Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Diana Buttu is a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and former spokesperson with the Palestine Liberation Organization. She is best known for her work as a legal adviser and negotiator on peace negotiationsbetween Israeli and Palestinian organizations. President George W. Bush referred her role in 2005 by stating that she is "a lovely lady who is a very well-educated person, went back to Palestine to try to serve what she hopes will be a country. I was impressed".
Buttu was born in Canada to Palestinian parents. She received a B.A. in Middle East and Islamic Studies and an LL.M. from the University of Toronto, a J.D. from Queen's University Faculty of Law, a J.S.M. from Stanford Law School, and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Source Achievements and Awards
She began her work as negotiator in 2000, shortly after the outbreak of the Second Palestinian Intifada, as a spokesperson for the Negotiations Support Unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization.The Economist in 2005 termed her part of the closest thing to a Palestinian makeover. Al-Ahram Weekly carried an op-ed piece in 2005 in which she was lauded for projecting an image that was opposite of the Palestinians stock villain's role image.
Given her public role in promoting the Palestinian cause, she has appeared numerous times in the American news media from TV networks such as Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC to newspapers such asUSA Today and other outlets.
- Years in active
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