Jemal Nebez Award 2023

On the award ceremony on December 3rd, 2023 in the Berlin-Schöneberg town hall

An important feature of the ceremony, which took place in Berlin, was that it was broadcast live on the Internet and that our guests in the hall as well as our online guests immediately shared parts of the event which they liked.

A documented recording of the entire event is in preparation.

The Jemal Nebez Prize Commission, which selected Zara Mohammadi as first JN Awardee at Newroz this year, sent one of its members, Veman Lineva, to attend the event on site and to Live! present the commission's criteria for their choice in honor of Zara. Veman, who has completed two academic master's degrees, in Kurdish cultural studies as well as in Islamic studies, and has been involved in the entire selection process since 2021, paid a thourough and well-founded tribute to Zara in Berlin.

Zara Mohammadi sent video statement

We would like to thank Zara for sending us a detailed personal statement for our celebration on December 3rd, 2023.

We are proud of Zara. In her home region, she was a pioneer of what has now become a broad movement among Kurds in Kurdistan and elsewhere. She used her expertise and education as a teacher early on to become active on site - in the spirit of promoting Kurdish as a mother tongue - and courageously stuck to her approach, which, along with the right to education in the Kurdish mother tongue, calls for recognition of the Kurdish identity.

Her integrity, her experience and knowledge in insisting on her approach, no matter how difficult the may be in certain environments, deserve the highest recognition. We can't do more than award her the Jemal Nebez Prize.

The sister's personal participation in the celebration in Berlin

We would like to thank Kani Mohammadi, who is currently studying in Switzerland, for coming to Berlin at her own expense to personally accept the award on behalf of her younger sister Zara. At one time, Zara had decided not to apply for a visa. We would like to thank Kani for his efforts in making the award ceremony so worthy as could be.

Berlin presentation of the prize by Xunav Hajo

The conditions under which Kurds defend their language and identity vary greatly depending on the wider socio-cultural environment they lieve in. And yet, there are similarities. There is also a natural connection, for which the founder of the Ronahi Educational Association in Germany found moving words when presenting the prize.

We thank Xunav, who has earned a permanent place for herself in the “Language & Identity” movement among Kurds over the years, for finding such beautiful and worthy words, both for Zara and for Kani.

The Zara Ceremony - important part of Dec 3 festive event

We are happy tht presentation of the Jemal Nebez Prize received a lot of attention across the Kurdish community's social media.

As you know, we chose December 3rd. as a date for this because it falls right in the middle of two memorial days having to do with our namesake. Two days earlier - on December 1st, 1933 - our namesake was born and this year he would have turned ninety years old, and this year we sadly mark the fifth return of his passing on Dec 8, 2018.

Documented recording of the entire event will follow

It will take time to appropriately present the entire event. At this time we can only say that we will be happy to present the remarkable contributions we received. One of them was held by Sirwan Renas in Kurdish on "Jemal Nebez's innovitie contributions to political science" (working title), presented by Sirwan with a detailed Kurdish-English glossary of the terms he used and developed.

In addition, the musician and musicologist Diler Kewanger made a live word/music contribution that our namesake would have wanted more of and this is what we hope for. Thank you, Diler.

Jemal Nebez Award Commission

Affiliate of Jemal Nebez Foundation, Berlin – Germany

On the Commisson’s decision concerning the 2023 Jemal Nebez Award

The Commission has deliberated their decision and in full consensus agreed that Ms Zara Mohammadi residing in Sine (Sanandaj) is to receive the Jemal Nebez Award of the year 2023.

Our decision was reached independently. It was then confirmed jointly by the Executive Board and the Advisory Board of the Jemal Nebez Foundation.

At this time the following statement from the award commission may suffice regarding the Foundation’s first such award:

The Jemal Nebez Award Commission, affiliated with the Jemal Nebez Foundation in Berlin, has selected Ms Zara Mohammadi as the recipient of the first Jemal Nebez Prize in recognition of her tireless and voluntary efforts for teaching Kurdish language, defending her fellow Kurds’ fundamental right to their mother tongue, and standing courageously against the denial of the Kurdish identity. Zara, along with her colleagues in Nojîn (Nozhin), a Non-Governmental Organization, has persevered in her path for years despite the difficult circumstances in Rojhelat, where her language and identity continue to be criminalised.

Despite facing severe threats, unjust sentences and imprisonment, Zara has bravely spoken out against these language and identity injustices by raising awareness among people inside as well as outside Kurdistan. Her endeavours have had a significant impact and have made her a symbol of inspiration for many youths and women. Therefore, the Jemal Nebez Award Commission is pleased and honoured to present the award to Zara Mohammadi.

Further details regarding the award presentation will be provided on the Foundation's website at a later date.

Haci Akman
Professor
Dept. of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion,
University of Bergen
Norway
On Behalf of The Jemal Nebez Award Commission (Berlin, Germany)
March 21, 2023

As the JN Awardee 2023 all Jemal Nebez Awardees that may be recog-nized in future will also be outstanding and special in their own way

In the following we provide some details on Jemal's background and personality through which he wa able to create his legacy work.

Jemal Nebez was a very thorough and multidisciplinary thinker. He applied the approach he developed - guided by moral and scientific principles - in all spheres of his life.

His first intellectual love was for the natural sciences. At college, he chose the teaching profession for high schools and the subjects of physics and mathematics.

In the years before, his versatile talents had already become evident. His father had him taught several languages as a child, and as an adolescent, he began to write his own texts.

As years went by, he proved his extraordinary abilities in many fields. He was able to recognize linguistic connections, enrich the science of history, and investigate the causes of the disadvantages of his people in a lifelong and incorruptible way and expose several of them.

As a scientist and knowledge-based character, he was considered a human capital who was well-known for his trustworthiness and wise judgment in social and political arenas.

All this together, not least the fact that Jemal Nebez was a Kurd and consciously identified himself as such in all situations in life, made him a towring thinker and an exceptional personality.

The Jemal Nebez Awardees - and their achievements - will be outstanding in their own way.

Awarding the Jemal Nebez Prize to individuals, groups, or projects

The standardized fields in which the Jemal Nebez Science Prize can be awarded are extensive, namely politics, law, history, linguistics, art, literature, music, mathematics, medicine, and natural science.

The Jemal Nebez Science Prize can be awarded to individuals worthy of distinction as well as to groups or projects.

Biennial Award

Ideally, the prize should be awarded every two years.

Our solution for the search for and selection of candidates

Upon a suggestion from the Advisory Board, in February 2022, the Executive Board submitted an inquiry to the authorities as to whether our outsourcing the identification of suitable candidates for the Jemal Nebez Award and having them shortlisted for us was acceptable. We were informed that there were no objections under foundation law to this procedure. In March 2022, we commissioned Sirwan Renas (from Rojhelat or Eastern Kurdistan, who currently lives in the USA) to form a multi-member commission, which he succeeded in doing, and as its organizer he continues to act, also beyond the 2023 award realization.