← The Majority Report with Sam Seder
The Majority Report with Sam Seder
3549 - Can Minneapolis Elect A Socialist Mayor & Gaza Doctor Returns w/ Omar Fateh, Dr. Ambereen Sleemi (M)
01:19:50
7/30/25 - It's Wednesday! Sam and Emma welcome Omar Fateh, Minnesota State Senator and Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate to discuss his campaign and receiving the DFL nomination over the incumbent Mayor, and Dr. Ambereen Sleemi, a Brooklyn-based...
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- [00:01]
Sam Seder
Hi folks. You know, one of the things that I find incredibly frustrating is having to choose wines. It seems like it's impossible unless you remember the wine that you've had in the past that you like and are able to find it at the exact same wine store. I don't know how people do it frankly. And I can't remember. I can't even remember. I can't remember the name of any type of restaurant. I can't remember anything, never mind names of wines. But I like wine summer. I like to even have a. Like a. And I know sort of what I like when I have it, but I don't know how to get it again. And that is why I love Naked Wines. This podcast is sponsored by Naked Wines Today and Naked is a wine club that directly connects you with the world's best independent winemakers so you can get world class wine delivered straight to your door. Use our code Majority for the code and the password@nakedwines.com and you will get six bottles for just 39. 99. Now for me, like I say, I love rose in the summer. I don't drink that many bottles over the course of the summer, but enough. But my big go tos are like Syrahs and petite Syrahs and I even found a great Pinot Noir on Naked Wines. And the beauty is that I know from my order history what the wines I've gotten in the past are that I love. How do they do it? Well, Naked Wines brings you amazing wine straight from the winery at up to 60% less than you would pay in a store. This cuts out extra costs like middleman markups. My sister used to represent some wines from Italy and she told me the markups on wines are crazy because there's all sorts of middle people, frankly. But the beauty of Naked Wines, they can pass those savings on to you without skimping on the quality. Naked Wines have been around for over 15 years. They back over 90 independent winemakers around the world and you will find the wine that you love. Now's the time to join Naked Wines community. Head to nakedwines.com Majority Click Enter Voucher. Put in our code Majority for both the code and the password. You will get 6 bottles of wine for just 39.99 with shipping included. That's $100 off your first 6 bottles of nakedwines.com/majority. Use the code and password majority for 6 bottles of wine for 39.99. We will put all of this info in the podcast and YouTube descriptions at Majority FM. And now time for that aforementioned show, the Majority Report with Sam Cedar. It is Wednesday, July 30, 2025. My name is Sam Seder. This is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, USA. On the program today, Omar Fateh, Minnesota state senator from the 62nd district at Southwest Minneapolis and the DFL endorsed candidate for mayor of Minneapolis. Then Dr. Amberine Slimy, Brooklyn based urogynecologist and executive and surgical director of the International Medical Response, recently returned from volunteering in Nasser Hospital in Gaza. Literally got back about 36 hours ago. Meanwhile, Senate confirms Trump hatchet man Emil Bovey. When three DOJ whistleblowers had revealed that Bovey sought to actively blow off court immigration orders, Trump in a slip up claims Epstein stole traffic victims from his Mar a Lago employee. Senate Dems plan to trigger the rule of five law to seek DOJ files on Epstein. Meanwhile, GDP growth at 3% suggests that the tariff front loading as imports drop precipitously. Trump announces a 25% tariff on India plus a penalty for dealing with Russia. Says the August 1st deadline is firm. Again Pete Hegseth planning his exit strategy looking to run for office in Tennessee. The DOJ finds UCLA in violation of civil rights and Trump's assault on DEI and pro Palestinian protests. Roy Cooper breaks fundraising records in North Carolina. Senate run kickoff the new IRS chief announces he's killed Direct file literally had something like 95% approval from customers. Israel kills 46 Palestinians primarily amongst aid seeking Gazans. Keir Starmer calls for a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a Palestinian state, in which case they won't recognize a Palestinian state. EPA moves ahead to cancel the science behind all of our climate change regulations. All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Thanks so much for joining us. Emma is out today. Got a lot to get to. Yes, we will be talking about the crystal balls interview with Elise Slotkin. Crystal Beyond Friday with Emma. We'll we'll probably play a clip or two today in the fun half. A rare opportunity to see a politician really get grilled on this question of Israel. We will get to that somewhat later. Also just a bit of house cleaning because I am not going to be here Friday. I just want to say goodbye. She's not leaving until Friday. But a goodbye and a thank you to our summer intern. Annabel has been fantastic and you all, at least all you members are going to reap the benefit of the time that Annabelle has been here, she has been cataloging our Deep Vault Majority Report episodes. And so gonna make a real material benefit for people and for my own personal history. But also.
- [08:07]
Emma Vigland
She's in your personal history? What is she, an archaeologist?
- [08:10]
Sam Seder
I mean, sort of. Well, yeah. Like, I don't get that enough for my kids. Thank you, Matt. But I want to thank Annabelle, but Emma will also have some words on Friday. But I'm not going to be here, so. All right, let's. Let's get into this. It had seemed, I mean, literally there were stories I think you're starting to see, like in, I don't know, an Axios or Punchbowl. The White House is feeling good about the Epstein stuff dying down, which, of course, it's only died down because everybody has left Washington. But there is a sense of, you know, and to a certain extent, all the right wingers who were talking about it were told like, you're. You're not helping the president here. And somehow, though, Donald Trump couldn't help himself. And we should say, I mentioned this earlier, there's apparently a. I don't know if it's a Senate rule or actually a, A law, but five members of any Senate committee can call for the release of records. If all five do, and apparently five members, I think it's. Of the Senate Judiciary Committee, all Democrats, of course, are calling on the DOJ to, to release to them any records they have regarding Jeffrey Epstein. Now, would I be surprised if the DOJ doesn't completely ignore that. That law? No, because of the nature of this regime. But it does put more pressure on. On Trump and its administration, his administration, which, again, is a good thing. I'd like to see them do more, but that's what we have for now. Meanwhile, this audio comes out from Trump on Air Force One. And who knows, you know, after a round of golf, sometimes you get, you know, flush with heat, you know, near heat stroke. Maybe that's what was going on. It's unclear why Trump sort of got. Was willing to sort of like, blab his mouth here, but he is talking about, or at least confirms that Virginia Gui Free, who has subsequently essentially killed herself in the wake of the trauma that she suffered from. Jeffrey Epstein was working at Mar? A Lago. And Trump claims that Epstein stole her from him, which is a weird way of phrasing it. But also know that ostensibly Trump is arguing this is why they no longer talked. But this happened something like two to four years prior to the time where they supposedly stopped talking. So the timeline Is very strange here, but Trump just can't help himself. Here's the audio. Mr. President, Epstein has a certain reputation, obviously. Just curious, were some of the workers that were taken from you. Were some of them young women? Were some of them young women?
- [12:04]
Matt
Well, I don't want to say, but everyone knows the people that were taken. And it was the concept of taking people that work for me as mad. But that story's been pretty well out there. And the answer is, yes, they were in the spa. Yeah, People that worked in the spa, a great spa, one of the best spas in the world, at Mar A Lago. And people were taken out of the spa, hired by him. In other words, gone. And other people would come and complain, this guy is taking people from the spa. I didn't know that. And then when I heard about it, I told him, I said, listen, we don't want you taking our people. Whether it was spa or not spa, I don't want him taking people. And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, out of here.
- [12:57]
Omar Fateh
Mr. President, did one of those stolen, you know, persons that include Virginia?
- [13:06]
Matt
I don't know. I think she worked at the spa. I think she. I think that was one of the people. He stole her.
- [13:19]
Sam Seder
I mean, just bizarre when he says ways of talking about employees, teenage girl.
- [13:28]
Emma Vigland
Employees, by the way, like, people. They stole people.
- [13:34]
Sam Seder
And I Just very, very strange stuff. I mean, it's almost like, you know, this is a guy who talk about being on Ambien and saying a little too much. Yeah.
- [13:47]
Emma Vigland
I don't know, actually, I think it might have been her, now that you mentioned it.
- [13:51]
Sam Seder
Oh, yeah.
- [13:52]
Emma Vigland
Virginia Giffrey.
- [13:53]
Sam Seder
Oh, yeah, no, yeah, that was her.
- [13:54]
Emma Vigland
I was very mad about that.
- [13:56]
Sam Seder
And, you know, that happened in. I think it was 2000. So the timeline, really. Supposedly he stops talking to Epstein, but that was in 2004, where he supposedly stopped talking to Epstein. So there's a lot of. Lot of questions that this raises. It does not quite answer anything. And it shows even more of a connection between women that Epstein trafficked and exploited and assaulted, raped, and those who worked at the Mar A Lago spa, which I think explains why Trump wants to run as far away from this stuff as he possibly can. I don't think this story's gonna go away for him. Not for a while, anyways. And the Democrats in the Senate doing their best to continue to stir it up.
- [14:58]
Emma Vigland
It's just interesting. Trump has an entire team of undocumented Polish guys taking out asbestos in The Trump Tower and has no idea about it because somebody else hand handles the employees that work under him. But teenage workers at a masseuse is at a spa. He knows them by name.
- [15:16]
Sam Seder
It is sort of amazing that this guy knows the individual worker who are underage women or girls at that point in his spa. I mean, he's supposedly got all of these different businesses and that's who he's focusing on. I mean, just keep him jet lagged on that plane, keep them jet lagged and we might solve the whole thing. It was 25 years ago, but yes, I remember her.
- [15:51]
Emma Vigland
Yeah, how could I Forget?
- [15:56]
Sam Seder
It was 25 years ago, so I couldn't possibly. Oh, yes, no, I remember her. Yeah.
- [16:01]
Emma Vigland
Stop stealing our people.
- [16:03]
Sam Seder
Very antebellum way of talking about employees. No kidding. He, you know, like a normal person would say, he kept hiring away our spa workers, but no, he stole her. Took her from me. It's very sore about that. Had no regard for Prima Nocte. All right, in a moment we're going to be talking to DFL endorsed candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, Omar Fateh. He's a Minnesota state senator, perhaps best known to this audience for his work with gig drivers Uber and Lyft. And then we're going to be talking to Dr. Amberine Slimy. She's a Brooklyn based doctor and executive and surgical director of International Medical Response. She returned from Gaza literally, I think it was on Monday from working in, I believe, Nasser Hospital. But we will be talking to her more about that. Got a couple of words from our sponsors. 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Sort of fascinating to read, but if you want trusted evidence backed insights into this evolving situation and information on how you can help, follow along@givewell.org USAID we will put that link in the podcast in YouTube descriptions. It really gives you a sense of what you can do to help fill those gaps. In the meantime, also sponsoring the program Liquid iv. This is an easy one for me because I drink at least one of these bottles every day. They don't sell the bottle. It's the Liquid IV in it. It's an old milk bottle. I find it convenient, but doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's the dead of summer, doesn't matter if the dead of winter. You got to stay hydrated. Liquid IV is the way that I do it. You can capture some sun drenched memories. They got a new flavor, Orange Vanilla Dream hydration multiplier from Liquid iv. It's like a Creamsicle. It's got that sort of a nostalgic vanilla orangey flavor that Creamsicles had. Keeps you better hydrated than water alone. 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You can savor the last bits of summer with Liquid IV tear pour live more. Go to Liquid IV.com get 20% off your first order with code majorityrep at checkout it's 20% off your first order with Code majorityrep@liquidiv.com we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to be talking to Omar Fateh. He is a Minnesota state senator from the 62nd district and now the DFL endorsed candidate for mayor of Minneapolis. We'll be right back after this it we are back. Sam Cedar on the majority report. Emma Vigland out today. It is a real pleasure for me to welcome to the program Omar Fateh. He is a Minnesota state senator from the 62nd district of Minnesota. That's southwest Minneapolis. And the DFL endorsed candidate for mayor of Minneapolis. Omar, welcome and congratulations on that endorsement.
- [24:05]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
Thank you so much. I appreciate you and I appreciate you.
- [24:07]
Sam Seder
For having me talk about that. This is my understanding is, is that this is the first time the DFL has endorsed in, in quite some time. Like there's, there's always like these races but nobody seems to come out with a majority or enough. I guess you need 60% to get an endorsement. Just put that in context for us.
- [24:32]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
Yeah. So last Sat about eight, nine days ago, we had the DFL convention and our process that we go through isn't a primary process. We have a caucus night where neighbors come out, they go to their local precinct locations, they get to talk with each other and they select who the delegates will be based off of the level of support for each candidate. Those delegates go on to the convention which we had and I'm grateful to be the one that got selected to be the DFL endorsed candidate for mayor. What we saw that day was that there was a lot of energy around our vision for change and a more progressive leaning type of politics rather than more of the same old same old that we've been seeing. There hasn't been a diaphragm endorsed candidate for a challenger that be an incumbent since the party's founding, I think this in 1944. And so we see this as like a clear message that our city is done with the broken promises, done with politics as usual, done with the endless vetoes that the mayor has seemed to have towards our progressive city Council. And so we built a really broad coalition of working class people, teachers, transit riders, young folks, immigrants, and just longtime DFLers also that are just fed up with the system.
- [26:02]
Sam Seder
Yeah, it's pretty impressive to see this happen over this, to see an endorsement after this many years of really a, I don't want to say a failure to endorse, but just not a will to endorse. And I have to say that Jacob Frey from here sort of functions, functions and you know, apologies for being sort of New York State centric, but he strikes me as a Cuomo figure in thwarting what the council has wanted to do. I mean, Cuomo basically stood atop a theoretically all democratic legislature and state and functioned as a roadblock to the progressive change that people seem to keep voting for over and over again. Tell us a little bit more about the problems that you feel that Minneapolis is facing and what your ideas are to address them.
- [27:04]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
No, that's a very good question. And so as a city, Minneapolis has been through a whole lot. We've been known globally as the location in which the murder of George Floyd occurred. We've been through a global pandemic. There's been a crisis in public safety and affordable housing. But as you've laid out at every turn, the mayor has been blocking, installing progress and has vetoed solutions by the majority progressive city council that would have done things like protected our workers, supported renters, protected our unhoused neighbors. And so he's been more willing to protect the status quo than the everyday person. I remember following the murder of George Floyd, our mayor promised and pledged to reform public safety. And five years later, there's still no plan around that. In 2017, when he first ran for mayor, he campaigned on ending homelessness within five years. But right now, towards the end of a second term, there's actually more unhoused people right now than when he first took office. And again, there's no plan for that. During this last couple cycles, he said that he would stand with workers and immigrants, but he tended to side with corporate interests and the more wealthy. For example, we had a two year battle with Uber and Lyft in our city and in our state, and he decided to side with Uber and veto their legislation around righteous protections and increased wages. He promised our immigrant communities that we would be a sanctuary city and that ICE is not welcome. But when, when there was a federal raid in the district that represent, not only was that not true, but ICE was assisting in targeting our immigrant communities and collaborating with mpd, and our MPD was assisting ice. And so what we were saying is that, yes, we need group policy, but we also need the truth and we need a mirror that's honest and communicating, especially in times of crisis, what's happening. And we need solutions and leadership that is rooted injustice and not more of the same.
- [29:27]
Sam Seder
What give me a sense of how you intend to win this. I mean, I imagine there's going to be a lot of forces. A lot of people have sort of drawn parallels between you and Zoran Mamdani. And I think today, just in the news, that packet that I have, there's five different groups that were coming out essentially to stop Mamdani. I imagine to some degree there's going to be a push to do the same by moneyed interests in Minneapolis. Give me a sense of, like, from a strategic standpoint and even a tactical one, how do you win an election? How do you beat an incumbent in this situation? The endorsement is obviously going to help, but we don't, you know, we don't have much of a precedent to know how much. But what are the other things that you intend to do to defeat Fry?
- [30:26]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
Yeah. And so, as you know, Mayor Fry, he did announce that he's going to be continuing on until November without the endorsement. And so we know that there's already two PACs that has formed. He's been taking a lot of Republican donations and one of the packs as well. We know that the last caucus cycle there was in a couple awards, $600,000 that were poured in just to bring out people and try to flip the majority progressive city council. But what I've been telling folks is that they may have all the. They may have what seems like unlimited money. They may have a bunch of glossy mailers that would be sent out, but they don't have the people. And that was really evident at the convention. The mayor failed to get even a third of the delegation. And I thought that was powerful within itself. And there's no really a secret formula. It's just having a lot of conversations with neighbors, talking to folks we're running on making Minneapolis more affordable, similarly to folks like Zoran in New York, like Mossab Ali in Jersey City, New Jersey, we want to make sure that we're raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2028. Folks are really hungry for tenant protections and rent stabilization. They want to See a city that's protecting our most vulnerable from a hostile federal government. And again, as I mentioned earlier, not allowing our police to collaborate with ice, but also at the time that we're still having a lot of distrust and, and unease around our public safety system. There's a lot of work we can do around public safety that actually works for everyone. And the city had a report towards the end of last year that showed that nearly half of MPD calls don't require an armed response. And we thought that was powerful. But that also tells us that we need to do more towards funding programs like mental health responders, the crisis teams, and youth programs. But that also matches a lot of what I heard a senator at the Capitol from law enforcement officers telling us that we're not mental health workers, we're not social workers, we can't respond to every single call. So if we're asking them to do too much, I think that it's fair that we fund these alternative responses so that we have a public safety system that when you call 911, you get the right response at the right time.
- [32:58]
Sam Seder
Is the dynamic of the city government, and particularly in this era, is it going to be one where the plans for these things that you've been talking about, whether it's affordability in terms of rent in particular, whether it's about expanding community, you know, services to take some things off the plate of police, whether it's, you know, protecting your citizens from ICE and, you know, what could be thousands of more agents in the. In the coming years? Is this a question of, I mean, are the plans out there and are they already being promoted by the city council and Fry is just sort of like inhibiting these things? I mean, do you. Is it going to be something where you're going to have to develop a series of new plans, or is it a question of, like, the plans are there. It's just a question of will at this point, and for a mayor who's willing to sign them and execute these things and is aligned with what the city council, you know, wants, which is, you know, really, in many respects, hopefully a reflection of what the city wants.
- [34:16]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
Absolutely. I think it's two things. Number one, we have a progressive city council that has put forward solutions towards protecting our unhoused neighbors, put solutions towards reversing the systemic environmental racism we've seen, especially in bipoc communities, by investing in local projects, for example, green jobs. We've seen a city council that has passed a labor standards board, which would have been huge for our workers We've seen our City Council pass protections for Uber and Lyft, on and on and on. And we've seen time and time again the mayor coming in and vetoing at one point, in fact, he vetoed the entire city budget because he was upset with the city council members. And having that adversarial relationship rather than a partnership and not allowing it to get even to that point to begin with, that shows that that kind of. That relationship is not really there. And what we've been hearing in this campaign from constituents is that what's equally important to good policy is good relationships. And that's what's missing right now. I know folks talk about the adversarial relationship between the mayor and the City Council, but my argument is that it extends beyond that. We don't have a good relationship between our mayor and. And county commissioners. We don't have a good relationship between the mayor and the Minneapolis delegation. Minneapolis delegation, meaning the state senators and state representatives that represent the city at the state level. And so myself, I'm an honor to be not only endorsed by members from the progressive wing in this race, but I was very intentional about including the Blue Dog Coalition and unions, and. And they all agree that it is my effective leadership and work ethic that needs to be seen at the city level right now. Throughout this campaign, Mayor Fry has been calling our ideas extreme or too radical. But a lot of ideas that were deemed extreme or too radical I've gotten done at the state level, like tuition free college for working class families. I authored and led on that fight and passed the minimum rideshare protections for Uber Lyft drivers, the legalization of fentanyl testing strips, which I helped pass during a time when the Republicans were in charge of the Senate and working with them. And so I worked with my colleagues across the ideological spectrum to get things done. And that shows that, again, the secret formula is just having good communication and talking with people. And by the way, all these progressive ideas that I've been known for to get passed, I've passed with Republican support also. So these have been bipartisan bills. So if we're able to get Republicans on board, then I think that it's a shame that we have a city that's all Democratic, that has a mayor that has been blocking that kind of progress.
- [37:23]
Sam Seder
You mentioned support from unions, and I know that Fry has had some issues with the Labor Standards Board. What is like, is this a just a personality issue, or is it that he's representing a set of interests that are just broadly speaking, in conflict with much of what folks in Minneapolis want.
- [37:55]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
I think he's responding more to the wealthy class and the donors, the folks that had put him in office and alongside with that to defeat some of these policies like the Labor Standards Board. We've seen that there's been a lot of lies around what it actually is and especially towards our bipoc and immigrant businesses. Talking to them about saying this is a board that is a decision making body that will kill your business, this will directly harm you, you'll be forced to shut down. In reality, that was not the truth at all. And so we need a mayor that will, number one, be upfront and honest about what some of these policies are. In articulating and educating folks, especially in a time when misinformation spreads really quickly. I think it's important that we have a mirror that's educating folks on what we're doing and working in collaboration with community, with businesses and with the people that got us in office. And I think that's just what's missing right now.
- [39:07]
Sam Seder
I imagine you've got, you know, you're focusing obviously on a ground game when you're going up this kind of money. How do the different organizations that now the dfl, you've gotten the endorsement, I think the DSA as well. How do these different groups sort of like work together or how are you organizing them in such a way that you've got folks spreading the word?
- [39:39]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
Well, throughout this campaign we had a lot of conversations and what I've seen quickly is that throughout the different various issues around public safety and, and our unhoused neighbors and labor, no matter where folks fell on the ideological spectrum, whether they're the most lefty or the most conservative, the reality is everyone is unhappy with our current situation. No matter where they sat and across the city, what we're seeing is that people are ready for change. I've heard it in our parks and our farmers markets, on our lakes, talking to folks. Folks are just simply regardless of where they fall on issues. They're tired of excuses and delays. They expect that in times of disagreement that we have at least some progress, just a step forward towards helping people and managing the affordability crisis. We built a broad working class coalition that reflects the city fighting for folks to stay housed, which we can do. Union folks like you mentioned, that are demanding a dignity and nothing more than that, just fair wages and dignity in the workplace. We've had a lot of young people speaking out against supporting our public schools and climate justice. And they've been leading the fight on that immigrants here that are really worried about a hostile federal government and what that looks like now that not only we have Trump, but he has a trifecta. He has the Senate, he has the House, and he has a Supreme Court that's going to be backing him also. And so we just need a mayor that's willing to collectively unite everyone and understanding that, yes, we're not going to always get everything we want, but we can't take damn good first steps. For example, I want real quickly, I remember when I first drafted the tuition free college legislation, right. We drafted it to be universal for everyone. But because of the politics of it, because of the conversations we had, we had to lower the threshold to working class families making less than 80,000. Now, if I just said no to hello, this is my way of the highway, then 46,000 students would have lost out on that and that would have been hurtful. But we got to take those good first steps.
- [42:04]
Sam Seder
I agree. Omar Fateh, what can, how can people who are not in, I mean, I know how people in Minneapolis, in the area can help. They can come in and volunteer, get the word out. How can people who are across the country help you in this race? It's going to happen in November.
- [42:23]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
Thank you so much. And since especially the endorsement process, we've seen a huge spike in energy in folks that really want to get involved, want to donate, want to contribute their time. Because prior to the convention, folks were energized. But there was still that level of unease, like, is this really possible? Can we, can we really do this? But we've shown that we can do this and that it is possible. And so we've had folks even out of state going online, Fateh for mayor and signing in to volunteer by phone banking, for example, letting their neighbors know, talking to family members that live in Minneapolis. And so if you reach out to our website, plug yourself in, we'll reach back out to you with ways you can, you can contribute. Because this will be a race that is going to require an all hands on deck approach. They're going to have a lot of money. They're going to have the glossy mailers. They're going to have all this influence. That's at times, yes, it's going to be scary, but they don't have the people. And so right now we're proud to have crossed over 1,200 folks volunteering to sign up, to sign up for shifts on phone banking and door knocking. But we could always use more. There's never not enough or there's never too many. And so the best way to plug in is go to the website fatehformera.com and plug in and that would be a great help.
- [43:49]
Sam Seder
Well, we're going to link to that at Majority FM and in the podcast and YouTube description, Omar Fateh, congratulations on the endorsement and good luck over the next three and a half months and then hopefully good luck after that as well as mayor. But really appreciate your coming on and talking to us. And again, we will link to that site on all of our social media and the descriptions, etc.
- [44:17]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
Thank you so much and I appreciate you.
- [44:18]
Sam Seder
All right. Bye bye. All right, folks, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Dr. Amberine Slimy will be here. She is a Brooklyn based doctor. She's the executive and surgical director of International Medical Response. She has returned literally in the past, I think it was 36 hours ago from Gaza. We will talk to her about her experience there. We'll be right back after this. We are back. Sam Cedar on the Majority Report. Emma Vigland out today. Joining us now, Dr. Amberine Slimy. She is a Brooklyn based doctor and she is the executive and surgical director of International Medical Response. She has just returned, I think it was on Monday, if I'm correct. And I appreciate you joining us. I imagine you are still recovering in many ways from being stationed in Nasser Hospital in Gaza. Doctor, welcome to the program.
- [46:44]
Omar Fateh
Thanks for having me, Sam.
- [46:46]
Sam Seder
Well, just give us a sense of just on purely sort of like data points, how long were you in Gaza? Were you stationed in Nasser Hospital the entire time? How many times have you visited Gaza over the past, etc.
- [47:05]
Omar Fateh
Sure. I was supposed to be there for three weeks. And originally we were going to go up to the north to one of the hospitals there. But the security situation was so had deteriorated to such a point that they put us right in Nasser Hospital, which is in kind of the middle of Gaza. And I was supposed to be there for three weeks. But on the day that we were supposed to exit, there was a real like increase in bombing and security concerns. So we actually were canceled from leaving and we didn't leave until half a week later. So it ended up being almost four weeks. And you know, I think I answered all your questions.
- [47:55]
Sam Seder
Was this your first trip to Gaza?
- [47:57]
Omar Fateh
Oh, yes, it was. But I have been trying to get to Gaza for over a year. So I was really thankful when the group that I finally connected with said, you know, can you be ready in like three weeks? And I was like, sure and then they said, can you be. You know, are you able to go for three weeks? And I said, sure. And then the next thing I knew, I had a plane ticket and was ready to go.
- [48:22]
Sam Seder
Give us a sense of what you saw over the course of those near four weeks and if there was a change over the course of the week in terms of the casualties you saw as the. The Israeli bombing and where there was. I mean, there was reports today of dozens who were killed and at least a dozen of those who were seeking aid down and were brought to Nasser Hospital. Give us a sense of what you saw.
- [49:03]
Omar Fateh
I will. Thank you. Well, like I said, it started off with our original logistics being a little changed because of the security situation. And then in the first few days at Nasser, it turned out that in the past, they used to have people go back and forth between a guest house every day, so we'd be transported and then brought back unless we wanted to stay overnight duty. But the security had deteriorated because of the increase in the Israeli bombing, the increase in the quadcopter shooting, and also because we were very close to, I think, one of the primary GHF food sites. So there was a lot of Israeli military presence close to Nasser. So all of those original plans and how they had done things logistically had gone out the window. And we ended up just staying in the hospital, which is what all the teams did. Not going back and forth and not being able to leave the actual hospital compound because of security concerns. And in the first few days that we were there, we had gotten notices from each of our, you know, groups, logistics, people, that the security situation had really deteriorated, that there were tanks right outside on the roads right outside. I mean, there was bombing constantly. And we could tell it was getting closer because the entire hospital shook at all times. You know, at nighttime, if you're sleeping, it wakes you up during the days as you're taking care of patients, or in my case, I spent most of my time in the mornings, up until the afternoon in the maternity hospital as a urogynecologist and OB gyn. That was my primary placement. And we would have morning report every day with the residents and learners and the attendings or consultants, as they're also called, and the entire lecture hall would just shake. And that was one of the most surreal moments, was the first morning report was looking out this window and just seeing plumes of bomb smoke. And everyone just pauses for a second and then goes on and continues with the work at hand. And I feel like, for me, it was a month of dealing with this. And I could not imagine what it was like now, 20, 21 months of having to deal with this every single day and hoping that one of the bombs didn't hit your tent while you were sleeping. So that's just sort of a setup of the security situation. But also at Nasser, you could tell in the first few days we got there, when we got these warnings of, like, stay away from windows, because there was gunfire and quadcopters and tanks literally rolling down the streets, that people who were already there, the medical staff, there was a real tension that was immediately felt because last year, if you may or may not recall, Nasser hospital was invaded by the Israeli army. And not only was it invaded, it was desecrated. And anything electronic was purposely destroyed. And I only saw firsthand, you know, I'm. I can really just speak from firsthand experience of what I saw and what my colleagues told me directly, but everything electronic was destroyed. And it's all in a warehouse now. But ultrasound machines, incubators, ventilators, things to keep people alive were all destroyed. So everything that was in the hospital currently at Nasser was all replaced. Every room that the IDF went through, you could tell they had marked it with specific markings. So there were just marks on walls that were either in Arabic that were, you know, I don't read Arabic, but from what I was told, they were a lot of curse words and, you know, bad things written and then symbols. But there was a real tension because at that time, also at Nasser, there were several dozen healthcare workers that were kidnapped, some still in prison, some were released and came back to work the next day. There were tents outside because at the time, it had been designated a safe zone. There were people with IV poles and wheelchairs, and if you couldn't evacuate because you were too vulnerable or couldn't move because of leg burns, amputations, orthopedic fractures, bulldozers had just come through and buried everybody, and they called it the graveyard. So there was this real tension in the air that that might happen again. And that was again, like, in the first few days that we were there. After that, everything kind of stayed at that same level. And then the intensity of trauma that came in because we were so close to these GHF AIDS zone sites where people were getting shot and brought into the ERs and brought in, you know, into the ORs, there was a real increase in casualty and morbidity and mortality that we saw that when I was there. And it was just by the numbers, you could tell people were just completely overworked oh, and at the same time, we had several months of a blockade, Israeli blockade and siege of any food aid coming in, any medical supplies coming in, any baby formula, diapers, you know, anything that you need to kind of survive and live, was being blocked at the border. So that was an added element of stress, tension, fatigue that kind of was everywhere in the Gaza Strip.
- [55:01]
Sam Seder
Can you. I imagine you saw sort of two. Well, you tell me, but imagine two broad categories of patients. I mean, the ones that you're seeing in your role in the maternity ward. And I wonder if you can speak to the condition broadly of folks you saw in maternity wards. And then the other cohort of casualties that came from, like, a direct conflict with the Israelis, you know, with the Israelis shooting them, or we've heard reports of tanks firing at them and like you say, the quadcopters, and as opposed to the other cohort, which may be dealing with deprivation and lack of sanitation and all the other challenges that would. Would go into both caring for children and, you know, prenatal care. And I would imagine, you know, other children that you saw.
- [56:12]
Omar Fateh
Sure. My, you know, primary place that I worked again during the days was in the maternity, the hospital right next to the big Nasser. It was part of the Nasser complex, but it was just right next door. And so there, you know, we saw women who came in, pregnant women who came in, and they were already dealing again with just stress bombing. Everybody is displaced into tents. So with pregnancy, what we saw was a direct effect of the lack of food and starvation that was happening, as well as the lack of nutrients and prenatal vitamins and care. So all of these things led to, you know, pregnancies that were complicated because of these conditions. Dehydration is a big issue, and that leads to another complication, which is preterm births. So women who would come at term were already malnourished, without the proper nutrients to sustain a pregnancy and sustain themselves. So we'd get women who physically looked starved and malnourished, and then also the pregnancies. Because of the malnourishment, the pregnancies, the babies were restricted in growth and smaller for weight than they should have been. But then on top of that, you had an entire cohort of women who had complications from preterm births. We know, you know, just. I knew from my time there and looking at the statistics that preterm births were up. Pregnancy complications like infections were up, preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, those numbers were up percentage wise. Congenital malformations or birth defects were also increasing. We also saw an increase in stillbirth and loss of pregnancy as well as loss of pregnancy at term or intrauterine fetal demise at term, where the baby or fetuses dies at nine months. And all of these things were increasing in number as a direct result of, you know, the blockade, the stress, the lack of clean water, you know, all of these multifactorial things, including environmental toxins from all the bombings. I mean, clearly the air that we were breathing, you could tell that there was, there was toxins in it. It wasn't clear, let alone, you know, how it affected the living conditions intent. So all of these things added up to, you know, every pregnancy having some complication. So that's the maternity side. The other cohort is in the general operating rooms where when I was kind of done with my duties and it was, it slowed down a little bit, I would go and help in the operating rooms with general surgeons, orthopedics and plastics. So they really saw a lot of the trauma that we've heard about either coming from the AIDS sites, the Gaza humanitarian GHF or as we dubbed it, the killing field sites, where, you know, exactly as we've heard, that's what I saw. When a mass casualty would come in from the sites, it was almost like clockwork that there would be a lot of young men, primarily because those are the ones that could carry a huge 25 pound bag of flour in their starved state back for their family. So gunshot wounds, shrapnel. And then we also had people who were injured because of bombings at night in their tent. And then we have a very small cohort of people who were pregnant who were also bombed in the tents. And I feel like that's something I got consulted for were women who were pregnant who had gunshot wounds and shrapnel, women who were pregnant who were sleeping in their tent next to their husband with their toddler and they are six months pregnant and they'd come in with 40% burns and shrapnel all over their bodies. So those are the people that, those are the women that you know. Again, we're sort of like where these intersected, right. And that was really horrifying and heartbreaking to see that on top of, you know, having a pregnancy and already stressed, but being in a tent and either losing, losing your husband, which. One of the cases that we took care of a young woman who was six months pregnant, sleeping with her husband and her three month old toddler, who, three year old, sorry, who you know, had a Bomb go off right near them in their tent and, you know, ending up with these severe burns that needed extensive surgeries, grafts, orthopedic intervention with bones lost. And, you know, it's just on top of that she has to sustain this pregnancy. Oh, and her husband died and the three year old also was hit with shrapnel and burns and is in the pediatric icu. So, you know, it was all sorts of different scenarios, worst case scenarios that.
- [61:34]
Sam Seder
You could imagine was there over the course of those four weeks, any way for you, did you have any indication that the period of time, I mean, I imagine over the course of four weeks, being without nutrition, without food and medical supplies, can exacerbate things significantly. Over the course of four weeks, were you able to sort of clock that or was things basically consistent in terms of the, the trauma that you saw, or was it haphazard just as a function of what activity was going on within the South?
- [62:23]
Omar Fateh
I mean, in my experience, it seemed like every day things just got worse. When I left was the day, the morning of the alleged ceasefire in certain zones to allow a few trucks in and airdrops. So that was the day that I was actually allowed out on Sunday. But up until that time, it really felt like things had just deteriorated. And that was again just from personal experience of the bombs, which we could feel and hear the gunshots, which always seemed to feel like they were getting closer, the number of mass casualties, which never seemed to end. And also there was a point about a week before I left where the provider of food in our hospitals, the World Central Kitchen, ran out of food and stopped providing food for the staff as well as the patients. There was daily, maybe one meal that was provided and that was what most patients would get would be like a small bowl of rice with some lentils or bread with something else. And that's what the staff would get also. But, you know, the staff themselves, after several months of deprivation of food and nutritious food, everybody just came in hungry. Everybody came in hungry and fatigued. And you could just tell from their, how they looked. I mean, people were very happy to show what they used to look like before, you know, even a year or so earlier. And everybody just staff nursing, everybody. The doctors looked, looked thinner and were definitely more fatigued. But you know, I have to say everybody showed up to work every single day that they were supposed to, did what they had to do and never, you know, kind of never lost track of the site that they were there as clinicians and healers to take care of Patients. And for that, I think that's pretty incredible.
- [64:36]
Sam Seder
It sounds amazing. I mean, to have to go through this and maintain that sort of level of dedication. And did you have an opportunity to talk to patients or to their families? I mean, did you have a sense of, I mean, I would imagine you're working near constantly and don't have, you know, time to sort of, I don't know, take an anthropological assessment or sociological assessment, but was curious. Did you have any experiences with any of the people there who. To get a sense of just, I mean, of. I don't know, their disposition. I mean, I can only imagine. But I'm curious if there was any moments that you had that you found surprising in some way or maybe, perhaps, maybe sort of like sadly unsurprising.
- [65:33]
Omar Fateh
You know, I mean, I think we all have intimate relations with our conversations with our patients that we take care of and round on and see daily. And I think everybody was just very tired of the bombing, tired of the siege, and really wanted peace, wanted the bombs to stop. And I heard again and again, we just want to live our lives, you know, So I feel like that's the overarching message, was that, you know, whatever you can do when you go back, try to. Try to, you know, demand a permanent ceasefire and enter the siege. You know, we were, again, we were putting IVs in our colleagues that were fainting at work or getting sick thick on top of everything else. And I think everybody from, you know, staff to patients just really wanted to have an end to the constant bombing, the constant, you know, lack of food, the lack of water and everything that they'd been suffering through for 21 months now.
- [66:36]
Sam Seder
We played a clip, I think it was from. Maybe it was yesterday or the day before, from Dr. Nick Maynard. He's a British surgeon. I know he worked at Nasser Hospital. I don't know if you were familiar with him, but he claimed on BBC that they were confiscating baby formula. The Israelis were. What do you know about that story? Did you work with Maynard? Do you have a sense of where he was, where he was getting that perspective?
- [67:10]
Omar Fateh
Yeah, absolutely. We. We overlapped by about two and a half weeks because we all stayed. Again, we all stayed in a very specific part of the hospital where the volunteer doctors were. Were staying in the accommodations. And. Yeah, so every night or in the morning, we would have. Everybody was having the same conversations. We were given very, very restrictive rules on what we could and could not bring in. So on one hand people might say, well, you should have just, you Know, packed your suitcase full of protein bars or whatever, but you were really limited on what you could bring in. And we all had heard from our colleagues who were there not too long before we got there that they had tried to bring in formula and it was confiscated. This we have heard. Anything. When you were brought in, you were scrutinized, your suitcase was looked through, and you could only bring in things for yourself. So we were asked to bring in food for ourselves for the time that we were allowed to be there, and nothing more, nothing less like that was it. So there was a very big fear of, at least given the experience of our colleagues who had come through and tried to bring help for people, that things were confiscated. And so, you know, that was on everybody's mind when you packed. You know, would I have loved. Of course I knew that there was a baby formula shortage, but I also knew that they go through all your bags and check everything and would the Israelis would take it away and throw.
- [68:48]
Sam Seder
It away, and would they provide any explanation? Was there any. Did you guys hear of any explanation for that, other than we just not going to allow baby formula into Gaza?
- [69:03]
Omar Fateh
Yeah.
- [69:07]
Sam Seder
Are there any other things that you think that people should know about your. Your time there, what you saw? I mean, you know, I think we've spoken to, I think, at least one or two other doctors over the. The course of the past 21 months. We've been in Nasser Hospital, and at various times it's been more horrific than others, but consistently horrific over the course of those 21 months. But are there any things that you think that we should know that's important for people to know about what's going on there.
- [69:51]
Omar Fateh
Besides what I've already spoken about? I think one of the things is that as I left, it was so bittersweet, and I'm sure your other guests would probably say that too, if they worked in the hospitals in Gaza. On one hand you're happy to get home, and on the other hand you are really concerned about when I go back, I don't know which of my colleagues I'll see again. Because there has been a consistent targeting of healthcare workers with, you know, bombs and gunshots and kidnappings. And I think that that's one of the things that I left with also. You know, we really need to do what we can, as we've come back now to demand a permanent ceasefire, an end to the occupation and end to the blockade, and allow the agencies that know how to distribute food without killing people who are trying to get food because they're starved, allow them to get back to the work that they were doing.
- [70:54]
Sam Seder
Is just. Lastly, has your perspective on any of, of this changed by, you know, over the course of. Is your perspective on the US government, on the Israeli government, on what was going on in Gaza, then maybe you may have had, I don't know, 10 months ago, 21 months ago.
- [71:17]
Omar Fateh
Yeah, I mean, I thought I was pretty up to speed with things and I spoke with clinicians that had been there before, but nothing prepared me for seeing it firsthand, you know, to seeing human beings of all ages, you know, civilians just shot, burned, maimed, amputation, the amputations was something that I really was not prepared for in kids and adults. And so I think actually being there really opened my eyes and it made me, it made me concerned that people probably aren't really aware of what's happening as much as they could be. And I urge everyone to really make themselves aware. And I think if they knew that, you know, these bombs and all this, that's doing all this damage was affecting humans in this way, the citizens of Gaza in this way, and that it's our taxpayers money that is paying for the bombs that is, that burned, you know, this pregnant woman that's paying for the bullets that are in these children or in these men that are trying to get food. I really would like to, to think that people would speak up a lot more and demand our government stop funding this.
- [72:38]
Sam Seder
Dr. Ambreen Slimy, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate the work you were doing over there and thank you so much for coming on and telling us about it. Really appreciate it. Very important, obviously.
- [72:53]
Omar Fateh
Thank you so much.
- [72:56]
Sam Seder
All right, folks, we're going to take a, a break, head into the fun half wherein we will hopefully have a little bit of fun. We will clip both of these interviews today, as we always tend to do. Of course, they're also available in the the pod, the free podcast and the, the show, the, the Day show or days show on YouTube. Daily Show, Day of show. Thank you. You can always search for those by searching in our channel at Mr. Live, but worth it to pass around, particularly when we get them clipped up. These firsthand accounts of what's going on in Gaza from people who, you know, you may see one day just next door at your supermarket and have, you know, sort of the ability to sort of like that juxtaposition between our safe, daily, secure lives here. Having come back from seeing this type of suffering that is purposeful on behalf of the people causing the suffering, the Israelis who are purposefully trying to make children pregnant, women, men, non pregnant people suffer on a daily basis. It is worth sharing their testimony. Perhaps. Perhaps there's a slightly greater chance of people who have failed to view the crimes against humanity that are taking place there as crimes against humanity. Maybe there's a slightly increased opportunity for some people to come around and create pressure on our government, which is probably the only point of pressure that will impact Israel's behavior. All right, just a reminder, it's your support that keeps the show going. You can become a member@jointhemajorityreport.com Also, Just Coffee, Co op, fair trade coffee. Use the coupon code. Majority get 10% off. Matt, left reckoning. Yeah.
- [76:09]
Emma Vigland
Last night on Left Reckoning we had Neil Meyer on talking to David and I about typology. What is democratic socialism, what is social democracy? What is communism? And also Tiara Gettimora, a Spanish Italian journalist talking about militarism in the EU, talking about Station 11, the HBO show, and a lot of other stuff. So check that out.
- [76:31]
Sam Seder
Patreon.com left reckoning, quick break, fun half, three months from now, six months from now, nine months from now. And I don't think it's going to be the same as it looks like in six months from now. And I don't know if it's necessarily going to be better six months from now than it is three months from now, but I think around 18 months out, we're going to look back and go like, wow, what? What is that going on? It's nuts. Wait a second. Hold on for. Hold on for a second. Emma. Welcome to the program, Matt. What is up, everyone? No, Mickey, you did it. Fun hat.
- [77:19]
Omar Fateh
Let's go, Brandon.
- [77:20]
Sam Seder
Let's go, Brandon. And on half, Bradley, you want to say hello? Sorry to disappoint everyone. I'm just a random guy. It's all the boys today.
- [77:31]
Omar Fateh
Fundamentally false.
- [77:32]
Sam Seder
No.
- [77:32]
Omar Fateh
I'm sorry.
- [77:33]
Sam Seder
Women. Stop talking for a second. Let me finish.
- [77:36]
Omar Fateh
Where is this coming from, Dude?
- [77:37]
Sam Seder
But. Dude, you want to smoke this? 7A.
- [77:41]
Omar Fateh
Yes.
- [77:44]
Sam Seder
All right.
- [77:46]
Matt
Is it?
- [77:47]
Sam Seder
Yes.
- [77:50]
Matt
Is this me?
- [77:52]
Sam Seder
Is it me? It is you.
- [77:56]
Matt
Is this me?
- [77:58]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
Hello?
- [77:58]
Sam Seder
It's me. I think it is you. Who is you? No sound. Every single freaking day. What's on your mind?
- [78:07]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
We can discuss free markets and we can discuss capitalism.
- [78:10]
Sam Seder
I'm going to go snow white Libertarian.
- [78:13]
Emma Vigland
They're so stupid, though.
- [78:14]
Sam Seder
Common sense says of course. Gobbledygook. We nailed him. So what's 79 plus 21? Challenge? Man, I'm positively quivering. I believe 96. I want to say. 8, 5 7, 2 1, 0, 8 9, 11.
- [78:29]
Omar Fateh
For instance, $3,400. $1900.
- [78:32]
Sam Seder
5, 4, $3 trillion. Sold. It's a zero sum game. Actually.
- [78:38]
Omar Fateh
You're making me think less.
- [78:39]
Sam Seder
Wait, but let me say this. You call it satire. Sam goes satire on top of it all.
- [78:47]
Omar Fateh
My favorite part about you is just like every day, all day, like everything you do.
- [78:51]
Sam Seder
Without a doubt. Hey, buddy, we see you. All right, folks, folks, folks. It's just the week being weeded out. Obviously. Yeah. Sun's out, guns out. I, I, I don't know.
- [79:11]
Dr. Amberine Slimy
But you should know.
- [79:14]
Sam Seder
People just don't like to entertain ideas anymore. I have a question. Who cares?
- [79:20]
Emma Vigland
Our chat is enabled, folks.
- [79:22]
Sam Seder
I love it. I do love that. Gotta jump, gotta be quick. I gotta jump.
- [79:28]
Omar Fateh
I'm losing in it, bro.
- [79:32]
Sam Seder
Two o', clock, we're already late and the guy's being a dick. So screw him. Sent to a gulag.
- [79:39]
Omar Fateh
Outrageous.
- [79:39]
Sam Seder
Like, what is wrong with you? Love you. Bye. Love you. Bye. Bye.