Over 160 members of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, including some of the top names in Hollywood, wrote a letter to the organization’s CEO thanking him for upholding the Emmy nomination of an admitted member of a terrorist organization.
Bisan Owda was nominated for an Emmy by the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences in the News and Documentary category. However, though she presents herself as a “filmmaker” from Gaza, the Peabody Award-winning Owda is reportedly a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) a Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary socialist terrorist organization, and has been designated as such by countries including the US, Canada, European Union, and Japan.
Following the blowback from her nomination, over 160 members of the academy, including Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Ava DuVernay, Kal Penn, Annie Lennox, and Adam McKay, wrote a letter thanking NATAS CEO Adam Sharp for upholding her nomination.
The letter, obtained by journalist Eitan Fischberger, does not offer proof to refute the allegations. Owda herself admitted to being a member of the terrorist organization. Rather, the letter makes false claims about the conflict in the Israel-Hamas war, including that the conflict has “included more tons of bombs dropped than the total bombings of London, Hiroshima, and Dresden during World War 2.”
The letter also cites the unverifiable and questionable casualty numbers from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry as fact. Many of the artists who signed the letter have a history of anti-Israel comments.
The Hollywood elites wrote in the letter, “Hollywood has a long history of misrepresenting and criminalizing marginalized groups including Arabs, and silencing them in the telling of their own stories we are heartened by NATAS’ decision and by a growing community of colleagues who span all ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds that has come together in this most harrowing time to ensure the inclusion and amplification of these often suppressed voices.”
In 2015, Owda led a rally to celebrate the PFLP’s 48th anniversary dressed in the military garb of the terrorist group. During the event, young children were also dressed as terrorists at the festival, which was a celebration of violent terror. She has also reportedly participated in other PFLP-affiliated events.
Following the backlash to the nomination, Owan admitted that she was a member of the PFLP, stating that it is her in the video from 2015, that she did host an annual meeting of the PFLP, and still supports what she calls political activities against Israel’s occupation.
Owda creates content for Al Jazeera and received the Emmy nod for a story she did for the outlet’s streaming service AJ+. She is active on TikTok and YouTube and has a substantial following numbering in the millions. Her posts have previously been supported by many well-known antisemites, including race-hoaxer Shaun King.
Following the October 7 massacre of over 1,200 Israeli civilians and the kidnapping of over 250 more, Owda posted a note in Arabic on social media that said, “For every action, there is a reaction. This means: What was expected after 75 years of occupation and 17 years of siege? … What was expected of us? … Would the families of the prisoners remain silent?”
Owda helped spread the lie about the Al-Ahli Hospital, falsely claiming that an Israeli airstrike killed hundreds when in reality, a misfired rocket from Palestinian terrorists landed in the parking lot and the number of casualties has not been confirmed. Owda falsely claimed in a video, “800 people were killed in one airstrike in Gaza. The Israeli army was not willing to evacuate them, and they killed them inside the hospital.”
She also falsely claimed that humanitarian corridors set up by Israel for Palestinian citizens to evacuate “was a trap” and that Israel was killing civilians who fled to the south.
Owda is a member of the United Nations Women’s Youth Gender Innovation Agora Forum and an EU Goodwill Ambassador. Earlier this year, the US and other Western countries cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees organization after it was revealed that the organization was providing support, aid, and shelter to Palestinian terrorists.
The academy did not return a request for comment.