The grief-stricken mother of Hamas victim Shani Louk reveals how the prize awarded for the photo of the tattoo artist’s naked and mutilated body paraded by terrorists forces her family to relive her October 7 murder

The grief-stricken mother of Hamas victim Shani Louk has revealed how an award given for a photo of her daughter’s half-naked and mutilated body forced her family to relive the trauma of her murder.

The 22-year-old German-Israeli was one of 364 people killed at the SuperNova Festival, which she attended with her boyfriend, during the October 7 attacks.

The photo shows four Hamas militants celebrating while brandishing a rocket launcher and guns as they sit atop the body of Shani Louk, who lies face down in the back of a pickup truck.

That photo, taken by freelance photographer Ali Mahmud, was the centerpiece of the entry that won the AP photo agency the Team Picture Story of the Year category from the Missouri School of Journalism’s Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute.

Now Shani’s mother, Ricarda, has revealed that the award has forced her family to relive the trauma of her daughter’s murder.

She told me Telegraph: ‘(It’s) ‘traumatic for all of us. Try to imagine seeing your beloved girl lying half naked and lifeless in the truck, with those savages around her.’

The tattoo artist was still wearing the club outfit she wore when she attended the music festival pictured.

Separate footage, recorded in the hours after the photo was taken, shows her body being paraded through the streets of Gaza as some passersby spit on her.

“When we see those photos again because of the competition, our family relives the pain,” says Mrs. Louk.

The 53-year-old added that her family had not been told in advance that the photo was being nominated for an award, which she said “made me angry.”

“The fact that they celebrated this photo with an award hurts us even more because it’s basically the same as celebrating that they were murdered.

“I mean, the whole carnage is celebrated. It’s no coincidence that they chose this photo, so it hurts us even more.”

MailOnline has contacted AP for a response.

Director of photojournalism at the Photojournalism Institute, Lynden Steele, said it “strongly” condemned the October 7 attack but defended the award.

He said: “Reactions to the team photo story of the year express the larger emotions associated with that conflict.

“While we understand the reactions to the photos, we also believe that photojournalism plays an important role in bringing attention to the harsh realities of war.”

The prestigious university was branded a ‘disgrace’ when it presented the world’s oldest photojournalism award for the photo of the 22-year-old’s mutilated body.

“RJI thinks gruesome photo of Shani Louk’s half-dressed, dead body is an award-winning work,” GOP House whip Tom Emmer tweeted.

“Disgusting,” he added at the time.

Family photos of the young woman showed a happy and carefree spirit at the start of her adult life and friends of her family have said that is how she should be remembered.

“This is how we choose to remember the beautiful Shani Louk,” wrote one. “We will not allow her memory to be trampled by the inhuman criminals who celebrate the AP photo of her tragic murder.”

“I’m shocked,” wrote another. ‘This is a photo of terrorists parading the corpse of a Jewish woman after killing her. You should be ashamed.’

Louk’s family and other victims of the SuperNova killings sued AP and fellow news agency Reuters in February, accusing them of conspiracy in the atrocities they documented.

They claim that the agency’s freelancers were “longtime Hamas affiliates and full participants in the terrorist attack” who knew it was about to take place.

Lobby group HonestReporting, which raised concerns about the reporting, posted its “congratulations” to AP for winning the award.

“How does it feel to do this on the backs of Palestinian photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on October 7 and took photos like the one below, of Shani Louk’s dead body in a Hamas pickup truck?” they demanded.

“Did RJI worry about that before presenting the award?”

The sentiment was echoed by Israeli MP and diplomat Danny Danon, who tweeted: ‘This photo shows Hamas terrorists desecrating the body of Shani Louk, may her soul rest in peace.

‘Yet the AP news agency proudly received an award for it. Their continued pride in the ‘work’ of their photographers and their involvement in the atrocities is shameful.’

Both AP and Reuters denied any conspiracy in the attacks, and AP released a statement in February saying it had “the deepest sympathy for those affected” but insisting the allegations were “unfounded.”

“AP had no prior knowledge of the October 7 attacks, nor have we seen any evidence — including in the lawsuit — that the freelance journalists who contributed to our reporting did,” they wrote.

“These types of allegations are reckless and create even more potential danger to journalists in the region.

‘Documenting major news events around the world – no matter how horrific – is our job.

“Without AP and other news organizations, the world would not have known what happened on October 7.”

Despite the anger of some over the photo, Shani Louk’s father spoke out in defense of the award.

Nissim told Ynet: ‘It’s good that the photo won the prize. This is one of the most important photos of the past 50 years.

He was convinced that his daughter’s photo will leave a mark on the history of humanity. He sees the photo as a symbol of the current era and will hopefully serve as documentation for generations to come.

“These are some of the photographs that shape human memory: the Jew raising his hands, the paratroopers at the Western Wall, photographs that symbolize an era,” he continued. ‘This documentation of Shani and Noa Argamani on the motorcycle symbolizes this era. I think using it to inform the future is a good thing.”