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Hanan Ashrawi: Profile and Biography Overview Hanan Ashrawi has been feted as a voice of moderation for the Palestinians since 1988 when she became a spokesperson for the PLO during the first Intifada in the late 1980’s.[1] As a feminist, a Palestinian and a PhD from an American university, Ashrawi became an internationally recognized human rights activist. She held important posts in the PA and in international organizations and recently founded her own organization, MIFTA, The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. Ashrawi appeared frequently on American television as the voice of the Palestinians, and remains a much sought after speaker on US campuses where enthusiastic audiences hail her as the voice of Palestinian moderation, democracy and reason and as a peacemaker. Only Edward Said surpassed her in prominence and popularity. Despite Ashrawi’s reputation, she is not a moderate. Consider some of her statements:
[1] New York Times. August 30, 2002 [2] AP article located at www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/03/16/international1340EST0623.DTL [3] Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda. July 2, 1998 [4] www.caabu.org/press/articles/ashrawi-durban-speech.html [5] Madrid Press Conference, 1991 [6] Comment in a speech in WA DC Feb 2001: “Jesus was a Palestinian.” WA Jewish Week, Feb 22, 2001 [7] (Ashrawi, “Come November,” 8/2/00 at www.miftah.org?DocId=139 . [8] (“Interview with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi in Al-Mushahid Assiyasi, a London based pan-Arab weekly magazine 1/16/02. Can be seen at http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=200201161664554649 [9] Ashrawi in “The Public Spirit”, Oct 1, 2001 at www.miftah.org?DocID=260 [10] (www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2002/002/9.17.html ) [11] Ashrawi, This Side of Peace, p 12 [12] Ashrawi’s Address to World Conference Against Racism, Aug 28, 2001 at www.caabu.org/press/articles/ashrawi-durbanspeech.html [13] http://us.altnews.com.au/nuke/print.php?sid=1972 Biography Hanan Ashrawi was born in Ramallah in 1946 to a politically active Arab Christian family. Her mother was Lebanese, her father a physician who had joined the Palestinian forces in the 1948 War, who was part of the resistance against Jordan and against Israel after the War and who was involved in the founding of the PLO.[1] Ashrawi attended a Quaker school in Ramallah, then got her BA and MA in English literature at the American University in Beirut. While she was in Beirut, the 1967 War broke out and Israel’s capture of the Territories turned her into an activist for the Palestinian cause. Ashrawi subsequently went to the US where she got her PhD at the University of Virginia. Her field was Medieval English Literature, though her thesis was not on medieval literature, as its title indicates--The Contemporary Literature of Palestine: Poetry and Fiction. While she was at UVA, Ashrawi became a student activist and absorbed the rhetoric and ideology of the anti-War, Women’s, Colonial, and Black Liberation movements that she would later use to plead the Palestinian cause. Ashrawi returned to the West Bank in 1973 and became a professor and later a dean at Bir Zeit University. She played a prominent role in the First Intifada which erupted in 1988, and served on the Intifada Political Committee and the Intifada Diplomatic Committee (1988-1993). When peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians began at the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991, Ashrawi served as the representative of the PLO. Her prominence did not diminish when the Oslo Peace Process upstaged the Madrid Conference in 1993. Ashrawi became the public, American voice of the PLO. She was appointed head of the PLO’s mission in Washington DC, served on the Palestinian Legislative Council, and was appointed PA Minister of Higher Education and Research from 1996 to 1998. Though Ashrawi had some public differences with Yasser Arafat over his undemocratic rule, she did not break ties with him. Today she is head of the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTA), an organization she founded. Ashrawi had risen to international prominence and served on many international advisory boards, including the Council on Foreign Relations, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and the World Bank Middle East and North Africa Region. She is also a prolific writer of articles about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and has published books on Palestinian literature.[2] While the New York Times reported that Ashrawi’s “supporters in the US defend her as a visionary peace activist,” the description seems inappropriate.[3] Ashrawi presents the customary pro-Palestinian narrative that paints Israel as the evil aggressor, Palestinians as Israel’s hapless, helpless innocent victims and the Nakba as the unjust theft of the Palestinian homeland and state. She has consistently taken hard line positions. Among them:
[1] Ashrawi, This Side of Peace, 1995, p. 24 and pp. 22-23 and Barbara Amiel, “Daughter of the Intifada,” (Interview with Ashrawi), The Times on Sunday, June 19, 1993 at http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:p8NnHVggSooJ:www.austafi.org/papers/Ashrawi_Amiel.pdf+%22Barbara+Amiel%22+Ashrawi+%22Daughter+of+the+Intifada%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 and http://www.austafi.org/papers/Ashrawi_Amiel.pdf [2] More information on Ashrawi’s life can be found at: http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/Elberg/Ashrawi/Ashrawi.html http://www.la.utexas.edu/chenry/usme/sp2001/roles/msg00005.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/wiwp/dyncon/ashrawi.shtml [3] New York Times, 8/30/02 [4] Interview at Earlham College, 1999, (http://word.cs.earlham.edu/issues/XIV/102299/news64.html ) [5] (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, “Special Report,” by Rachelle Marshall, April 1996 at www.washington-report.org/backissues/0496/9604017.htm ) [6] Daniel Mandel, “Image & Reality,” Austrailia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, at www.aijac.org.au/review/1999/247/ashrawi.html [7] (Ashrawi, “Come November,” 8/2/00 at www.miftah.org DocId="139. [8] Report on Ashrawi’s talk at UCSB April 8, 2001, article at www.wrmea.com/archives/may-june01/0105033.html [9] Ashrawi in “The Public Spirit”, Oct 1, 2001 at www.miftah.org?DocID=260 [10] …."(Ashrawi, “Back to Basics”, 4/27/01, at www.miftah.org?DocId=158 ) [11] Speech at www.sabeel.org/news/cstone24/page4.html ) [12] (“Interview with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi in Al-Mushahid Assiyasi, a London based pan-Arab weekly magazine 1/16/02. Can be seen at http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=200201161664554649 ) Accusations and Defamations Ashrawi opposed the Declaration of Principles, which were the basis for the 1993 Oslo Peace Process: "In the current peace process [Oslo] I have refused to participate because I think the (1993) Declaration of Principles exploits the weakness of the Palestinians and allows the Israelis to dictate…."[1] Ashrawi opposed amending the PLO Charter, Which calls for the destruction of Israel: "Hanan Ashrawi, ….agrees that the Charter must not be amended without an Israeli commitment to Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem." [2] Changing the Charter, "represented too big a concession at that time to the Israelis."[3] Ashrawi sees America's war on terrorism as part of a Sharon Conspiracy: "Sharon has succeeded in hijacking the global agenda and in imposing his particular brand of extremist racism not only on Israeli public opinion, but also on the United States and the rest of the world." (Q: Can Israel really force the whole world to live Sharon's obsessions?) "Yes, it can. Thanks to unlimited American support and encouragement, Israel's tentacles have reached countries as distant as Pakistan, India and others…It is clear that Sharon's agenda reigns supreme…"[4] Ashrawi believes that Israel colludes with the American media to vilify Arabs: "…The Arabs are scared of being classified by the Americans as ‘evil' forces. These fears did not come from a vacuum; they were results of a well thought out plan. Do you believe that the systematic campaigns targeting Egypt and Saudi Arabia are unrelated to everything we have been saying? These are well-planned campaigns. In trying to neutralize the largest Arab country and pushing the administration to commit aggression against the rest, the US media has not been working in a vacuum…"[5] Ashrawi believes that Israel's agenda dominates the US Congress: "… Sharon's rhetoric and his policies, as well as racism and extremism, have become the norm, not only within the pro-Israel lobby, but also in the US Congress. Many congressmen are saying worse things than the Israelis….Sharon…as soon as he was in office, launched a public relations campaign disconnected from reality, but which was dealt with as if it was reality."[6] Ashrawi justifies the murder of Israeli soldiers and civilians in terrorist acts: "The army of occupation and the settlers have become legitimate and select targets of the Palestinian resistance."[7] Ashrawi supports the use of violence by Palestinians: "The occupation army won't throw flowers at nonviolent crowds… People have the right to resist occupation. The only language the Palestinians are hearing is violence."[8] Ashrawi condemns suicide bombings because they are politically ineffective, not because they are inhumane war crimes: "Military operations can be judged to be positive or negative only by the extent to which they realize political goals. Accordingly, there is a need to reconsider these acts…."[9] "I am opposed to these operations (suicide bombings). The young men who sacrifice their lives in such operations are in fact victims twice. I believe resistance to occupation should be carried out through mechanisms that utilize the strengths of the Palestinian people and do not cause them harm…the tendency toward armed attacks and suicide bombings might lead us into Sharon's trap."[10] Ashrawi mockingly compares Israel to white colonialists or slave owners who treat the colored natives with contempt: "Palestinians proceeded to behave like "ungrateful natives," biting the hand that feeds them, with no appreciation of the white man's burden of Barak…"[11] Ashrawi claims that Sharon is a war criminal who should face prosecution in the Belgian Court: "Such is the message that Sharon must hear from the Belgian courts for his persistent war crimes."[12] Ashrawi claims that a Palestinian State existed by virtue of her Palestinian birth certificate: "There was a Palestinian state…Just because we were under occupation. Palestine existed….My birth certificate says Palestine…Anything before '47 said Palestine."[13] Ashrawi negates Jewish ties to Israel: Ashrawi claims that the Land of Israel has no historical basis.[14] Ashrawi claimed that Israel's left wing leaders were turncoats because they supported Sharon's efforts to wipe out the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure: "The ilks of Peres and Ben Eliezer are no longer the objects of amazement and condemnation since they have proven their turncoat, opportunistic bents beyond question, having been willingly co-opted by the Sharon extremist government for both the misleading spin and dirty tricks department." They succumbed to the "ultra-nationalist, xenophobic version of popular politics…"[15] Ashrawi denies that a campaign of incitement exists against Israel. Questioned about the June 2002 "baby bomber photo," Ashrawi told the BBC "To me it is a …strange heroism. But at the same time it is part of the distortion that results from ongoing victimization, incursions, targeting civilians, a whole captive Palestinian population." (BBC News 6/28/02) [16] Ashrawi denounced efforts to control violent protests. "Scores of other detainees are being held in other centers for incitement and for escalating the protests that had brought grief to the Israelis who, instead of releasing the Palestinian prisoners whom they continue to hold unjustly and whose plight had caused the protests in the first place, demanded the arrest and silencing of protestors." (Ashrawi, "Sharper than the Sharpest Sword," 5/30/00) Ashrawi makes maximalist demands: "We are not going to relinquish our right of return." (Ashrawi speech to press conference of the Council for Palestinian Restitution and Reparation) [17] "My vision for the future is very simple. I want a free, independent, democratic, viable State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital and all the territories occupied in 1967, and I want the right of return for the Palestinian refugees." (5/30/02 Talk at Sabeel Solidarity Visit)[18] [1] Interview at Earlham College, 1999, (http://word.cs.earlham.edu/issues/XIV/102299/news64.html ) [1] Interview at Earlham College, 1999, (http://word.cs.earlham.edu/issues/XIV/102299/news64.html ) [2] (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, "Special Report," by Rachelle Marshall, April 1996 at www.washington-report.org/backissues/0496/9604017.htm ) [3] Daniel Mandel, "Image & Reality," Austrailia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, at www.aijac.org.au/review/1999/247/ashrawi.html [4] ("Interview with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi in Al-Mushahid Assiyasi, a London based pan-Arab weekly magazine 1/16/02. Can be seen at http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=200201161664554649 ) [5] ("Interview with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi in Al-Mushahid Assiyasi, a London based pan-Arab weekly magazine 1/16/02. Can be seen at http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=200201161664554649 ) [6] ("Interview with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi in Al-Mushahid Assiyasi, a London based pan-Arab weekly magazine 1/16/02. Can be seen at http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=200201161664554649 ) [7] AP, 11/15/00 at www.camera.org/docs/alert/ashrawi2.html [7] AP, 11/15/00 at www.camera.org/docs/alert/ashrawi2.html [8] Report on Ashrawi's talk at UCSB April 8, 2001, article at www.wrmea.com/archives/may-june01/0105033.html [9] text of the Palestinian Communique against Martyrdom Attacks, 6/19/02, translated by MEMRI at http://memri.or/bin/opener.cgi?Page=archives&ID=SP39302 [10] Ashrawi interview in Palestine Chronicle 1/16/02 at http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=200201161664554649 [11] http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId="163&CategoryId=1 [12] http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=163&CategoryId=1 [13] National Talk show in Boston, "The Connection," host Christopher Lydon, Aug. 2000, reported at www.camera.org/docs/oncamera/ochanan.html [14] Daniel Mandel, "Image & Reality," Austrailia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, at www.aijac.org.au/review/1999/247/ashrawi.html alsoin www.zoa.org/pressrel/20020830a.htm [15] Ashrawi, "A Question of Conscience," 1/11/02 at www.miftah.org DocId="169 [16] At http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2071561.stm [17] Speech available at www.ajds.org/au/Hanan%20Ashrawi.htm [18] Speech at www.sabeel.org/news/cstone24/page4.html Strategy Ashrawi’s stated goal is to promote Palestinian statehood and democracy, human rights and especially women’s rights within Palestinian society. More often, however, it appears that her main objective is to demonize Israel and to portray the Palestinians as innocent victims who have suffered one of the greatest injustices and most brutal oppressions in history and who are finally resisting this oppression. She closely follows Edward Said’s narrative line. Like him, she uses elaborate rhetoric and post-colonial human rights language though she doesn’t pull them off as well as he did. And, like Said, she has a burning moral outrage about the injustice done to the Palestinians. In essence, both have tried to adopt the Jewish historical narrative for the Palestinians, to turn the Palestinians into the modern world’s Jews. Ashrawi appeals to the American public because of her academic credentials and her command of the English language and of American political rhetoric. An upper-middle-class, well-educated, Christian woman, she seems refined, uses a Western debating style and is able to draw upon her familiarity with the language of the Human Rights--liberationist Movements to inspire campus audiences. Her use of historical fact (albeit often fabricated) and of the neo-Marxist, post-colonial, feminist rhetoric of victimization makes her a particular favorite of academics and students. Ashrawi makes her case against Israel through a strategy of denial, fabrication, and personal emotional appeal. Using value-laden words like “apartheid”, “racism”, “colonialism”, and “ethnic cleansing”, Ashrawi seizes the moral high ground and renders irrelevant any opponent’s presentation of facts. Finally, in extravagant language similar to Edward Said’s, she dramatizes the suffering of Palestinian victims and the heroism of Palestinian resistance. Ashrawi is difficult to counter also because she uses another Edward Said technique. When faced with questions about Palestinian misdeeds, she does not go on the defensive. Instead she takes the offense, accuses Israel of committing these misdeeds and excuses the Palestinian of any culpability. |
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