Baker Institute
Baker Institute fellow Hanan Ashrawi discusses prospects for Palestinian democracy at the Baker Institute on Sept. 22, 2009.
Even as President Obama intensifies his efforts to negotiate peace between Israel, the Palestinians, and the larger Arab world, it is valuable to look ahead and envision what an independent Palestine might look like.
Baker Institute fellow Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator and scholar, is currently working on a policy paper exploring the roots and future prospects for Palestinian democracy. Her appointment as the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies is one element of the institute’s engagement in Middle East issues. The institute’s Israeli-Palestinian Working Group, part of its Conflict Resolution program, holds workshops with Palestinians and Israelis to advance the framework for state building and peace.
During a lecture earlier this month at the institute, Ashrawi reflected upon the historical events leading up to the current situation in the Palestinian territories, as well as several factors that she believes could help bring about a viable Palestinian democracy.
“The only way out [of the conflict] is to go back to the people,” she said, citing the importance of fair elections, and the need for outcomes to go unchallenged by outside parties. She noted the aftereffects of the 2006 Palestinian elections, which put Hamas in power and resulted in punitive sanctions by the United States and European Union. “The most difficult part of democracy [in the Palestinian territories] is the issue of external interference,” she said. “To be sustainable, it must be authentic, not externally imposed or manipulated.”
She told the audience that President Obama made several significant steps early in his presidency by appointing George Mitchell as a special envoy; delivering a speech in Cairo, Egypt; citing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a top priority; and asking Israel to halt settlement construction and expansion.
Ashrawi’s forthcoming paper, “The Case for Democracy in the Palestinian National Narrative,” addresses the history of democratic attempts in the region and the Palestinian perspective since the Ottoman Empire, all leading up to the recent prospects for a Palestinian democracy. Ashrawi also analyzes the current situation in the region and the continuing efforts at creating peace despite numerous drawbacks.
Ashrawi, who holds a Ph.D. in medieval and comparative literature from the University of Virginia, served as the official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference negotiations in 1991. From 1996-1998, she was minister of higher education in the Palestinian Authority. In August 2009, she was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, making history as the first woman to hold a seat in the highest executive body in Palestine.
— View a webcast of Hanan Ashrawi’s Sept. 22 presentation at the Baker Institute.
— Read about the Baker Institute’s Conflict Resolution program, including the Israeli-Palestinian Working Group.