Hanan Ashrawi resigns from the Palestine Liberation Organization
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi announced on Wednesday that she had submitted her resignation from the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, considering that the time has come to carry out reforms and activate the PLO and to restore consideration of its powers and tasks.
Ashrawi submitted her verbal resignation on November 24 during her meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, days after the Palestinian Authority resumed security coordination with Israel.
Ashrawi (85 years) said in a statement, "I pledged in that meeting not to announce or discuss the resignation until the end of the procedures by consensus."
The verbal resignation was followed by a written resignation on November 26, according to the statement.
Ashrawi said that she had received a written answer from Abbas stating that he "postpones the decision on the matter until the Central Council convenes," adding, "But I am still resigning at the end of this year with respect to the applicable laws and regulations."
Ashrawi called for "carrying out the required reforms, activating the PLO, and rehabilitating its powers and missions."
Respecting the mandate of the Executive Committee, which it considered "suffers from marginalization and lack of participation in decision-making."
She stressed the necessity of "democratically rotating power through elections," noting that "the Palestinian political system needs to renew its components, the participation of youth, women and men, and competencies in decision-making positions."
Hanan Khalil Ashrawi was born in 1946 to a Christian family, a physician father, and a political leader in the West Bank city of Nablus.
She is a university professor and mother of two daughters.
Chosen in 1991 to represent the Palestine Liberation Organization at peace talks in Madrid in October.
She was the spokeswoman for the Palestinian delegation in these talks, and drew attention in her competition to Benjamin Netanyahu, who was the spokesman for the Israeli delegation, and then she was chosen as a member of the subsequent Palestinian negotiation delegations.
In January 1996, she was elected as a representative for occupied East Jerusalem in the Legislative Council and got the highest percentage of the vote.
She finished her university studies at the American University of Beirut, before obtaining her PhD in the United States.
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