Ahmed Qurei
In Benny Morris' account, Hanan Ashrawi and Hirschfeld began maintaining back channels to the PLO's Faisal Husseini in 1989. Hirschfeld, at Ashrawi's suggestion, sought out the PLO finance minister Abu Alaa (Ahmed Qurei). Through the Norwegians—including Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Egeland and Rod Larsen of the Norwegian Institute of Applied Social Sciences—Hirschfeld had his first meeting with Abu Alaa in London on 4 December 1992.