Watch ‘American Doctor’
by LouAnn Villani, Middle East Crisis Committee
American Doctor is a non-fiction film following three American physicians – Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, Dr. Mark Perlmutter and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa. They recount horrors and barbarities they witnessed while volunteering in Gaza during Israel’s ongoing genocide. It’s professionally made by director Poh Si Teng but won’t be coming to a screen near you (unless you campaign for it). Search for it and travel to see it.
Clips were featured on Democracy Now! on Aug. 14 (see democracynow.org for the video and full transcript).
DR. THAER AHMAD: “I want to just take you through what it looks like when a hospital gets targeted and attacked, because this has become a pattern when it comes to the Israeli military. This has become a behavior that they started in October of 2023 when they struck Al-Mamadani Ahli Baptist Hospital. And when that happened and that there was no accountability, we saw that this became a series of events that attacked every hospital.”
DR. MARK PERLMUTTER: “As a Jewish physician, I knew nothing about Gaza. Like most Americans, I thought everybody out here were nothing but terrorists, because that’s what I was told.”
DR. FEROZE SIDHWA: “I’m not Israeli. I’m not Palestinian. I’m not Christian. I’m not Muslim. I’m not Jewish. And I don’t really have any connection to it. But as an American, I just don’t want my government involved in crimes.”
At the end of their segment the doctors talk briefly in tribute to Dr. Abu Safiya [pictured below], who has been imprisoned and tortured by Israel since Dec. 2024. As this was written, August 18, Dr. Abu Safiya was still alive. That’s quite an achievement. In the last visit he had from his lawyer the doctor said, “They brought me here to kill me. I don’t see myself surviving.” His attorney Nasser Odeh said he was in critical condition. The doctor had been beaten by guards with hammers. He’s in an underground cell in a prison in Israel – no charge, no trial. There’s a Congressional letter calling for the doctor’s release and all five members of the CT delegation have signed it. See more at FreeDrAbuSafiya.org.