Jakarta, ThedailyID — A Jewish American doctor who has treated victims of disasters and conflicts in 30 countries says the situation he witnessed in Gaza was unlike anything he had experienced before.
Orthopedic surgeon Mark Perlmutter is one of three American doctors featured in American Doctor, a documentary that follows their experience treating patients in Gaza.
Perlmutter has previously worked in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in New York, Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Yet he said his experience in Gaza was significantly more severe.
“The first week we were in Gaza was already worse than the combination of all my previous experiences,” Perlmutter told AFP.
The documentary, directed by former AFP visual journalist Poh Si Teng, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is scheduled for release in selected US cinemas on August 21.
Doctors Witness the Impact on Gaza’s Hospitals
One of the film’s most disturbing accounts involves what the documentary describes as a “double-tap” strike, in which a second attack allegedly hit emergency responders treating patients after Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was bombed.
The film also features emergency physician Thaer Ahmad and surgeon Feroze Sidhwa, who both worked alongside Perlmutter in Gaza.
Sidhwa argued that understanding the humanitarian situation does not require extensive academic knowledge.
“The question is not how much you understand about Arab-Israeli history, but: Do you support the killing of children or not? Do you support the torture of medical workers or not? Do you support the bombing of hospitals or not?” Sidhwa said.
Documentary Seeks to Change How Gaza Is Seen
Teng said he wanted the documentary to show American audiences the consequences of the conflict, particularly in relation to US taxpayer-funded military support.
“An avalanche of truth starts with snowflakes. I’m optimistic that we are all snowflakes in that growing snowball,” Teng said.
The documentary comes amid continued international scrutiny over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, more than 73,000 people have been killed since the conflict began.
Israel has acknowledged striking medical facilities but has said it targets Hamas fighters allegedly operating in tunnels beneath hospitals. The three doctors featured in the documentary said they did not see such tunnels in the hospitals where they worked.
For the filmmakers and doctors, American Doctor is ultimately intended to bring greater attention to the human consequences of the war and challenge audiences to reconsider how the situation in Gaza is understood.
