Talk:Sydney Peace Prize

"Zionists"

Re the sentence: "In 2003 the awarding of the prize to Dr. Hanan Ashrawi caused much debate and several protests by Australian Zionists and others". I'm not sure that the phrase "Australian Zionists and others" adds anything, other that the inclusion of a potential perjorative ("Certain individuals and groups have used the term 'Zionism' as a pejorative to justify attacks on Jews". - from the Wiki page on Zionism) and it is not strictly correct to say that support for Israel amounts to Zionism per se (again from the Wiki Zionism page). Moreover "much debate" is a bit like the length of a piece of string. There was some comment (over about four days) about it in the media, but it was neither significant in the community nor long-running. People in the Royal Hotel in Queanbeyan weren't talking about who was being awarded the Sydney Peace Prize three weeks later, that's for sure.

The sentence would be just as clear if it were written "... caused some debate in the media and several protests in Australia" or, if a rationale for their protest is appropriate (and it probably is) "... caused some debate in the media and several protests by Australian supporters of Israel". Peter phelps (talk) 23:07, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree - I've reworded it simply to note there was debate and some protests. It's worth noting the award was controversial but it was hardly a long-running debate and there are no sources to suggest those who opposed the award were specifically Zionists (as opposed to any other group). For example I recall some radio commentators opposing the award because anyone who was a spokesperson for either side in a violent dispute was not a good candidate for a Peace Prize.

As always, opposing views or comments welcomed. Euryalus (talk) 06:17, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Assange

Hi, I just removed assange as this external says quite clearly that it is not this medal - Assange appears to have been given a kind of occasional award that might fit to be included here but in a seperate little section with the other named winners of it. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/julian-assange-awarded-sydney-peace-medal-20110202-1ad7y.html - from the cite - the award is referred to as gold medal - gold medal 4 peace with justice - and has only been awarded three other times in the 14 year history of this organisation - to the current Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Japanese lay Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda Off2riorob (talk) 11:19, 2 February 2011 (UTC)