Bookpleasures.com isexcited to have as our guest Dr. Brian Morris, the semi-retiredMontreal urologist who courageously volunteered in Israel during the2023–2025 conflict. 

We will be discussing his powerful memoir,Swords of Iron: Israel at War – A Canadian Surgeon’s Perspective,which chronicles his transformation from a self-proclaimed “armchairZionist” into a frontline volunteer serving on Magen Davidambulances and with Sar-El, while candidly reflecting on his identityas a Canadian, a Jew, a Zionist, and a committed atheist.

All proceeds from thebook are dedicated to purchasing an ambulance for Magen David Adom,underscoring Dr. Morris’s deep commitment to service and theresilience of the Israeli people

Today, we dive into hisgripping story and the urgent lessons it offers for the Jewishdiaspora and the global community.

Norm: In your book, Swordsof Iron: Israel at War – A Canadian Surgeon’s Perspective: youcall yourself a Canadian, a Jew, a Zionist, and a committed atheist.How do these different, and sometimes conflicting, parts of youridentity influence how you see a conflict that many people viewmainly as religious? When you volunteered in Israel, did thatexperience change or confirm any part of your identity, especiallyyour idea of Jewishness as a shared history instead of a faith?

Brian: I am a Canadian. Iwas born in Canada and have Canadian citizenship. I am a Jew. This ismy birthright which I can not and will not change or deny. I am aZionist. That is my belief. I believe that the Jewish people are anation and have a right to have a country. That country is Israel,situated in the Middle East, with no friendly borders and 15 km wideat its narrowest distance. I am a commited atheist. This is myreligion or lack of one. I went to Israel after hearing about theevents of Oct. 7. As a Zionist and as a Jew, I had no other choicethan to go to Israel. That did not change before going to Israel,while in Israel and in my thoughts on returning to Canada.

Norm: At 74, as asemi-retired urologist from Montreal, you could have supported Israelfrom home. What made you decide that just supporting from afar wasnot enough? 

How did your family and colleagues in Montreal respondwhen you told them you were going to volunteer in a war zone?

Brian: In 1967 I was tooyoung to go to Israel. In 1973 I was in medical school in France. In1982 I was just finishing my residency in urology. In 2000 I wasmarried with a young family. In 2023 I had no responsabilitiesholding me back. 

My family supported my decision although they wereworried that I was going to a war zone and would be on both an IDFbase and an MDA ambulance. My colleagues at work accepted to coverfor me during my absence. 

Some of my friends were some what reticentbelieving that it was rather fool hardy. My hockey buddies stood upand shook hands with me on hearing of my decision, promising to readmy blog, gobriantravel.com  .

Norm: You mentioned thatthe Israeli Ministry of Health had more international medicalvolunteers than needed, so you switched to manual work with Sar-El,packing medical supplies. 

Was it hard to set aside your pride as asurgeon to do this kind of work? Did this behind-the-scenes jobchange how you see the way a country keeps going during fullmobilisation?

Brian: I applied to MDACanada to work as a physician on an ambulance. They had 131volunteers already and about 1000 in the US. I was too far down onthe list to be accepted. 

I eventually received a post with MDA as Ireapplied when I was already in Israel. In 1983, during one of thewars with Lebanon, an Israeli general realized that many supportsoldiers had been called up leaving empty positions in IDF bases. 

Hehad the idea to offer positions to foreigners without experience toreplace them. The group of 400 expanded to 4000 and then to about40,000 during the Swords of Iron War. 

The groups of volunteers that Iworked with in Sar-El on the IDF bases contained the mostintellectual people that I have ever been associated with. 

We haddoctors, lawyers, university professors, writers, artists andimportant business men. We were all united as Zionists in our supportfor Israel in its time of need. None of us minded doing manual labouras we were all well informed in advance of the work that we would beasked to do.

Norm: In your book, youshow the sharp contrast in Tel Aviv, where young people jog and playvolleyball right next to bomb shelters and Hostages Square. 

How didyou deal with the sudden switch between everyday life and the realityof war? Do you think this appearance of normal life is a way forIsraelis to cope, or does it show a deeper resilience?

Brian: The beach in TelAviv is filled with young people swimming, kite surfing, joggingplaying football and volley ball as if the war is far away. Everyonein Israel serves in the army for 3 years from 18 to 21. Many servefor 1 month up until age 45. 

At anytime, individuals can be called upto serve in their units for an extended period in the event of anemergency. This is a fact of life for everyone in Israel. If therewas no army, there would be no Israel. Israel has been at war on andoff for 80 years. 

The Israelis cope with this reality and continuewith life as if they are not at war. 

Norm: In Part IV, you sayyou are disappointed with Western universities, especially McGillUniversity in Montreal. As someone connected to these schools, whatdo you think they are missing about the reality after October 7?

Brian: I am associatedwith McGill University as a Clinical Lecturer in Surgery. Manystudents and faculty members are unaware of the history of the MiddleEast as pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

As there areholocaust deniers, we are now seeing October 7th deniers or believersthat the event has been totally exagerated. Israel has done a verypoor job of publicizing their position for many years prior toOctober 7th. The Arab countries such as Qatar, Kuwait and SaudiArabia have done an excellent job with their propaganda in theuniversities. 

It is unfortunate but the expression ‘money talks’has been used to infiltrate the universities, convincing both thestudents and the faculy of their one sided opinions. 

Norm: You compare TelAviv’s lively public spaces to the huge effort Hamas put intobuilding a 500-kilometre tunnel system in Gaza. How do you respond topeople who say this comparison makes the humanitarian crisis seem toosimple? 

From your experience, how can international aid groups makesure their help goes to civilian medical needs instead of militaryprojects?

Brian: Hamas constructed500 km of tunnes in Gaza and not one hotel. How many childred diedbuilding this tunnel system. UNRWA was set up in 1948 to take care ofthe 650,000 Palestinian refugees. Palestinian refugee status isinherited from one generation to the next. 

There are now 30,000 UNRWAemployees in the Middle East. The refugee population has grown to6,000,000. No other refugee group has this advantage. 850,000 Jewswere forced to leave Arab countries after 1948 with no compensationfor their losses of property. 

They were absorbed by Israel, Canada,the US and France. After WW2 there were 25,000,000 refugees all ofwhom were absorbed by different counties. Not so the Palestians whostill live in camps in Arab countries without receiving citizenship. 

UNRWA is big business, receiving $2,000,000,000 per year. Canadaalone has given $300,000,000 to the Palestinians since 2023. UNRWAmust be disbanded now. Enough is enough. 

Norm: Your book comesstraight from your daily blog entries from 2024 and 2025. Lookingback, do you notice any change in your tone or outlook from when youstarted volunteering to when you finished? 

Did writing every day helpyou process your experiences, or was it just about recording historyfor others? If anything I have become much more Zionist in mythinking. 

Brian: I have writen ablog on my travels for over 20 years. At first the blog was only sentto my family and close friends. 5 years ago my son, Antoine, set up ablog site for me to document my travels. My blog entries proved to bethe basis for Part 1 and Part 3 of my book. 

I then added chapters onthe History of Israel from 1900 to 1948. 

Norm: You include a wholesection in your book about the region’s history, from World War Ito Israel’s founding in 1948. Why did you think it was important toadd this background to your personal memoir? 

Do you think today’spublic debate is missing historical context, or is it more affectedby strong emotions?

Brian: Part 2 pertains tothe History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from 1900 to 1948.The 4 chapters were written to help a person with little knowledge ofthe history and conflict to understand the events of today. 

TheOpinion section represents my own thoughts and beliefs that I wouldbe willing to debate with anyone with a reasonable understanding ofthe conflict. I have no patience with individuals reciting ‘fromthe river to the sea’ who can not name which river and which sea. 

Norm: Your book ends withyour thoughts on Israel’s future. After what you saw in Tel Aviv,on IDF bases, and in ambulances, what do you think is a realistic wayto achieve long-term security and peace? 

Did your time there make youfeel more hopeful or more doubtful about coexistence in the region?

Brian: Although in thepast, I have had some hope for a two state solution. This will not bepossible as long as Hamas and Hezbollah retain power over thePalestinian population. 

One need only to Google the Charter of Hamasand the Charter of Hezbollah to understand their point of view andtheir plans for the future. A ceasefire only means that Israel ceaseswhile Hamas and Hezbollah re-arms and fires. 

I have no hope for asolution of the conflict for this generation.The wounds are too deepand there is too much distrust. 

Norm: All the money fromSwords of Iron sales will go to buy an ambulance for Magen DavidAdom. Can you share what it was like to ride in those ambulances, andwhat it would mean to you to see your book pay for a new one? 

Whatare the most urgent medical supply or equipment shortages that firstresponders in Israel face, and how will this funding help?

Brian: All the money fromthe sales of the book will go to purchase an ambulance for MDA. Thereis also a QR code in the book for the reader to make an extraldonation. Neither I nor MDA will take any profit for administrativepurposes. 

The ambulances are made here in Quebec and are extremelywell equiped. I like to support Quebec businesses. The paramedics arevery well trained. This training could be exported to other countrieswhere paramedics are much less well trained. 

What can I say aboutriding in an ambulance at 140-150 k/hr accompanied by a driver, achief and an MDA intern? It was definitely exhilarating!!

Norm: When you think aboutthe wider Canadian-Jewish community, do you see your book as a guideor a challenge for others to get involved instead of just watchingfrom the sidelines?

For someone who cannottravel to Israel, either because of physical limits or other reasons,what is the best way they can help instead of just watching fromafar?

Brian: A rift hasunfortunately developed between the American-Canadian Jewishcommunities and Israel. Many of the young people, with a woke,leftist mentality have been turned off by the politics of Israel.Israel must do more in the future to bring the diaspora on board withIsrael. 

This can only happen with a major change in the Israeligovernment. As American-Canadian Jews we must stand up for Israelwith arguements coming from being well informed about the history ofthe conflict. Israel stands alone.

Israel has been a haven for Jewspersecuted around the world. I hope that we in America and Canada arenot returning to the antisemitism of the 1930s to 1950s. 

Although wecannot compare it with the Holocaust, we had restrictions in ourcountry of where a Jew could purchase property as well as quotas onuniversity admissions. 

Norm: Thinking back onyour journey in 2024 and 2025, what is the one lesson or message youhope readers remember after finishing Swords of Iron? If you could goback to your first day in Tel Aviv in 2024, what advice would yougive yourself?

Brian: I went to Israel in2024 to serve Israel in whatever capacity I could find. I had greathope for a peaceful solution for the conflict. After two years, Icannot say that I am disillusioned. However, I have taken a morerealistic approach. 

To quote Golda Meir, if the Arabs lay down theirarms, there will be peace. If they Israelis lay down their arms,there will be no more Israel. 

Norm: As we wind up ourinterview, where can our readers find out more about you and Swordsof Iron: Israel at War – A Canadian Surgeon’s Perspective?

Brian: I think that I havesaid everything that I wanted to say in my book with specialattention to the chapters on my family and my personal backgroundwhich brought me to my decision to volutneer to go to Israel withouthesitation on October 7.

Follow Here To Read Norm's Review of Swordsof Iron: Israel at War – A Canadian Surgeon’s Perspective