Prize for political thinking - New date for the Hannah Arendt Prize award ceremony
The controversial award of the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought to Masha Gessen has been 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 had also distanced himself. "This is an unspeakable comparison that crosses a red line," said the Green politician after the criticism became known and canceled the planned award ceremony in the Upper Town Hall.
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.
The jury's decision in favor of Masha Gessen was made in early summer. The decisive factor was Gessen's journalistic commitment to reporting on Russia, a member of the jury said on Thursday. "At the time, there was no reason to review her stance on the subject of Israel." In the controversial article, Gessen also tried to "take a differentiated view of the conflict", but failed to classify the terrorist organization Hamas. This should now be discussed with Gessen.
According to the sponsoring association, Masha Gessen will be honored on a smaller scale on Saturday. It is remarkable that a public debate about understanding the conflict is being blocked and Gessen is being boycotted, it said. Gessen had endeavored to bring "knowledge, insight and a sharp mind to this dispute."
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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- Despite the criticism towards Masha Gessen's comparison of Gaza's situation with the Jewish ghettos in occupied Europe, which is considered disconcerting by the German-Israeli Society Bremen and others, the jury had chosen her as the recipient of the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought earlier this summer, appreciating her journalistic commitment to reporting on Russia.
- The German government's partner in funding the award ceremony, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, withdrew from the event due to the controversy, leading to the postponement of the award ceremony from Friday to Saturday in a smaller scale.
- The conflict in Gaza and Israel has been a subject of intense discussion, with Gessen's article in "The New Yorker" sparking controversy for comparing the situation in Gaza to the Jewish ghettos in occupied Europe, a comparison that was strongly rejected by the Böll Foundation and was described as unacceptable by them.
- The German-Israeli society emphasizes that the postponement and boycott of Gessen is blocking a public debate about understanding the Middle East conflict and undermining the attempts to bring knowledge, insight and a sharp mind to this dispute.
- The German-Israeli society in Bremen is an active member of the German-Israeli society network in Europe, an organization dedicated to promoting cultural and intellectual exchange between Germany and Israel, offering various awards and initiatives to foster and celebrate German-Israeli relationships.
Source: www.stern.de
