Queen Rania of Jordan blamed the Western countries for “a glaring double standard” and failing to condemn the carpet bombardment of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army, during an exclusive interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN.
Queen Rania expressed her disappointment with the radio silence reaction of the world following the ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
She criticized the world’s immediate and unequivocal condemnation of the attack on Israel and the acknowledgment of Israel’s right to defend itself.
However, when it comes to Palestine she said, “We’re seeing silence in the world. Countries have stopped at just expressing concern or acknowledging the casualties,” referring to the heinous attack of Israel on Gaza during her interview on CNN.
Queen Rania noted, “It’s the first time in modern history that there is such human suffering and the world is not even calling for a ceasefire,” stressing that the Western world was complicit through the support and cover that they gave Israel when saying its right to defend itself.
Queen of Jordan, who is from Palestinian origins, stressed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not start on October 7. “For many Palestinians on the other side of the separation wall and on the other side of barbed wire war has never left. This is a 75-year-old story.”
She shed light on the ongoing suffering of Palestinian people under the occupied regime and the documented horrible actions of Israel, before she got interrupted by Christiane Amanpour.
It is worth noting that Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994 during a ceremony held at the southern border crossing of Wadi Araba.
Answering a CNN journalist’s question about whether she can speak up about the current situation, considering the peace treaty her country signed with Israel, Queen Rania underscored, “It’s about speaking for Humanity. It is about choosing people,” before she went on again shedding light on the oppression of Palestinians by Israel.
“Under the guise of the right to defend itself, we are witnessing atrocities. Every country has the right to defend itself, but not through any means, not through war crimes, not through collective punishment,” emphasized Queen of Jordan.
She denounced the indiscriminate bombardment of the Strip of Gaza by the Israeli army, which resulted in the flattening of an entire neighborhood to the ground, let alone hospitals, mosques, churches, and schools as other targets.
Queen Rania also emphasized the existence of a false symmetry drawn in this conflict, pointing out that Israel possesses one of the most powerful militaries in the world, while the Palestinians do not have it at all.
“Why is the narrative always skewed towards the Israeli side? The Western media and policymakers are quickly adopting the Israeli narrative. When Israel attacks, Palestinians die, but when Israelis die, they are murdered in cold blood,” she questioned during her interview with CNN.
When the Queen of Jordan was asked whether she was worried about the pro-Palestine protests in her country, she decisively said, “You would be concerned if there is division, but we are absolutely united in our stance. We all believe in the same thing. We are all feeling the same pain.”
She concluded the interview with CNN, by reiterating her criticism of the double standards prevalent in the Western world, stating, “Freedom of speech is apparently universal value except when you mention Palestine. When people gather in support of Israel, they’re exercising their right to assembly, but when they gather for Palestine, they are deemed terrorist sympathizers or anti-Semitic.”
Queen Rania of Jordan already has a strong relationship with Western media and has been engaging in interviews with many media outlets. This enabled her to secure a platform for addressing the Western audience.
She made sure that her perspective, which aligns with her country’s, would be heard by the Western world and shed light on the skewness and biases that the West has been exercising when it comes to Palestinians.
As anticipated, the latest interview of the Queen with CNN was not welcomed by the West, as many of her non-Arab followers expressed their discontent via X.