U.S. professor becomes first Jew to win 'Arab Nobel Prize'

U.S. professor becomes first Jew to win 'Arab Nobel Prize'

www.haaretz.com

An American professor has become the first Jew to win the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine, popularly known as the "Arab Nobel Prize."

Stanford professor Ronald Levy, who heads the university's Oncology department, told Haaretz that as an American Jew married to an Israeli it never crossed his mind that he might win the Saudi-financed competition.

"I didn't think there was much chance, and I forgot about it," Levy said. "It's an Arab country, and I didn?t think they are likely to pick a Jew."

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When the institutions of Saudi Arabia awarded this prestigious prize to an American who happens to be a Jew, it proves the that Saudi is becoming a nation of laws.

Prof. Levy won the award for the work he has done and was considered despite his familial affiliations to Israel. Even though Arabs and people around the world were distraught at the horrors subjected to the Palestinian people in Gaza by Israel, to extent this emotion against Jewish people would be wrong.

I am glad to see Saudi Arabia develop into a mature country with institutions that only consider merit. It is a case of taking the high road in a small way. In contrast, those that do not will merely show their grotesque nature.

www.haaretz.com
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