A Palestinian Voice

Hanan Ashrawi is a Palestinian leader, legislator, activist, and scholar. She was the first woman to be elected to the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (2009) and she currently holds a seat in that organization, which is the highest executive body in Palestine. Ashrawi has been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 1996 and was also appointed as the Palestinian Authority Minister of Higher Education and Research in the same year. Ashrawi also served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace process, beginning with the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.

As a civil society activist, she founded MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, in 1999 and continues to serve as head of its board of directors. The same year, Ashrawi founded the National Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN). Additionally, she is the founder of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) and has served as its commissioner since 1994. As an academic, she founded and chaired the Department of English at Birzeit University and became dean of the faculty of arts. She is the recipient of a number of honorary degrees as well as distinguished awards from various international and local organizations.