The nominations for the 45th News & Documentary Emmy Awards were announced on July 25th. Among the nominees was Palestinian journalist Bisan Atef Owda’s documentary “It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive,” which was recognized in the “Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form” category. The nomination attracted criticism from Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), a nonprofit organization that opposes antisemitism and boycotts of Israel, leading them to issue an open letter calling for the documentary’s removal. Despite this, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) rejected the petition, allowing the nomination to stand.
25-year-old Palestinian journalist Owda has been known previously by her works on issues such as gender equality and climate change in the United Nations and the European Union, where she holds the title of EU Goodwill Ambassador. Furthermore, Owda merges her activist side with the passion she has for storytelling, and owns a show called “Hakawatia” on Roya TV where she delves into topics ranging from social issues to Palestinian history and culture narratives.
In addition to her efforts to represent Palestinian culture, Bisan Atef Owda now uses her platform to shed light on the harsh realities of life in Gaza under Israeli intervention. When the conflict began, Israeli airstrikes targeted her home and office, forcing her—like countless others—to seek refuge elsewhere. Despite losing her filming equipment to the bombardment, she remained undeterred. Bisan began recording videos with her phone and posting them on social media, providing an unfiltered glimpse into the daily life and struggles of those living under the siege in Gaza. She begins each video with the haunting phrase, “Hey everyone, it’s Bisan from Gaza, and I’m still alive,” aiming to draw international attention to Gaza, advocate for a ceasefire, and ultimately bring peace to her homeland.
Owda’s unwavering way of documenting the physical and cultural destruction of a whole country, tragedy of losing over 40,000 lives, devastation in the children’s eyes and resilience of Palestinians in such raw form, attracted major news outlets including Al Jazeera, BBC News, and ABC News. The companies channeled her narrative which often tends to get distorted by the Western media, to a significantly wider audience.
AJ+, the digital publisher of Al Jazeera, took on the production responsibility for Owda’s documentary titled “It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive.” The eight-minute film includes stark scenes such as warplane-bomb sounds, an interview with an 11-year-old, whose parents were killed in an Israeli airstrike, daily struggles to access food, water, fuel, electricity and health care resources, and in general the unsafety of the refuges.
In the documentary Owda tries to maintain an optimistic narration in contrast to the situation of the conflict which she reflects as, “I know that I seem to be energetic and smiling, but it’s not the truth. We’re just trying to be positive because we felt death hundreds of times. So we appreciate that we are alive until now.” Her short feature has won the Peabody Award and Edward R. Murrow Award in News Category earlier this year for its outstanding journalistic insight. A month ago, it was also nominated for the News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
However, on August 19, an open letter urging the NATAS to rescind Owda’s film from the nominations was published by the entertainment industry nonprofit CCFP, known for standing alongside Israel and condemning the Palestinian response. The petition was signed by over 150 people involved in the industry after she was accused of having ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a United States and European Union deemed terrorist group.
In the letter, it was asserted that Owda had repeatedly participated in PFLP rallies and routinely disseminated antisemitism across her social media platforms.
“What you see with someone like her [Owda] is infusing some legitimate news stories with the propaganda twist and spin of ‘genocide,’ which is being taken as truth,” CCFP Executive Director Ari Ingel commented in an interview.
“Only in rescinding this nomination, will NATAS uphold its code of ethical conduct, which explicitly states a ‘zero tolerance for discrimination, harassment, illegal, dishonest, unethical, or otherwise harmful conduct’,” the letter stated.
The response to Ingel’s concerns came swiftly on August 20th from Adam Sharp, the CEO and President of NATAS, in an open letter published by Deadline. In the letter, Sharp acknowledges that some past works considered for an Emmy have been “controversial, giving a platform to voices that certain viewers may find objectionable or even abhorrent.” However, it goes on defending all previous content for serving “the journalistic mission to capture every facet of the story.”
“NATAS is aware of reports that appear to show a then-teenaged Bisan Owda speaking at various PFLP-associated events between six and nine years ago. NATAS has been unable to corroborate these reports, nor has it been able, to date, to surface any evidence of more contemporary or active involvement by Owda with the PFLP organization,” Sharp remarked. He explained that Owda’s piece was reviewed by two successive panels of independent judges, including senior editorial leadership from each significant US broadcast news network.
Moreover, he added that the piece Owda submitted for award consideration corresponds to the competition rules and NATAS policies. “NATAS has found no grounds, to date, upon which to overturn the editorial judgment of the independent journalists who reviewed the material,” he concluded.
Al Jazeera also released a statement backing Owda against the efforts to silence her voice. The media group emphasized that the allegations made by CCFP were baseless. “The call for the Emmy nomination to be rescinded is nothing more than an attempt to deny an important perspective to the global audience on the war and its devastating impact on innocent civilians,” the statement said. On the other hand, Owda has not commented on the CCFP letter as she still continues reporting from Gaza by posting videos.
Following the Emmy Committee’s firm stance on Owda's short documentary in response to the CCFP's request for its cancellation, the feature remains in contention. The winners of the News & Documentary Emmy Awards will be announced by NATAS on September 25 for the news category and September 26 for the documentary category. While the ceremonies will be held in New York, a live stream will be available via the Emmys app or at watch.theemmys.tv.
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