Gazan journalist Bisan Owda. Photo taken from her Instagram account.
"Hello, I’m Bisan from Gaza, and I’m still alive."
For nearly 11 months, Bisan Owda, a 27-year-old Palestinian from Gaza who became a war journalist after Oct. 7, has been starting her short videos with these words, documenting her daily life in the enclave, which has been marked by the Israeli war that has claimed over 40,000 lives, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Followed by more than 4 million people on her Instagram account, Owda, still in Gaza, has become one of the most prominent voices since the war began, alongside other journalists who have since left the enclave, such as Motaz Azaiza and Plestia Alaqad. Her work was recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), with her nomination for the 2024 Emmy Awards in the Short-Form News category for her eight-minute documentary titled "It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive," in collaboration with al-Jazeera’s digital platform, AJ+.
Her nomination quickly sparked controversy. On Monday, the pro-Israel American organization Creative Community for Peace published an open letter calling on NATAS to reconsider this nomination. The issue: Owda’s alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union. According to the nonprofit organization Creative Community for Peace, which fights against "antisemitism and the cultural boycott of Israel," Owda allegedly spoke at events organized by the PFLP between 2014 and 2018.
“The choice to elevate someone with clear ties to the PFLP not only legitimizes a terrorist organization but also undermines the integrity of the awards,” claim nearly 150 Hollywood actors, screenwriters, and producers who signed the open letter. “We strongly urge NATAS to rescind the nomination of Bisan Owda to avoid glorifying a figure associated with terrorism and to ensure that the Emmys remain a symbol of peace and artistic collaboration.”
The following day, NATAS President and CEO Adam Sharp defended himself and his organization against these accusations. Affirming his support for the Emmy nominations, he clarified that the two panels of experienced journalists decided without finding “evidence of more recent or active involvement by Owda with the PFLP organization.” Sharp also noted that previous nominees had been “controversial, giving a platform to voices that some viewers may find objectionable or even offensive,” but emphasized that this was all “in service of the journalistic mission to capture all facets of the story.”
Aimed at silencing a Palestinian voice?
The documentary in question, which has won two awards including a Peabody Award last spring—one of the highest honors in journalism—depicts the daily life of Owda in October when she was sheltering in a tent near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. In the documentary, the journalist interviews an 11-year-old boy whose parents were killed by an Israeli airstrike on their home.
“I feel better today because I believe our stories, our struggles, and our resistance are being heard and seen, and that our documentation of this genocide is being recognized,” Owda said in a video message on her X account after winning the Peabody Award, as the International Court of Justice considers whether genocide is occurring in the Palestinian enclave.
Displaced from her home in the Rimal neighborhood of central Gaza City on Oct. 10, Owda has been documenting her relentless displacement and the loss of several loved ones. The young woman has been supported by al-Jazeera following the publication of the open letter, with the Qatari media asserting its support for her “amid efforts to silence her reporting on Gaza.”
This viewpoint has been echoed in recent days by many Palestinian voices. “This silencing is a remarkable testament to the threat posed by a young woman with just an iPhone,” American-Palestinian lawyer Noura Erakat wrote on her X account. “It gnaws at people to see that 2,000-pound bombs have failed to stifle the power of testimony and narrative.”
Over the past 11 months, more than 160 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces, according to al-Jazeera.
