You will see her face regularly on the news. She will speak briefly but pointedly about the needs of her people. Usually in her culture women are not expected to have a public voice. But this woman will not be restricted by such a patriarchal code.
Her name is Hanan Ashrawi. As a girl Hanan grew up in a strong Christian Palestinian home in an area ruled at that time by Jordan. After the six day war of 1967 her town came under occupation by the Israeli military. Now it comes within the partial administration of the Palestinian authority.
Along with many Palestinian Christians Hanan Ashrawi looks to the origin of their Christian faith being expressed in the Acts of the Apostles 2:11. That passage recounts that there were Arabs present in Jerusalem for the events on the day of Pentecost. Hanan asserts:
I am a descendant of the first Christians in the world, and Jesus Christ was born in my country, in my land. Bethlehem is a Palestinian town.
What galvanised Hanan Ashrawi in particular to struggle for her people was the 1982 massacre of Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon. Such deaths, about which the international community did next to nothing, stirred her deeply.
In 1991 she became an effective spokesperson for the Palestinian cause at the Madrid Conference. In particular, she was able to communicate to Western audiences, through television and radio, a reasoned defence for her fellow-Palestinians' rights and aspirations.
In 1993 she established a body to monitor any human rights abuses by the Palestinian security forces with the Palestinian-administered territory. That initiative was a testimony, also, to her courage.
There are several strong currents within Hanan Ashrawi that move her to action. They include the desire for justice instilled in her from her family upbringing and Christian faith, the appeal of nationalism that seeks to be expressed through the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state and a resolute, strong will. All these play their part. She looks to the time when the Israelis will withdraw their troops from the west Bank and east Jerusalem and a viable Palestinian state is established.
Hanan's immediate family - her husband and two daughters- found their local faith community in the Anglican Church in Ramallah in the West Bank. Their Christian faith has strengthened them. As a family they have had to face death threats and other abuse for their commitment.
When next you see Hanan Ashrawi's face on television, remember her. Remember also her family and her people that they will gain peace with justice soon. May her stand not be in vain.
Ray Barraclough 31 October 2003
(President of Friends of Sabeel Australia incorporated)
Note: Hanan Ashrawi's autobiography entitled This Side of Peace - a personal account, Simon Schuster, New York, 1995
This page is hosted by Peace Tasmania (http://www.PeaceTasmania.org)