HM Queen Rania of Jordan has made a renewed call for a ceasefire in Gaza at the Web Summit Qatar conference in Doha.
Photo: RHCJO
On Tuesday, HM Queen Rania of Jordan took the stage at the first-ever Web Summit Qatar conference in Doha, where she gave a rousing speech calling for an end to the war on Gaza, and to the obstruction of aid delivery. “Why is the killing of some condemned, while the killing of others justified? Why is depriving one child of food a crime, but starving one million Gazan children an acceptable outcome of war?” the royal of Palestinian origin asked in her keynote.
Addressing an audience of thousands, Queen Rania spoke in detail about how one-sided narratives over decades have shaped the global perception of Palestinians. The royal said that the obscurement of the Palestinian story has allowed for its people’s dehumanization to be discredited and that they have been “turned into a people unto whom anything can be done, without consequence.” She asked, “Actions that were once unthinkable are now commonplace: Hospitals under fire. Houses of worship destroyed. Civilians killed with white flags in hand. How can we possibly make sense of that?”
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Queen Rania also went on to speak about the tools and resources that continue to be the most helpful in amplifying Palestinian voices. “The people of Gaza have never been more connected – yet never more isolated. Cut off from food, water, medicine, fuel, and everything required to sustain human life, they have continued to reach for their phones… to reach for us,” she said. Social media feeds, in particular, have been dominated by “harrowing snapshots of life and death”, and the war on Gaza has been “live streamed to the world”, added the royal. “Scrolling through these images of a merciless war, I find myself thinking, ‘It can’t get any worse.’ And then, it does,” she expressed.
The royal highlighted the important role played by those in Gaza in sharing first-hand accounts of their situation. “This new generation of citizen journalists is being credited with ‘humanizing’ the people of Gaza,” she said. “The tragedy is Palestinians have been human all along – it had just been simpler to believe otherwise.”
“Make no mistake: There is nothing more powerful than an informed, indignant global community, calling for an end to a great injustice,” Queen Rania said. “Change is possible. Injustice is reversible. But the onus is on us.”
