<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" lang="en-US" dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/bearing-witness-in-gaza-floodgate-exclusive-interview-with-dr-mimi-syed/">palestinechronicle.com</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Bearing Witness in Gaza: FloodGate Exclusive Interview with Dr. Mimi Syed</h1>June 2, 2025</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div>
<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Syed_Takeaways_PC.png" alt="" title="Syed_Takeaways_PC" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="394" height="264" style="margin-right: 25px;">
<font size="1">Dr. Mimi Syed in conversation with
Romana Rubeo and Dr. Omar Akhtar in the FloodGate podcast interview.
(Design: Palestine Chronicle)</font>
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/romana-rubeo" title="Display all articles for Romana Rubeo">Romana Rubeo</a></strong> </p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>In a searing FloodGate interview, Dr. Mimi Syed recounts the
destruction of Gaza\u2019s health system and the targeting of those who try
to save lives.</span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>In the latest episode of the FloodGate podcast, Palestine
Chronicle managing editor Romana Rubeo and Palestinian-American
physician Dr. Omar Akhter spoke with Dr. Mimi Syed, an American
board-certified emergency physician who twice traveled to Gaza in
2024\u2014first in August and then again in December\u2014to work at Al-Aqsa and
Nasser hospitals.</span></p>
<p><span>Her testimony is raw and unsparing. Drawing from her
experiences on the ground, Dr. Syed speaks about the total collapse of
Gaza\u2019s healthcare system, the deliberate dehumanization of Palestinians,
and the brutal toll of war and siege on children and families.</span></p>
<p><span> Her voice, both clinical and profoundly human, offers an
urgent account of genocide in motion. But above all, she refuses to be
silent. Through her words, we are reminded of the power of bearing
witness.</span></p>
<p><span>Here are five major takeaways from the interview:</span></p>
<p><b>Healthcare under Siege</b></p>
<p><span>Gaza\u2019s health system was already under immense strain after years of blockade and repeated assaults.</span></p>
<p><span>What Dr. Syed witnessed in 2024, however, was a deliberate
policy of dismantlement\u2014one that leaves doctors with no tools, patients
with no hope, and hospitals as little more than holding spaces for the
dying.</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>\u201cThere were 36 functioning hospitals in Gaza
before. Since then, it has gone down. I mean it\u2019s less than half and
those hospitals are not fully functioning, hey\u2019re partially
functioning.\u201d</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span>Even Gaza\u2019s best-equipped facilities are now shells of their
former selves, starved of supplies and isolated from any sustainable
support.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cNasser hospital has something like a CT scan, the only CT scan
that\u2019s functioning in that southern area. They are still lacking things
like gauze, clean water, medication, not even enough pain medication or
sedation,\u201d she said.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><b>Beyond Injuries</b></p>
<p><span>War is often reduced to casualty numbers, but Dr. Syed makes
clear that the deeper devastation lies in what those numbers obscure:
hunger, disease, grief, and the permanent scarring of a generation.</span></p>
<p><span>For Gaza\u2019s children, injury doesn\u2019t end with survival. In most cases, it begins there.</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>\u201cWhen you talk about malnourishment, for example,
malnourishment in prenatal, in women who are pregnant, you\u2019re basically
embedding it in the rest of society for the future.\u201d</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span>She recounted the story of Mira, a child who was saved\u2014but not healed.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cThe little girl Mira, who, yes, we saved her life, but what
about the ongoing care? Repeated infection? Her mother sustaining an
injury that is debilitating for the rest of her life?\u201d she said.</span></p>
<p><b>Targeting of Medical and Media Personnel</b></p>
<p><span>Dr. Syed described a reality in Gaza where being a healthcare
provider or journalist doesn\u2019t grant protection\u2014it increases your risk
of being killed. </span></p>
<p><span>She commented on the tragic Rafah paramedic massacre, where 15
aid workers, including eight members of the Palestine Red Crescent
Society, five civil defense, and one UN agency employee, were killed by
Israel last March.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cEach paramedic was shot, I think it was something like 20
times each. That can\u2019t be crossfire, that\u2019s not a mistake,\u201d Dr. Syed
said.</span></p>
<p><span>Even more appalling is the sham process that follows such
crimes. As she noted, the very perpetrators are tasked with conducting
the investigations.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s unheard of to commit a crime and then to investigate your own crime, sounds comical,\u201d she noted.</span></p>
<p><b>Free Speech under Threat</b></p>
<p><span>Bearing witness to atrocity comes with a heavy price\u2014not only
in Gaza but in the United States as well. Dr. Syed explained how
physicians like herself are threatened, blacklisted, or punished simply
for telling the truth.</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>\u201cPeople like myself and my colleagues are being scared into being silent, our licenses, our careers, our physical safety.\u201d</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span>However, Dr. Syed said she refuses to comply.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cI will use every energy, every ounce of energy in my body to speak out against this,\u201d she said, adding: </span><span>\u201cShooting children in the head is wrong; starvation is wrong\u201d.</span></p>
<p><b>Collective Action and Humanization</b></p>
<p><span>At the heart of this interview lies a call to resist the dehumanization of Palestinians. </span></p>
<p><span>For Dr. Syed, this begins with reclaiming their stories, naming
the violence for what it is, and standing visibly in solidarity\u2014even
when it feels small.</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>\u201cWhen people go out into the streets and protest,
saying that it\u2019s wrong despite trying to be silenced, it sets the tone
for other people to be able to speak up.\u201d</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span>That solidarity, according to Dr. Syed, has a multiplying
effect. But it also has a purpose: to restore the humanity that colonial
violence has sought to erase.</span></p>
<p><span>\u201cWhen you dehumanize an entire population like that, you can
justify shooting a small child in the head. That\u2019s a true rhetoric. I\u2019ve
heard people say that.\u201d</span></p>
<p><span>Dr. Syed reminded that it is not enough to treat wounds; we must also treat the world\u2019s indifference to Palestinian suffering.</span></p>
<p><em>(The Palestine Chronicle)</em></p>
<div>
<p><br></p>
<p><span><i><span>\u2013 Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing
editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online
newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master\u2019s Degree in Foreign
Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism
translation.</span></i></span></p></div>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
<br></div>