🔶 Award-winning German publishers criticizes "silence" toward Israel

Philip Sands, a prominent international lawyer, received the prestigious Peace Prize for Publishers and Booksellers in Germany in 2026. In his speech, he sharply criticized what he called “Germany’s silence” regarding developments in Israel and Gaza.

At the closing ceremony of the Frankfurt Book Fair on Sunday, October 11, the Peace Prize for Publishers and Booksellers in Germany was presented to Philip Sands, a lawyer and French-British writer.

The ceremony was held in the historic Paul Church, with the presence of Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany.

The board of the foundation behind the prize described the 65-year-old Sands and a university professor in London as an “committed humanist” who tirelessly defends human rights and “seeks justice.”

The Peace Prize for Publishers in Germany, worth €25,000, has been awarded since 1950 to prominent cultural and scientific figures who have played a role in realizing peace. Salman Rushdie, among others, has been one of the notable recipients of this prize in previous years.