A Photo of a Woman Killed by Hamas Won an Award and My Phone Keeps Auto-Correcting “Jewish” to the Cry-Laughing Emoji Trying to End It All
And other strange antisemitic coincidences.
[Might be NSFW]
To receive an award – whether as an artist, an actor, or Ostrich Farm’s Best Dog Food Innovator – is a culmination of passion and a triumph against the headwinds of self-doubt. We celebrate the recipient's work inasmuch as the recipient, and the honor speaks to our collective values.
This year, first place for Team Picture Story of the Year went to an Associated Press journalist whose photograph shows Hamas terrorists abducting the half-naked corpse of an Israeli woman. Shani Louk, who was unnamed in the Reynolds Journalism Institute’s renowned contest, was slain in Hamas’ Oct 7th onslaught. That her harrowing fate drew accolades has been characterized by Jewish groups as dehumanizing, likely because, well, no fucking shit.
But a perfunctory conscience and a cursory glance are needed to understand the outrage spurred by the Picture of the Year contest. Even if bestowing prestige for barbaric depictions does not directly celebrate their misdeeds, an award earned from a lifeless body should not be celebrated.
Critics will claim that the image is historically significant because it captures a horror necessitating documentation. They will point to iconic Pullitzer-winning photographs – perhaps of Vietnam’s “Napalm Girl” or the shooting of civil rights activist James Meredith – that capture tragedy in medias res for journalistic preservation. Which is fair, but why does the winner get $1,000 and a “Tiffany crystal trophy?”
Unfortunately, the caption introducing Shani’s battered remains lacks any historically informing context. It refers to Hamas in dulled milquetoast language that disingenuously attempts impartiality: as “militants” and “fighters” instead of terrorists. Though referencing “over 1,200 Israelis [who] were killed,” the description doesn’t mention how Hamas deliberately and overwhelmingly targeted civilians, including Shani.
An award that half-assedly tries to address tragedy neither documents history nor commemorates victims. Citing symbolism to justify the winning photo’s distinction-worthy qualities relies on an intellectualization that values a Jew’s life less than a larger story, one not important enough to apparently tell. And that tale – specifically, the circumstances uniting Shani, her captors, and the newly decorated journalist – is complex.
Hamas live-streamed their October 7th rampage and immediately disseminated the recordings in a campaign of psychological warfare against Israel. The photograph of Shani appeared within this context, and ongoing investigations have revealed ties to Hamas among some Associated Press freelancers. Currently, no concrete evidence suggests that AP journalists previously knew about the attack or coordinated with Hamas. Their work is nevertheless used as propaganda, deliberately or otherwise.
Based on the precedent set by the POY contest, any bodycam-wearing Hamas "militant" who proudly recorded his depravity (do Millennials ever put down their phones?) could have won Best Camera Operator for a Massacre in the Style of The Blair Witch Project. If only we could learn to separate ‘art from artist,’ like Al Jazeera.
Shani Louk deserves to be remembered with respect, not as a fatally desecrated hostage paraded about as a trophy. That her murder has itself transformed into a self-congratulatory trophy elicits rage. One would expect anger from conspicuously silent feminist groups; and yet advocating for the dignity of Jews, alive and deceased, is an uphill battle on a losing front.
October 7th was a successful exercise in devaluing Jewish life. As images of unimaginably evil acts spread across social media, retellings passed through layers of editorialization. Amplified by algorithms rigorously engineered to racist dispositions, narratives emerged sterilized of atrocity. Like the curious surmise of scientists indifferently dissecting a rat, pro-Palestinian academics and advocates ascribed rationalizations that held Israel responsible for Hamas’ senseless carnage. Where should have been visceral nausea, solidarity with Jews and Israelis, was rationalization – at best – and justification.
To call those voices modest is a disservice to a collapsing sense of security felt in the Jewish world, where friends, mentors, and allies have been lost to antisemitism. From these experiences, a chilling sentiment pervades that many whom we’ve advocated for and alongside will not return the favor.
Antisemitism subliminally casts, and society subconsciously perceives Jews as either in power or powerless – as victims or victimizers. October 7th and the ensuing war provide ample ground for each. The subjects of the previously mentioned Pulitzer Prize photographs walked away from their infamous depictions and defined other legacies. Shani cannot.
Those living are beholden to memorializing the deceased and preserving their dignity. If it’s unrealistic to hope that for the crime of existing, Jews can be spared from death, maybe in death, we can eventually be afforded humanity.
So, you know, with a less flashy trophy.