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Bisan Owda

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Bisan Owda
بيسان عودة
Born1997 or 1998 (age 25–26)[1]
Occupation(s)Journalist, filmmaker
Known forDocumenting the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip on social media
AwardsPeabody Award, Edward R. Murrow Award

Bisan Owda (Arabic: بيسان عودة; born 1997 or 1998) is a Palestinian journalist, activist, and filmmaker.[1] She is best known for her social media videos documenting her experiences during the Israel–Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.[2] She won a 2024 Peabody Award in the News category and an Edward R. Murrow Award for News Series for her Al Jazeera Media Network show, It's Bisan from Gaza and I'm Still Alive. The show is also nominated for the 2024 News and Documentary Emmy Awards for Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form.

Early life and Career

Owda grew up in Beit Hanoun.[3] She was interested in storytelling from a young age, as well as reading, basketball, and astronomy.[4]

Owda has worked with several organizations on various issues. As a member of UN Women's Youth Gender Innovation Agora Forum, she has worked on gender equality.[5] She has worked with the European Union on climate change[1] and is an EU Goodwill Ambassador.[4] Owda also works for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).[6][7]

Owda produces a show, Hakawatia, which is about Palestinian history and culture; it is aired by Roya TV.[5][4] She also presented educational Palestinian Arabic videos for the YouTube channel Easy Languages.[8]

During a May 2021 escalation in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Owda shared videos on Instagram with the goal of drawing international attention to conditions in Gaza.[9]

Israel–Hamas war (2023- )

During the Israel–Hamas war, which began in October 2023, Owda garnered attention for her semi-regular video and livestream updates on social media documenting Palestinian civilians' experiences. She became known for opening her videos with some variation of the phrase, "I'm still alive".[10] Her videos are mostly in English, though some are in Arabic.[11] Her work has been shared by BBC News, Al Jazeera, ABC News,[7] and Save the Children.[12] In her videos, she has reported on Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) attacks as well as the lack of food, shelter, medical care, and other resources.[10][3][13][14][15] By May 2024, Owda had accumulated 4.1 million followers.[13]

Reporting and activism

After the IDF told Gaza residents to evacuate from the North of Gaza in October 2023, Owda and her parents relocated from Beit Hanoun to Al-Shifa Hospital.[3] Her family's home and her office in Rimal were both bombed, destroying all of Owda's filming equipment.[3] As a result, Owda uses her phone to record video.[7] From Al-Shifa Hospital, Owda reported on the spread of illness among the 50,000 displaced people who lacked adequate shelter, water, and sanitation.[3]

On November 3, Owda witnessed the Al-Shifa ambulance airstrike.[16] Owda documented the "increasingly critical situation" on social media, reporting a lack of food and water, destruction of solar panels, and bombings.[14] She was displaced from Al-Shifa Hospital after it was sieged by the IDF in mid-November and reported that injured people were dying due to the lack of medical care.[15] She posted videos of her journey walking south to Khan Yunis in which she described dead bodies on the side of the road and interviewed other refugees.[2]

In early December, Owda posted: "I no longer have any hope of survival like I had at the beginning of this genocide". She also wrote about dealing with nightmares and illness. Her statement was cited in several news articles which referenced the killing of journalists in the Israel–Hamas war.[17][18][10] Later that month, Owda posted that she had to cut her hair because she did not have adequate water or supplies to care for it.[17][19] She also reported on the lack of bathrooms and menstrual pads in the Khan Yunis refugee camp.[20][21]

In a viral Instagram post, Owda joined others in calling for a global strike on December 11 in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. She asked her followers to "boycott everything". The strike was observed by people from multiple countries, including the United States, Lebanon, and the UK. Participants attended protests, closed businesses, and refrained from spending money.[22][23][24]

In February 2024, Owda reported on the Flour Massacre. She stated that Palestinians in Gaza were experiencing "forced starvation" and that the IDF had killed them while they were running towards aid trucks.[25]

In April, Owda was one of more than 24 Palestinian journalists who signed a letter calling for other journalists to boycott the White House Correspondents Dinner in protest of the killing of Palestinian journalists and the Israeli blockade of aid to Gaza. Other signatories included Said Arikat, Mariam Barghouti, and Mohammed El Kurd.[26][27][28] Later that month, she praised the pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, saying that they gave her hope.[29][30]

Recognition

Along with other Palestinian journalists, Owda has been credited with humanizing Gaza for an international audience. She has been said to be "providing a human lens",[13] "putting a face to the conflict",[17] and putting "a human face on the realities of daily life in Gaza".[31] Her social media followers have expressed concern for her safety.[17][2][32] An essay in the Los Angeles Review of Books stated that Owda and other Palestinian journalists reporting from Gaza "charge their viewers with complicity and regularly demand that we act".[33]

By early 2024, Owda had been depicted in two murals, one in Edinburgh and one in London.[34][35]

In May 2024, Owda won a Peabody Award in the News category for her Al Jazeera Media Network show, It's Bisan from Gaza and I'm Still Alive.[36] In a statement, the Peabody board of jurors wrote: "Reporting from her makeshift tent outside the medical center, she shows what survival looks like for her and the masses around her".[31] The award was presented by Mo Amer, and Owda attended the ceremony via video.[37] In her acceptance speech, Owda dedicated her award to people protesting in support of Palestine and called for: "an end to the genocide, a ceasefire, and a free Palestine".[31]

Emmy nomination and petition to rescind

In July 2024, It's Bisan from Gaza and I'm Still Alive was nominated for the 45th News and Documentary Emmy Awards for Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form.[38] Pro-Israel nonprofit Creative Community for Peace called for the nomination to be rescinded, alleging Owda was a member of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the United States designated as a terrorist organization, and publishing a open letter signed by 150 people involved in the entertainment industry, such as Haim Seban, Selma Blair and Debra Messing.[39][40] The president of National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Adam Sharp, announced Owda's nomination would not be rescinded, writing that "NATAS has been unable to corroborate these reports" of Owda’s alleged involvement and "found no grounds, to date, upon which to overturn the editorial judgment of the independent journalists who reviewed the material."[39][40] Al Jazeera released a statement defending Owda in response to what it called "efforts to silence her reporting from Gaza", saying that Owda's work had "significantly contributed to bringing news from Gaza to the world with her unique style" and calling the allegations against her "baseless".[41] The network also said that this effort "present[ed] a real threat to her safety on the ground", noting that "160 journalists, including three from Al Jazeera, have been killed by Israeli forces" since the start of the war.[42] The national deputy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations called the petition's signatories "hypocritical", saying that the scrutiny applied to Palestinians would not be applied to an Israeli who had been photographed with Benjamin Netanyahu.[43][44]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2024 Peabody Awards News It's Bisan from Gaza and I'm Still Alive Won [36]
Edward R. Murrow Award News Series — Large Digital Organization Won [45][46][47]
News and Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form Pending [38]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Jon, Donnison (15 October 2023). "One week in Gaza: 'There are no safe places here'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Saab, Sheren Falah (29 November 2023). "'This Is Bisan. I'm Still Alive': The Gazans Reporting From the Ground on Social Media". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Paccalin, Claire (24 October 2023). "'Not sure I'm lucky to be alive': Gazans fear worse is to come as public health 'catastrophe' looms". France 24. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Bisan Owda". EU Neighbours. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  5. ^ a b "In the Words of Bisan Owda "Content Creation is an Effective Tool to Advance Gender Equality in Palestine"". UN Women – Palestine Country Office. 28 August 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  6. ^ Blanco, Patricia R. (3 November 2023). "Pregnant women in Gaza in dire straits with no food, water or anesthesia for Cesareans". EL PAÍS English. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "Gaza's remaining young voices after Motaz Azaiza and Plestia Alaqad: Who is Bisan Owda, Hind Khoudary, and Doaa Albaz?". The New Arab. 15 February 2024.
  8. ^ Easy Languages (16 September 2022). "Which Country Do Palestinians Like the Most? – Easy Palestinian Arabic 3". Retrieved 1 February 2024 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "'Are you still alive? Is there bombing around you?': These are the questions asked inside Gaza". ABC News. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  10. ^ a b c "Gaza journalists Motaz Azaiza, Bisan decry world apathy towards Israel's onslaught". The New Arab. 3 December 2023.
  11. ^ Arafat, Zaina (20 November 2023). "Witnessing Gaza Through My Instagram Feed". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  12. ^ "This Ramadan in Gaza, There Will be No Dates to Break the Fast". Save the Children. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  13. ^ a b c Malik, Asmaa; Fatah, Sonya (30 January 2024). "Attacks on Press Freedoms Have Chilling Effects Far beyond Gaza". The Walrus. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  14. ^ a b Rémy, Jean-Philippe; Zerrouky, Madjid (6 November 2023). "Israeli army intensifies strikes on Gaza, plunging civilians into horror and hunger". Le Monde.fr. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  15. ^ a b Price, Mikayla (11 November 2023). "Palestinian journalists forced to flee to southern Gaza, can't report on events in north". CBS News.
  16. ^ "Red Crescent says 15 killed in strike on Gaza ambulance outside Al-Shifa hospital". BBC News. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d Kaur, Harmeet (19 January 2024). "Violence in Gaza turned these everyday Palestinians into chroniclers of war". CNN. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Some of the last remaining journalists in Gaza say they're losing hope of staying alive". SBS News. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  19. ^ Zbeedat, Nagham (7 March 2024). "This Women's Day, Palestinian Women in Gaza Are Making Period Products Out of Tents". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024.
  20. ^ Batrawy, Aya; Bashir, Abu Bakr (11 January 2024). "Another layer of misery: Women in Gaza struggle to find menstrual pads, running water". NPR.
  21. ^ Abdulrahim, Raja (24 February 2024). "Sanitation Crisis in Gaza Spreads Disease". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  22. ^ "What is the global strike demanding ceasefire in Gaza?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  23. ^ Gordon, Anna (11 December 2023). "Global Strike Begins for a Gaza Ceasefire". TIME. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  24. ^ Elassar, Alaa (13 December 2023). "US businesses and consumers participate in global strike to demand a ceasefire in Gaza | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  25. ^ Crimmins, Tricia (29 February 2024). "'Flour Massacre': IDF attack on Palestinians at aid trucks draws outrage, condemnation". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  26. ^ Feinberg, Andrew (17 April 2024). "Palestinian journalists urge colleagues to boycott White House Correspondents' Dinner". The Independent.
  27. ^ "Palestinian journalists call on US press to boycott White House correspondents' dinner". Middle East Eye. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  28. ^ Ramirez, Nikki McCann; Legaspi, Althea (28 April 2024). "'Blood on Their Hands': Protesters Call for White House Correspondents' Dinner Boycott". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  29. ^ Yazbek, Hiba (1 May 2024). "Some Gazans Say U.S. Campus Protests Give Them 'Hope'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  30. ^ Zbeedat, Nagham (1 May 2024). "'A Voice Louder Than Their Bombs': For Gazans, U.S. Campus Protests Are Cause for Hope". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024.
  31. ^ a b c "Bisan Owda and AJ+ win Peabody Award for Gaza war coverage". Al Jazeera. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  32. ^ Arafat, Zaina (20 November 2023). "Witnessing Gaza Through My Instagram Feed". Intelligencer. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  33. ^ Frieden, Tal (20 May 2024). "The Ongoing Present: On Teresa Aranguren and Sandra Barrilaro's "Against Erasure"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  34. ^ Jackson, Lucy (29 January 2024). "'Your support gives us hope': Palestinian journalist on the reality of Israel war". The National. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  35. ^ Mehdi, Zainab (16 February 2024). "Brushstrokes of hope: Mural project in London iconifies the hero journalists of Gaza". The New Arab.
  36. ^ a b Pedersen, Erik (9 May 2024). "Peabody Award Winners Include 'The Bear', 'Last Of Us', 'Reservation Dogs' & 'Bluey'; Special Honor For 'Star Trek' Franchise". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  37. ^ Jones, Marcus (12 June 2024). "Most Awards Shows Dodge Real-World Issues — Not This One". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  38. ^ a b Hilary, Lewis (25 July 2024). "2024 News & Documentary Emmy Awards Nominations Revealed". The Hollywood Reporter.
  39. ^ a b Rice, Lynette (20 August 2024). "NATAS Responds To Request To Rescind Emmy Nom For Palestinian Journo Behind Doc "It's Bisan From Gaza And I'm Still Alive"". Deadline. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  40. ^ a b Tracy, Marc (20 August 2024). "News Emmys Defend Nomination of Palestinian Journalist". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  41. ^ "Group behind Emmys defends nomination of Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda". Al Jazeera. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  42. ^ "Al Jazeera stands with Bisan Owda in the face of efforts to silence her reporting from Gaza". Al Jazeera Media Network. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  43. ^ "News Emmys stand by nomination of Palestinian journalist's documentary". CBC. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  44. ^ "Palestinian film-makers sign letter protesting at Hollywood's 'inhumanity and racism'". The Guardian.
  45. ^ "Al Jazeera Digital wins top Edward R Murrow Awards for Gaza war coverage". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  46. ^ "2024 Edward R. Murrow Awards — National Winners". Radio Television Digital News Association. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  47. ^ "2024 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners - Radio Television Digital News Association". www.rtdna.org. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
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