This is the tent where the volunteers work daily. We volunteer here every day. We do this for our love for the country. It's humanitarian work. We don't do it for money, we do it for God. We don't want to get paid or be employed. People ask my dad what I'm doing here, and without getting a salary. He tells them, "I'm proud of my daughter. She provides care to the children of our country." And especially because in our society, women are often judged. But society has to accept us. If they don't want to accept us by choice, they will be forced to accept us, because we have more strength than any man. The strength that I showed as a first responder on the first day of the protests, I dare you to find it in anyone else.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go now to Gaza City, where we're joined by Dr. Medhat Abbas, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip. Also joining us, from Istanbul, Turkey, is Dalia al-Najjar, Razan's cousin. She's co-founder of Xyla Water, an organization dedicated to making clean water accessible around the world. She works with everyone from, oh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Lahore University.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Dalia, let's go to you first, in Istanbul. Razan was your cousin. Can you talk about what we just heard, Razan describing what she felt was her obligation to be a paramedic, and who she was?
DALIA AL-NAJJAR: Thank you. Razan was a very strong-minded girl, since she was very young. She always had dreams. She loved life. She was a source of positivity all the time. And being a nurse was one of her dreams. She worked hard to be one. She couldn't get a degree in nursing, unfortunately, because of the financial situations her family were living under. And then she went and got training in nursing for two years, and she worked as a volunteer for two years without being paid. And then she felt it's her duty to be a first responder, because it's everyone's duty. Everyone has a role in what's going on. And she felt that she can do what she's best at by being a first responder. She was one of the first female first responders.
And she inspired many people. I heard stories from her colleagues saying that other first responders used to motivate each other by mentioning her and talking about her. If anyone is sitting, they would tell him, "Come on, Razan broke her wrist, and yet she completed her shift." So, she's a source of inspiration for everyone.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go back to Razan al-Najjar in her own words, talking about her life as a volunteer field medic in Gaza. She was speaking to TRT World, weeks before she was shot and killed by Israeli forces Friday.
RAZAN AL-NAJJAR: [translated] With all pride, I want to continue helping others 'til the last day. I'm paramedic Razan al-Najjar. I'm 20 years old, working here as a field paramedic.
The first day was the hardest for me. I suffocated from tear gas three times. The entire medical team was targeted. A colleague was shot in the back, and my friend, a nurse, was shot in the hand, and another colleague was shot near the ear. We gave them first aid in the field, and then we continued our work. We sent them to the hospitals and carried on in our work.
Today I was almost shot, but, thanks for God's mercy, I was safe. And also yesterday, I was suffocated from the tear gas. I fainted for about an hour. I woke up in an ambulance, and I left it. I went crazy, because I wanted to continue my work and my journey. I came to give care, not to get care. With all pride, I want to continue 'til the last day.
AMY GOODMAN: That, again, was Razan al-Najjar speaking. She was killed on Friday by an Israeli military sniper. Dalia, Razan's mother said, "I wish I could have seen her in her white wedding dress, not her shroud." She was about to get engaged, after Ramadan?
DALIA AL-NAJJAR: Yes, true. One of her colleagues, a medic, as well, was interested in her. And they were to call their engagement after Ramadan.
AMY GOODMAN: You spoke to Razan's mother on Sunday night. Can you tell us about your conversation and what she said to you, your aunt?
DALIA AL-NAJJAR: She told me that we really need to work hard to get this story heard and to get Razan's message heard. Everyone needs to know the truth. And we need to work collectively to call for justice and to hold the responsible parties accountable for this war crime.
AMY GOODMAN: She said to you, "You are Razan now. Hold the torch and keep fighting," Dalia?
DALIA AL-NAJJAR: Yes. I broke down while talking to her, and she was calming me down. And she told me, "Now you are Razan. You guys used to play together all the time as young people, and I see you as Razan now. And I want you to continue her fight and to continue sharing her message to the world."
AMY GOODMAN: I understand that she was also injured on previous days, as she worked as a medic in Gaza. One of our previous guests, Dr. Tarek Loubani, tweeted she previously "fainted twice due to gas inhalation, while on April 13 she broke her wrist after falling while running to attend to a wounded protester." I want to turn now to Dr. Medhat Abbas, director of the Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza. Can you talk about Razan's commitment? Talk about what you understand happened to her on Friday. And was she taken to Shifa?
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