A renowned Pakistani architect has turned down a lucrative international prize that she was awarded by an Israeli foundation.
Yasmeen Lari said that, given the on-going genocide being committed in Gaza, there was no way she could accept a prize from Israel.
The Wolf Prize is an international award presented every year to living scientists, engineers and artists for “achievements in the interest of mankind.”
The award includes a prestigious diploma together with a cheque worth $100,000 and is normally awarded inside the Israeli parliament building known as the Knesset.
In its efforts to normalise relations with its Arab neighbours and the wider Muslim world, the Zionist regime is taking various steps to try and win the “battle of hearts and minds” in the Muslim world. Awarding prestigious prizes to scientists, engineers and artists in the Muslim world seems to be one such step.
But Lari wrote to the Wolf Foundation stating that she could not accept the prize “in view of the continuing genocide in Gaza.”
Speaking to the Arab News newspaper, she said: “I declined the award because of the on-going genocide in Gaza, a reason I explicitly stated in my response to them. Given the current situation in Gaza, accepting the award was out of the question.”
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The development came a few days before Tel Aviv broke the ceasefire and killed over 400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, on Monday morning.
Israel also re-implemented a complete blockade of Gaza and halted the delivery of all essential aid supplies to the 2.2 million residents of the strip.
This has caused extreme hardship to the already impoverished Palestinians of Gaza, especially so during the month of Ramadan. To make matters worse, the Zionist regime turned off water and electricity to the people of Gaza.
The veteran architect has received widespread praise in Pakistan’s social media circles for her principled position on Palestine. Lari is also known for her socially conscious works on humanitarian grounds and for catering for the spatial needs of Pakistan’s most marginalised communities.
Lari and her husband are the founders of the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan. The famous architect is a great advocate of traditional construction techniques that can lead to low-impact carbon-neutral buildings. She has been previously awarded the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects “Royal Gold Medal” in 2023.
