Voice of Reason: Hanan Ashrawi and Peace in the Middle East

According to this vibrant biography, Palestinian spokesperson Hanan Ashrawi has done more ``to change the image of the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation than any war, uprising, or terrorist attack.'' Appointed shortly before the opening of the 1991 Madrid peace talks, Ashrawi's telegenic presence and European manners helped the Palestine Liberation Organization remake its image from that of a terrorist organization into a negotiating party perceived by the West as responsible enough to handle an eventual measure of self-rule. Victor (Terrorist) covers the 47-year-old Ashrawi's prominent family background, her education, her emergence in Palestinian politics, her tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Bir Zeit University on the West Bank, her marriage to a younger and far less educated man and her domestic life as the mother of two daughters. The author also discusses personal and career problems arising from Ashrawi's presence as an articulate, order-giving female in a male-dominated culture and as a Christian in a mostly Muslim society. Photos. Author tour. (Sept.)