OP-ED: Dr. Mimi Syed, a board-certified emergency medicine physician, is an assistant clinical professor at University of Washington and Washington State University. She is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Dr. Syed served in Gaza from August 8 to September 5, 2024, and December 3 to December 31, 2024, at both al-Aqsa Hospital and Nasser Hospital.
As an emergency room doctor who has twice experienced the horrors of serving in Gaza hospitals, I write to share my disappointment with my congressional representative, Marilyn Strickland. With the situation in Gaza reaching a critical and devastating point, I sought an audience with Rep. Strickland to share my firsthand observations into what the U.N. has called an extermination. Unfortunately, my request was denied.
The atrocities unfolding in Gaza are not mere headlines; they are the lived experiences of countless civilians trapped under the total destruction of their society, and their enforced starvation. Having witnessed these horrors firsthand, I believed it was my duty to inform our elected representatives, hoping that their understanding could translate into meaningful action.
Given the rarity of firsthand accounts from doctors who have served in Gaza, I find it deeply concerning that Strickland chose not to engage in this crucial dialogue. One of the examples of what I witnessed was a 9-year-old girl who had her skull blown off to expose half of her brain. She is just one of thousands of children who had similar injuries. I saw small infants dying of dehydration due to lack of formula or clean water. These are completely preventable conditions.
I urge Rep. Strickland to reconsider her position and engage in a meeting with me to gain a deeper understanding of the urgent and critical issues at stake in Gaza. The people of our district deserve a representative who is willing to listen, learn, and act, based on the experiences of those truly impacted by these terrible events, which are not remote or distant, but which are funded and protected by us, through our elected representatives.
Dr. Syed was recently featured in an Al-Jazeera investigation into Israeli forces deliberately targeting children.
Editor’s Note: Israel doesn’t allow the international media, human rights monitors or Members of Congress into Gaza. Doctors are the few Americans who have witnessed what is occurring inside Gaza, yet the majority of Members of Congress won’t take meetings with these medical war heroes. With Congress providing Israel with billions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers every year, Members of Congress must provide oversight of that funding and stop hiding from the American doctors and aid workers from their district who served in Gaza. We urge all Members of Congress who are content to let Israel ban them from doing a CODEL to Gaza, to at minimum meet with the Americans from their own district who were brave enough to go. What is occurring in Gaza is not a war; it is one of the worst genocides of modern times, complete with forced starvation and the destruction of nearly every hospital. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is a wanted war criminal who is also facing corruption charges in Israel. His political survival depends on an endless military operation in Gaza and/or neighboring countries and this bloodshed will not end until Congress and the White House halt weapons to Israel.