Nagham Haj Ali from Shefa-Amr located in northern Israel is only 20 but is already a trailblazer. She’s a social media influencer with over 500,000 followers, owns a piercing business, is a second-year national service volunteer at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa and dreams of becoming a nurse. She also received a certificate of excellence from President Isaac Herzog for her work in fostering understanding between Jews and Muslims.
You're a Muslim woman, yet you chose to volunteer for national service. It's not the most common choice.
"It seems very fine to me. My parents are also backing me up always, telling me, 'Do what you want to.' I only listen to them rather than people who criticize me. I love what I do, helping people in the hospital and doing everything from the bottom of my heart, including my role as a phlebotomist at Rambam Health Care Campus."
You could have pursued nursing studies, but you chose to do national service instead. What responses do you get to your decision?
"My Instagram followers are very supportive of what I do. They constantly tell me, 'It’s good, do it, it’s good for your future and your studies.' I hear a lot of positive things about national service. On the other hand, there are many people who don’t like it, but I don’t listen to them. I continue doing my work. I do my national service happily, in order to contribute and do good things."
Do you recommend others to volunteer for national service?
"Constantly. I tell everyone to go volunteer and do it."
You have a piercing business. That’s another thing that doesn’t sound typical for a Muslim woman.
"Actually, a lot of Muslim women do piercings. It’s allowed in our religion, but tattoos are prohibited. In any case, it depends a lot on the family."
She also spoke about her choice to volunteer. "I heard a lot about national service from friends and ads encouraging people to go out and volunteer.”
“At the time, I was unsure about what I wanted to study and do in the future, and every time I hesitated, the thought of national service came to mind, both to contribute to the country and to do good for people, and also to get to know the role and learn Hebrew better because school teaches the basics, but it wasn’t enough for me. I also worked in various places at the time but didn’t connect with them and was looking for something else to do,” she added.
"I decided to volunteer for national service at the hospital and began in the Internal Medicine Department. The team welcomed me with open arms, embraced me and nurtured me. Today, I draw blood in rheumatology, the emergency room, and other departments, while mostly trying to make patients happy, make them smile, and do good for them."
How did you react when you found out you would receive a certificate of excellence from President Herzog?
"It was a great joy. I was starting to get tired during my second year, but after finding out about the award from the president, I felt all my fatigue disappear. I didn’t even know I was a candidate for the president’s excellence award. One day, the head of the national service called and said, 'Congratulations.'
“I asked him, 'For what?' and then my coordinator for the Arab sector, Iman Suwaed, joined and told me that I had been recommended by the hospital, the departments I work in every day, and also Ilana Dodels who coordinates the national service at the hospital. They chose 29 volunteers out of 20,000 from all fields and all over the country."
What are your plans for the future after finishing your national service?
"I want to continue working as a phlebotomist here at Rambam Health Care Campus, and then go to study for a degree in nursing. It’s always been my dream. I will also continue with my piercing business and social media. I love what I do and hope to continue doing it."