Hanan Ashrawi vindicated!

[David Quarter]

  She shouldn't by any means be given a heroe's status. She is a member 
of many of the same neo-liberal think tanks to a large degree responsible 
for deplorable condition of the Palestinians. 


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Support Sydney Peace Prize to Dr Hanan Ashrawi 
- Support Sydney Peace Prize to Dr Hanan Ashrawi - 

We strongly commend the Sydney Peace Foundation, under the auspice of 
the University of Sydney, for awarding the Sydney Peace Prize to Dr Hanan 
Ashrawi in recognition of “her commitment to human rights, to the peace 
process in the Middle East and for her courage in speaking against 
oppression, against corruption and for justice”.

Hanan Ashrawi grew up in the West Bank town of Ramallah, just outside 
Jerusalem. She studied English Literature at the American University of 
Beirut in Lebanon, after which she was awarded her PhD in the USA.

Dr Hanan Ashrawi became chair of the Department of English and then 
Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Bir Zeit University, becoming more actively 
involved in the Palestinian cause. She participated in speeches, 
performances and demonstrations, and founded and led the Bir Zeit 
University Legal Aid Committee and Human Rights Action Project. 

>From 1991 through 1993 Dr Hanan Ashrawi served as the Official 
Spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace 
Process. 

Dr Ashrawi was Minister for Higher Education and Research in the 
Palestinian Authority. In 1998, she resigned to better pursue her human 
rights advocacy. Dr Ashrawi remains a member of the Palestinian 
Legislative Council

Dr. Ashrawi is a member of the Independent International Commission on 
Kosovo and of numerous international advisory boards including the Council 
on Foreign Relations, the World Bank Middle East and North Africa Region 
(MENA), and the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development 
(UNRISD). Dr Hanan Ashrawi is presently Secretary General of MIFTAH, 
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and 
Democracy.

She is a declared advocate of non-violence and a peaceful two state 
solution to the Palestine/ Israel conflict. Her own words speak most 
eloquently of her commitment to justice and peace:

“The dynamics of violence, revenge and all other forms of dehumanization 
seem to have taken hold as both Palestinians and Israelis are locked in a 
fatal embrace that promises to plunge both peoples into the abyss


“How did we allow Sharon to formulate our agenda and dictate our timing by 
responding to his calculated provocations specifically designed to draw us 
within his cycle or retribution? Pain, grief and the impulse for revenge are 
negative motivations that give rise to mutually destructive acts of 
desperation. No relief and no remedy can be found in that course.

“Why and when did we allow a few from our midst to interpret Israeli military 
attacks on innocent Palestinian lives as license to do the same to their 
civilians? [February, 2002: “The (US) Progressive’]”

One cannot deny the commitment and resilience Dr Hanan Ashrawi has 
demonstrated over the years in advocating for peace and human rights and 
in building a healthy dialogue to resolve the long-term Israel/Palestine 
conflict.
**************************************************************************************
From:           	Louis Proyect <lnp3 at panix.com>

> Chronicle of Higher Education, Friday, November 7, 2003
> 
> Australian University Awards Peace Prize to Palestinian Activist After 
> Weeks of Controversy
> By DAVID COHEN
> 
> 


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