‘End This Madness Now!’ – US Doctors Urge Biden, Harris to Stop Military, Economic Support of Israel
“I’ve never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so few resources. Our bombs are cutting down women and children by the thousands”. – Dr. Feroze Sidhwa
Nearly 100 American physicians and medical professionals who volunteered in the Gaza Strip have called on US President Joe Biden to immediately withhold military, economic, and diplomatic support for Israel to prevent “an even worse catastrophe” in the enclave.
“Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets,” the health workers said in a letter addressed to Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris dated October 2, 2024.
The multi-faith and multi-ethnic group which spent 254 weeks collectively volunteering in Gaza’s hospitals and clinics said the letter “summarizes our own experiences and direct observations in Gaza.”
Available on www.gazahealthcareletters.org, the letter was accompanied by a detailed appendix summarizing the publicly available information from media, humanitarian, and academic sources on key aspects of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
Death Toll Over 118,908
“It is likely that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 118,908, an astonishing 5.4% of Gaza’s population,” the health workers stated, adding that they believed the US government was obligated, under both American law and International Humanitarian Law to withhold military support for Israel.
“I’ve never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so few resources. Our bombs are cutting down women and children by the thousands,” Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, trauma and critical care surgeon, Veterans Affairs general surgeon said. “Their mutilated bodies are a monument to cruelty.”
The healthcare workers pointed out widespread malnutrition in the enclave, saying “With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both. This includes every national aid worker, every international volunteer, and probably every Israeli hostage: every man, woman, and child.”
“In Gaza we watched malnourished mothers feed their underweight newborns infant formula made with poisonous water. We can never forget that the world abandoned these innocent women and babies,” they said.
‘Every Day I Saw Babies Die’
Asma Taha, a pediatric nurse practitioner, shared “Every day I saw babies die. They had been born healthy. Their mothers were so malnourished that they could not breastfeed, and we lacked formula or clean water to feed them, so they starved.”
“We urge you to realize that epidemics are raging in Gaza,” they stated, adding that Israel’s “continued, repeated displacement of the malnourished and sick population of Gaza, half of whom are children, to areas without running water or even toilets available is absolutely shocking.”
They raised concern that unknown thousands have already died from the lethal combination of malnutrition and disease, and that tens of thousands more will die in the coming months, especially with the onset of the winter rains in Gaza, adding “Most of them will be young children.”
Children Deliberately Targeted
The letter pointed out that children are “universally considered innocents in armed conflict.”
“However, every single signatory to this letter saw children in Gaza who suffered violence that must have been deliberately directed at them,” the doctor said.
“Specifically, every one of us who worked in an emergency, intensive care, or surgical setting treated pre-teen children who were shot in the head or chest on a regular or even a daily basis.
“It is impossible that such widespread shooting of young children throughout Gaza, sustained over the course of an entire year is accidental or unknown to the highest Israeli civilian and military authorities.”
The letter continued: “President Biden and Vice President Harris, we wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them.
“We wish you could hear the cries and screams our consciences will not let us forget. We cannot fathom why you continue arming the country that is deliberately killing these children en masse.”
Healthcare Destroyed
They also pointed out that Israel has destroyed more than half of Gaza’s healthcare resources and has killed nearly one thousand Palestinian healthcare workers, “more than one out of every 20 healthcare workers in Gaza.”
At the same time, healthcare needs have increased massively “from the lethal combination of military violence, malnutrition, disease, and displacement.”
The doctors said that their observations and the publicly available material detailed in the appendix “lead us to believe that the death toll from this conflict is many times higher than what is reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health.”
“We also believe this is probative evidence of widespread violations of American laws governing the use of American weapons abroad, and of International Humanitarian Law. We cannot forget scenes of unbearable cruelty directed at women and children that our government is a direct participant in.”
The medical professionals also stated that “Israel has systematically and deliberately devastated Gaza’s entire healthcare system, and that Israel has targeted our colleagues in Gaza for torture, disappearance, and murder.”
Duty-Bound to Uphold Laws
They urged Biden and Harris “to immediately withhold military, economic, and diplomatic support from the State of Israel and to participate in an international arms embargo of Israel and all Palestinian armed groups until a permanent ceasefire is established in Gaza.”
“Vice President Harris, as the likely next president of the United States, we urge you to publicly announce your support for such a policy, and to state publicly that you are duty-bound to uphold the laws of the United States even when doing so is politically inconvenient.”
The letter concluded: “Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you: end this madness now!”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
