QUEEN DEFENDS GAZA

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA STRIP HITS HOME WITH QUEEN OF JORDAN

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

Queen Rania Al Abdulla of Jordan took direct exception to the special military operation by Israel inside the Gaza Strip.

Broadcast Journalist Margaret Brennan interviewed Queen Rania on the CBS Sunday Morning news program, Face the Nation, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. The national journalist and the social media personality had a bit of a tete a tete about the plight of Palestinians.

Queen Rania stated emphatically that the world rightfully condemned the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel citizens by Hamas, but that the retaliatory special military operation has resulted in violations of international law, including 35,000 civilian casualties, widespread poverty and child hunger.

Israel has waged a relentless urban incursion against Hamas, with aggressive unremitting aerial bombing of the Palestinian occupied territory of Gaza, clearly in retaliation to the terrorist attack on Israeli civilians, but also in a long term defensive strike to end the strife inflicted on Israel from the occupied territories.

Queen Rania Al Abdulla of Jordan is of Palestinian and Turkish descent, being born in the Palestinian occupied territory of the West Bank. Queen Rania is married to King Abdullah II of Jordan, who is considered to be a 41^st generational direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammed.

The morning news magazine interview came at a time when Pro-Palestinians Protests have erupted around the United States. Queen Rania underscored that everyone knows that America is Israel’s biggest supporter and is therefore in a position to be the most effective influencer of Israel, with the most leverage to affect change in Israeli policy.

United States President Joe Biden last week suspended shipments of high impact military munitions to Israel that would have a catastrophic impact on civilians, because of an imminent threat of the special military operation expanding into and escalating in Rafah City in southern Gaza.

The human rights violations by Israel in Gaza are clear and obvious to everyone watching, according to Queen Rania. The world should be equally outraged that Palestinians are being killed in such a manner.

This unequal application of international humanitarian law indicates that the lives of Palestinians do not matter as much as those of others to the international community, according to Queen Rania.

Palestinians and much of the Middle East are getting mixed messages about western values.

Under questioning by Face The Nation host Margaret Brennan, Queen Rania stated that the problem in defending Palestinians is that the world often equates criticism of Israeli policy to antisemitism.

Queen Rania commented that the current Israeli policy in Gaza is a form of collective punishment which violates international law and that speaking out against collective punishment is not an expression of antisemitism.

The attacks on aide convoys underscores the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Antisemitism is the worst kind of bigotry and hatred, Queen Rania stated, but you can be against Israeli policy in Gaza without being against the Jewish people.

Young people, who typically look up to American values, have become disillusioned – ‘how can this be happening?’

Queen Rania stated that the Israeli operation in Gaza will have a generational impact that may incite further terrorist acts against Israel.

“How does that make Israel safer?” asked Queen Rania.