Before She Was Killed, This Gaza Journalist Spoke About Her Love For Her Work Despite The Losses

A video of slain Palestinian journalist Mariam Abu Daqqa has started making the rounds again after she was murdered by Israel in an airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Monday, Aug. 25.

In the video from the film “Sutra: Not A Shield” , the 32-year-old, who was known for her courageous coverage of Palestinians' daily struggles under Israel’s genocide, spoke about how she continued to report in Gaza despite all the hardships and losses she endured.

Abu Daqqa started working as a photographer in 2016 and began working with the Independent Arabic in 2020 and also worked with AP during the genocide.

She was forcibly displaced and left her family in order to cover Israel’s genocide.

Israel had killed members of her family, including her mother, and Abu Daqqa had to evacuate her 12-year-old son, Ghaith, to the UAE while she kept reporting every day.

“During this war, there were times when I wondered, what forced me to choose this profession? But at the same time, I'm getting more attached to it,” Abu Daqqa said in the video.

On Monday, Abu Daqqa had rushed to report on Israel’s bombing of the Nasser Hospital in South Gaza and its killing of journalist Hussam al-Masri.

But just as she arrived on the scene with fellow journalists and civil defense teams, Israel bombed the same exact place again in what is known as a “double-tap strike”, killing Abu Daqqa, Al Jazeera photojournalist Mohammed Salama, NBC journalist Moaz Abu Taha and freelance journalist Ahmed Abu Aziz, who work with Quds Feed.

Journalist Ahmed Hijazi shared the will Abu Daqqa wrote to her son Ghaith on Instagram:

"Ghaith, heart and soul of your mother. I want you to pray for me and not cry over me, so that I can remain happy. I want you to always make me proud, to work hard, excel, and be capable. I want you to become successful my beloved.

My dear, I hope that you never forget me. Everything I have done, was only to make you happy, to keep you joyful and comfortable, and to provide everything for you. And when you grow up, get married and have a daughter, name her Mariam after me.

You are my love, my heart, my support, my soul, and my son whom I am proud of. I will always be happy hearing of your good reputation. I ask of you one thing, Ghaith: your prayer, your prayer, then your prayer, my dear.
Your mother, Mariam."

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has been systematically targeting journalists in Gaza, killing more than 246 journalists and making it the deadliest period for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began collecting data in 1992.

Among those killed, at least 26 were directly targeted and murdered by Israeli forces.
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