Granting the Pulitzer prize to Gaza poet Mosab Abu Toha contradicts the journalistic values of truth, democracy, and human dignity, which the prize claims to uphold, released hostage Emily Damari wrote in a post on Instagram on Thursday.
“By awarding a prize to someone who denies the truth and degrades the memory of the murdered, you acted in direct contradiction to those values,” Damari, who was released in January after 471 days in Gaza captivity, wrote.
On Wednesday, HonestReporting revealed that Abu Toha, who was awarded the prize earlier this week for essays about the situation in Gaza, disputed whether the Bibas family was murdered by their captors and argued that Israeli hostages should not be called hostages.
On January 24, 2025, Abu Toha posted a picture of the then-hostage Damari, writing, “How on earth is this girl called a hostage?”
“This soldier who was close to the border with a city that she and her country have been occupying is called a ‘hostage?'” he wrote.
Damari queried, “Can you imagine the pain and shock I felt when I learned that you awarded the Pulitzer Prize to Mosab Abu Toameh?”
“This is a man who, last January, denied the very fact that I was held captive. He posted on Facebook, asking, ‘How is it possible that this girl is called a captive?’ He denied the murder of the Bivis family, cast doubt on whether Agam Berger was a captive, and downplayed the horrors that took place. This is not about word games — this is a blatant denial of documented crimes.
“I suffered from hunger, abuse, and humiliation. I witnessed the suffering of my fellow captives, saw hope slowly fade away. And even today, after returning home, I carry that darkness with me,” she wrote, detailing her experience in captivity.
‘You have failed in it’
“Do you understand the implications of your actions? Mosab Abu Toameh is not a brave writer — he is the equivalent of a Holocaust denier in our era. By honoring him with this prize, you have joined the ranks of those who deny the truth.
“This is not a political issue. This is a question of humanity. And today, sadly, you have failed in it,” Damari wrote.
Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.
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