School

The school Hanan Ashrawi attended as a child was the Friends Girls School, run by the Quakers. Being such, it was a secular institution which had both Muslim and Christian students. In that setting, religion was simply not an issue. Her teachers were supportive of the Palestinian struggle, and when her father was imprisoned a teacher called him a hero for speaking up against injustice. Thus, Ashrawi was insulated at school as at home and it wasn’t until later that she learned what a divisive issue religion was elsewhere.