Admin I Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023
BREMEN – US-Russian author Masha Gessen received the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought in a ceremony, a day later than scheduled on account of criticism of Gessen’s remarks on the Gaza Strip conflict.
The ceremony was to have been held in the Bremen City Hall on Friday, but was postponed and shifted to a smaller venue after anger in Germany at her comparison of the Gaza Strip with Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Europe during World War II.
After announcing a new venue, the organisers changed it again early on Saturday, and the ceremony was held in a small venue for an audience of around 50 with four police officers guarding the door.
The jury took the decision to make the award to Gessen during the summer for her reporting on Russia.
Earlier, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which contributes some of the prize money, described her comments on Gaza as “unacceptable,” and said they did not contribute to understanding the conflict.
The Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought was established in 1994. The award honours people who contribute to public political thought and action in the tradition of Arendt, of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century.
An independent, international jury decides on the award. The prize money of €10,000 ($10,800) is donated by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Senate of the City of Bremen.
Gessen, who was born in Moscow in 1967, writes about political currents and conflicts in US and Russian society. She lives in New York City.
