The prestigious Arik Brauer Journalism Prize was once again awarded yesterday in Vienna. The award is presented once a year by the Vienna-based Middle East think tank Mena-Watch for well-founded contributions to the public debate that view the Middle East from a fair and reality-based perspective. The winners are chosen by an independent international jury; the Israeli army spokesman Arye Shalicar was awarded the prize.
Not only on the streets, but also in many media there is more or less open anti-Semitism and a very subjective portrayal of Israel’s war of defense against terror, which sometimes even (unconsciously) spreads Islamist narratives by journalists simply adopting Hamas claims, such as alleged casualty figures. The Mena-Watch Association has therefore set itself the task of closely observing political events in the Middle East and North Africa and taking an objective journalistic view of them. In this capacity, the organization has been awarding the Arik Brauer Journalism Prize since 2021, named after the great Austrian-Jewish artist Arik Brauer (* 4 January 1929 in Vienna; † 24 January 2021 in Vienna), who completed the sculpture just a few days before his death.
At yesterday’s event in Vienna, Herta Müller (winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature), Rebecca Schönenbach (terrorism expert), Michael Wolffsohn (German-Israeli historian and military expert) and the spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces, Arye Sharuz Shalicar, with whom Militär Aktuell recently conducted an in-depth interview on Israel’s fight against terrorwas honored. Shalicar received the award in the special prize category for his journalistic work. The evening was hosted by Danielle Spera and Mena-Watch editor-in-chief Erwin Javor, with laudators including Islam and terrorism expert Ahmad Mansour.
“I believe that before October 7, many Jews perceived the world very naively.”
Arye Sharuz Shalicar, IDF-Sprecher
The laudatory speech for Arye Shalicar was held by the well-known Austrian journalist Stefan Kaltenbrunner. In his acceptance speech, Shalicar himself said, among other things: “The question I ask myself after October 7, 2023 is whether the rest of the world sees us (note: Israel) the way the rest of the world sees us. And I believe that before October 7, many Jews perceived the world very naively. I never dreamed, I was never a dreamer. I knew that life was a challenge for Jews and the state of Israel because of my past in Berlin. That’s when I discovered certain tendencies. Because in the end, the question is always: What is Israel doing wrong? What should Israel do right or more right to be liked, to be accepted, to be treated like everyone else?”
Shalicar continues: “What strikes me is that there are two different approaches from large parts of the world. One is that people like to give us advice and want to steer us in the way they would like. If you then don’t do it the way you want, it goes down badly. The other approach is that Israel is actually a disruptive factor. And it makes absolutely no difference what Israel does, how Israel does it, but the fact that Israel is there is a disruptive factor for many.”
Militär Aktuell asked Arye Shalicar for an interview after the award ceremony:
Mr. Shalicar, what does this award mean to you?
I consider myself lucky to be one of four recipients of this award. This is a great honor for me. I have never received an award in my life. It also gives me personal energy to know and see that there are people out there who are aware of my efforts.
For which function or activity exactly did you receive this award?
For my journalistic activities and I think that not only my books, but also my work on social media, have been recognized. I am active on various platforms and have my own podcast. I spent most of last year as a spokesperson for the Israeli army and my activities were obviously also noticed here in Vienna.
You just mentioned your podcast. How did it come about in the first place?
About a week after the war started, a friend in Israel asked me to start a podcast. I said I didn’t have time. He didn’t let up and said it was important, it’s like social media now and if you’re not there, you won’t reach many people. In the end, he persuaded me to give a short operational update there every day, at least at the beginning, and the podcast actually got a lot of attention in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, but also in Israel. Even in the USA and South America, German speakers enjoy listening to the podcast.
Do you also get feedback from people who say that your podcast has given them a different image of Israel and its fight for survival against Islamist terror
Absolutely. I get a lot of feedback from people who are basically positive about Israel. But there are also people who have written to me to say that I have picked them up with my podcast, so to speak, and that they now understand Israel better and only now see the terror.
Mr. Shalicar, thank you very much for talking to us.
We’d love to.
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