Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

2 O viedo | C ampoamor T heatre | 24 th N ovember 1994 Despite all the severe problems and obstacles which the Palestinian National Authority is facing, especially those involving the reconstruction of the infrastructure which has been completely destroyed during the occupation, we have been able to set the basis of the National Authority, and the governmental institutions and ministries, all of which have started carrying out their duties and responsibilities in regulating and fulfilling the daily needs of the Palestinian citizens, implementing their future plans and programs, in addition to the enormous efforts in maintaining security and order for the establishment of a democratic and civic society. Here we state again that the choice of the Palestinian People is Peace, as a strategic goal. Furthermore, it reflects its genuine desire of laying the foundation of a just peace, and the determination of our people towards the self-building process. Ladies and Gentlemen, we look forward to the future with hearts filled with hope and persistence to make this land, the Holy Land, an oasis of faith, peace, freedom, stability and prosperity. One of the most important means towards the reinforcement of the Peace Process, and guaranteeing its continuation so as to achieve its goals, is by enabling the Palestinian People to choose their representatives and constituencies, freely, through an honest election process, under International supervision so as to give those representatives the opportunity to carry out their duties and responsibilities and to deal with the difficult tasks awaiting them. The electoral due process is closely linked to the hand-over and the early empowerment of the remaining fields of responsibilities on the rest of the Palestinian Territories. From that point arises the urgent and the basic need for the completion and implementation of the DOP and the subsequent Cairo Agreement in order to deploy the Palestinian National Authority’s apparatus in all the Palestinian territories. The special and unique status that we hold for Jerusalem, Palestinians, Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike, urges me to call on all the parties concerned to make this sacred City a city for the enlightenment of peace, hope and coexistence. The advancement on the Peace Process must reflect on the daily lives of our People. In addition to the fact that it is crucial for Palestinian citizens to feel the change in order to increase their faith in and support for the Peace Process. Ladies and Gentlemen, we place great hope in the World Bank to take the initiative and to rise up to their moral, political and human responsibilities towards our people, who have suffered and still are suffering greatly in severe and cruel living conditions. Furthermore, we call on the World Bank to increase its efforts in accelerating the fulfilment of our People’s basic needs, to implement the projects and programs that would insure the reconstruction of the infrastructure for the sake of insuring a better life for the Palestinian People who aspire to a prosperous, flourishing, and stable future for the generations to come. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a very basic right for our people to live in security, like all other World Nations must coexist together on the basis of justice, democracy, equality and national and human dignity under a genuine peace in the land of Palestine, the land of peace. Yaser Arafat — Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation 1994 Yaser Arafat was President of the Palestinian National Authority from 1996 to 2004. From 2001, he lived under house arrest. — Excerpt from the speech given on the occasion of receiving the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on 24/11/1994.