Criticism of the awarding of the Hannah Arendt Prize for political thought to the journalist Masha Gessen is becoming louder. The Bremen Senate and the Böll Foundations say they are in favor of canceling the event on Friday, and the Böll Foundations in the federal and state governments of Bremen will also no longer take part in the award ceremony. The German-Israeli Society (DIG) in Bremen initially expressed concerns and called for the award ceremony to be canceled.
The criticism was triggered by an essay by Gessen in the magazine The New Yorker on the situation in the Gaza Strip and Germany’s Israel policy. According to the DIG, a comparison of Gaza with a ghetto in an Eastern European country occupied by the National Socialists is particularly strange. Gessen is free to express such views, according to a letter from the DIG. “But Masha Gessen’s views should not be honored with a prize intended to commemorate the Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt.” 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 statement cannot be justified by anything. Against this background, the event cannot take place in the town hall as planned.
Two founding members of the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought association also spoke publicly in favor of canceling the award ceremony. How Time online reported on Wednesday evening, the award will be presented in a different setting on Saturday.
The sponsoring association initially wanted to hold on to the award
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. The prize is awarded by a sponsoring association, the Bremen government and the Heinrich Böll Foundations in Berlin and Bremen. Last year the award went to the Ukrainian writer, translator and musician Serhij Zhadan. The board of the sponsoring association initially wanted to hold on to the award. “Masha Gessen’s article, without having to share the content, fits into the controversial culture of the Hannah Arendt Prize,” said the association when asked.
According to the jury, Gessen is one of the bravest chroniclers of the time, as it was said when the decision was announced at the beginning of August. Gessen’s books, essays and presence opened up new perspectives that helped to understand a world in accelerated change, the award’s sponsoring association announced at the time. Gessen, born in Moscow in 1967, lives in New York City and writes about political trends and conflicts in US and Russian society.
In May, Gessen resigned from the board of the writers’ association Pen America because two Russian dissidents were disinvited from a discussion event. In 2019, Gessen received the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding for the book “The Future is History – How Russia Won and Lost Freedom”.