By M. Basheer Ahmed, M.D.
In my 55 years as a clinical psychiatrist, I have come to comprehend and appreciate the critical value of ‘empathy’ in resolving personal problems, conflicts among people, injustice, and even war.
The current war in the Middle East will only be resolved if the warring parties grow to care about the people who are suffering from the destruction and madness that comes with war. The current conflict there was started by vicious attacks by Hamas terrorists on citizens of Israel on October 7th of last year, during which 1,200 Israelis, including 30 American citizens, were killed.
Some of the victims were sexually assaulted, some were children and babies, and Hamas terrorists have taken 240 hostages.
It has been deadly for the people of Palestine as well. During the past year, The Israeli armed forces have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, seventy percent of them women and children. More than 200,000 Palestinians have been injured or taken hostage.
A prominent American trauma surgeon, Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, spent two weeks, beginning on March 25th of this year, in trauma units in hospitals in Gaza treating children who were injured by members of the Israeli armed forces during relentless bombing attacks. He worked with 65 other American healthcare professionals who risked their lives treating children and other patients.
The other doctors reported various incidents of the immense suffering of children that they witnessed. Israel, and its supporters, must accept and understand the pain caused by the atrocities and acts of brutality committed against Palestinians since 1948.
These actions have been referred to as “genocide” and ethnic cleansing by neutral third-party observers and nations throughout the world.
Currently, 400,000 Palestinians are living in tents and in ruins. Two million people face epidemic food shortages and have no drinking water.
At heart, I am an advocate of peace. Humanity cannot pursue a future for our children by constantly leaning on what others have done in the past. We must place past wrongs to the side and begin anew on the road to a common civility and humanity for all people.
A lasting peace is seldom beyond the grasp of the wise and the good of heart. If peace is to be achieved in the Middle East, there should be a reinstatement of the Oslo Accords, signed in Washington in 1993 by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, with former President Bill Clinton as mediator.
Israel and its leaders and others in the world must recognize the Palestinian’s right to exist with dignity and human rights. Palestine should have one united government in the West Bank and Gaza, assisted by help from moderate Gulf countries and Western powers.
Additionally, in order to assure the security of Israel and its people, an independent Palestine should not have armed services, namely military, naval, or an air force for at least three to five decades. Forces under the command of the United Nations should provide security for Palestine and control its borders.
Palestine must use all its monetary resources to build its infrastructure, educational facilities, industry, and political, social, and economic institutions with the support of the international financial community.
Then and only then will the people of the region, the people of Palestine, the people of Israel, and the people of the world be blessed with a lasting peace.
Dr. Basheer Ahmed is a nationally recognized writer, psychiatrist, and philanthropist. A former professor of psychiatry at U.T. Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, he is also the founder and chairperson emeritus of the Muslim Community Center for Human Services in Richland Hills, Texas. Dr. Ahmed is also the president of the American Muslims for Human Rights, a human rights advocacy organization.
