U.S.-Russian author Masha Gessen received the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought in the German city of Bremen on December 16, a day later than scheduled due to criticism of Gessen's remarks on the Gaza conflict. The ceremony was to be held in Bremen City Hall on December 15 but was postponed and shifted to a smaller venue after anger in Germany at their comparison of the Gaza Strip with Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Europe during World War II. The jury awarded Gessen -- who led RFE/RL's Russian Service in 2012-13 -- the prize for their reporting on Russia. Gessen, born in Moscow in 1967, lives in New York City.
