My Word: The Nobel non-Peace Prize - opinion
Columnist Liat Collins criticizes the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to South African judge Navi Pillay, arguing she used her UN roles to promote an anti-Israel agenda. Collins notes the prize was announced during Israel's commemoration of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, and quotes Israel's Foreign Ministry condemning the award as legitimizing anti-Israel hatred.
Columnist Liat Collins criticizes the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to South African judge Navi Pillay, a strident critic of Israel. Collins argues that Pillay used her position as UN high commissioner for human rights and as chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory to promote an anti-Israel agenda. The article notes the prize was announced during Israel's week commemorating the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Israel's Foreign Ministry condemned the award as 'the grotesque weaponization of an award to legitimize anti-Israel hatred and prejudice.' Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov posted a sarcastic comment about the decision. Collins compares the prize to past controversial awards including Yasser Arafat in 1994 and Barack Obama in 2009, and links the decision to broader UN bias against Israel. The framing relies on emotionally charged vocabulary without procedural sourcing.