California trauma surgeon Dr. Feroze Sidhwa will come to Madison to speak on his time volunteering as a doctor in Gaza today.
Sidhwa volunteered at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, between March 25-April 8, 2024 and again this year from March 3-April 1. He has also worked in Ukraine, Haiti, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso. He comes to Madison to give his firsthand account on what he experienced working in a warzone with two talks, one with medical professionals and the public.
The effort is organized by Jewish Voice for Peace-Madison, Middle East Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Havens Wright Center for Social Justice, Madison-Rafah Sister City, and more to bring awareness to the reality of the genocide in Gaza.
“We’re very excited to have him here and to talk about what’s really happening in Gaza and maybe be successful in raising more consciousness about it and making more people care,” said Esty Dinur, WORT host of ‘A Public Affair.’
Sidhwa previously spoke on Dinur’s show on July 18 after Dinur heard his testimony at the United Nations. In his testimony, he gave his firsthand account as a “physician bearing witness to the deliberate destruction of healthcare, the targeting of my colleagues and the erasure of a people.”
However, Dinur had another motivation for inviting Sidhwa onto the show. As an Israeli whose family escaped persecution, she sees strong parallels to the Holocaust in what is happening in Gaza.
“My father is a Holocaust survivor. My mother survived the Nazi Blitz in London. For me, it is impossible to bring people like that [Sidhwa] because what I’m seeing is very close to, or reminiscent, shall I say, to what my family went through,” Dinur said. “It’s impossible for me to understand how the people whom I grew up with are now doing what they’re doing.”
Two talks will be given today by Sidhwa.
The first is more geared towards medical professionals, titled “Cases from Gaza: Etiologies and Interventions.” It will be held in the Atrium Auditorium at First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Dr., at noon.
The second will be held at 7 p.m., meant for the general public titled “The Ongoing Health Catastrophe in Gaza” at Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 E. Gorham St.
Both are open to the public regardless of the intended audience. It is free to attend; no registration is required.
