Plestia Alaqad on the war on Gaza: ‘You don’t have time to cry’

“The hardest things I saw, the camera didn’t see.”

At 22 years old, Plestia Alaqad found herself covering Israel’s bombardment of her own people last October, as she and other Palestinian journalists endured an ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza.

Through their coverage, they exposed to the world what was happening in Gaza.

For weeks, Alaqad’s coverage documented a raw account of the bombing and destruction of her own people, and showed the world the massive humanitarian toll that Israel’s assault has had on Gaza. As many media outlets were shut out from Gaza, she and other Gaza-based journalists gained a following that rivalled or surpassed traditional media outlets. She now has almost 5 million followers on Instagram.

Weeks after evacuating Gaza, Alaqad joins us from Australia where she now resides to speak about her experience on Real Talk - Online.

Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview show that delves into the stories and experiences of a diverse range of guests.