(1946- ) A
Palestinian politician, academic and spokeswoman. In 1973, she established the English Department at Bir Zeit University and, as of 2015, still occasionally teaches there. Ashrawi was a member of/spokesperson for the Palestinian negotiation team at the 1991
Madrid Conference and during the Oslo Process. She has served on the
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) several times and in 2005, switched party membership from
Fatah to the Palestinian National Initiative (Mubadara).In addition to serving on the advisory boards of several international organizations, including the World Bank Middle East and United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, in 1988 she founded MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. In 2003, Ashrawi was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize. See "
Geneva Conference Biographies," June 7-8, 2004.