We are shocked at glaring double standards of world at catastrophe unfolding in Gaza: Jordan's Queen

Vartha Bharati | 29-10-2023 | 21:40:00 IST

A screen grab from the interview (Courtesy: CNN)

Rania Al Abdullah is Queen of Jordan and the wife of King Abdullah II. Queen Rania is herself of Palestinian descent. She was interviewed recently by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Below are the excerpts from the interview:

Anchor: Jordan is home to 40% of the total registered Palestinian refugees in the Middle East according to the UN. That is simply a huge number especially for a small country. Can I ask you first as an Arab, as a Palestinian as a human being, being a mother, how you're feeling ever since October 7th?

Queen Rania: We have witnessed Palestinian mothers forced to write their children's names on their hands, fearing the high likelihood of deadly shelling. It's crucial to remind the world that these Palestinian mothers love their children just as fiercely as any other mother worldwide. The unimaginable ordeal they are enduring is beyond belief. People across the Middle East, including Jordan, are profoundly shocked and dismayed by the world's response to this unfolding catastrophe over the past few weeks.

A glaring double standard has become apparent. When the incident occurred on October 7th, the world swiftly and unequivocally supported Israel's right to defend itself, condemning the attack. However, in the recent weeks, there has been a disturbing silence. Countries have limited their response to expressing concern and acknowledging casualties, always prefaced with declarations of support for Israel. The hypocrisy is staggering. We are told it's wrong to kill an entire family at gunpoint, yet shelling them to death is somehow acceptable. This double standard is deeply shocking to the Arab world.

This marks the first instance in modern history where such widespread human suffering is met with a lack of international outcry. The absence of calls for a ceasefire is deafening. To many in our region, this silence implicates the Western world, implying complicity through their support and cover for Israel's actions under the guise of self-defense. In the eyes of many in the Arab world, the West isn't merely tolerating this situation but actively aiding and abetting it. This reality is horrendous and profoundly disappointing to all of us.

Anchor: I want to express the deep shock felt by Israelis. What they have experienced has been unprecedented since the Holocaust. I would like to hear your thoughts on how you felt on October 7th

Queen Rania: Of course, I was shocked, and Jordan has unequivocally stated its position. We condemn the killing of any civilian, whether Palestinian or Israeli. This stance aligns with Jordan's ethical and moral principles and reflects the teachings of Islam. Islam expressly condemns the killing of civilians. As my husband recently mentioned, The Pact of Umar, issued at the Gates of Jerusalem 15 centuries ago, a millennium before the Geneva Conventions, commands Muslims not to harm or kill women, children, or the elderly, and not to harm priests or destroy trees. These are the rules of engagement during times of war, applicable to all parties involved.

It is disheartening to observe the lack of equal attention to the ongoing situation. I want to emphasize that this conflict did not initiate on October 7th, despite the portrayal. Most media outlets are covering the story under the headline 'Israel at War.' However, for many Palestinians living on the other side of the separation wall, beyond the barbed wire, war has never ceased. This is a 75-year-old story of overwhelming death and displacement for the Palestinian people. It is a narrative of occupation under an apartheid regime, involving land confiscation, house demolitions, military incursions, and nightly raids.

Crucially, the context of a nuclear-armed regional superpower that occupies, oppresses, and commits daily documented crimes against Palestinians is missing from the narrative."

Anchor: I want to ask you a specific question because you're using a lot of words which clearly many in your Arab world have used, words like apartheid and the rest, but you know that you are going to come under a lot of criticism from Israel and its supporters.
Queen Rania: But let me just emphasize that part is a designation given not by Arabs but by Israeli and international human rights organizations.

Anchor: Do you feel that you have a particular voice as Queen of Jordan in a country that has a peace treaty with Israel to speak up?

Queen Rania: I am not the focus here. It's about advocating for humanity, not taking sides between pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian stances. The emphasis should be on the everyday people on both sides. The Palestinian people have long endured oppression and dehumanization, facing daily indignities and human rights violations, including imprisonment, humiliation, and harassment. They lack freedom of movement due to the presence of over 500 checkpoints in the West Bank. The International Court of Justice has deemed the separation wall, dividing territories into 200 disconnected enclaves, illegal. Additionally, aggressive settlement expansion on Palestinian land has disrupted territorial continuity, rendering the prospect of an autonomous, independent Palestinian State unviable. This context predates the recent focus on Hamas. The issue at hand is a fight for freedom and justice, a message that needs to be heard.

Anchor: A journalist on the Saudi television network Al Arabia took this and hammered Khaled Mashal the former head of Hamas and said to him what everybody's seeing on their screens has turned the world away from the Palestinian cause and people are saying what Hamas did has brought this down on these poor people of Gaza. Do you accept that?

Queen Rania: I do not condone the killing of civilians. However, the ongoing violence in this conflict must be condemned. It's crucial to understand that, under the pretext of self-defense, we are witnessing atrocities. While every country has the right to defend itself, this should not involve war crimes or collective punishment. The recent events have resulted in the deaths of 6,000 civilians, including 2,400 children. The use of precision weapons does not justify this mass-scale butchery.

Over the past two weeks, Gaza has been indiscriminately bombarded, leading to the destruction of entire families and residential neighborhoods. Hospitals, schools, churches, mosques, as well as medical workers, journalists, and UN aid workers, have been targeted. These actions raise questions about the definition of self-defense. There seems to be a double standard, where Israeli actions are often labeled as self-defense, whereas similar violence by Palestinians is immediately termed terrorism.

It's essential to recognize the power imbalance in this conflict. One party is an occupier with one of the world's mightiest militaries, while the other lacks a military altogether. This false symmetry is misleading. The focus on the right to defend itself doesn't capture the complete picture. It disregards the violations of international law and humanitarian law, the stories of suffering, and the enduring effects of occupation. Israel has violated over 30 UN security resolutions, mandating actions like withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 and halting settlements and the separation wall, as well as addressing human rights violations. These violations lie at the heart of the issue; it's not merely a matter of hyperfixation on Hamas.

Anchor: Your husband King Abdullah I believe it was last weekend at the summit of Arab leaders in Cairo. he said the message the Arab world is hearing is loud and clear Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones. Our Lives matter less than other lives.

Queen Rania: It has been deeply disheartening to witness the double standards prevailing in the world today. There was strong condemnation of the events on October 7th, yet there has been notably less condemnation of the ongoing situation. The absence of an immediate call for a ceasefire amid the staggering human suffering is concerning. The narrative consistently seems to favor the Israeli perspective. Western media and policymakers tend to adopt Israeli narratives during attacks on the Palestinian side. However, when Israelis lose their lives, the language used portrays them as being 'murdered in cold blood' or the incident as a 'massacre.' Interestingly, similar terminology describing the current situation, despite its greater magnitude of atrocities, is notably absent.

I'm not questioning the accuracy of the information but rather highlighting the lack of equivalence and the existence of double standards. For instance, when the President of the United States was informed about evidence of children being beheaded, only to retract the statement because the IDF denied it, it illustrates confirmation bias. Even reputable networks like CNN have been caught up in this bias. For instance, the CNN website reported a headline about Israeli children found butchered in an Israeli kibbutz at the beginning of the conflict. However, upon reading the story, it became evident that the claim had not been independently verified. Would you publish such a damning, yet unverified, claim made by a Palestinian?