Customer Reviews

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

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Aside from including obvious historical mistakes in her book (such as stating that King Abdullah of Jordan is the uncle instead of the grandfather of the present King Hussein of Jordan and that the Balfour Declaration was signed in 1921 instead of 1917) Barbara Victor paints an image of a self-centered and calculating Hanan Ashrawi and offers a biased portrayal of the Palestinian people's plight. Mrs. Victor prefers to dedicate an entire chapter to the "latest gossip in town" concerning Mrs. Ashrawi rather than give the reader an insightful perspective into the ideas, goals and work that make Hanan Ashrawi a voice of reason. While Barbara Victor's depictions of Palestinian treatment by Israeli forces seem to be continuously justified by vivid descriptions of alleged Palestinian brutality towards Israeli civilians, not once does the author offer the reader a realistic insight into the hardships, injustices and abuses faced by the Palestinian population at the hands of the occupier. The reader therefore remains unclear as to how and why Mrs. Ashrawi constitutes a voice of reason amidst the hopelessness of the Palestinian plight. Unlike "A Voice of Reason" by Barbara Victor, "This Side of Peace" by Hanan Ashrawi gives a far more insightful and honest account of the Mideast Process, allowing the reader to judge who Hanan Ashrawi is, what her true motivations are and what life is really like for a Palestinian under Israeli occupation.

This book tries to present Ashrawi (a Christian Arab woman) as a voice of reason.

Unfortunately, Ashrawi's support of Islamic terror has put her squarely against both Christian rights and women's rights. Her role as education minister for Arafat has helped destroy the rights of a generation of Arabs. And if what she's done to her friends isn't bad enough, you might want to see how uncharitable she is to her enemies. She's a voice of irrationality and destruction. It's a shame that it will take more than a Dorothy from the Middle West to undo the damage she's done.

Christians are fleeing the Middle East in droves, and Ashrawi is part of the reason. This book should get no stars for failing to show Ashrawi's actual nature.