[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23798]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      A TRIBUTE TO DR. HANAN ASHRAWI AND PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 4, 1999

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a woman who 
has dedicated her life's work to peace in the Middle East and who will 
share her story at the Eleventh Annual Grand Banquet of the Greater 
Toledo Association of Arab-Americans on October 16, 1999. As a daughter 
of Ramallah, she is considered by many in northwest Ohio from El-Bireh 
as a sister, part of their families.
  Dr. Hanan Ashrawi has been the human face of the Palestinians. As the 
official spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East 
peace process, she has told the world the story of her people, the pain 
they have felt and their hopes for the future. Her passion and her 
commitment to her people and to peace have led some to call her one of 
the most influential women of the 20th century.
  Her dedication to peace can be traced to the influence of her 
parents. When she was a child, her father told her to ``be daring in 
the pursuit of the right.'' She has taken the words to heart.
  In fact, it was her father's dedication to the written word that has 
had a lasting effect on Dr. Ashrawi. She is a woman of letters: a poet, 
a playwright, an author, and a professor of English. She sees the power 
that words hold--the power of ideas.
  Dr. Ashrawi sees peace as based on the sanctity of human rights, 
especially the rights of women. She helped to found the Jerusalem 
Center for Women and works with many groups across the globe, including 
the Palestine Center for Human Rights; the Carter Center and the Fund 
for the Future of Our Children.
  John Foster Dulles once said ``You have to take chances for peace, 
just as you must take chances in war * * *'' Dr. Ashrawi is not one who 
has been afraid to take chances--to reach out for compromise, to lend 
her voice for her people, and to be a strong woman.
  Mr. Speaker, our nation was built on the principle of freedom of the 
people. We have an obligation as the world's harbinger of freedom to 
work with those dedicated to this principle as well. I congratulate Dr. 
Ashrawi on her life's work of freedom and peace.

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