Antiwar Group Features Dr. Ismail Mehr

Ream Kidane of the SocialistWorker.org reports:

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--Over 50 people packed the First Unitarian Church March 6 to hear a panel discussion featuring Dr. Ismail Mehr from the American Medical Mission to Gaza (AMMG), and local antiwar activists.

In conjunction with the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA), Dr. Mehr and his team of 12 doctors from the AMMG traveled to Gaza just as Israel's initial military assault ended. Since returning, Dr. Mehr and his team have traveled the country sharing their photos, video and experiences about life under siege in Gaza.

Dr. Mehr's presentation began with a history of Israel's expansion from the early 1940s through its settlement expansion that continues to this day, displacing and expelling the native people all along the way. His photos and video of bombed-out apartment buildings, shot-up medical rehabilitation centers, schools, hospitals and mosques exposed the claim of "Israel's incredible restraint" as a cruel joke.

If the bulldozed cemetery, destroyed Palestinian parliament building and pastures filled with slaughtered livestock were not horrific enough, the crippling effects of Israel's two-year-old embargo and blockade brought many in the room to tears.

Children being held down while doctors stitched up wounds with no anesthetic, simple infections that led to amputation and photos of kidney tumors (a treatable condition in even the poorest countries) grown to the size of footballs due to the lack of supplies and medical equipment reminded us of the slow, agonizing death that many Palestinian men, women and children will face in the coming months.

As the panel continued, Brian Lenzo from Rochester Against War and the International Socialist Organization brought the reasons for the carnage home, with a detailed explanation of the history and ongoing money train, billions of dollars strong, of U.S. government aid that supports Israel's brutality.

Ryan Acuff from the University of Rochester Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and a leading activist from the recently successful campus occupation at U of R, called for a continued mass movement that demands divestment, boycott and sanctions against Israel for its crimes.
The panelists agreed that the coming mobilizations around the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war demanding an end to the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are the next key step in building that movement.

The event represented a step forward in integrating the movements for justice in Palestine with the antiwar movement in Rochester. It was also a sobering reminder that many more panels, demonstrations, boycotts and occupations will be needed in order to form that movement.

What you can do

Visit the American Medical Mission to Gaza Web site to find out more about the group or to bring Dr. Ismail Mehr and members of his team to your city.