Palestinian journalist, activist, and filmmaker Bisan Owda has been nominated for the 76th Emmy Awards in the News and Documentary category for her series “It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive.”
The Aljazeera plus-backed series documents life in Gaza during the recent conflict.
Creative Community for Peace, a Jewish entertainment nonprofit, is urging the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to rescind Bisan Atef Owda’s Emmy nomination. The group cites Owda’s alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, as the basis for their request.
The group, supported by Hollywood celebrities like Debra Messing and Selma Blair, has accused Owda of spreading antisemitism—an accusation frequently leveled against those who criticize Israel’s actions in the ongoing conflict.
However, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has dismissed the criticism, allowing Owda’s nomination to stand.
Additionally, Al Jazeera released a statement expressing its support for Owda “in the face of efforts to silence her reporting from Gaza.”
Al Jazeera dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and described them as “an attempt to silence Bisan and pose a real threat to her safety on the ground.”
The network further stated that the demand to revoke the Emmy nomination was merely an effort to prevent a crucial perspective on the war, and its devastating impact on innocent civilians, from reaching a global audience.
Previously known for her cultural videos about Gaza, Owda has taken on the role of an impromptu war-zone correspondent amidst the ongoing conflict.
She has been reporting daily from Gaza since the war started 11 months ago, a conflict that has claimed over 40,000 Palestinian lives.
As the situation intensified, Owda collaborated with AJ+ to launch the series “It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive”, which provides a poignant and unfiltered portrayal of the devastating conditions in Gaza.
Her widely-shared videos humanize the daily struggles in Gaza, showcasing how Palestinians are coping with a severe humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s strict restrictions on food, water, fuel, and aid supplies.
Amid the crisis, Owda’s personal hardships reveal her resilience . Living in a tent, she continues to document life in Gaza despite the harsh conditions. In one post on instagram, she shares a picture of her chopped hair and writes about how she used to love her curly hair, but now cannot manage to find clean water to wash it.
Owda does not present the big picture solely; she also immerses viewers in the raw emotions of pain, frustration, and hope, making the struggles of Gaza deeply felt and understood.
In May, Bisan Owda and AJ+ won a Peabody Award for their coverage of the Gaza war, one of journalism’s highest honors. The award recognized the first video in Owda’s series for AJ+, which documented daily life under Israel’s bombardment.
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