The announcement by the Sydney Peace Foundation that the recipient of the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize will be Dr. Hanan Ashrawi was pursued by a vicious campaign of vilification and distortion that sought to overturn the Foundation’s unanimous jury decision.

A vocal segment of Australia's Jewish community lobbied furiously to have the Premier of NSW, Bob Carr, and the University of Sydney disassociate itself from the award. While the University withdrew the use of its Great Hall for the presentation, despite it having been available for previous awards, Mr. Carr resisted the pressure and delivered the prize to Dr. Ashrawi.

The hostility perpetuated by some in the Jewish lobby was defeated when Dr. Ashrawi received a warm welcome and a standing ovation from an overflowing audience, as she delivered her acceptance speech.

Sadly, however, the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Lucy Turnbull, caved in to the pressure and solely took the decision to disassociate the City of Sydney, a sponsor of the prize, from the presentation, much to the disapproval of her staff. Without verifying the facts, Turnbull simply took the position supported by some in the Australian Jewish community to heart, and reiterated them as her reasons for boycotting the event.

According to a recent article in The Australian, entitled “Intrigue in the pot at Town Hall,” Turnball’s position backfired.

“It is hard to know how much help the new Liberal candidate for the blue-ribbon seat of Wentworth, the imperious republican Malcolm Turnbull, gained from his wife Lucy's decision last year, as lord mayor of Sydney, to boycott the presentation of the Sydney Peace Prize to Hanan Ashrawi. Whether or not it helped Malcolm win last weekend's pre-selection, it killed his wife in the City of Sydney.”

“While [former federal ALP communications minister Michael] Lee was well-regarded by those who worked with him as a minister in the Keating government and as an effective grassroots campaigner, he was initially given little chance of beating the incumbent. Then the Peace Prize debacle erupted. It had such an effect on inner-city residents that Lucy Turnbull offered to meet Ashrawi privately, but to no avail. Staring defeat in the face, rumors that Lucy Turnbull was withdrawing from the race were confirmed by mid January this year.”

Commenting on the controversy surrounding her award, Dr. Ashrawi said, "those who tried to give the erroneous impression that Sydney was an inhospitable place have been proven wrong." With the downfall of Lucy Turnbull, the residents of Sydney have sent a strong message that they “have chosen to intervene on the side of those who have decided to take risks for peace rather than those who thrive on hate and conflict.”