This committee is unlike its Swedish counterparts, which are responsible for the prizes in literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, and economics. At the time Alfred Nobel drew up his will, Sweden and Norway were still united under a single crown, so he stipulated that the Peace Prize should be awarded by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament. Consequently, the committees in Sweden are composed of experts from specialised academies. For instance, the Swedish Academy (the equivalent of our Arabic Language Academy) selects the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature while the Nobel Committee merely announces the result and confers the award. By contrast, the Peace Prize – a consummately political award – is decided by politicians.
The world has just marked two years since Israel launched its war of annihilation on Gaza. The horrors of this ongoing tragedy have riveted global attention, eclipsing all other conflicts, including the war in Ukraine. Therefore, it was no surprise to hear calls for the Peace Prize to be awarded to individuals who have shown courage in defending the Palestinians, despite vicious campaigns of intimidation and vilification by Zionists.
Among the names most frequently mentioned were Karim Khan, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. Even that absurd suggestion of nominating US President Donald Trump – obviously to stoke his pathological vanity – was linked to the Palestinian people’s suffering and the hope that he would use his influence to end the war.
Nevertheless, the Norwegian parliamentary committee chose to look the other way and to award the prize to a US-educated politician who has called for US intervention in her country to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was among the first world leaders to call for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza and to describe it as a genocide. Machado, while running for president, heaped praise on Netanyahu and vowed to move the Venezuelan Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Justifying its selection of Machado, the Nobel Committee claimed that she stands for “democracy” in the face of Maduro’s “authoritarianism.” Sadly, the members of that committee turned a deaf ear to the cries of the Palestinian people and failed to hear the most meaningful appeals for peace in our times. Global grassroots opinion has grown weary of “democracy” being weaponised against regimes that refuse to toe the Western line.
Meanwhile, another Scandinavian organisation, Lay Down Your Arms, appears more in tune with global aspirations. On the eve of the Nobel Peace Prize, it conferred its award on the indefatigable Francesca Albanese. Rather than honouring an advocate of military interventionism, this prize pays tribute to someone who has truly lived up to Nobel’s intended legacy of advancing peace.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 16 October, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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