Photo of slain, mostly naked Jewish woman Hamas paraded in truck on Oct. 7 part of prize-winning images — and outrage erupts

Outrage has erupted after the photo of a mostly naked, slain Jewish woman Hamas paraded in a truck amid the Oct. 7 terror attacks against Israel was included in a group of images that won a prestigious photography award.

The victim was Shani Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli tattoo artist, and the Associated Press photo of Louk's body in the back of a truck surrounded by armed militants was the first image in a group of AP photos titled "Israel Hamas War" that won first place in Pictures of the Year International's Team Picture Story of the Year category.

While the image in question was still available to view on the POY site Friday, it was not on the POY's Instagram page Friday, which is displaying dozens of winning images.

But that Instagram image seems to have been captured before it apparently was deleted. The X post below shows a redacted version of it:

"This premiere category recognizes the collaborative effort of a photography staff covering a single topic or news story," the Team Picture Story of the Year category description reads. "It is a narrative picture story that consists of images taken as part of a team effort to cover a single issue or news story."

Here's the caption of Ali Mahmud's AP photo; Louk is mentioned in the last sentence:

"The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday. Israel's retaliation after Gaza's militant Hamas rulers launched the unprecedented attack on Israel killing over 1,200 Israelis and taking captive dozens, has been fierce for Gaza and it’s [sic] people. Heavy Israeli airstrikes on the enclave has killed thousands of Palestinians. Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023."

The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism runs the POY awards, self-described as the world’s oldest photojournalism competition, the New York Post reported.

How are people reacting?

As you might guess, a number of observers are outraged that the photo won an award:

What did POY have to say?

The Post reported that Pictures of the Year International officials said the selection of photos in question expressed “the greater emotions related to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza.”

“This year and every year, the photos in the competition are selected by a panel of professional journalists tasked with identifying compelling representations of the significant news events of the year,” POY director Lynden Steele said in a statement, the paper said. “While we understand the reactions to the pictures, we also believe that photojournalism plays an important role in bringing attention to the harsh realities of war."

Anything else?

Fox News noted a Jewish Chronicle report saying, "In February, the families of Louk and other Nova massacre victims sued AP and Reuters for what they alleged to be the involvement of photojournalists employed by those agencies in the atrocities of October 7."

But the AP released a statement Feb. 22 responding to the lawsuit from the National Jewish Advocacy Center, defending its coverage of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, Fox News reported.

"AP had no advance knowledge of the October 7 attacks, nor have we seen any evidence — including in the lawsuit — that the freelance journalists who contributed to our coverage did," AP's vice president of corporate communication, Lauren Easton, wrote in a statement, according to the cable network. "Allegations like this are reckless and create even more potential danger for journalists in the region."

Fox News added that the statement continued, "Documenting breaking news events around the world — no matter how horrific — is our job. Without AP and other news organizations, the world would not have known what was happening on October 7."

Hamas Hostage Shani Louk Confirmed Dead After Festival Kidnapping, Skull Pieces ID'd: Israeli Gov'twww.youtube.com

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