Palestinian journalist Bisan Odeh wins Emmy for “I Am Bisan from Gaza”
Palestinian journalist Bisan Odeh’s report “I am Bisan from Gaza and I am still alive” won the Emmy for News and Documentary on Wednesday, despite occupation supporters’ efforts to rescind her candidacy.
AJ+’s report won Best Short Story at the 45th annual Emmy Awards, held over two days by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Pro-occupation groups were outraged when they learned in late July that Odeh’s piece had won the Best Short Story award. In August, they transformed this into a letter urging the organizers of the awards event to cancel journalist Bisan Odeh’s candidacy.
The Creative Community for Peace, a nonprofit entertainment industry organization fighting anti-Semitism and boycotts of Israel, wrote the open letter to bar Odeh from the awards, citing her ties to the US-designated terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The letter, signed by over 150 producers and artists, including pro-occupation stars Selma Blair and Debra Messing, stated: “Nominating someone with clear ties to the PFLP not only legitimizes a terrorist organization, it undermines the integrity of the awards.” The signatories said Bisan Odeh “promotes dangerous lies, spreads anti-Semitism, and condones violence.”
The appeal led Adam Sharp, head of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, to remark that two committees of experienced journalists picked the nominations, and that the academy had no information that Odeh was still active in the PFLP.
After the announcement, the Creative Community for Peace criticized the jury’s selection of Palestinian journalist Odeh.
The group said that “the Academy’s decision to honor Odeh effectively celebrates the propaganda of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and condones terrorism.” Ari Engel, its executive director, said “there is a huge blind spot within the journalistic community.” “I am Bisan from Gaza, and I am still alive,” accompanied the journalist and her family to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City following their house’s strike.
Other reporting on the Israeli extermination campaign in Gaza made the Emmy shortlist. ABC and National Geographic received five honors apiece, followed by The New Yorker and CBS with three each. CNN won eleven trophies.
