A post from activist Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda made unsubstantiated claims calling an image of men captured by the Israeli military a “death queue,” renewing outrage around her Emmy win last month for a documentary on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Photos and video shared by Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee indicated that the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency conducted an operation that led to the arrest of terrorists, shared alongside images and video. Owda alleged Saturday that the men were being lined up to be killed or taken hostage. She did not provide evidence for her speculation.
“As a well-documented member of the youth propaganda wing of the PFLP terrorist group, it is not surprising that she is spreading blood libels and disinformation, making these outrageous claims,” Ari Ingel, executive director of pro-Israel Jewish entertainment nonprofit Creative Community for Peace, told TheWrap.
Owda has previously been identified as a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated by the United States as a terrorist organization since 1997. She has been seen in video speaking at PFLP rallies and was explicitly referred to by the organization as a member in 2018.
CCFP issued a call for Owda’s Emmy nomination to be withdrawn in August, but they were unsuccessful in their efforts.
“What is truly troubling is that the NATAS Emmys decided to legitimize someone with terrorist ties, and so now people believe what she says and think that what she posts is credible,” Ingel continued. “NATAS should rescind her award and apologize.”
Owda won at the 2024 News & Documentary Emmys in the Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form category, alongside Qatari-owned media outlet AJ+, for their series “It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive.” Owda is a journalist, activist and filmmaker best known for her work on social media platforms including Instagram (4.7 million followers) and TikTok, in which she documents her experience during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
In her post, Owda wrote, “I don’t know if this post is to ask for your solidarity. We tried it, and nothing stopped Israel’s thirst for the blood of my people, or it was not enough for that!”
The language used by Owda has been criticized for it containing elements of blood libel, the false notion that Jews kill non-Jews to use their blood in rituals. Critics have pointed to allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians as helping to spread this trope.
“But this is to show how horrific our world is, and how alone my people are in the face of the monster,” Owda continued. “I once heard a story that I did not like, about a village where everyone was vile and despicable, so they threw the only man in the village who had noble morals off the mountain. They killed him because he reminded them of their ugliness.
“This is what is happening with the Palestinians today, unfortunately. The queue you see now in this photo taken an hour ago in Jabalia / North Gaza is the death queue,” Owda’s post continued. “The Israeli terrorist army separates the females from the males (men and male children sometimes) … They order the women to leave and take the men to a far place, with their hands tied and blindfolded and they are often placed in a deep hole … and we all know what happens later.”
She continued to make a variety of speculative claims about what happened to the men after their arrests. “Either they bury them alive, as happened in the north and Khan Yunis during the first ground invasion, or they execute them on the ground, or they take them hostage, as happened to 10,000 who subsequently suffered torture, murder, organ theft and rape. What do you think? What is the most likely scenario?
“I feel disgusted with all human ideals and values. The Zionist colonizers in 2024 are doing this before your eyes,” Owda wrote, before going on to praise the men seen in the photos as she concluded her post. “What oppression and pain, these men survived and protected their families from all kinds of death over the course of a year and until the last moment, and they refused to leave their homes, and now they are being annihilated in this way. They are depopulating northern Gaza by killing the entire population!”
Owda also won a Peabody Award for “It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive” earlier this year. PFLP, which became known in the 1970s for its airplane hijackings, also participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Israeli citizens and the kidnapping of hundreds of others.
The CCFP argued when Owda and AJ+ were nominated that the nomination violated NATAS’ Code of Ethical Conduct, which states that “NATAS and its Chapters have zero tolerance for discrimination, harassment or illegal, dishonest, unethical or otherwise harmful conduct.”
As a member of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, the pro-Israel nonprofit argues that her Emmy nomination “could reasonably be construed as contrary or detrimental to the best interests of the Academy.”
Owda has also been criticized for promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories as the World Health Organization worked to vaccinate Gaza residents from polio, including criticism from fellow Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary. Owda called on Palestinians not to vaccinate their children while not providing any evidence that the vaccinations were anything other than actual vaccinations meant to protect from the disease.
Palestinian filmmakers previously defended Owda after the call for her Emmy to be rescinded, accusing Hollywood of “racism and censorship.”
