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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)