Palestinian-born Queen Rania of Jordan launched a remarkable attack on the West in an interview with CNN last night where she criticized America’s support of Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hamas and claimed there was a ‘double standard’ in global sympathy for the war’s victims.
Rania, who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents and grew up in the West Bank, raged against ‘apartheid regime’ Israel, claiming the conflict began ‘before’ Hamas killed 1,400 Israelis on October 7.
She said she ‘of course’ condemned the killing of innocent Israelis by Hamas but, asked why Israel’s self-defense was not coming under the same level of global scrutiny and reserved all her sympathy for Palestinians.
Pushed on why Jordan will not accept Palestinian war refugees, she said: ‘They have the right to stay on their land’.
Queen Rania then returned to her argument that Israel’s ongoing strikes against Hamas were not justified.
‘Are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family, at gunpoint – but it’s okay to shell them to death? I mean, there is a glaring double standard here.
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Queen Rania condemned the ‘glaring double standard’ in the global response to the deaths of Israelis and Palestinians
The 53-year-old spoke to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, and was asked how she responded to October 7 ‘as an Arab, as a Palestinian, as a mother, as a human being’
‘And it’s just shocking to the Arab world,’ she told veteran reporter Christiane Amanpour, before questioning whether babies had been ‘butchered’ by Hamas.
‘I’m not arguing accuracy, Christiane, I’m arguing equivalence and double standards here,’ she fumed.
Amanpour fired back that it had been verified both by CNN’s reporters and other foreign media on the ground that Hamas was butchering babies, but stopped short of demanding a condemnation from the queen of the terror group’s practices.
Amanpour did directly appeal for sympathy for Israelis and condemnation of Hamas, asking if Queen Rania ‘accepted’ that they had brought suffering on Palestinians.
Queen Rania made a brief concession, but then returned to criticizing Israel and its allies.
‘These are the rules of war and they need to apply to everybody. Yes, there is the shock and there was the condemnation [towards Hamas]. But why isn’t there equal condemnation to what is happening now?’
‘Even if Israel defeats every last Hamas member, then what? Haven’t they left a trail of terrible memories that will create a new generation of resistance that is fiercer and more violent?’
Amanpour began by asking the 53-year-old how she had felt since the Hamas attack of October 7 ‘as an Arab, as a Palestinian, as a mother, as a human being’.
Rania replied: ‘I cannot begin to describe to you the depth of the grief, the pain and the shock that we are feeling here in Jordan.
She said her country, home to the world’s largest Palestinian population, was ‘united in grief, regardless of our origin’.
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour argued with Rania’s denial of Hamas butchering babies. She said there was proof they had shot and burned babies’ bodies, and prompted her for sympathy towards Israelis saying: ‘How did you feel on October 7?’
Palestinians were seen injured in Israeli after air raids pummeled Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Gaza
The royal couple are pictured in June 2018 during a visit to the White House
‘I just want to remind the world that Palestinian mothers love their children just as much as any other mother in the world,’ she added.
‘Six thousand civilians killed so far, 2,400 children – how is that self-defense? We are seeing butchery at a mass scale using precision weapons.
‘I just want to emphasize that this conflict did not begin on October 7, although it has been portrayed as that,’ Rania continued.
‘You know, most networks are covering the story under the title of Israel at War.
‘But for many Palestinians on the other side of the separation wall, and the other side of the barbed wire, war has never left.
‘This is a 75-year-old story – a story of overwhelming death and displacement to the Palestinian people.
‘It is a story of an occupation under an apartheid regime that occupies land, that demolishes houses, confiscates land, military incursions, night raids.
‘You know, the context of a nuclear-armed regional superpower that occupies, oppresses and commits daily documented crimes against Palestinians is missing from the narrative.’
Rescuers are seen pulling a child out of the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli air strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip
Rescuers pull a child from the rubble of a building following Israeli strikes in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday
Amanpour told her that her words were likely to be received with great anger by Israel.
‘Let me just emphasize that that apartheid is a designation that was given not by Arabs, but by Israeli and international human rights organizations,’ she replied.
The mother of four said Palestinians ‘suffer daily indignities and human rights violations’ – saying there was no freedom of movement, and condemning the 500 checkpoints across the West Bank; the ‘aggressive expansion of settlements on Palestinian land’; and the ‘humiliation’ of her people.
She said Israel violated UN resolutions, and ignored international law.
‘There’s a hyper fixation on Hamas now because of all that happened the last couple of weeks,’ she said.
‘But this is a problem that far precedes Hamas and will continue after Hamas.
‘This is a fight for freedom and for justice, and that is what needs to be heard.’