Raja Shehadeh: Honoured by Palestinian National Authority

The Orwell Prize is delighted to announce that Raja Shehadeh, winner of the Orwell Prize for Books 2008 for Palestinian Walks (Profile), has recently been honoured by Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority.

On 9th July 2008, Raja was honoured for both his achievements as a human rights lawyer and a writer. It also prompted the Palestinian National Authority to resume annual prizes in recognition of notable cultural achievements made by Palestinian artists.

Andrew Franklin, M.D. of Profile Books, said: “Raja Shehadeh is a most wonderful writer. For too long this was something of a secret. But now he has won the George Orwell Prize the story is breaking and his sales are soaring too. It is marvellous that he is also being honoured in his homeland, because how ever much it matters to receive international recognition, most writers mind about their home first.”

Raja himself said: “To receive praise for my work at home has a special meaning for me. Also in the book I write freely of my views on the recent politics of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. To be honoured for this work despite its critical stance is measure of the maturity and liberal views of the PM and those in power in Palestine. It was also especially significant for me that despite the difficulties in which the Palestinian Authority finds itself and its ongoing struggle to survive, it found the time to pay tribute to my book and to announce that the literature prize was being revived. I was generally overwhelmed by the strength of emotion and appreciation for my work in general and of this book in particular.”

You can read Salam Fayyad's speech below.

Remarks by Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, on the occasion honouring Mr. Raja Shehadeh

Dear guests,

Brothers and sisters,

Creative professor Raja Shehadeh,

Nobel Prize winner Garcia Marquez was constantly asked the secret of his world-wide reputation, to which he replied, “holding firm to my local environment of Colombia.”

We are gathered today to honor Raja Shehadeh, lawyer and writer, who offers us powerful words in his recent book, Palestinian Walks, a work that describes spiritual visits around Ramallah, Jericho and other Palestinian cities. His political commitment and creative style remind us of George Orwell, the author in whose name this award is given.

Orwell has been called “the conscience of the twentieth century.” He criticized war, despotism, and violations of human dignity. He despised discrimination based on race and class. He dreamed of a bright future for all people. In a similar vein, Shehadeh dreams of an end to the suffering and dispossession of Palestinians and presents this vision with great imaginative and literary power.

So let us congratulate Raja Shehadeh. Firstly, you were the courageous lawyer who used the law as a weapon to defend Palestinians in their struggle to prevent their land from being confiscated. Unfortunately, brute force and bulldozers have usually proved stronger than legal justice. However, your labors have not been in vain. You have exposed the Israeli occupation as both illegal and immoral, as an embarrassing defect for a country that speaks in the name of democracy.

In Palestinian Walks, Shehadeh narrates the damage that the occupation has brought to our land. All aspects of social and natural life have been brutalized and uprooted.

Raja portrays the lives of farmers working their land in villages west of Ramallah. “Sarha” is an Arabic word that describes these men and their deeply spiritual attachment to the soil they cultivate.

The barbarism of the occupation and of the settlements lay waste to the village, the spring, the groves. The Apartheid Wall divides our land and weakens our social relationship. In the face of efforts to dominate and control, we assert our right to freedom, peace and justice, and by so doing, maintain our moral superiority.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Sisters and Brothers.

This international prize, earned by Shehadeh, is a testament to the creativity which still can flourish under the most difficult conditions faced by a people. We must give priority to nurturing the development and expression of such creativity. Towards this end, I am pleased to announce on this occasion the resumption of the annual prizes given out by the Palestinian National Authority for excellence in the fields of literature, the arts and the humanities.

Here, I call for enhancing the role of writers, poets, artists, musicians, sculptors and those working in the theater, to strengthen the cultural scene based on principles of freedom of speech and respect for other peoples’ opinions, and on openness both to the Arab world and the world at large.

In conclusion, allow me to congratulate our creative lawyer, Raja Shehadeh, and to announce that our government will translate his book for the benefit of our homeland.

Thanks to those who raise the country's name high, especially during these grim times.

Thank you, Raja, for bringing us stories of the land, with all your eloquence and moral passion.

May peace and God's mercy and blessings be with you.