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| Dr. Hanan Ashrawi |
Urgency of the moment demands full engagement in “ending the cruel and illegal occupation”
Editing by Carolyn Bennett
The question the international community should ask, Hanan
Ashrawi wrote this week at the Guardian, “is not who wants negotiations, but
who wants solutions.
The
answer is clear – one side wants to negotiate a permanent solution, the
other side wants permanent negotiations.
Who is Hanan Ashrawi?
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi is a Palestinian politician and peace
negotiator “known for straight-talking diplomacy.” She is one of the most
prominent speakers for the Palestinian people.
Born in 1946 in Ramallah (a town in the West Bank, administered
as part of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948) into a family
that included parents, Daoud Mikhail, a founding member of the Palestine
Liberation Organization; a devout Christian mother of Lebanese descent; and
relatives of Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Baptist and Muslim affiliation, Hanan Ashrawi
is among few who have as visibly represented the Palestinian people.
Palestinian legislator, activist, and scholar Hanan Daoud
Khalil Ashrawi was an important leader during the First Intifada. She has served
as the official representative for the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle
East peace process, since 1996 elected repeatedly to the Palestinian
Legislative Council, and until 1998 minister of higher education for the Palestinian
Authority. Dr. Ashrawi is a member of Palestinian Prime Minister
Salam Fayyad’s Third Way Party and the first woman elected to the Palestinian
National Council.
She serves on the Advisory Board of several international
and local organizations including the World Bank Middle East and North Africa
(MENA), United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and
the International Human Rights Council.
Dr. Ashrawi took academic credentials in Medieval and
Comparative Literature (doctorate at the University of Virginia-United States) and
in English (undergraduate and graduate degrees at the American University of
Beirut, Lebanon).
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shrawi continued her Guardian article the day before the General
Assembly voted overwhelmingly for upgrading Palestinian status in the United
Nations.
“We are farther today from having a serious peace partner than at
any time since we began this [peace] ‘process,’” she said.
[Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, at best, views negotiations in the context of photo opportunities and handshakes to improve his international image and keep public opinion quiet. At worst, he exploits the ‘process’ to continue settlement expansion, the annexation of Jerusalem, and the ‘enjoyment’ of an American-led legal cover to enable him to act with impunity.
“This, in fact, represents a severe provocation to our
people who have been on the receiving end of such an enormous injustice without
responding violently or illegally. While we have met our commitments, Israel
continues to renege on its obligations and to build on the 22 percent of the
remaining Palestinian land designated for the free sovereign state of
Palestine.
“… Rather than being perceived as a substitute for
negotiations, our efforts are consistent with the international community’s
objective of achieving a peaceful solution whereby Palestine and Israel can
live side by side in peace and security.
“… [Countries choosing] not to vote with Palestine will find
themselves on the wrong side of history ─ let alone morality, justice and
international law.
“Israel is deliberately destroying the two-state solution,
as well as the chances for peace and security in the region and beyond.
“It is high time that [wavering] countries recognize the
urgency of the moment and become fully engaged in ─
ending
the cruel and illegal occupation and
enabling the Palestinians to exercise
their right to self-determination and sovereignty and to live in freedom and
dignity on their own land.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday to the 193-member
UN General Assembly ─
The
moment has arrived for the world to say clearly: enough of aggression,
settlements and occupation.
Issue
a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine.
The
window of opportunity is narrowing and time is quickly running out.
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he United Nations General Assembly then voted overwhelmingly
to accord Palestine ‘Non-Member Observer State’ status.
Vote on Status of Palestine at United Nations: The draft
resolution on the Status of Palestine at the United Nations (document
A/67/L.28) was adopted by a recorded vote of 138 in favor to 9 against, with 41
abstentions, as follows:
YES votes
Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda,
Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium,
Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina
Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile,
China, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia,
Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan,
Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic,
Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali,
Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia,
Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru,
Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint
Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia,
Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South
Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden,
Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago,
Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United
Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia,
Zimbabwe.
NO votes
Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia
(Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, Panama, United States
ABSTENTIONS (tantamount to no)
Albania, Andorra, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Estonia, Fiji, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Malawi, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay,
Poland, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San
Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, United Kingdom, Vanuatu.
ABSENTEES
Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Liberia, Madagascar, Ukraine.
Sources and notes
This episode of One on One can be seen from Saturday,
September 26, at the following times GMT: Saturday: 0130, 1630; Sunday: 0430;
Monday: 0300, 1230.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/oneonone/2009/09/200992282911940941.html
Peace prize for Ashrawi─ Palestinian MP and human rights
activist Hanan Ashrawi has won the prestigious Sydney Peace Prize. Last
Modified: 08 Aug 2003 17:49 GMT
http://www.worldtrek.org/odyssey/mideast/ashrawi/ashrawibio.html
Wikipedia notes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanan_Ashrawi
Ramallah
Ramallah is a town in the West Bank, adjacent to the town of
Al-Bīrah (east) and north of Jerusalem. Administered as part of the British
mandate of Palestine (1920–48).
Ramallah was part of the West Bank territory taken by Arab
forces in the first of the Arab-Israeli wars (1948–49) and subsequently annexed
by Jordan. After the Six-Day War of 1967, Ramallah was under Israeli control as
part of the occupied West Bank territory until coming under the administration
of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the wake of the 1993 Oslo Accords.
It later became the centre of PA administration in the West
Bank. As an ancient settlement, Ramallah has buildings incorporating masonry
from the time of Herod the Great (reigned 37–4 BCE), but no complete structure
antedates the Crusades of the 11th century. Britannica
note
First Intifada
In December 1987, Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip killed
an Arab youth engaged in a protest. Widespread unrest broke out in the Israeli-occupied
territories, leading to 21 deaths in two weeks.
This was the start of the intifada (‘shaking’), a wave of
Palestinian protests and Israeli reprisals that lent new urgency to Middle East
diplomacy.
Israeli military rule of the West Bank then hardened and the
Fatah faction of the PLO from bases in Lebanon stepped up actions. Britannica
note
General Assembly Votes Overwhelmingly to Accord Palestine ‘Non-Member
Observer State’ Status in United Nations
Objective to ‘Breathe New Life’
into Peace Process, Says Palestinian President
Israel’s Delegate Counters, Without
Direct Negotiations, Peace Remains ‘Out of Reach’
General Assembly GA/11317, November 29, 2012, Department of
Public Information • News and Media Division • New York, Sixty-seventh General
Assembly
General Assembly Plenary 44th & 45th Meetings (PM &
Night), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/ga11317.doc.htm
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