Hanan Ashrawi

Who is Hanan Ashrawi?

Hanan Daoud Khalil Ashrawi is a Palestinian legislator, activist, and scholar. She was a protégé and later colleague and close friend of Edward Said. Ashrawi was an important leader during the First Intifada, served as the official spokesperson for the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process, and has been elected numerous times to the Palestinian Legislative Council. Ashrawi is a member of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Third Way party. She is the first woman elected to the Palestinian National Council.

Ashrawi serves on the Advisory Board of several international and local organizations including the World Bank Middle East and North Africa, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and the International Human Rights Council.

She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in literature in the Department of English at the American University of Beirut. Ashrawi also has a Ph.D. in Medieval and Comparative Literature from the University of Virginia.