2023-12-14 12:35:23
Bremen – The controversial awarding of the Hannah Arendt Prize for political thought to Masha Gessen is to be postponed. The event planned for Friday is canceled and will take place on a smaller scale on Saturday, as a spokesman for the sponsoring association confirmed. 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.
Statements in an article in the US magazine “The New Yorker” with which Gessen is said to have compared the situation in Gaza with the Jewish ghettos in occupied Europe are criticized. 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,” said the Böll Foundations’ statement.
The German-Israeli Society (DIG) Bremen had previously expressed concerns and described the comparison as strange. 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.
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Founded in 1994
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, 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.
After the foundations withdrew, the administration of the Bremen town hall withdrew permission to use the upper town hall, the sponsoring association wrote. “We note this with regret,” it said.
Gessen, born in Moscow in 1967, writes about political trends and conflicts in US and Russian society. Gessen lives in New York City.
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