A sickening image of Hamas terrorists parading a slain woman’s nearly naked body through the streets of Gaza has been awarded a prestigious photo-of-the-year prize — sparking fierce outrage from those who slammed the win as “an outrageous desecration of Jewish life.”
The grim photo featuring Shani Louk’s body was among a collection of 20 images that helped the Associated Press secure first place in one of the Pictures of the Year International award categories earlier this month.
The awards, which are run by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism, are self-described as the world’s oldest photojournalism competition.
News of the AP’s win in the “Team Picture Story of the Year” category prompted widespread backlash on social media, with some slamming the accolade and the use of Louk’s image as an “outrageous desecration of Jewish life.”
“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 the value of Israeli women to you?”
“This is just wrong and sick,” another user raged of the award.
Louk, a 23-year-old German Israeli tattoo artist, was among the scores of innocent music festival-goers taken hostage when Hamas terrorists carried out their deadly Oct. 7 onslaught.
She quickly became one of the faces of the war after the shocking images of her lifeless body in the back of a pickup truck started going viral.
Israeli authorities later confirmed the young woman had been beheaded by her captors.
In announcing the AP’s win, the award organizers posted the unblurred image of Louk’s lifeless body on its Instagram page.
The photo, though, appears to have been deleted in the wake of the backlash.
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As the outrage over the AP’s award win mounted on social media, some users argued that the competition was dishonoring Louk’s memory by dredging up the photo.
“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.
Another tweeted: “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.”
Meanwhile, many took aim at Ali Mahmud, the freelance photojournalist who snapped the image, arguing he shouldn’t be celebrated over such a tragedy.
Several Israeli American and American Nova survivors sued the AP last month for using freelance photojournalists believed to be “longstanding Hamas affiliates and full participants in the terrorist attack.”
They are suing for damages under the Antiterrorism Act, according to the federal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida.
“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.
Pictures of the Year International organizers didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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Wow an award for being a terrorist.
I do not see it that way. This award is for news photography, not art , not entertainment.
What was done to that woman is horrible and we should ALL become aware of the brutality of the act. Humans are brutal and cruel to each others, any intent to “sanitize” this by not showing the extent of the brutality is actually dishonoring the memory of the victim.
Anybody that have been in combat is aware of the horrors of it. Anybody that have seen the aftermath of a shooting spree is also aware. The press limitations and our prude sensitivities to not show the horror of the mangled and destroyed flesh in full color and crudeness do a disservice to history and to the victim’s memory and allow the public to remain clueless about the reality of our lives.
Ok moron try some new glasses and buy some marbles for your demented mind
I wonder if the photojournalist was in agreement with the savages carrying the body around? Maybe that’s why he took the picture. Ali?