War on Gaza: Egyptian artist returns Goethe Medal over German ‘complicity in Israeli aggression’
An Egyptian visual artist has returned a German award recognising outstanding artistic or cultural achievement over what he described as Berlin's complicity in Israel’s aggression in Gaza.
Mohamed Abla received the Goethe Medal in 2022 and returned it on Wednesday in an act of protest.
The award is issued by the Goethe-Institut as an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany and is considered to be the most important honour issued by the country.
Abla, however, said he could no longer keep the medal, as he believed keeping it contradicted the values and philosophy behind the award.
According to Abla, when it was given to him there was conversation about how it represented peace and equality, as well as the role art played in transcending differences.
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“That was Johann Goethe’s philosophy,” he explained.
“It doesn’t make sense that the German government speaks about equality and justice and at the same time ignores the plights and rights of Palestinians and helps arm Israel,” he told Middle East Eye.
The medal, which has been awarded to many distinguished artists and intellectuals since 1955 meant a great deal to Abla, who said it was particularly significant for him because he was one of the first people of Arab origin to receive the award.
'It doesn’t make sense that the German government speaks about equality and justice and at the same time ignores the plights and rights of Palestinians and helps arm Israel'
- Mohamed Abla, artist
“For my name to be mentioned alongside Goethe’s was a huge deal, so I was proud and it was a huge honour,” he said.
“My issue is not with the Goethe-Institut, it is with the German government’s stance and I hope [by returning the medal] that everyone’s conscience is awakened.”
Named after the celebrated German poet and writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), the Goethe-Institut was founded in 1951 in Munich as a non-profit organisation.
Germany's support of Israel
Abla’s decision was motivated by Germany’s support and arming of Israel, which has increased in recent months.
“Germany is supposed to be an innovative country and the founder of many philosophies, and humanitarian principles. It went through a lot in terms of wars and history so it doesn’t make sense for the government to now stand with Israel,” he said.
Abla has encouraged other artists to take action through various means against what he has called “very apparent injustice”.
This, he says, can be done through different means, and doesn’t have to be expressed through art but instead should be spoken about.
“The most painful thing for me has been seeing the air dropping of aid into the sea, and seeing hundreds of people in Gaza running into the water to get their hands on it. It was very dehumanising to see, given that the aid could have been given in a more dignified way in other means,” Abla said.
“I’ve also been impacted by seeing all the children in Gaza looking for their parents and families under the rubble. It hurts to see protests around the world and not be able to take part in them myself in Egypt,” he added.
This is not the first time an award from the Goethe-Institut has been rejected since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October.
South African author Zukiswa Wanner, the first woman from Africa to be awarded Germany's Goethe Medal, rejected the award earlier this week.
"I thus find myself unable to stay silent or keep an official decoration from a government that is this callous to human suffering," she said.
In a statement, she said that rather than being vocal in condemning genocide since the Holocaust, Germany has instead emerged as one of the largest arms exporters to Israel.
"I wish that the German government, in reflection and saying 'never again' would acknowledge that 'never again' should be for anybody," she added.
The writer and editor said that months before the start of the war, she was in the occupied Palestine Territories and travelled to Ramallah, Nabi Saleh, East Jerusalem, Hebron, and Lydd.
“As a writer coming from a country with a history of apartheid, what I experienced shook me and resulted in my writing a long essay, 'Vignettes of a People in an Apartheid State',” she said.
“One did not need to be from a country with a history of apartheid to see the daily injustices and indignities visited on Palestinians.”
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