Top Palestinian Leader to Visit Bay Area and Speak On ``Peace and Coexistence in the Middle East: Are They Possible?''

Business Wire, Nov 2, 2001

News Editors/Political Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 2001

Sponsored by: The California Congress of Republicans

Hosted by: The Republican Arab American Congress (RAAC)

Debate (with Israeli Consul General):

Nov. 3, 8 PM, Wyndham Hotel, 1350 N. First St., San Jose

No host cocktail reception, 8 PM: dinner, 9 PM: debate 7 PM:

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, a major Palestinian leader, will be in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend. The event is being hosted by the Republican Arab-American Congress (RAAC), a newly active caucus created under the Charter of the California Congress of Republicans.

Ashrawi will debate Israeli Consul General Yossi Amrani, at an event sponsored by the California Congress of Republicans, which is holding its Special Endorsing Convention Nov. 2-4 at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose.

Ashrawi is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as well as the Commissioner of Information and Public Policy for the Arab League. She was official spokesperson for the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Process 1991-93, and was a member of the delegation's leadership/guidance and executive committees. She is currently secretary general of the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy (MIFTAH), which she founded in August 1998. She is also a member of the U.N. Secretary General's Group for Dialogue Among Civilizations.

Dr. Ashrawi holds a doctorate in medieval and comparative literature from the University of Virginia-Charlottesville. A recognized scholar on Palestinian poetry and literature, Ashrawi established and chaired the department of English at Birzeit University in 1973, and was dean of the faculty of Arts. Her languages are Arabic, English, Old English (Anglo Saxon) and Latin.

Tickets to the dinner are $55 ahead of time, and $75 at the door. They can be purchased from the RAAC by calling Rima Qaru at 650/571-8870, or Johnny Khamis at 408/278-8355.

There are limited number of complimentary dinner tickets available for members of the press. Please call as soon as possible to reserve these.