Queen Rania Al Abdullah has defended the spate of anti-Israel protests sweeping campuses across the country, insisting that students simply want peace and justice.
“I think it’s inaccurate and somewhat patronizing to vilify them as pro-Hamas, pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, etc.,” Rania said. He spoke on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” In an interview aired on Sunday.
“Many of them are well-read, thoughtful young people who know exactly what they’re protesting. They’re protesting for justice.”
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have slammed the protests, highlighting numerous horrific instances of anti-Semitism on campus and calling for Jewish students to go to class in the face of large anti-Israel tent camps. Reports that they are afraid.
But Rania argued it was unfair to “paint all these students and all these protests with a broad paintbrush.”
“We must not forget that there are significant numbers of Jewish students participating in these protests. And the vast majority of these protests want to be peaceful, and not to be destructive.” “I don’t want that to happen,” she insisted.
Rania, the wife of Jordan’s King Abdullah II, is a Palestinian and has been a vocal critic of the Israel-Hamas war since Israel launched the war in October last year after Hamas massacred 1,200 people in a surprise attack.
However, she acknowledged that anti-Semitism is on the rise and called on Muslims around the world to take responsibility and work together in the fight against anti-Semitism.
“Anti-Semitism absolutely exists. And it’s on the rise, it’s surging. And it’s the worst kind of bigotry, pure hatred,” she said.
“Muslims must be on the front lines of the fight against anti-Semitism, because Islamophobia is the other side of the same disease, and it is also on the rise.”
She claimed that many in the Muslim world have seen disturbing footage coming out of the Gaza Strip, and said criticizing the war was not “anti-Semitism” but rather “speaking out against Israeli policies.” ”.
“If Palestinians hate Israelis, it is not because of their religion or identity, but because of the fact that they have only dealt with Israelis as enforcers of a military state,” she said. Told.
Jordan, which shares a border with Israel, signed a peace treaty with its neighbor in 1994. However, relations between the two neighbors have deteriorated since October.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his determination to carry out a military operation in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.
Rafah is a refugee-heavy city with an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians, many of whom have fled Israel’s heavy bombing campaign and fighting across the rest of Gaza, which has left much of the territory in ruins. Thing.
Many Palestinian refugees are currently crammed into tents in the southern city.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Rafah is the last remaining major Hamas stronghold and that the war will not end until Israel eliminates the terror group there.
Rania suggested that the invasion of Rafah would dramatically damage Jordanian-Israeli relations, but also stressed that “Jordan will always honor the commitments we signed in the peace agreement.”
She seemed unconvinced that President Biden’s pleas to Israel against entering Rafah without a credible plan for civilians would be heeded.
“We have seen time and time again that Israeli officials do not listen to the warnings, recommendations and advice of their allies,” she said.
“I think it’s time for the international community, including the United States, to really use this political leverage to force Israel to end the war and accept aid.”
