We are incredibly happy to share the news that Safaa Odah, the Palestinian cartoonist who received our 2026 international award, is out of Gaza and has arrived safely in France. Safaa is a fellow of the Collège de France’s PAUSE program, which supports scientists and artists at risk.

Last May, on World Press Freedom Day, at our Award ceremony in Geneva, Safaa accepted her prize by video, live from her tent in Gaza – the same tent on which she would draw when she had no other means to express herself. She received a standing ovation from 600 people in Switzerland.

We now look forward, together with the City of Geneva, to welcoming Safaa in person and finally placing her trophy in her hands.

We are grateful to the government of France for ultimately honoring its commitment to welcome Safaa. The Freedom Cartoonists Foundation, together with Cartooning for Peace in Paris,  Cartoonists Rights in the United States, and other allied organizations, contributed to making this happy outcome possible.

To everyone who helped make this possible: thank you! In particular, big thanks to Collège de France/Programme PAUSE, Maison des auteurs / Cité de la BD et de l’Image, Ecole Européenne Supérieure de l’Image (EESI), Mounir Satouri and Emad Hajjaj. 

And to Safaa: Welcome to safety and a land of peace.

Patrick Chappatte,
Chair of the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation