Dr. Hanan Ashrawi

Dr. Ashrawi has recently become the Minister of Information for the Arab League, and is an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. She has an M.A. from the American University of Beirut and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Ashrawi is the founder and Secretary General of the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She was the Spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Process from 1991-1993. She is a professor at Birzeit University, where she has been chair of the English Department and Dean of the Faculty of Arts.

Dr. Ashrawi’s books include This Side of Peace: A Personal Account (1995) and anthologies of poetry, fiction, and literary criticism. She serves on the international advisory boards of the Council on Foreign Relations (Washington, D.C.), UNRISD, and others, and is on the Board of Trustees of the Carter Center.