WEBVTT

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Hello.

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This is my first trip,

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first time in life I'm outside
of the walls of Gaza.

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I'm so happy to be here.

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(Applause)

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My ambition always was
to be a pilot, to fly a plane,

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to feel free to fly the sky,
to touch the sky.

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But that didn't happen.

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Simply, I live in Gaza,
there is no airport.

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All borders are closed on every side.

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We live in one of the biggest
prisons in the world.

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The only thing I can do
is just to look up to the sky.

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On some days, we are lucky
if we have electricity

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for four or five hours.

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When it's cold, we make a fire
on the front or on the roof of our homes.

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Sometimes we make food, too.

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My job in Gaza is to arrange everything
for journalists who come to my homeland

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to tell the stories about what's
going on in Gaza.

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Many mornings, I had to go
to the border area

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to collect a journalist.

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If anything should happen
to the journalist,

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or if the journalist decides
to cover a story

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the government doesn't want us to cover,

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bad things could happen.

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Navigating through my country
helping journalists,

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filmmakers, news crews is my working life.

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I believe my success comes
from building a relationship

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not only with journalists
and the news crews,

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but also with the communities
in the Gaza Strip.

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These communities who don't want
their stories to be told,

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I never looked to them
as stories or numbers.

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But like me, they are human beings.

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I have built up many relationships
over 10 years.

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And guess what?

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This gives me the chance
to get access to people,

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to stories that others can't.

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In some certain situations,
I feel, as a woman, I have more power.

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Many male journalists in my society,

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they want to cover a story about
drug addiction in my country.

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That problem started when the
Gaza tunnel was being built.

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With the siege on Gaza,

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tunnels brought people all the basic needs

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like food, building material,
other stuff we needed.

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But not anymore, because the Egyptian side
flooded them up with water

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and they are not working anymore.

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Drugs were being smuggled,

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and many young people got addicted, too.

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In the tradition of the
Palestinian society,

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it's forbidden for men
to enter the household.

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So, no male journalists get the story.

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But I did.

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I have a wonderful husband,

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a wonderful husband who supports me

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despite all the criticism
he gets from the society.

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He's at home now with my two kids,

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and I have another one
that's growing in here.

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(Applause)

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When I'm working,
I call him every two hours,

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and he knows if he doesn't hear from me,

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he should call my contact,

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the one who gives me access to the story,

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which is the one who I trust.

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One of the times in Gaza,

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during the kidnapping
of the British journalist Alan Johnston,

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I was asked by an American magazine

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to set up a meeting
with the kidnappers in Gaza, and I did.

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The journalist covering the story and I

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were asked to meet outside of his hotel.

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They came, they picked us up
in a black van with black windows,

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they were wearing masks on that day.

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And they drove us away,
far away in the middle of a field.

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They took our cell phones

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and we did the interview with
the kidnapper outside in that field.

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I was so scared that day,

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a day I will never forget.

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So, why do I do what I do?

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I do it because I believe if I didn't,

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a huge part of the story
about Gaza will be missing.

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There are some more stories
I could tel you about my country.

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And not all of them are bad.

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I love my country, despite
the terrible situation we live in --

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siege, poverty, unemployment --

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but there is life.

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There are people who are dreamers
and amazing people full of energy.

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We have wonderful music,
and a great music school.

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We have parkour dancers
who dance in the rubble of their homes.

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And Gaza is the only place
in the Arab world

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where Muslims and Christians
live in strong brotherhood.

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(Applause)

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During the time of war,

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the hardest part for me
is leaving the house early in the morning,

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leaving my children.

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I take a picture of them everyday

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because I never know
if I will make it back to them.

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Being a fixer and a journalist
is difficult and dangerous in Gaza.

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But when I hear the sound of the shelling
or the sound of the bombing,

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I just head straight toward it

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because I want to be there first,

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because these stories should be told.

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When my children were small
and we heard the sound of the war,

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I used to telling them
that they were fireworks.

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Now they are older, they understand.

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I do have terrible nightmares

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because of all that I witnessed
during war times,

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especially these lifeless bodies
of young children.

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I still remember a little girl,
her name is Hala.

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She's the only survivor from her family.

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Her picture will be with me forever.

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I will never forget her.

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I'm proud that I can stand here
and be here today with you.

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I'm proud that I can tell you
stories, sad and happy,

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stories about my small corner
of the world, Gaza.

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I'm proud that I am the first female fixer
working in Gaza.

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And the funny thing is
they call me Mr. Rambo in Gaza.

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(Laughter)

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I hope one day, I will get the chance
to tell the stories of all other women,

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all other amazing women
I know in my country.

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I hope that one day
I can help other women in my country

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to be fixers like me.

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And of course sometimes,
I feel I can't do this work anymore,

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it's just too much for me.

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But I remember these words:

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"Don't limit your challenge,
but challenge your limit.

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Don't allow others to stand
in front of your dreams."

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Thank you.

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(Applause)