Background Briefing: August 23, 2026
“American Doctors,” a Film That Makes Us Face Our Complicity in Gaza
We begin with a new film American Doctors which has opened in New York and LA and opens in San Francisco on August 28 about three American doctors trying to save lives in Gaza as victims of American-made bombs, mostly children, pile up outside the bare-bones and short-supplied operating room. The feature documentary shows us the results of our complicity in the Gaza war which international journalists have not been able to cover, except for Palestinians journalists, hundreds of whom have been killed by the IDF. Joining us are two of the subjects of the documentary Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency medicine physician and global health expert based in Chicago who has been part of humanitarian relief missions in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, and Kenya, and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a general, trauma, and critical care surgeon in California. He is also a humanitarian surgeon, having worked most extensively in Palestine, and also in Ukraine, Haiti, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso. Dr. Ahmad and Dr. Sidwa are the subjects of the new feature documentary by Poh Si Teng, “American Doctor.”