Medical workers tell Illinois audience of the horrors they witnessed in Gaza

Scenes from the Peoria for Palestine meeting, July 19. | Seth Foote / People's World

PEORIA, Ill.—Medical professionals who served in Gaza amidst the ongoing genocidal war brought the truth about what they saw to Illinois Central College in a free lecture organized by Peoria for Palestine on July 19.

The stories they shared were eye-opening for the notably diverse audience, shedding light on the seemingly insurmountable challenges faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the humanitarian aid workers serving them. Their stories highlight the ingenuity and determination of Palestinians and aid organizations in finding ways to persevere through the difficulties they’re met with.

Since October of last year, people around the world have seen the shocking images coming out of Gaza, laying bare the horrors suffered by the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli government. It goes without saying that no one has a deeper understanding of the severity and complexity of these horrors than those who have witnessed them first-hand.

One of those people is Dr. Thaer Ahmad, Assistant Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and Global Health Director for the emergency department at Advocate Christ. Ahmad is also an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Illinois.

Ahmad opened the event sharing the story of a family of five who were wounded in the Israeli air strike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in which 500 Palestinian civilians were killed.

“The father lost both of his legs, and the recommendation for the five-year-old girl was, it seems like this is a pretty devastating injury. We think we should amputate,” Ahmad said. The family fled south to Rafah and, with help from NGOs, was medically evacuated to Egypt and then to the United States, with the father staying behind due to his injury.

While in the U.S., the child received medical care to save her leg, luckily making an amputation unnecessary. The strain of being away from the father proved too much for the family, however, and they cut their treatment short.

“We would rather be together and die. We would rather be a family unit together and be killed than all be separated to all different corners of the world to suffer silently and alone,” was the message that members of the family shared with Ahmad before returning home to Rafah.

The decision that the family made served as a stark reminder for the audience of what the Israeli and U.S. governments seem to have trouble recognizing: The people facing these atrocities are human beings with family, friends, and loved ones. They have witnessed extreme levels of violence, sustained disabling injuries, and absorbed a lifetime of trauma. Despite what they had suffered, they chose to return to their decimated homeland and risk further injury or trauma rather than leave their loved ones behind.

Many healthcare workers have responded to the attacks on Gaza with selfless devotion. One of them is Hamza Abdul Quader, a critical care registered nurse based in Chicago and a Palestinian-American. He shared his experience working in what remains of the Gaza health system.

“There was no soap, there were no sheets, there was no infection control. There was absolutely nothing for me to be able to do my job properly,” he said.

Quader reported that no descriptions, videos, or photos could have prepared him for the extent of what he saw in the Gaza hospital where he was stationed. During his talk, he focused on the extreme lack of medical equipment and supplies needed to keep up with the number of wounded coming through the door. At times, staff would have to get creative in order to provide needed medical care.

“We had a patient, for example, who had a significant wound, a fasciotomy. So, his right leg is completely exposed and open. We don’t have wound vacs. So, we had to rig up suction on the walls to try and MacGyver it to work,” Qader said.

According to him, Israeli policies create barriers to providing aid and supplies, and these have real consequences for patients. “That same person had to have a debridement, which is where you are cutting away at tissue. We didn’t have sedation to put him to sleep to do this. So, we are carving away at a man’s leg while he is in and out of consciousness.”

Another speaker further stressed how difficult it is for healthcare professionals to prepare themselves for what they’ll see when they get to Gaza. Dr. John Khaler helped to establish MedGlobal in 2017, the Primary Health Center in Rafah, and one of the Nutrition Stabilization Centers in Gaza. Khaler has 35 years of experience doing humanitarian medical work in places like Haiti, Syria, and Bangladesh.

When talking about his time at Moria Refugee Camp, he compares what he witnessed there to his experience in Gaza. “I thought that was the worst place I had ever been until I entered Gaza in January.” Drawing connections to his experiences in other crises, he noted that, typically, in major humanitarian crises, relief is well-funded and supplied. Khaler said that is absolutely not the case in Gaza.

He pointed out that supplies are not short because they’re not being sent; rather, they just aren’t being allowed in by the Israeli government. Khaler believes that a combination of the scale of destruction, the lack of available aid, the percentage of Gaza’s population that has been affected, and an inability for the inhabitants to leave, all combine to create a perfect storm of human misery unrivaled by anything he’s witnessed in the other places he served.

When the people of the world have seen the overwhelming odds stacked against the Palestinian people, they ask the common question, “What can I do to help?”

That question was answered for the audience by Abdullah Fadhli, the director of fundraising for MedGlobal, an NGO that’s operated in Gaza since 2019. MedGlobal was founded in 2017, with its first deployment that same year during the Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Bangladesh. Since then, MedGlobal has initiated operations in over 20 countries, with projects ongoing in nine of those.

Fadhli addressed people’s compulsion to help Gaza with a call to donate and sustain MedGlobal and other organizations like it. He also stressed the necessity to donate, even when there is not an ongoing crisis. “MedGlobal has been inside Gaza since 2019. The only reason we were able to run these past months—in October, November, December, and January—was because we had sustained growth from 2019.”

Fadhli also encouraged the audience to continue agitating and educating on behalf of Palestine within the U.S. This was something the organizers from Peoria for Palestine were able to accomplish with the event and inspired others to do the same.

Darcie Cady, one of the organizers added, “The takeaway we’ve seen is lots of people are very eager to get involved and not only learn more, but also participate in other aspects as well.” It is apparent that this event was informative for the audience in attendance and will serve to further strengthen the resolve of those struggling for a free Palestine in Peoria.

The group’s president, Imam Mazhar Mahmood, made that clear. “This was a very inspiring event and definitely opened up what we were unable to see online.”

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CONTRIBUTOR

Seth Foote

Seth Foote writes from Peoria, Ill.