syed offered:
- “It’s a luxury to look away. They – in Gaza – can’t look away. We need to witness.”
- Palestine was once a well-developed land with a distinctively high literacy rate. October 2023 sent Gaza into the “shock of overnight poverty,” with much of the land looking like a landfill and the apocalypse.
- Water, food, fuel are all at a premium… either unavailable or difficult to access.
- Visiting doctors are barred from bringing in supplies.
- The living conditions for patients is abysmal. How can those who’ve been injured recover when they have little or no sewage treatment, threadbare tents, limited or no power or clean water, and ever-present flies?
- Child amputees in Gaza exceed all records of children injured in conflict zones.
- Health care staff are also targeted. ER’s are overwhelmed. Senior medical staff have been imprisoned or killed, leaving trainees to handle very difficult situations.
- Medical cases that could typically be successfully treated become life-long disabilities or death sentences. Hep A, scabies, tumors, spina bifada.
- All treatable.. but not now, not in Gaza.
- The epidemic of WCNSF… Wounded Child No Surviving Family. Estimates are that there are 40,000 children with no or only 1 surviving family member.
- Family sometimes write the name of the child on the child’s body… so that if they are killed, they can be identified.
- ….and one powerful, positive – and poignant – image. Children around the hospital gather up what food they can to create a Christmas eve meal for the health care providers. They watch proudly with some comfort that their efforts are celebrated.
Dr. Syed ended with this… “How did we get there?” She noted the cognitive dissonance in the US that is allowing this to go on. To recognize this – to not let Palestinian children be dehumanized, is the challenge we face. To recognize this – it is not antisemitic or pro-Hamas to say Palestinian children deserve to live in safety. Looking away and compartmentalizing from these atrocities is to be complicit. She ended her presentation with a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Silence in the face of evil is evil itself,” which very much applies to the situation today.
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The world has suffered gravely since the loss of life on October 7th 2023. Both sides suffer if we allow ourselves to see “sides.” Those in Israel who challenge Netanyahu, who oppose the assault and the apartheid conditions in Palestine, do so at great risk to themselves. We in the US need to step up and respond to one of humanity’s grimmest moments. American physicians and health care workers should be supporting and honoring their colleagues who help in Gaza; they should not be indifferent. Those in South Africa who have endured apartheid challenge us to not sit idly by.
With thanks to the health care workers in Gaza who embody the courage and determination that is urgently needed.
RESOURCES:
The 4/11 event was videotaped and is to be aired on TCTV Channel 22.
Look for event titled “Dr. Mimi Syed: Her Work in Gaza”
TCTV Community Media www.tcmedia.org
“Kids Under Fire” 25 min video, Aljazeera 2025
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/fault-lines/2025/3/27/kids-under-fire-2
Go Fund Me campaign for Mira and her mother, launched by Dr. Syed & Dr. Abbas www.gofundme.com — search for Support Medical Care for Mira and Her Mother
“Newborns die of cold in Gaza amid frigid temperatures,” featuring Dr. Syed
ABC live with Dr. Syed, 1/7/25. Video Situation in Gaza getting ‘significantly worse’: Emergency doctor – ABC News
NPR interview with Dr. Syed, 1/26/25. One doctor’s harrowing, monthlong visit to Gaza, in the days before the ceasefire : NPR
12/31/24 Democracy Now…
“Doctors warn 1000s of Palestinians could die,” featuring Dr. Syed
https://www.democracynow.org/appearances/mimi_syed
3/3/25 Dr. Syed on Electronic Intifada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S0nzEFtEb0
3/25 articles by Dr. Syed – “Israeli Government’s Weaponization of Water”
and “The Death of Gaza’s Health Care System”
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/mimi-syed/
Doctors Against Genocide
https://doctorsagainstgenocide.org/
IUAPR. Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism.
“It’s Time for American Health Care Worker to Stand in Solidarity with Gaza,”
Abdullah Shihipar, The Nation, 11/20/23
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/healthcare-gaza-ama-apha/
Leahy Law – the Israel exception
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/17/palestine-israel-leahy-lawsuit
Rachel Corrie Foundation
https://rachelcorriefoundation.org/
Palestine Action of South Sound
Jewish Voice for Peace
Standing Together (Jewish-Palestinian solidarity group in Israel)
https://www.standing-together.org/en
Combatants for Peace (Israeli-Palestinian efforts against occupation)
Human Rights Watch: South Africa’s case against Israel, Intl Court of Justice…
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/02/26/israel-not-complying-world-court-order-genocide-case
Lin Nelson is a former board member of the Rachel Corrie Foundation and a member of PASS – Palestine Action of South Sound
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