German philosopher Habermas rejects UAE’s Zayed Book Award

BERLIN (AP) — The prominent German philosopher Juergen Habermas says he will not accept a high-priced literary award from the United Arab Emirates which he initially said he’d be happy to receive. The 91-year-old, who is considered Germany’s most eminent contemporary philosopher, told German news site Spiegel Online on Sunday “I declared my willingness to accept this year’s Sheikh Zayed Book Award. That was a wrong decision which I correct.” In the statement, which his publisher Suhrkamp Verlag published, Habermas added that, “I didn’t sufficiently make clear to myself the very close connection of the institution, which awards these prizes in Abu Dhabi, with the existing political system there.”