Comedians Cressida Wetton, Josh Howie and Nick Dixon have shared their shock and outrage after a photo of Hamas parading around a naked mutilated body won a journalism award.
The Associated Press won the award for a picture of Hamas terrorists parading a slain woman’s body through the streets of Gaza.
The woman, identified as 22-year-old Shani Louk, was abducted by Hamas on October 7, when the terror group first attacked Israel.
Speaking on GB News Cressida said: “Obviously, this is a significant photo. So I don’t think it’s that it should be condemned to be never seen again. It’s an important piece of evidence. But you’re saying it wasn’t celebrated for that. Is it celebrated for some artistic merit?”
The photo of the slain woman won a journalism award
Josh Howie explained: “Not the artistic merit. Just, the collaborative effort of photography staff covering a single topic. We’re taking collaboration to the extreme here. So the issues are, firstly content of having a dead young woman who was just recently murdered there.
“Then we’ve got the other issue about who took it and how they were part of that team and to what level were they involved.”
“Yeah, I mean, in theory, a disturbing war photo could win an award despite having just horrific content because it’s an important work.
“I agree with Josh, the question is how are these journalists working alongside Hamas? There’s been a lot of grey areas about that since.”
He added: “That’s what makes it particularly disturbing, that throws off the whole question of whether it should win an award.”
Comedian Josh Howie spoke about the picture on GB News
GB News
Ali Mahmoud the photographer who won the award captioned his photo: “Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.”
The award has caused outrage on social media with one person taking to X and writing: “I am horrified. This is a picture of terrorists parading a dead body of a Jewish woman after they murdered her. Shame on you.”
Another added: “So the ‘reporter’ who stood there while Shani got raped and murdered and took a photo of it is getting rewarded?”
Back in February, the families of Shani and other Nova massacre victims sued AP and Reuters over what they alleged to be the involvement of photojournalists employed by those agencies in the atrocities of October 7.
Shani Louk was abducted by Hamas on October 7
X
A statement from AP responding to the accusations said it had the deepest sympathies for those affected in the attacks but the lawsuit claim was “baseless”.
It added: “AP had no advance knowledge of the October 7 attacks, nor have we seen any evidence — including in the lawsuit — that the freelance journalists who contributed to our coverage did.
“Allegations like this are reckless and create even more potential danger for journalists in the region. Documenting breaking news events around the world — no matter how horrific — is our job.
“Without AP and other news organisations, the world would not have known what was happening on October 7.”
Source Agencies
