- The AP photo agency won the world’s oldest photojournalism award for its photograph of Shani Louk’s body on the morning of the October 7 attack.
- The agency has denied claims that its photographers collaborated with Hamas to obtain the winning photographs.
- Friends of the 22-year-old said she should be remembered as she was when she was alive.
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A prestigious university has been branded a “disgrace” after awarding the world’s oldest photojournalism prize for a photograph of a mutilated and murdered victim on October 7.
Shani Louk, 22, became a symbol of the brutal Hamas attack after the world saw the image of gunmen carrying her half-naked corpse back to Gaza in the back of a van.
That photo was the centerpiece of the presentation that earned the AP Photo Agency the Team Image Story of the Year category from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.
“RJI believes a gruesome image of Shani Louk’s half-naked corpse is award-winning work,” House Republican Leader Tom Emmer tweeted.
‘Disgusting.’
AP’s winning photo of Shani Louk’s lifeless body being transported back to Gaza by her killers.
Friends and family of the 22-year-old said she should be remembered as she was.
The German-Israeli attended the SuperNova Festival with her boyfriend Orion Radoux
The 22-year-old German-Israeli girl was among the 364 people killed at the SuperNova festival she was attending with her boyfriend.
Family photos of the young woman showed a happy, carefree spirit at the beginning of her adult life and friends of her family have said that is how she should be remembered.
“This is how we choose to remember the beautiful Shani Louk,” one wrote. “We will not allow her memory to be trampled by inhumane thugs celebrating the AP photo of her tragic murder.”
“I’m horrified,” wrote another. ‘This is a photo of terrorists displaying the corpse of a Jewish woman after having murdered her. What a shame.’
Louk’s family and other victims of the SuperNova killings sued the AP and the Reuters news agency in February, accusing them of colluding in the atrocities they documented.
They claim that the agency’s freelancers were “long-time Hamas affiliates and full participants in the terrorist attack,” which they knew was about to happen.
The lobbying group HonestReporting, which expressed concern about the coverage, posted its “congratulations” to the AP for winning the award.
“How does it feel to do it behind the backs of the Palestinian photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on October 7 and took photographs like the one below Shani Louk’s body in a Hamas van?” they demanded.
‘Did that bother RJI before giving the award?’
This sentiment was echoed by Israeli parliamentarian and diplomat Danny Danon, who tweeted: “This photo captures Hamas terrorists desecrating the body of Shani Louk, may his soul rest in peace.”
‘However, the AP news agency proudly received an award for it. “Their continued pride in the “work” of their photographers and their participation in atrocities is shameful.”
Senior politicians from around the world joined the chorus of protest against the award.
The young tattoo artist was among the 364 people murdered at the SuperNova Festival
The festival site in the Negev desert was just three miles from the Gaza border and was overrun within minutes of the attack on October 7.
Parts of Louk’s skull were later found near the entrance to the festival grounds.
According to Reporters Without Borders, more than two journalists have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the ground invasion of Gaza began, making the conflict one of the deadliest on record for journalists.
The photo of Louk taken by AP freelance journalist Ali Mahmud was the first of a group of 20 submitted by the agency for the contest.
Both AP and Reuters have denied any collusion with the attacks, with AP issuing a statement last month saying it had the “deepest sympathy for those affected” but insisting the allegations were “baseless.”
“The AP had no prior knowledge of the October 7 attacks, nor have we seen any evidence – not even in the lawsuit – that the independent journalists who contributed to our coverage did,” they wrote.
‘Allegations like this are reckless and create an even greater potential danger for journalists in the region.
‘Documenting breaking news around the world, no matter how horrible, is our job.
“Without AP and other news organizations, the world would not have known what was happening on October 7.”