From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 6, 2023
Jordanian queen: Eliminating Hamas but not the occupation irrational, short-sighted
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Jordan’s Queen Rania says rejections of a ceasefire in Gaza are “morally reprehensible” and amount to a justification for the deaths of thousands of civilians.
In an interview with CNN, the Jordanian monarch says Israel’s bid to rid Gaza of Hamas is “short-sighted and not entirely rational “because “the root cause of this conflict is an illegal occupation.”
“If we do not address these root causes, then you can kill the combatants, but you cannot kill the cause. Under the rubble of these destroyed buildings will emerge another group more determined, and more motivated to do what Hamas did,” she asserts.
When Arab leaders met with @SecBlinken in Amman Saturday, the US Secretary of State said a ceasefire in Gaza will only enable more Hamas attacks. Jordan's @QueenRania says that stance is “endorsing and justifying the death of thousands of civilians” and “is morally reprehensible” pic.twitter.com/MJpFH45nok
— Becky Anderson (@BeckyCNN) November 5, 2023
Rania also rejects Israel’s assertion that it doesn’t target civilians, and dismisses Israel’s calls for civilians to move out of the area where most of the combat is taking place as a PR ploy.
“Over 10,000 people [have been] killed, 70% of whom are women and children. For the Israelis to claim that they are trying to protect civilians is… an insult to intelligence,” she says, citing Hamas-run health ministry figures that Israel says include civilians killed by errant Palestinian rockets as well as terrorists killed by Israel.
Asked about rising antisemitism and Islamaphobia, Rania condemns them both and says, “Israel does not represent all Jewish people around the world. Israel alone is responsible for its own crimes. Jewish people around the world, many of them are appalled by what they’re seeing.”
“We Muslims have to be the first to condemn antisemitism. We have had a long history of peaceful coexistence [with Jews],” she adds, before accusing some pro-Israel figures of weaponizing antisemitism accusations in order to stifle criticism of Israel.
