Ashrawi: Peace with Israel is Only Answer
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 10/30/2007

Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hanan Ashrawi said that the Palestinian people have plunged into a deep depression with unemployment and poverty at record levels, and peace with Israel is the only answer.

In a lecture before an audience of about 200 gathered at Emory University, Ashrawi said that Palestinians are experiencing one of the most difficult phases in history.

"Now we see not just a political and economic battle but a battle over the soul of Palestine, We find ourselves in the grip of the deconstruction of Palestine," she added.

"Nearly 75 percent of Palestinians living in Gaza are dependent on welfare and the territory's unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 50 percent," she said. Conditions have worsened in Gaza since the Islamic group Hamas seized control in June.

Ashrawi's lecture was part of a series of speeches on the Emory campus focusing on peace building in war torn regions. One of the more controversial lectures was by former President Jimmy Carter, who spoke there about his much-criticized book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.

She noted that peace talks must move forward as opposed to waiting for the violence to subside.

"You cannot hold peace hostage and say, 'Until every single Palestinian becomes peaceful, I'm not going to have talks, " Ashrawi said. "You have to talk in order to bring about peace."

Previous Stories:
  Livni focuses on extremism and not Israel's occupation as cause of problems   (10/23/2007)
  British PM wants Mideast Peace process move forward   (10/23/2007)
  British author says UN best forum for repatriation of Palestinian refugees   (10/23/2007)

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