An image of the naked and mutilated body of a young woman being wheeled by Hamas terrorists in a car trailer has won a top photo award, with the gesture sparking anger and outrage.
The disturbing picture shows the half-naked body of Shani Louk, a 22-year-old dual citizen of Germany and Israel, as it is carried in the back of a van on Saturday, October 7, 2023, the day of the bloody attacks by Hamas in Israel .
Photographer Ali Mahmoud captured the horrifying moment, and now the image has won a prestigious “photo of the year” trophy at the gala organized by the Donald W. Reynolds Institute of Journalism, which would hold the world’s oldest photojournalism competition, according to the New York Post.
The category recognizes “the collaborative effort of photographers documenting a single subject or news story.” The photo is one of 20 images captured by Associated Press (AP) contributors during the war between Israel and Hamas.
The gruesome image of 22-year-old Shani’s corpse was the first photo in the selection and was captioned: “Palestinian militants return to the Gaza Strip with the body of German-Israeli national Shani Louk during border attacks on Israel, Saturday, October 7, 2023.”
In the selection there are photos of Israelis, but also Palestinians affected by the war. They were posted on Instagram for promotion, and the decision was heavily criticized by several people who claimed that the photographer and the agency tarnished Shani’s memory and caused even more pain to the family, reports the Jewish Chronicle.
“I am terrified. This is a picture of terrorists parading a dead body of a woman after killing her. Shame on you” one woman said. While another person wrote: “So the reporter who stood there while Shani was raped and killed and took pictures of her is being rewarded?”
Shani Louk, 22, was abducted and killed by Hamas during the October 7 attack.
The German-born young woman was attending the Supernova festival in southern Israel when the attack by Hamas militants took place. Hundreds of people were killed and Hamas fighters kidnapped other people and took them to the Gaza Strip.
Shocking images of Shani Louk’s body in the back of a van full of Hamas fighters in the streets of Gaza have surfaced on the internet, and it was initially assumed that the young woman was dead. The face was not visible, but the family recognized the body by hair and tattoos. The young woman was naked, wearing only her underwear, and was sitting with her legs bent at unnatural angles. One man grabbed her hair while another spat on her.
Publisher: DC
Tags: Anger outrage photo Hamas terrorists parading naked mutilated body Shani Louk awarded
