In this episode of Arab Voices (# 1028), we will air the keynote address of Dr. Hanan Ashrawi on the topic What, If Any, Policies Have Changed Since the Trump Administration, and New Hope for Palestine's Future.
Dr. Ashrawi delivered that keynote address at the annual 2022 Israel Lobby Conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on March 4, 2022, co-hosted by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy.
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi was the first woman to be elected a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2009. She served as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace process from 1991-1993 and participated in the 1991-1992 Madrid peace conference as a member of the Palestinian Leadership Committee delegation. In 1993, Dr. Ashrawi founded the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens Rights (PICCR) to investigate Israeli and Palestinian human rights violations. She chronicled her involvement in her book This Side of Peace: A Personal Account (1995). In 1996, Ashrawi was elected and subsequently reelected many times to the Palestinian Legislative Council. In 1996, she also accepted the post of Minister of Higher Education and Research. In 1998, Ashrawi founded and continues to serve in MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. In December 2020, she resigned from the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.