Physicians from ‘American Doctor’ Share Their Experiences with Childhood Deaths in Gaza
Director Poh Si Teng draws a compelling parallel between her film American Doctor and a popular TV medical drama, as it makes its debut in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
A trio of dedicated physicians—Mark Perlmutter from North Carolina, Thaer Ahmad from Chicago, and Feroze Sidhwa from California—have offered their skills and compassion in a harrowing effort to assist children affected by the recent bombings and military actions in Gaza. Since the Hamas attack on October 7, the doctors have described the scenes they encountered in local hospitals as profoundly disturbing.
‘American Doctor’
Watermelon Pictures
As a Palestinian American, Dr. Ahmad feels a personal connection to the thousands of Palestinian lives lost during the conflict in Gaza.
“Something that I just had a tough time living with was that it felt like every day there were new tragedies, and the old ones were being forgotten because they were replaced with newer and worse tragedies,” Dr. Ahmad reflected. “For me, it really goes back to just thinking about who these people were and trying to do whatever I can to help my people.”
The doctors have sought to raise awareness in the United States about the devastating conditions they’ve observed in Gaza, appearing on various news programs to relay their experiences. However, they have often faced both indifference and backlash in response to their messages.
“I get monthly death threats,” Dr. Perlmutter disclosed. “Within the first couple of months after I returned [from Gaza], I received them daily, which led me to get a Ring door camera. I’ve even received calls in the operating room from people claiming to need to speak with me, only to make threats while I’m working. But that just means I’m doing the right thing. I’m affecting the people that need to hear it.”
Last October, the trio signed an open letter addressed to President Trump, joined by 150 other healthcare professionals who have volunteered in Gaza. “President Trump,” they wrote, “we wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since returning from Gaza: scenes of malnourished children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them. Today we beg you to hear the cries of Gaza’s children that our consciences will not let us forget. We cannot fathom why our government continues arming Israel while its armed forces kill children en masse.”
The physicians also sent a similar letter to President Biden before he left office.
“All of us had worked in Gaza, and we’re all American physicians and nurses,” Dr. Sidhwa noted about the letter’s signatories. “What we saw [in Gaza] was a shocking level of killing, maiming, starvation, destruction of the healthcare system, and targeting of our colleagues—essentially an assault on childhood itself. We don’t believe these are things that Americans want to subsidize. The American public deserves to know what is happening so they can make informed moral choices.”
Dr. Sidhwa further expressed, “We received no response from Biden or Trump, which was disheartening. But hopefully, a film like this can make an impact, as our leaders seem disinterested.”
For a deeper insight into their experiences, viewers can watch the full conversation in the video above.
