Prize for political thinking - Controversial award ceremony for the Hannah Arendt Prize postponed
The controversial awarding of the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought to Masha Gessen is to be postponed. The event planned for Friday has been canceled and will take place on a smaller scale on Saturday, as confirmed by a spokesperson for the sponsoring association. The association is reacting to the withdrawal of the Heinrich Böll Foundations from the federal and state governments from the award ceremony in the Bremen Senate.
Criticized are statements in an article in the US magazine "The New Yorker", in which Gessen is said to have compared the situation in Gaza with the Jewish ghettos in occupied Europe. This is not an offer for open discussion and does not help to understand the conflict in the Middle East. "This statement is unacceptable to us and we reject it," the Böll Foundations' statement said.
The German-Israeli Society (DIG) Bremen had previously expressed concerns and described the comparison as disconcerting. Bremen's deputy head of government Björn Fecker also distanced himself. "This is an unspeakable comparison that crosses a red line," said the Green politician.
The Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought was founded in 1994. The award is intended to honor people who contribute to public political thought and action in the tradition of Arendt. According to the information provided, an independent, international jury decides on the award. The prize money of 10,000 euros is donated by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.
Following the withdrawal of the foundations, the administration of Bremen City Hall withdrew permission to use the Upper City Hall, wrote the sponsoring association. "We take note of this with regret," it said.
Gessen, born in Moscow in 1967, writes about political currents and conflicts in US and Russian society. Gessen lives in New York City.
Information on the postponement
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The Hannah Arendt Prize, worth 10,000 euros, is usually donated by both the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Senate of Bremen. Despite living in New York City, Gessen is known for her analyses of political dynamics in US and Russian societies. The withdrawal of the Heinrich Böll Foundations led to the postponement and subsequent downscaling of the award ceremony in Bremen, Germany. Remarks made by Gessen in a New Yorker article, comparing the situation in Gaza to Jewish ghettos in occupied Europe, have sparked controversy.
Source: www.stern.de
