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German Architectural Foundation Rescinds Award to British Artist Over His Israel Boycott Support
Pro-Hamas demonstrators marching in Munich, Germany. Photo: Reuters/Alexander Pohl
The Erich Schelling Architecture Foundation, located in Karlsruhe, Germany, announced on Monday that it has unanimously decided to rescind an award to British writer and artist James Bridle because of his support for boycotting Israeli cultural institutions.
The foundation hands out awards for architecture and architectural theory once every two years, and the awards have a total endowment of close to $32,000. An international jury of seven individuals picks the winner, and Bridle was set to receive the prize for architectural theory at this year’s award ceremony, set for Wednesday. The foundation praised Bridle, saying his “publications on the complex relationships between society, technology, and ecology have greatly enriched the current discourse.”
However, a day before the award ceremony, the foundation announced that it would not distribute a theory prize this year, which Bridle had won. The institution said it made its decision after discovering that Bridle co-signed an open letter in late October, in which thousands in the literary industry pledged to boycott Israeli cultural institutions in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
The open letter was published by the online magazine The Literary Hub and falsely accused Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid. It also claimed, without providing evidence, that Israeli cultural institutions have been “crucial in obfuscating, disguising, and artwashing the dispossession and oppression of millions of Palestinians for decades.”
The Erich Schelling Architecture Foundation released a statement on Monday explaining its decision to rescind Bridle’s award because of his anti-Israel stance. The institution cited its “awareness of Germany’s history and of the responsibilities resulting from that history.”
“James Bridle’s signature on a call to boycott Israeli cultural institutions is directly at odds with this responsibility — and it is the reason the foundation is unable to award him the prize,” it noted. “This was decided unanimously by all of the foundation’s committees. We respect the right to express James Bridle’s political position, especially as the foundation is not accusing James Bridle of antisemitism. But the foundation can neither support nor be associated with a call for the cultural isolation of Israel.”
In a second statement released on Tuesday, the foundation said a “one-sided call for a boycott” of Israel is a “refusal to engage in dialogue.”
“Many people in Israel have friends in Palestine / the Gaza Strip — and vice versa. They must be supported,” the foundation added. “So that new friendships can develop as a basis for peace. The Schelling Foundation is of the opinion that a unilateral call for a boycott is not a suitable way to initiate or support peace initiatives.”
Bridle has responded to the news and told The Guardian: “Although they are clearly not prepared to state it outright, the foundation’s decision is an accusation of antisemitism, which is abhorrent. It is particularly so given the organization’s own history.”
The Erich Schelling Architecture Foundation is named after the late German architect Erich Schelling. He was a member of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party in Germany as well as the Nazi’s SA paramilitary wing. He was also involved in the construction of a building that included the publishing house of the Nazi party daily newspaper, Der Fuhrer. He died in 1986, and the foundation was founded by his widow.
The controversy surrounding Bridle’s award came after the German parliament passed a resolution earlier this month to combat antisemitism in Germany. The resolution states: “The Bundestag [German parliament] reaffirms its decision to ensure that no organizations or projects that spread antisemitism, question Israel’s right to exist, call for a boycott of Israel, or actively support the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement receive financial support.”
Earlier this year, Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency classified the BDS movement against Israel as a “suspected extremist case.” BDS seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward its eventual elimination. Leaders of the movement have repeatedly stated their goal is to destroy the world’s only Jewish state.
The post German Architectural Foundation Rescinds Award to British Artist Over His Israel Boycott Support first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.