Physicians for Human Rights- Israel, based in Tel Aviv, will share the 2010
Alternative Nobel Prize for its work, including its helping of Palestinians in
mobile health clinics and migrant workers in Tel Aviv.
Gush Shalom, which
itself received the award nine years ago, praised the decision announced on
Thursday, saying it knew of “no one more worthy” of receiving the
award.
RELATED:Israeli wins 'Nobel' of MathematicsThe prize will be awarded in the Swedish parliament on December 6,
four days before the Nobel Prize ceremony.
Also known as the “Right
Livelihood Awards,” the prize was established in 1980 to “honor and support
those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges
facing us today.”
There are now 141 laureates from 59 countries. It is
presented each year in Stockholm and usually shared by four recipients, but not
all laureates receive a cash award. Often an Honorary Award is given to a person
or group whose work the judges want to recognize but who is not primarily in
need of monetary support.
The prize money this year is ¤200,000 and is
for ongoing successful work rather than for personal use.
Jakob von
Uexkull, founder and co-chairman of the Right Livelihood Awards,
maintained that
the prize “is widely recognized as the world’s premier award for
personal
courage and social transformation. Besides the financial support, it
enables its
recipients to reach out to an international audience that otherwise
might not
have heard of them. Often, the award also gives crucial protection
against
repression. For the laureates, the award has opened many doors,
including prison
doors.”
PHR-Israel was initiated by Israeli physician Dr. Ruhama Marton.
Members say they aim to prevent serious abuses of human rights,
including by
saving lives in cases where the Israeli bureaucracy blocked Palestinians
patients from getting essential treatment, especially Palestinians in
Gaza.