Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda wins Emmy Award despite calls to have her nomination rescinded

Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda has won an Emmy award for her 'I’m Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive' project, which documents her life under Israel's brutal military onslaught in the territory. The project - carried out in collaboration with AJ+ - won the prize for Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form during the 45th Annual News & Documentary Emmys. The Palestinian journalist's win comes days after the Television Academy rejected a campaign by pro-Israel personalities requesting that Owda’s nomination gets rescinded over bogus claims that she had ties to "a terrorist organisation". Owda rose to social media fame following the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 41,495 Palestinians since October 7. She currently boasts over four million followers on Instagram, as well as a sizeable following on X and TikTok. The journalist, who is in her twenties, has shared semi-regular videos on social media since the start of the war, in which she usually begins with a variation of the phrase "I’m still alive", and has reported on numerous atrocities carried out by Israel, including the complete blockade on food and other necessities, the spread of diseases and the forced displacement of Palestinians. The Palestinian journalist herself has been the victim of displacement several times, after her home in Rimal in Gaza City was bombed and destroyed by Israeli forces, including her filming equipment. Owda has also witnessed and reported on Israel's Al-Shifa ambulance strike in November, the Flour Massacre of February 2024, and displacement to Khan Younis.