Creative Community for Peace, a Jewish entertainment nonprofit, is calling for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to rescind an Emmy nomination for Bisan Atef Owda, a Palestinian journalist, who the organization says is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
Owda was nominated 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.”
Nominations for the 45th annual awards were announced July 25, as selected by a far-reaching, anonymous body of “individuals with significant experience in the fields of broadcast and online journalism and documentary filmmaking at the national level,” according to NATAS.
Owda is a journalist, activist and filmmaker best known for her work on social media platforms like Instagram (4.7 million followers) and TikTok (191,500 followers), in which she documents her experience during the ongoing Israel-Hamas War in Gaza. She won a Peabody Award for “It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive” earlier this year.
CCFP, a pro-Israel nonprofit organization, discovered Owda’s long-standing ties to PFLP, which has been a designated terrorist organization in the U.S. since 1997. The journalist regularly spoke at PFLP rallies and hosted events to honor Palestinians injured or killed in violent confrontations with Israeli soldiers. In 2018, the PFLP explicitly referred to Owda as a member of the Progressive Youth Union of the organization.
Owda, AJ+ and NATAS did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. NATAS is a separate organization from the Television Academy, which awards the Primetime Emmys; NATAS is responsible for the News and Documentary Emmys, as well as the Daytime Emmys.
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.
According to CCFP, Owda and AJ+’s nomination violates 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”.
The nonprofit also pointed out Owda’s social media presence, which includes a recent X post that espouses an antisemitic conspiracy theory that Israel “is occupying every corner of the world.”
“The Emmys decision to honor someone with clear ties to a U.S.-designated terrorist group is inexcusable and should have never happened,” CCFP executive director Ari Ingel said in a statement provided to TheWrap. “It would be legitimizing a terrorist organization.”
Ingel added, “If the Emmys don’t change course and rescind this nomination, they will be glorifying someone who is a member of an organization that has carried our numerous aircraft hijackings, participated in the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, carried out waves of bombings on markets and restaurants and murdered innocent women and children. The Emmys cannot allow their prestigious award show to be highjacked by terrorists, and instead should continue to promote peace and tolerance through the arts.”
“The entertainment community, including the National Television Academy, should use its voice to help build bridges for peace and understanding,” CCFP chairman and cofounder David Renzer said.
“However, the Emmy nomination of Bisan Owda, someone with documented terrorism ties, is unfathomably irresponsible,” Renzer continued. “With it, the Academy is condoning violence and helping to normalize PFLP terrorism around the globe.”
The connection between Owda and the PFLP was first unearthed on X last week by activist Eitan Fischberger.
