'I cannot be proud,' Egyptian artist returns Goethe Medal to Germany in solidarity with Gaza

Egypt’s renowned visual artist Mohamed Abla returned a Goethe medal he won in 2022, in protest of what he described as Germany’s support for Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza.

“I am the Egyptian visual artist Mohamed Abla, founder of the Fayoum center for arts, and recipient of the Goethe prize, Germany’s highest honor. I decided today, officially and directly, to give up this medal and return it back to the German government,” Mohamed Abla said. “I cannot be proud that I received this medal. It no longer represents any importance to me, and for this reason I decided to return this medal back again,” he added.

As one of the first Arabs to receive this medal, Abla said it was a significant and honourable moment. However, he said, he felt there was a contradiction between the award and Germany's actions related to the war in Gaza.

“I was very happy with this medal, because I was the first Arab artist to receive it, and this was something that felt good. Also because I get to join a large list of artists around the world, over the course of 70 years, who have received this medal, it was an honorable thing and a plus (to my career),” Abla said

“However, after the recent events taking place in Gaza, and the very strong support from Germany for Israel since day one, to the point that Germany is the second supporter of Israel after America for providing weapons, and are the largest amount of arms sales provided to Israel. I felt a strong contradiction, between what Germany says and what it does, there is a very strong contradiction," he added.

Since Hamas' October assault on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, Germany has been one of Israel's staunchest allies alongside the United States, underlining its commitment to atonement for its perpetration of the World War Two Nazi Holocaust in which 6 million Jews died.

Abla founded the Fayoum Art Center in 2006 in the artisan Tunis village in Egypt's Fayoum, which houses the first caricature museum in the Middle East. According to the Goethe Institute, the medal "is the most important award of the Federal Republic of Germany’s foreign cultural policy."