The 2024 Pulitzer Prize for commentary was awarded Monday to Mosab Abu Toha, a self-described “Palestinian poet” whose work in The New Yorker was praised by the Pulitzer board as “deep reporting with the intimacy of memoir.” His awarded piece depicted the Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza, but within just 24 hours, public statements emerged revealing Abu Toha’s disturbing praise for Hamas and contempt for Israeli victims.
In previously published posts, Abu Toha questioned the humanity of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7 terror attacks. “How on earth is this girl called a hostage?” he wrote about 28-year-old IDF soldier Emily Damari. He also objected to media coverage that humanized Agam Berger, another Israeli captive, stating: “These are the ones the world wants to share sympathy for, killers who join the army and have family in the army!”
The Pulitzer board, administered by Columbia University, failed to vet these statements—or ignored them entirely. The board includes Columbia president Claire Shipman, Columbia Journalism School dean Jelani Cobb, Columbia Journalism Review editor in chief Kyle Pope, and Pulitzer administrator Marjorie Miller, a Columbia employee. Deliberations take place on the Columbia campus. New Yorker editor in chief David Remnick, also a board member, has not addressed the controversy.
When asked whether Abu Toha’s known public comments were considered in the award process, Miller deflected: “The Pulitzer Board is committed to recognizing excellence in reporting, literature, history and culture, and the selection process for each award is based on a review of the submitted works.”
Columbia University itself is under federal investigation for allegedly violating the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students. Meanwhile, the school says the Pulitzer board “is independent of the university and operates as such.” It did not provide comment from Shipman.
