A film screening and panel discussion at Bethlehem’s Cathedral Church of the Nativity on Friday examined the conditions facing medical workers and patients in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict.
The event, organized by the Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition, featured the short film “The Disappearance of Dr. Abu Safiya Fault Lines” released in September 2024. The documentary follows Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a pediatrician who led the Kamal Adwan Hospital during its siege in Gaza.
On Dec. 27, 2024, the raid of the hospital put the last major health organization in Gaza out of service, risking the lives of 75,000 Palestinians, according to the World Health Organization.
The siege left areas of the hospital burnt and destroyed, with bombardments in its vicinity killing 50 people, according to the WHO.
The film depicted Abu Safiya witnessing his son’s death as the hospital faced repeated attacks by the Israeli military. Abu Safiya, who continued to work through the siege, was later detained. He’s been imprisoned without charge for 10 months and has yet to be freed, according to PBS.
After the screening, speakers Dr. Amr Gharib, Shalah Ramadan and Fazia Khan led a discussion about the documentary and their experiences providing or supporting health care in Gaza.
Gharib, an emergency physician at St. Luke’s Hospital in Easton, joined a medical humanitarian mission to Gaza this year where he provided emergency care for two weeks.
Gharib said every single moment of the mission stayed with him long after returning home.
“You realize, of course, that your skills are needed somewhere, and that you have to go and do something greater than yourself,” Gharib said.
During his time there, he said his security was always uncertain. He said he never knew when the next missile might strike, when a helicopter might fire from above or if a tank would hit his home.
He said the mission helped him recognize the value of safety.
Gharib recalled treating a four-year-old boy who had pericardial effusion, or fluid around his heart.
“I panicked, because my son is four years old,” Gharib said. “And before we are able to do the procedure, I see my son’s face in the kid.”
He said the procedure was successful, and the child was released from care two days later.
Gharib said he didn’t return from the mission the same person, because it’s impossible to witness what he did and stay the same.
While he said the trauma and fear he experienced are things he will never forget, he said he also came back with a new sense of human strength.
“I came back with an unshakable belief in human resilience,” Gharib said. “I saw people endure things that would break most of us, and they kept going. I also got a deeper understanding of dignity — dignity that can’t be destroyed by rubble, dignity that ever sits even in a tent, even in a damaged hospital, even when you’ve lost everything.”
Following Gharib, Khan, who’s an emergency room nurse for the Lehigh Valley Health Network, spoke about the environment health care workers experience in Gaza.
She described cries for help, collapsing walls, alarms and pain that workers and citizens go through during attacks.
“They are what courage looks like in scrubs,” Khan said. “They are what humanity sounds like when the world goes silent.”
Khan said if a siege like this happened in the Lehigh Valley, the nation would stop to help, but because it’s happening in Gaza, the world scrolls on as if it doesn’t matter.
Ramadan, a Palestinian community activist, concluded the discussion by speaking about hope and ongoing relief efforts. She works with Mena Health, a virtual health organization that helps patients in Palestine and other parts of the world.
Ramadan said among devastation, many volunteers and organizations are stepping up.
She described the challenges people in Gaza face in accessing medical care, reminding the audience that it’s an unfair reality of their everyday lives.
“These are not news stories,” Ramadan said. “These are realities. These are daily hardships that they are facing.”
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