CNN Interview: MSF Nurse Describes her Experience Under Siege in Gaza for 26 Days
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Emily “Cali” Callahan, a nurse
Emily “Cali” Callahan, a nurse activity manager with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) from the United States, was trapped under siege in Gaza for 26 days. She and 21 other MSF international staff were finally able to leave on November 1, 2023. Callahan was interviewed by CNN's Anderson Cooper on November 6, 2023. In this excerpt from the interview, she describes what she witnessed—and what her Palestinian colleagues are still experiencing.
"We said to [our Palestinian colleagues] over and over again, 'You don't have to stay. We understand if you want to leave us.' And they said, 'You are family, too. And we're not going anywhere.’
"Your staff, the Palestinians who worked for MSF, for Doctors Without Borders, were concerned about your safety.
"We would have died within a week without [our Palestinian colleagues]. They are the only reason we are alive.
"It's incredible that this took so long to get Americans, sick people, starting to move through that Rafah border crossing. It's, it's inexplicable.
"And we were desperate. We did a calorie count at one point based on our supplies and figured out that if all of us, there's 50 people with us, living in a parking lot now, only ate 700 calories a day, if that's all we had, we had two days of food left and that's it. And our national staff took off. We had no cell service at that point, so we had no idea what had happened to them. There's bombs going off all around us because there's no safe place in Gaza.
"Even getting through that Rafah border crossing. What was that like?
"They didn't leave our side for a second.
"You're—the national staff.
"The national staff.
"Because they feared for your safety even at the border crossing.
"They made sure they were standing between us and desperate people. They made sure that they were talking to every official that they could find, trying to push us through, trying to get us on the bus, trying to get us out.
"And we're sitting there, watching these incredible men who have sacrificed everything for us, who have sacrificed time with their families, their own physical safety, their own water supply they were giving to us.
"And we're watching them fight to get us across the border, knowing that we were not bringing them with us. And they didn't, they didn't waver. Ibrahim was right in the front with our passports, fighting so hard to get us on, and we get to Arish that night and find out his parents are dead."
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"We said to [our Palestinian colleagues] over and over again, 'You don't have to stay. We understand if you want to leave us.' And they said, 'You are family, too. And we're not going anywhere.’
"Your staff, the Palestinians who worked for MSF, for Doctors Without Borders, were concerned about your safety.
"We would have died within a week without [our Palestinian colleagues]. They are the only reason we are alive.
"It's incredible that this took so long to get Americans, sick people, starting to move through that Rafah border crossing. It's, it's inexplicable.
"And we were desperate. We did a calorie count at one point based on our supplies and figured out that if all of us, there's 50 people with us, living in a parking lot now, only ate 700 calories a day, if that's all we had, we had two days of food left and that's it. And our national staff took off. We had no cell service at that point, so we had no idea what had happened to them. There's bombs going off all around us because there's no safe place in Gaza.
"Even getting through that Rafah border crossing. What was that like?
"They didn't leave our side for a second.
"You're—the national staff.
"The national staff.
"Because they feared for your safety even at the border crossing.
"They made sure they were standing between us and desperate people. They made sure that they were talking to every official that they could find, trying to push us through, trying to get us on the bus, trying to get us out.
"And we're sitting there, watching these incredible men who have sacrificed everything for us, who have sacrificed time with their families, their own physical safety, their own water supply they were giving to us.
"And we're watching them fight to get us across the border, knowing that we were not bringing them with us. And they didn't, they didn't waver. Ibrahim was right in the front with our passports, fighting so hard to get us on, and we get to Arish that night and find out his parents are dead."
Read more at https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org...
Make sure you don’t miss weekly video updates and ongoing series about our work in crisis zones across the world. Subscribe to our channel here: https://goo.gl/BtzdsR
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières helps people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care. Learn more at https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/BtzdsR
Like us on Facebook: Facebook: doctorswithoutborders
Follow us on Instagram: Instagram: doctorswithoutborders
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter: MSF_USA
Connect with us on LinkedIn: LinkedIn: m-decins-sans-fronti-res-msf-
Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org...
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