AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah
denounced the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza, urging a
collective call for a ceasefire.
اضافة اعلان
“How many more people have to die before
our global conscience awakes? Or is it forever dormant when it comes to the
Palestinians?” Queen Rania asked.
In a remote interview with CNN’s Becky
Anderson from Amman, Her Majesty noted that there have been nearly 10,000
deaths in Gaza since the war began, almost half of them children “These are not
just numbers. Each one of these children was somebody's everything,” she said.
“There's an acronym in Gaza, W.C.N.S.F.:
Wounded Child with No Surviving Family,” Her Majesty added. “That's an acronym
that should never exist, but it does exist in Gaza.”
When asked about Israel’s claims that
civilians are being used as human shields, Queen Rania stressed that, while the
use of human shields is “criminal,” under international law, Israel has a
responsibility to avoid civilian deaths, and that no nation is exempt.
“Before firing any bullet, before dropping
any bomb, it is the responsibility of the nation to weigh the risk to civilian
life. And if that risk is disproportionate to the military target, then it is
deemed unlawful,” Her Majesty said.
She continued, “In a place like Jabaliya,
which is one of the most crowded corners of Gaza – and Gaza being one of the
most densely populated spots on Earth – civilian death is not incidental, it is
not accidental. It is a foregone conclusion.”
Queen Rania also pushed back against
Israel’s claims that it is doing its best to protect civilians in Gaza.
“When 1.1 million people are asked to leave
their homes or risk death, that is not protection of civilians. That is forced
displacement,” she said. “UN agencies and other agencies have said that there
is no safe place in Gaza. And even the areas that they have asked people to
seek refuge in – those so-called ‘safe zones’ – they have been attacked as
well.”
Noting that many of Israel’s evacuation
orders are issued online or on television, despite the fact that electricity in
the Gaza Strip has been cut off for weeks, Her Majesty said she does not
believe that these orders are for the benefit of the Gaza civilians. “They are
not the target audience; the rest of the world is. It is Israel's attempt to
try to legitimize their actions,” she said.
Stressing the need for an immediate
ceasefire, the Queen acknowledged that some claim that a ceasefire would solely
benefit Hamas. “However, I feel that in that argument, they are inherently
dismissing the death – in fact, even endorsing and justifying the death – of
thousands of civilians, and that is just morally reprehensible.” She also
described this stance as “shortsighted and not entirely rational.”
“The root cause of this conflict is an
illegal occupation. It is routine human rights abuses, illegal settlements, and
disregard of UN resolutions and international law. If we do not address these
root causes, then you can kill the combatant, but you cannot kill the cause.”
In response to a question on rising bigotry
in the United States against both Jewish and Muslim people, Her Majesty
“absolutely and wholeheartedly” condemned both antisemitism and Islamophobia,
adding that Muslims should be the first to condemn antisemitism as Islamophobia
is “the other side of the same disease.”
“We have had a long history
of peaceful coexistence. So this is not about religion. It is about politics,”
she said.
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