Guest
This is Al Jazeera’s Youmna El Sayed’s harrowing and deeply personal, nearly three hour account of all that she witnessed while covering Gaza. Youmna El Sayed has reported from Gaza for more than a decade. She was in Gaza on 7 October when Hamas attacked Israel and then remained in Gaza covering Israel's assault on the strip. In this in-depth conversation over nearly three hours she recollects events as she remembers them unfolding. From waking to the sound of rockets being fired into Israel on 7 October, to then finding herself and her family forcibly displaced five times in the ensuing bombardment as she covered the war. She speaks about the scarcity of food and water, losing colleagues who were killed, needing to evacuate her family while fearing for their lives, literally stepping over the remains of dead bodies, and so much more Through all of the above El Sayed continued her work as a journalist for Al Jazeera until she and her family managed to evacuate Gaza to Cairo, where they are presently living. She also speaks about the challenges that now face her and her family and the residents of Gaza as many of them face a future where they do not know if they will ever be able to go back to their homes which now lie in ruins. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:10 what can you remember about October 7th 04:00 Going to the bureau and starting to cover the war 06:30 thoughts on what Israel's retaliation would have been 09:30 Preparing your family for what is going to happen 12:11 Not being able to be close to your family as bombs are falling on your neighbourhood 18:15 My kids we terrified, only able to sleep in my arms 20:12 Palestinians don't have choices, they just need to endure 23:23 Bombardments of the night vs bombardments of the day 26:44 Leaving home 37:06 Having no water or food 38:04 How what you see changes your soul 39:52 Bearing witness to what I never thought I would see 43:45 The child with the blue backpack 01:00:55 On Joe Biden 01:09:24 Bombing Jabaliyah refugee camp and almost dying 01:14:17 If we die, we all die together as a family 01:17:38 anonymous call 01:24:39 we will be killed because of you 01:26:40 when I started to feel that I would be killed because I was a journalist 01:27:52 Youmna and family leave Gaza city for a 2nd time 01:32:29 taking shelter with 60 people in a small apartment building 01:39:57 bodies decomposing on roads and crossings 01:44:36 having conversations on leaving Gaza and where to go 01:52:26 Walking to Khan Younis with Wael Dahdouh 01:56:43 Walking through the corridor of death 02:00:39 Ceasefire and going to the beach 02:05:44 Isreal begins ground operation in Khan Younis, going to Rafah 02:09:39 How Youmna and family left Gaza 02:14:38 having fate that they would be able to leave 02:17:08 adjusting to life in Cairo and PTSD 02:23:40 On losing Al Jazeera colleague and friends - Samer and Hamza 02:28:47 What if there is no Gaza to return to 02:32:48 Where will Palestinians in Gaza go to 02:34:05 Will Gaza be ethnically cleansed 02:37:19 What does accountability look like 02:41:00 Consequences of there being no accountability Subscribe to our channel: Subscribe to MEE Telegram channel to stay up to date: Middle East Eye Website: Follow us on TikTok: @middleeasteye Follow us on Instagram: Like us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter:
