Everything about Hanan Ashrawi totally explained
Hanan Daoud Khalil Ashrawi (b. October 8, 1946) is a
Palestinian scholar and political activist. She is a protege and later colleague and close friend of
Edward Said. Ashrawi was an important leader during the
First Intifada, served as the official spokesperson for the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process, and has been elected numerous times to the
Palestinian Legislative Council.
She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in literature in the Department of English at the
American University of Beirut. Ashrawi also has a
Ph.D. in Medieval and Comparative Literature from the
University of Virginia.
Personal life
Ashrawi was born to
Palestinian Christian parents on
October 8 1946 in the
West Bank city of
Nablus. Her father, Daoud Mikhail, was a founder of the
Palestine Liberation Organization and her mother was of
Lebanese descent. Her family later moved to
Ramallah, where she attended the
Ramallah Friends Girls School. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in literature in the Department of English at the
American University of Beirut. Ashrawi also has a
Ph.D. in Medieval and Comparative Literature from the
University of Virginia. While a graduate student in literature at the American University in Beirut she dated
Peter Jennings of
ABC News who was then stationed there as ABC's Beirut bureau chief.
She was married on
August 8 1975 to
Emil Ashrawi, a Christian Jerusalemite (born
1951) who is now a photographer and a theater director. Together they've two daughters, Amal (b. 1977) and Zeina (b. 1981).
Political Activism
Ashrawi returned to the
West Bank in
1973 to establish the Department of English at
Birzeit University. She served as Chair of that department from
1973 to
1978, and again from
1981 through
1984; and from
1986-
1990 she served the university as Dean of the Faculty of Arts. She remained a faculty member at Birzeit University until 1995, publishing numerous poems, short stories, papers and articles on Palestinian culture, literature, and politics.
Ashrawi's political activism in the occupied territories began almost as early as her academic career at Birzeit. In
1974, while the university was suffering intermittent closures by the
Israeli military, she founded the Birzeit University Legal Aid Committee/Human Rights Action Project. Her political work took a greater leap in
1988 during the
First Intifada, when she joined the Intifada Political Committee, serving on its Diplomatic Committee until
1993. From
1991 to
1993 she served as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process and a member of the Leadership/Guidance Committee and executive committee of the delegation.
From
1993 to
1995, with the signing of the
Oslo Accords by
Yasser Arafat and
Yitzhak Rabin, Palestinian self-rule was established, and Ashrawi headed the Preparatory Committee of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights in Jerusalem. Ashrawi has also served since
1996 as an elected member of the
Palestinian Legislative Council,
Jerusalem Governorate.
In 1996 Ashrawi was appointed the Palestinian Authority Minister of Higher Education and Research, but she resigned the post in
1998 in protest against political corruption, specifically Arafat's handling of peace talks.
In 1998, Ashrawi founded
MIFTAH -- the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, an initiative which works towards respect for human rights, democracy and peace.
In 2003 Ashrawi was awarded the
Sydney Peace Prize. Her selection was controversial among conservative Australians, who decried Ashrawi as "an apologist for terrorism". A more sympathetic account of Ashrawi's selection can be found in
Antony Loewenstein's
My Israel Question.
Ashrawi is a member of
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's
Third Way party.
Ashrawi holds honorary degrees from
Earlham College and
Smith College.
Works Published
- Anthology of Palestinian Literature (ed).
- The Modern Palestinian Short Story: An Introduction to Practical Criticism
- Contemporary Palestinian Literature under Occupation
- Contemporary Palestinian Poetry and Fiction
- Literary Translation: Theory and Practice
- This Side of Peace: A Personal Account (ISBN 0-684-80294-5)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hanan Ashrawi'.
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