Compilation image of Jordanian Queen Rania standing over a Palestinian child in the middle of destroyed Gaza. Photo: Al-Carmel News.
By Iman al-Batat – Dec 28, 2023
Queen Rania, wife of King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, published an article titled “Christmas is cancelled in the land of Jesus’ birth.” In it, she spoke about the pain of Gaza and described some of the heart-wrenching events that are taking place there. At first glance, you might think it is an impactful and even touching article that will tug at your heartstrings and bring tears to your eyes. Not because she is a skilled writer, but because the events in Gaza are heartbreaking, even if they were written about by a child just learning to write.
She concludes her narrative with a disorienting turn: “Since October 7, the vast majority of victims in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip have been civilians. Whether they were killed, kidnapped, or imprisoned unjustly, each one leaves a void that cannot be filled. There is no difference between the pain felt by Palestinian and Israeli mothers as a result of losing a child.”
I do not believe that she reads Palestinian history. She may not even want to read it, because it would expose the Jordanian royal family, which has abdicated its responsibility to Al-Aqsa in particular and to Palestine in general. Today, Queen Rania is equating the victim with the executioner, the back with the whip, and the sword with the neck.
Is the settler who always carries a weapon a “civilian”?
Since the beginning of Al-Aqsa Flood, “Israel” has been furiously arming all the settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem. They were armed before Al-Aqsa Flood of course, but it has become even more commonplace and obvious. Settlers have threatened, attacked, and killed residents in Masafer Yatta, Khirbet Zanuta in Hebron, and elsewhere. They have displaced and killed the “civilians” who own the land. So, with this rhetoric, how does the settler who builds their home on the blood of the locals become a “civilian,” while the Palestinian who defends their right to exist become a “terrorist”?
This narrative of the “civilians” leads to one path: that the Palestinian who defends themselves is a terrorist, and that the basis of the conflict is that Israel is defending its “civilians.” This both-sides discourse prevents Queen Rania from engaging with the Zionist public opinion, and prevents her from losing her “humanitarian” image in front of the global media. It is certain that she knows the truth and insists on ignoring it, under the principle of so-called “neutrality.”
The only Israeli civilian is the one who left our land after the Al-Aqsa Flood, never to return, and for whom “Israel” became a myth in which they have ceased to believe. As for the Palestinian who bears arms, they are a civilian who was wronged by the tyrants and their supporters, and it is not the right of the “Queen” to consider the death of our young people who were forced to bear arms to be a foregone conclusion!
The both-sides discourse is ludicrous, and yet the world embraces it. Why? Because otherwise they would be embarrassed by the magnitude of the tragedy happening in Palestine today and their lack of action in stopping it.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/DZ/SC
