This is Democracy Now.

This is Democracy Now.

Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report.

I'm Amy Goodman.

We're joined now for part two of our conversation with Dr. Thir Ahmed, an emergency room physician who spent

three weeks in Gaza, volunteering at El Nasser Hospital in Kanyunis.

He's a board member for Med Global, which has an opportunity. Hospital in

Con Yunus. He's a board member from Med Global, which has an office in Gaza and is working with the World Health Organization. He just returned to Chicago on Thursday

where he's the global health director of his hospital, and also an assistant

professor of emergency medicine at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

We want to thank you so much for being with us. You know, I want to ask Dr Ahmed, we are hearing such horror stories out of Gaza.

How did you have the courage to go?

You know, I think for me it was very personal. I'm a part of the Palestinian

diaspora. I actually grew up in Chicago in an area called Little

Palestine or Bridgeview, Illinois.

And so for us, when this war started, it was really, really tough to be able to sit at home and

see the images coming out of Gaza.

And I know that myself and many other Palestinian Americans wanted to do whatever we could.

When the opportunity came about that Met Global, the organization that I worked with was going to be

able to provide direct medical care to the people of Gaza, I could not turn away that opportunity and I know many of my

colleagues over there definitely thought that it would be important for someone to go out

there and see what's happening on the ground and to be able to come back and share that experience.

...