Dr. Hanan Ashrawi- Palestine: Is Peace Possible?

A Palestinian Christian political activist and scholar, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi has been described as one of the most influential women in the Middle East. She has served as Minister of Higher Education and Research, has been elected numerous times to the Palestinian Legislative Council, and was the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation during the First Intifada. She founded the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights, which investigates Israeli and Palestinian human rights violations, and MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. She received the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize (an award previously given to Professor Mohammad Yunus and Archbishop Desmond Tutu) for her lifelong work for peace and justice and women's rights. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, she also won the Defender of Democracy Award and the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation. Today, she serves on numerous international advisory boards including the Council on Foreign Relations, the World Bank Middle East and North Africa Region, and the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. Dr. Ashrawi founded and chaired the Department of English at Birzeit University and is the author of several books on Palestinian literature.