New Delhi: The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), a “global organisation built to serve the holistic needs of women and nonbinary journalists”, has rescinded the 2024 Courage in Journalism Award it had given to Palestinian journalist Maha Hussaini.
Hussaini was given the award for reporting from the Gaza strip, where Israeli forces have launched an unceasing, devastating attack since October 7 last year, after a Hamas attack.
On June 10, the IWMF announced that Hussaini was one of three recipients of its Courage in Journalism Awards, which it says honours remarkable bravery in the pursuit of reporting. According to Middle East Eye, where Hussaini is a contributing writer, “Among Hussaini’s stories that were recognised by the IWMF is a report on the reality of women giving birth at home in Gaza and another featuring a girl who had to carry her paralysed six-year-old brother for miles while fleeing bombing.”
Right-wing groups and publications in the US protested the IWMF’s decision, declaring Hussaini a “Hamas sympathiser” and “anti-Semite”, citing old tweets in which she had documented her experiences of living under Israeli occupation and supported resistance to the occupation.
On June 19, the IWMF issued a statement saying, “Within the last 24 hours, the IWMF learned of comments made by Maha Hussaini in past years that contradict the values of our organization. As a result, we have rescinded the Courage in Journalism Award that was previously given to her. Both the Courage Awards and the IWMF’s mission are based on integrity and opposition to intolerance. We do not, and will not, condone or support views or statements that do not adhere to those principles.”
Hussaini issued a statement on X, saying, “Winning a prize for “courage” means being subjected to attacks and choosing to continue your work regardless. However, I regret to say that the very organization that recognized these perilous conditions and awarded me the prize succumbed to pressure and chose to act contrary to courage; they rescinded the award in a decision that would put my life at risk.”
“In fact, I’m very glad that both my winning the award and its withdrawal have starkly demonstrated the systematic physical and moral attacks Palestinian journalists endure throughout their careers. These threats and character assassinations aim only to silence us and perpetuate the longstanding bias in global media. I have never worked to receive awards, nor have I ever submitted an application to nominate myself. I didn’t choose journalism as a profession; I became a journalist after recognizing the extent to which the world overlooks Palestinians’ suffering and opts to conform to Israeli pressures.
“However, each announcement of an award to a Palestinian journalist is systematically followed by extensive smearing campaigns and intense pressure on the awarding organizations from supporters of the Israeli occupation and the Zionist lobby. While some organizations uphold their principles and maintain their decision to honor these journalists, others, regrettably, cave to the pressure and withdraw the prizes.
“Instead of recognizing the threats they face and contributing to their protection, a decision to withdraw a prize from a Palestinian journalist in Gaza—where over 150 journalists have been killed by the ongoing Israeli genocide—can further endanger them and increase their risk of targeting.
“I have no regrets about any posts or reasons that led to the rescinding of this award, and I will not stop expressing my views. Before being a journalist, I am a Palestinian living under military occupation, a strangling blockade, and genocide in Gaza.”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 108 Palestinian journalists have been killed since October 7. “Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and extensive power outages. This has meant that it is becoming increasingly hard to document the situation, and CPJ is investigating almost 350 additional cases of potential killings, arrests and injuries,” CPJ said.
David Hearst, editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye, spoke out against the IWMF’s decision. “The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) did not show much courage in rescinding the Courage in Journalism award to Maha Hussaini. On the front line of a war, such a designation is much more than an attempt to destroy Maha’s standing as an independent journalist,” he said.
“As a Palestinian whose house has been bombed and has been forced to flee for her life many times in the last eight months, it places her on an Israeli army target list. Over 150 journalists have been killed in this way. The IWMF should ask themselves where their responsibility as journalists lies.”
