The Baltimore Sun · Baltimore, Maryland · 3 November 1991

CP-1991-038

Palestinian spokeswoman shines amid glare of Madrid conference

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wi, a university professor of English from the West Bank, was their brightest star. Mrs. Ashrawi emerged as the Palestinians’ most polished voice and, at times, their most skillful diplomat. Some admiring Israelis liken her to two famous leaders of their own.

In her public warmth, she is compared to former Prime Minister Golda Meir, Israel’s motherly prime minister in the early 1970s. For her debating skills, she is compared to Abba Eban, who was his country’s most articulate diplomat. Members of Israel’s government have been less complimentary.

After Palestinian gunmen shot and killed two Jewish settlers last week, Defense Minister Moshe Arens blamed Mrs. Ashrawi. Citing statements by her that violence would increase during the peace talks, Mr. Arens declared the attackers “were acting on her directives.” Mrs.

Ashrawi was one of the most frequently quoted people at the Madrid conference without even being a member of an official delegation. She arrived as part of a 15-member advisory team, a group organized to get around Israel’s ground rules for the regular delegation.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir ruled out conducting formal talks with Palestinians from East Jerusalem or with anyone considered to have close ties to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Mrs. Ashrawi was excluded on both counts. She lives in Ramallah, a West Bank city, in a stone house not far from the local headquarters of the Israeli military government.

Her Israeli-issued identification card lists her official place of residence as East Jerusalem. In her politics, she is identified less as a moderate or a radical than as a pragmatist. She makes no secret of her loyalty to the PLO or of her belief that the organization erred by being inflexible in the past. She also says Mr.

Shamir’s government is making a mistake by not talking directly with people such as her. “We are not ashamed of the PLO,” she said before going to Madrid. “We are very proud of it. If the Israelis close their eyes to reality, it doesn’t mean the reality will disappear.”

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