A disturbing photo of Hamas terrorists carrying a slain woman's near-naked corpse through the streets of Gaza on the day Hamas attacked Israel has won a coveted photo-of-the-year award, sparking outrage from hundreds of people who blasted the prestigious win as "an outrageous desecration of Jewish life."
The sickening photo of Shani Louk's body was part of a set of 20 photos that contributed to the Associated Press winning first prize in a category at the Pictures of the Year International awards earlier this month. The awards, organized by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism, proudly claim to be the world's oldest photojournalism competition.
In Bad Taste
The announcement of AP's win in the "Team Picture Story of the Year" category sparked massive backlash on social media, with many criticizing the award and the inclusion of Louk's image as a disrespectful portrayal of Jewish life, the New York Post reported.
"This is the value of Israeli women to you?" wrote one infuriated social media user.
"I am DISGUSTED, SHOCKED and ENRAGED that this @AP image of a murdered Shani Louk from October 7th was given picture of the year," one social media user posted on X.
"This is just wrong and sick," another user raged.
German-Israeli tattoo artist Louk, 23, was one of the many innocent music festival attendees kidnapped by Hamas terrorists after their murderous attack on October 7.
She swiftly gained prominence as one of the symbols of the conflict when shocking images of her slain body being paraded on the back of a pickup truck began circulating widely on the internet.
Israeli authorities subsequently confirmed the tragic news that the young woman had been ruthlessly beheaded by her captors.
Shock after Shock
The AP's win was announced, accompanied by the publication of an unaltered photo showing Louk's slain body on the award organizer's Instagram account. However, the image seems to have been removed in the wake of the backlash.
As social media users increasingly expressed their outrage over the AP's award win, some contended that the competition was disrespecting Louk's memory by resurfacing the photograph.
"The family of Oct 7 victim Shani Louk want her to be remembered alive & smiling. One of the world's biggest photojournalism prizes, ran by @RJI, trampled on their wishes, awarding an @AP photo of her mutilated body," one user wrote on X.
"This is how we choose to remember the beautiful Shani Louk. We will not allow her memory to be trampled by the inhuman thugs celebrating the AP photo of her tragic murder," fumed another user.
Many also attacked freelance photojournalist Ali Mahmud, saying he wasn't deserving of celebration in the wake of such a catastrophe.
The AP was sued this month by several Israeli Americans and American survivors of Operation Nova for employing independent photojournalists who were allegedly "longstanding Hamas affiliates and full participants in the terrorist attack."
The federal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida mentions that they are suing for damages under the Antiterrorism Act.
"He is being celebrated for taking this photo of murder-rapist-terrorists with the brutalized and contorted body of Shani Louk," one X user noted.
