Rania of Jordan, as the Palestinian that she is, has not remained on the sidelines since the attacks by Hamas on October 7 and the military response of Israel on the population of Gaza. He accused the West of maintaining a “double standard” and of the “deafening silence” of governments. Eight times more children have been killed in four weeks of conflict than in 20 months of war in Ukraine. “How many more people have to die for global consciousness to awaken?” he said.
The photo of the social media profiles of the kings of Jordan and their four children is in black. At this time, the monarch and his wife usually send a greeting with a family photo to wish them a happy new year, but this year – when two of their four children have married – they have changed it to a meaningful drawing. It is a simple grey-green card with an illustration of an olive branch, the symbol of Palestine, which is parted to become a dove that carries its words to the world: “Our prayers for peace and hope for everyone”, Rania and King Abdallah II write in the postcard they both write.
Hours after the Hashemite royal house made this card public, the Queen wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post titled “Christmas has been canceled in the land where Jesus was born.”
“Bethlehem usually comes to life at Christmas. Not this year. In the Holy Land, the celebrations have been canceled (…) In my country, Jordan, where Jesus was baptized, our Christian community has decided to do the same”, begins his long article Rania.
He describes the horror he sees daily on the news: “In just over two months, Israel has turned Gaza into hell. Almost 20,000 dead. At least 8,000 are children”. He also talks about the lack of hospitals, the displaced and hunger: “This has become an unequivocal humanitarian nightmare. With each passing day, the threshold of what is acceptable falls to new lows, and sets a terrifying precedent for this and other wars to come,” he notes.
“No matter which side you support, you can still demand a ceasefire, the release of hostages and detainees and unrestricted access to aid.” And he ends: “A ceasefire is only the beginning. We must also embark on the difficult process of rehumanization: recognizing the humanity of others and acting on the basis of this universal kinship”.