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In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties or a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses. Other independent politicians are associated with a political party and may be former members of it, but choose not to stand under its label. A third category of independents are those who may belong to or support a political party but believe they should not formally represent it and thus be subject to its policies. Finally, some independent candidates may form a political party for the purposes of running for public office.

Australia[link]

Independents have rarely been elected to the federal Parliament of Australia, although they are more commonly elected to state parliaments. A large number of independents are former members of one of Australia's main parties, the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia.

Currently, five independents sit in the Australian House of Representatives. Andrew Wilkie from Tasmania is a former Greens candidate, while both Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor from New South Wales are both former members of the National Party. Bob Katter is from Queensland and a former member of the National Party, but ceased being an independent after forming his own party, Katter's Australian Party. Peter Slipper of the Liberal National Party of Queensland became an independent and Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives. Labor's Craig Thomson moved to the crossbenches as an independent.

Independent Senators are quite rare. In modern politics, independent Brian Harradine served from 1975 to 2005 with considerable influence at times. Nick Xenophon has been the only independent Senator since his election to the Senate at the 2007 federal election. With Senators elected for 6-year terms, Xenophon will be required to recontest his South Australian seat at the next Australian federal election due by 2013.

Canada[link]

Independent Members of Parliament were numerous in the last decades of the 19th century but diminished as the party system solidified. It remained common, however, to have a small number of Independent Liberal or Independent Conservative MPs into the 1950s.

Independent politicians have held considerable sway in the Canadian House of Commons in recent years as Canada has been governed by successive minority governments with independent Members of Parliament (MPs) sometimes sharing in the balance of power.

In the 2004 federal election, Chuck Cadman was elected to federal parliament as an independent MP representing the British Columbia riding of Surrey North. Cadman had previously represented that riding on behalf of the Reform Party of Canada and Canadian Alliance, but after the Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to form the new Conservative Party of Canada in 2003, Cadman lost the nomination to represent the Conservative Party in that riding to Jasbir Singh Cheema. Cadman then stood in the subsequent election as an independent and defeated Cheema, as well as the candidates of other Canadian parties, by a significant margin.

In the spring of 2005, Cadman cast the tying vote in favour of a budget supported by the Liberal Party government of Paul Martin as well as the New Democratic Party (NDP), but opposed by the opposition Conservatives and Bloc Québécois. Two other independents also voted on that budget. Carolyn Parrish, independent MP for Mississauga—Erindale, had recently been kicked out of the Liberal Party for criticizing US president George W Bush, but nonetheless sided with the Liberals on the budget vote. David Kilgour independent MP for Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, had previously quit the Liberal caucus and voted with the opposition parties against the budget. The tie vote required the Speaker of the House Peter Milliken to cast the deciding vote, and he did so in favor of the budget, allowing the government to survive.

Cadman was terminally ill with cancer at the time he cast his crucial vote, and he died later in 2005. In the 2006 federal election, his riding was won by NDP candidate Penny Priddy. Neither Parrish nor Kilgour (nor Pat O'Brien, MP for London—Fanshawe, who quit the Liberal Party to sit as an independent after the 2005 budget vote) stood for re-election in 2006.

Another independent candidate, André Arthur, was elected in the Quebec riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier in 2006, and was the only independent to win a seat in that election. He was re-elected in the October 14, 2008 federal election. Former Progressive Conservative and Conservative MP Bill Casey, who was expelled from the Conservative Party for voting against the 2007 Federal Budget, also ran as an independent in the 2008 election, easily retaining his seat.

Candidates in federal elections who are not affiliated with a party have two options: independent or no affiliation. In the former case, they appear on the ballot with "Independent" following their name; in the second case, they appear with their name only. The two options are otherwise equivalent.

The territorial legislatures of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are consensus governments with no political parties, so that all members sit as independents. There are a few independent members of the other subnational legislatures, which are similar in principle to the federal House of Commons; for example, in the 2009 election in British Columbia, independent candidate Vicki Huntington narrowly defeated incumbent Attorney General Wally Oppal as MLA for Delta South.

True independents should not be confused with members of parties without official party status in a legislature. Most legislatures provide that a party must hold a certain number of seats to enjoy certain advantages in staffing, budget, ability to ask questions in Question Period, and the like. Although members whose parties do not hold this status may have no more privileges than independent members, they remain representatives of political parties.

Also, members who are expelled from or choose to leave their party caucus may sit as "Independent" with some designation, e.g. "Independent Liberal" or "Independent Conservative," to indicate their affiliation to that party even if it is not officially recognized.

Election as an independent is far more common at the municipal level. Many municipalities have no tradition of political parties.

Hong Kong[link]

More than half of Hong Kong's Legislative Council is made up of independents, or members whose political groups are represented by one sole member in the legislature. They are common in functional constituencies, and are not rare among geographical constituencies. All of them are nevertheless belonging either to the 'Pro-democracy' camp or the 'Pro-Beijing' camp.

Iceland[link]

The current president of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, is independent. The 9th prime minister of Iceland, Björn Þórðarson, was also independent.

India[link]

Independents are often criticized in India as being dummy candidates put forward by political parties to get around the spending ceiling imposed by the Election Commission. Independent candidates are sometimes also rebel candidates from a party contesting the election, who were unable to secure their party's nomination.

Dummy candidates running as independents who bear the same or a similar name to a party candidate have also been put forward by political parties to confuse voters. For example, in the 2009 general election an independent named Bhakti Adhikary contested the Tamluk constituency, allegedly to confuse voters; the eventually elected contestant was Suvendu Adhikary of the All India Trinamool Congress.^{[citation needed]}

Ireland[link]

After the Irish general election in 2011, there were 16 independent TDs (Members of Parliament) in the Dáil (the lower house of the Irish parliament), representing 10% of the total, excluding the three members of the United Left Alliance are also members of the Dáil Technical Group of Independent TDs.^[1] A further 3 TDs became Independent in the Dáil after Tommy Broughan TD and Willie Penrose TD left the Labour Party Parliamentary whip along with Denis Naughten TD who left the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party whip.

There are twelve independent senators in the 24th Seanad (the upper house of the Irish parliament), representing 20% of the total. Three of these are elected by the graduates of the National University of Ireland and two from Dublin University. There are also seven senators who are nominated by the Taoiseach who have also formed an independent technical grouping.

Italy[link]

The current Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, is independent.

Kosovo[link]

Kosovo^[a] president Atifete Jahjaga was elected the first female and Independent President not just for Kosovo but for the whole Balkans.

Malaysia[link]

There are four independent Members of Parliament in the Dewan Rakyat as of March 2010. In the 2008 general election, Ibrahim Ali, Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, Tan Tee Beng and Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri were each elected on the tickets of parties in the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition. Each since left their parties to sit as independents.

New Zealand[link]

Originally, all members of the New Zealand parliament were officially non-partisan, although loose groupings did exist informally (initially between supporters of central government versus provincial governments, and later between liberals and conservatives). The foundation of formal political parties around the beginning of the 20th Century considerably diminished the number of unaffiliated politicians, although a smaller number of independent candidates continued to be elected up until the 1940s. Since then, however, there have been relatively few independent politicians in Parliament, none of whom gained their seats in general elections — all either won by-elections or became independents after having been elected as a member of a party.

The last person to be directly elected to Parliament as an independent in New Zealand was Winston Peters (originally elected as a National MP), who won the 1993 by-election in Tauranga electorate. By the time of the next general election, he had formed his own party (New Zealand First), and thus was no longer standing as an independent. Since that time, all independents in Parliament have been those originally elected under a party banner. Some, like Peters, have gone on to found or co-found their own parties, with varying levels of success — examples include Peter Dunne, Taito Phillip Field, Gordon Copeland, Tau Henare, and Alamein Kopu. Others have joined parties which were then outside Parliament, such as Frank Grover and Tuariki Delamere.

There were two independent MPs in the last Parliament; Chris Carter and Hone Harawira. Carter became an independent after his criticisms of the Labour Party's leadership resulted in his being expelled from the Labour caucus, while Harawira resigned from the Māori Party and, after a short period as an independent, also resigned as an MP in order to force the 2011 by-election when he was re-elected as representative of his new political party, Mana. There are also two parties other which have only a single MP United Future with Peter Dunne and ACT with John Banks. Neither Dunne nor Banks are classed as independents — Dunne's presence in Parliament is due to personal votes in his home electorate, and Banks' presence is as the sole elected MP of ACT due to a collapse in their support in the 2011 election.

Niue[link]

In Niue, there have been no political parties since 2003, and all politicians are de facto independents. The government depends on an informal coalition.

Poland[link]

Polish Sejm election ordination in practice does not allow lone candidates to run. Tickets always have multiple candidates as every district is represented by multiple Sejm Members. Hence, almost all tickets are partisan. However, during a Sejm term many Sejm Members switch parties or become independents.

Tickets like Civic Platform during the 2001 election were formally non-partisan, Civic Platform was widely viewed as a de facto political party, as it is now.

The situation in the Senate is different, as the voting system allows independents to run as single candidates and some are elected in their own right. However, only Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz is independent.

Three Presidents since 1990 have technically been independents. Lech Wałęsa was not an endorsed candidate of any party, but the chairman of the Solidarity and he was elected without full support of this union (Solidarity votes split between him and Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki). Aleksander Kwaśniewski was a leader of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland, but formally resigned from the party after he was elected, as did Lech Kaczyński, who was the first leader of Law and Justice, but also resigned from the party on getting elected.

Philippines[link]

Noli de Castro, the Philippines' former vice president, ran as senator in 2001 with no political party affiliation. He was a guest candidate of the opposition Pwersa ng Masa coalition but he never joined their campaign rallies. He won in the senate race with the highest votes (then) in Philippine history. In 2004, he ran as vice president as a guest candidate of the administration K-4 coalition and won with just under majority of the vote.

Starting in 2001, senators had also resigned from their respective parties to become independents; currently there are more independent senators than any other single political party. However, in contesting elections, all elected independents had been members of either the administration or the opposition coalition, until in the 2007 Senate election when Gregorio Honasan (a former senator) was elected as an independent while not a being member of any coalition. Honasan was earlier elected in 1995 as an independent as a member of the Nationalist People's Coalition-led coalition to become the first elected independent senator since Magnolia Antonino in 1967, although Antonino was a guest candidate of the Liberal Party then.

In the local level, former priest Eddie Panlilio was elected as governor of Pampanga in 2007, defeating two administration candidates. When Panlilio eventually transferred to the Liberal Party in time for the 2010 election, it was ruled that he was beaten in the 2007 election; in 2010, he was defeated.

In the 2010 House of Representatives elections, seven independents were elected, although all but two joined a political party after the elections.

In contesting elections, independent candidates are required by law to spend less than candidates nominated by a party.

Russia[link]

All of Russia's Presidents have been independents. Former president Dmitry Medvedev was offered to join United Russia but politely declined, saying that he believes the President should be an independent so that he serves the interests of the country rather than his political party.

Vladimir Putin, the current president of Russia, is the head of the United Russia party, but is not its member, thus formally is independent.

United Kingdom[link]

Independent Members of Parliament were once frequently elected in the United Kingdom, but they have been much less successful in the last half-century. (See List of UK minor party and independent MPs elected.)

One independent MP was elected in the 2010 election:

• Sylvia Hermon (MP for North Down), having left the Ulster Unionist Party over its link with the Conservatives.

Two independent or local party MPs were elected in the 2005 election:

• Peter Law (MP for Blaenau Gwent), who died on April 25, 2006 - after which the by-election yielded another independent MP - Dai Davies.
• Dr. Richard Taylor, sole MP of the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern party (for the constituency of Wyre Forest). Taylor's election to Parliament was most notable for the fact that he was the only independent in recent times to have been re-elected for a second term.

There have also been several instances of MPs being elected under the auspices of a particular party, then resigning the party whip, or having it withdrawn: examples in the 2005-2010 parliament included Clare Short and Robert Wareing (formerly Labour) and Derek Conway (formerly Conservative).

News reporter Martin Bell was elected as an Independent MP for Tatton from 1997 to 2001 having stood on an anti-corruption platform.

The House of Lords includes a large number of independent peers, who are usually known as crossbenchers.

The introduction of directly elected mayors in several parts of England has witnessed the election of independent candidates to run councils in Stoke-on-Trent, Middlesbrough, Bedford, Hartlepool and Mansfield. The first Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was originally elected as an independent, having run against the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson. He was subsequently re-admitted to the Labour Party before his first re-election campaign.

Independent candidates frequently stand and are elected to local councils. There is a special Independent group of the Local Government Association to cater for them.

Independent candidates frequently stand in parliamentary elections, often with platforms about specific local issues, but usually with little success. A typical example from the 2001 general election was when Aston Villa supporter Ian Robinson stood as an independent candidate in the Sutton Coldfield constituency, in protest at the way chairman Doug Ellis ran the club. Another example, in the Salisbury constituency, of an independent candidate is Arthur Uther Pendragon - British activist and self-declared reincarnation of King Arthur.

At the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary elections, three MSPs were elected as Independents: Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West), Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) and Margo MacDonald (Lothians). In 2004 Campbell Martin (West of Scotland region) left the Scottish National Party to become an independent and in 2005 Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) left the Conservative Party to become an independent. At the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary elections Margo MacDonald was again returned as an independent MSP.

Other independent candidates are associated with a political party and may be former members of it, but are not able to stand under its label. For instance, after being expelled from the Labour Party but before joining the Respect Coalition, British Member of Parliament (MP) George Galloway described himself as "Independent Labour".

A third category of independents are those who may belong to or support a political party but believe they should not formally represent it and thus be subject to its policies. This was common among members of most political parties for the purpose of British local government elections until the last quarter of the twentieth century.

Some independents in the United Kingdom have registered locality-based political parties. British examples include Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern, Epsom and Ewell Residents Association, Loughton Residents Association, Derwentside Independents, East Yorkshire Independents ; many are local residents' or ratepayers' associations that contest elections. They are usually considered independent as they have no alignment in national politics.

On 23 March 2005 the Independent Network was set up to support independent candidates in the General Election.^[2] The Independent Network still supports Independent candidates in local, regional, national and European elections. It has an organic set of principles known as the Bell Principles and are very closely related to Lord Nolan's Standards of Public Life. The Independent Network does not impose any ideology or political influence on their candidates.

In March 2009, Sir Paul Judge established the Jury Team, an umbrella organisation dedicated to increasing the number of Independent candidates standing in the UK, both in domestic and European elections.^[3]

United States[link]

President[link]

Historically, George Washington was the only president elected as an independent, as he was not formally affiliated with any party during his two terms.

John Tyler was expelled from the Whig Party in September 1841, and remained effectively an independent for the remainder of his presidency, later returning to the Democrats. He briefly sought re-election in 1844 as a National Democrat, but withdrew as he feared to split the Democratic vote.

Recent prominent independent candidates for president of the United States include John Anderson in 1980, Ross Perot in 1992, and Ralph Nader in the 2004 and 2008 elections. In 2008, independent Presidential candidate, Ralph Nader formed Independent Parties in New Mexico, Delaware, and elsewhere to gain ballot access in several states. This strategy has been pursued by several 'independent' candidates for Federal races, including Joe Lieberman (Connecticut for Lieberman), because in some states it is easier to gain ballot access by creating a new political party than to gather signatures for a nominating petition.

Governor[link]

Illinois, Maine, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas and Minnesota are the only states to have elected formally independent candidates as governor: Illinois' first two governors, Shadrach Bond and Edward Coles; James B. Longley in 1974 as well as Angus King in 1994 and 1998 from Maine; Lincoln Chafee in 2010 from Rhode Island; Julius Meier in 1930 from Oregon; and Sam Houston in 1859 from Texas. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. is sometimes mentioned as an independent governor, though this is not technically correct; he ran as A Connecticut Party candidate (which gave him better ballot placement than an unaffiliated candidate would receive), defeating the Democratic and Republican party nominees. Another former governor who is sometimes mentioned as an independent is Jesse Ventura, who actually ran as a member of the Reform Party's Minnesota affiliate, which later disaffiliated from the party and reverted to their original name the Independence Party of Minnesota.

In 1971, State Senator Henry Howell of Virginia, a former Democrat, was elected lieutenant governor as an independent. Two years later, he campaigned for governor as an independent, losing the election by only 15,000 votes.

There were several unsuccessful independent gubernatorial candidates in 2006 who impacted their electoral races. In Maine, state legislator Barbara Merrill (formerly a Democrat) received 21% of the vote in Maine. In Texas, country music singer and mystery novelist Kinky Friedman received 12.43% of the vote, and State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn received 18.13%. Strayhorn and Friedman's presence in the race resulted in a splitting of the ballot four ways between themselves and the two major parties.

In 2010, Florida governor Charlie Crist left the Republican party and became Independent rather than face former state house Speaker Marco Rubio in the Republican primary (Rubio won, though Crist came in ahead of Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek).

Congress[link]

There have been several independents elected to the United States Senate throughout history. Notable examples include David Davis of Illinois (a former Republican) in the nineteenth century, and Harry F. Byrd, Jr. of Virginia (who had been elected to his first term as a Democrat) in the twentieth century. Some officials have been elected as members of a party but became independent while in office (without being elected as such), such as Wayne Morse of Oregon or Virgil Goode of Virginia. Vermont senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an independent in 2001. Jeffords's change of party status was especially significant because it shifted the Senate composition from 50-50 between the Republicans and Democrats (with a Republican Vice President, Dick Cheney, who would presumably break all ties in favor of the Republicans), to 49 Republicans, 50 Democrats, and one Independent. Jeffords agreed to vote for Democratic control of the Senate in exchange for being appointed chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Democrats held control of the Senate until the Congressional elections in 2002, when the Republicans regained their majority. Jeffords retired at the end of his term in 2007. Wayne Morse after two years as an independent became Democrat, while Goode switched to Republican.

Representative Bernie Sanders was an independent member of the United States House of Representatives for Vermont-at-large from 1991 to 2007. Sanders later won the open Senate seat of Jim Jeffords as an independent. Joe Lieberman a former Democrat who ran, like Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., under a third party (Connecticut for Lieberman Party) in the 2006 election. Though both representatives are technically independent politicians, they caucus with the Democrats. In 2006, Sanders and Lieberman were the only two victorious independent candidates for Congress.

State and local offices[link]

In August 2008, there were twelve people who held offices as independents in state legislatures. There were four state senators, one from Kentucky, one from Oregon, one from Tennessee, and one from New Mexico. The representatives came from the states of Louisiana (two), Maine (two), Vermont (two), and Virginia (two). In the 2008 general elections, Wisconsin State Assemblyman Jeffrey Wood left the Republican Party and won reelection as an independent. After the 2008 primary election, New Mexico State Senator Joseph Carraro left the Republican Party and registered as an Independent. He did not run for reelection.

In November 2005 Manny Diaz was elected Mayor of Miami, Florida as an independent.^[4] On June 19, 2007, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent. Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada switched his affiliation to Independent from Democrat in December 2009.^[5]

Yugoslavia[link]

On 15 June 1992, Dobrica Ćosić was elected Federal President as first non-partisan head of state in Yugoslav history. Ćosić held the position until 1 June 1993, when he was removed from the position.

See also[link]

• Swing voter
• Independent (voter)

Notes and references[link]

Notes:

References:

External links[link]

• Independent Political Candidate Directory

Hanan Ashrawi
Born	(1946-10-08) October 8, 1946 (age 65) Nablus, British Mandate for Palestine
Occupation	Politician
Spouse	Emile Ashrawi
Children	Amal, Zeina
Parents	Daoud Mikhail, Wadi'a Ass'ad

Hanan Daoud Khalil Ashrawi (Arabic: حنان داوود خليل عشراوي ‎, born October 8, 1946) is a Palestinian legislator, activist, and scholar. She was a protégé and later colleague and close friend of Edward Said. Ashrawi was an important leader during the First Intifada, served as the official spokesperson for the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process, and has been elected numerous times to the Palestinian Legislative Council. Ashrawi is a member of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Third Way party.^[1] She is the first woman elected to the Palestinian National Council.^[2]

Ashrawi serves on the Advisory Board of several international and local organizations including the World Bank Middle East and North Africa (MENA), United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and the International Human Rights Council.^[3]

She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in literature in the Department of English at the American University of Beirut. Ashrawi also has a Ph.D. in Medieval and Comparative Literature from the University of Virginia.

Personal life[link]

Ashrawi was born to Palestinian Christian parents on October 8, 1946 in the city of Nablus, British Mandate for Palestine, now part of the West Bank.^[4] Her father, Daoud Mikhail, was one of the founders of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Her family later moved to Ramallah, where she attended the Ramallah Friends Girls School. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in literature in the Department of English at the American University of Beirut. While a graduate student in literature at the American University in Beirut she dated Peter Jennings of ABC News who was then stationed there as ABC's Beirut bureau chief.^[5] When the Six-Day War broke out in 1967, Ashrawi as a 22 year-old student in Lebanon, was declared an absentee by Israel and denied re-entry to the West Bank. For the next six years, Ashrawi traveled and completed her education gaining a Ph.D. in Medieval and Comparative Literature from the University of Virginia. Ashrawi was finally allowed to re-join her family in 1973 under the family reunification plan.^[6]

On August 8, 1975 she married Emil Ashrawi (born 1951),^[7] a Christian Jerusalemite who is now a photographer and a theater director.^[8] Together they have two daughters, Amal (born 1977) and Zeina (born 1981).^[9]

Ashrawi received an Honorary Doctoral Degree at the American University of Beirut on June 28, 2008 as part of an award ceremony coinciding with the university's 139th commencement.^[10] She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Palestine Studies.^[11]

Ashrawi holds honorary degrees from Earlham College and Smith College.

Ashrawi is a passionate advocate of many human rights and gender issues. She is the recipient of numerous international peace, human rights and democracy awards, such as the Olof Palme Award, the Defender of Democracy Award, the Jane Addams International Women's Leadership Award, the Distinguished Alumna Award of the University of Virginia Women's Center, the Distinguished Lifetime Achievements AUB Alumni Award, and the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation.^[3]

Ashrawi is a non-practicing Anglican.^[12]

On September 26, 2009, in an interview on Riz Khan’s One on One on Al Jazeera English, Ashrawi defined her current role in the following way: "I think of myself essentially as a human being with a multidimensional mission. Basically, I am a Palestinian, I am a woman, I am an activist and a humanist, more than being a politician. And at the same time I feel that quite often things are thrust upon us rather than come as a result of a calm and deliberate choice."^[13]

Politics and activism[link]

Ashrawi in 2008

While voluntarily a student but denied re-entry to the occupied West Bank, she became the spokes-person for the General Union of Palestinian Students in Lebanon, helped organize women’s revolutionary groups and served as a guide to foreign reporters visiting refugee camps.

Ashrawi returned to the West Bank under the family reunification plan in 1973 and established the Department of English at Birzeit University. She served as Chair of that department from 1973 to 1978, and again from 1981 through 1984; and from 1986-1990 she served the university as Dean of the Faculty of Arts. She remained a faculty member at Birzeit University until 1995, publishing numerous poems, short stories, papers and articles on Palestinian culture, literature, and politics.

Ashrawi's political activism in the Occupied Palestinian territories began almost as early as her academic career at Birzeit. In 1974, she founded the Birzeit University Legal Aid Committee and Human Rights Action Project. Her political work took a greater leap in 1988 during the First Intifada, when she joined the Intifada Political Committee, serving on its Diplomatic Committee until 1993. From 1991 to 1993 she served as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process and a member of the Leadership/Guidance Committee and executive committee of the delegation.

From 1993 to 1995, with the signing of the Oslo Accords by Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, Palestinian self-rule was established, and Ashrawi headed the Preparatory Committee of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights in Jerusalem. Ashrawi has also served since 1996 as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Jerusalem Governorate.

In 1996 Ashrawi was appointed the Palestinian Authority Minister of Higher Education and Research, but she resigned the post in 1998 in protest against political corruption, specifically Arafat's handling of peace talks.

In 1998, Ashrawi founded MIFTAH -- the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, an initiative which works towards respect for Palestinian human rights, democracy and peace.

In April 2007, Ashrawi visited the Palestine Center in Washington, DC and gave a lecture entitled, "Palestine & Peace: The Challenges Ahead"

In July 2011, she represented the Palestinian people in a meeting with the Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and convinced him to visit the Palestinian territories.^[2]

Sydney Peace prize[link]

In 2003 Ashrawi was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize. Her selection drew praise from Mary Robinson (former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and former President of Ireland), and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Madeline Albright, former US Secretary of State also supported the selection and said, "She [Dr. Ashrawi] is a brilliant spokeswoman for her cause."^[14]

Her selection was controversial among some Jewish political organisations. Michael Kapel, a member of the board of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council called her "an apologist for Islamic terror".^[14] Activist Antony Loewenstein argued in his book My Israel Question that the Australian media, and various Jewish organizations, defamed and vilified Ashrawi in order to prevent her winning the Peace Prize.^[15] Of the controversy, Israeli politician Yael Dayan said, "And this Hanan Ashrawi... I think she's very courageous, and she contributes quite a lot to the peace process."^[16] Baruch Kimmerling a sociologist from the Hebrew University wrote, "As an Israeli, as a Jew and as an academic I am deeply sorry and ashamed that members of the Australian Jewish community are acting against this rightful nomination."^[14]

Works Published[link]

• Anthology of Palestinian Literature (ed).
• The Modern Palestinian Short Story: An Introduction to Practical Criticism
• Contemporary Palestinian Literature under Occupation
• Contemporary Palestinian Poetry and Fiction
• Literary Translation: Theory and Practice
• This Side of Peace: A Personal Account (ISBN 0-684-80294-5)

See also[link]

• Palestinian Christians

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hanan Ashrawi

• "The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy". MIFTAH (an NGO headed by Hanan Ashrawi). http://www.miftah.org/. 
• Kreisler, Harry (2000). "Conversation with Hanan Ashrawi". Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/Elberg/Ashrawi/ashrawi-con0.html. Retrieved 2007-05-24. 
• "The life and times of Dr. Hanan Ashrawi". The Middle East Stage. world trek for service and education. http://www.worldtrek.org/odyssey/mideast/ashrawi/ashrawibio.html. Retrieved 2007-05-24. 
• "Hanan Ashrawi (brief biography)". Jewish Virtual Library. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/ashrawi.html. Retrieved 2007-05-24. 
• Horsley, Sarah K (n.d.). "Biography of Hanan Ashrawi". FemBio. http://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/hanan-ashrawi. Retrieved 2007-05-23. 
• "Profile of Hanan Ashrawi". Ynet news lexicon. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3020617,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-23. 
• Booknotes interview with Ashrawi on This Side of Peace: A Personal Account, June 4, 1995.

opposing views

• Hanan Ashrawi on Al Jazeera English Riz Khan

Mike Bost (born December 30, 1960) is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 115th district where he has served since 1995.

Bost was a firefighter before entering politics and becoming a full-time state legislator and business owner. He graduated from Murphysboro High School, attended the University of Illinois Certified Firefighter II Academy, and served in the United States Marine Corps (1979–82). He and his wife Tracy have three children and six grandchildren.

Bost sponsors many firearm bills in support of the right to bear arms. He was a passionate opponent of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. In May 2012, upset over a bill to overhaul state pensions, Bost screamed and threw papers on the Illinois House floor because the House was only given twenty minutes to review and vote on a two-hundred page bill.^[1][2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Illinois General Assembly - Representative Mike Bost (R) 115th District Official IL House website
  • Bills Committees
• State Representative Mike Bost
• Project Vote Smart - Representative Mike J. Bost (IL) profile
• Follow the Money - Mike Bost
  • 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 1996 campaign contributions
• Illinois State Representative Mike Bost Official Campaign Website
• Illinois House Republican Caucus - Mike Bost profile