KFAR AZA, Israel — Emily Damari, an Israeli woman held hostage by Hamas for over 500 days, publicly condemned the Pulitzer Prize Board on social media last week for awarding a prize to Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian poet and writer who has previously questioned accounts of Israeli hostages taken on October 7.
In a post published Wednesday on X (formerly Twitter), Damari, who was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, described her experience and sharply criticized Abu Toha for comments he made on social media about her and other hostages.
“On the morning of October 7, I was at home in my small studio apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when Hamas terrorists burst in, shot me and dragged me across the border into Gaza,” Damari wrote. “I was one of 251 men, women, children, and elderly people kidnapped that day.”
Damari alleged that Abu Toha questioned her status as a hostage in a Facebook post in January, asking, “How on earth is this girl called a hostage?” She further accused him of denying the murder of the Bibas family and casting doubt on the captivity of other individuals.
“This is not a question of politics. This is a question of humanity,” Damari wrote. “And today, you have failed it.”
Pulitzer response not yet issued
As of Thursday, the Pulitzer Prize Board had not released a statement in response to Damari’s post. Abu Toha, who was awarded a special citation for his poetry and prose reflecting on life in Gaza, has not commented publicly on the allegations.
Damari returned home earlier this year as part of a hostage release agreement. She stated that while she has been freed, her close friends Gali and Ziv Berman remain in captivity.
“You claim to honor journalism that upholds truth, democracy, and human dignity,” she wrote. “And yet you have chosen to elevate a voice that denies truth, erases victims, and desecrates the memory of the murdered.”
Damari’s post has been shared widely on social media and has generated responses from Israeli officials and advocacy groups.