GQ Middle East made the announcement and shared a post on Saint Levant on Instagram with a caption stating: "Embodying a rich multicultural upbringing rooted in the struggles and triumphs of Palestine, Algeria, France, and Serbia, his music speak volumes of resilience and hope. An example of this is his inaugural EP ‘From Gaza, With Love’ released in March 2023. “I’ve travelled across the world and yet still believe that Palestinians are some of the most loving people on this planet” he says, reminding the world that Palestinians, like any other people on this earth deserve to live it."
During his acceptance speech at Shangri La in Paris on November 30, the singer who hails from Gaza dedicated his win to the children of Palestine.
Accepting the honour, Marwan known as Saint Levant revealed how he had been asked to not mention anything related to Palestine as Gaza and the West Bank continue to suffer under Israel's attacks. “They told me not to mention Palestine if I won this prize tonight,” he said.
"But you cannot censor me and I cannot stay silent while more than 8000 Palestinian children have been murdered by the Israeli occupation that has been going on for 75 years... It’s not a conflict. It’s a 75-year-old occupation... And if I had the time, I’d tell you the story of those Palestinian children. All these kids had a voice. A body, a face, a name and dreams like all of us. And this prize is for them."