We go to Gaza to speak with Palestinian journalist Maha Hussaini after the International Women’s Media Foundation came under fire for rescinding its Courage in Journalism Award to her following a smear campaign. Hussaini is an award-winning journalist and human rights advocate who has extensively documented Israel’s war on Gaza since October, including reporting on the mass displacement of Palestinians while being repeatedly displaced herself. “This is not the first time, by the way, that I have been subjected to such smear campaigns,” says Hussaini, who recounts a career spent defending her work against attacks and intimidations from Israel and its supporters. Hussaini speaks to us from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and reports on dire conditions there. “The war waged on the Gaza Strip is not a war against particular armed factions, but against the entire population of 2.3 million residents,” Hussaini says.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

The International Women’s Media Foundation is under fire for rescinding its Courage in Journalism Award to the Gaza-based Palestinian journalist Maha Hussaini following a smear campaign led by the conservative website Washington Free Beacon and false accusations against Hussaini of antisemitism.

Maha Hussaini is an award-winning journalist, human rights advocate, who has worked for several outlets, including the Middle East Eye. One of her pieces published earlier this year uncovered Israeli field executions of Palestinians in Gaza City. She’s also extensively reported on the mass displacement of Palestinians across Gaza since October, including herself, and the agonizing conditions faced by Palestinian mothers struggling to feed their babies as Israel is accused of using starvation as a weapon of war. Maha Hussaini herself has been repeatedly displaced. In April, she attempted to return home in Gaza City as thousands of others risked their lives to head back north.

Many around the world have expressed their solidarity and support for Maha Hussaini, including the Marie Colvin Journalists’ Network, which said in a statement, quote, “We are extremely disappointed that IWMF took this decision, and we remain concerned for Maha’s safety. The Marie Colvin Journalists’ Network believes in freedom of speech, and that journalists in Gaza should have the same rights to express themselves as elsewhere in the world,” they wrote. Marie Catherine Colvin was a U.S. journalist killed while reporting on Syria’s war in 2012. She was reporting for British paper The Sunday Times.

Maha Hussaini also responded to the IWMF in an op-ed published in the Middle East Eye titled “You can take away my award but you won’t take away my voice,” in which she wrote, quote, “I would not have won this award if I had not been on the ground exposing flagrant Israeli violations under perilous conditions, all while being systematically attacked by supporters of the perpetrators. Winning a prize for ‘courage’ means being subjected to attacks and choosing to continue your work regardless. Regrettably, the very organisation that recognised these........

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