Jordan Times
Sunday, February 11, 2007
We need to reach out and
interact — Queen Rania
AMMAN (JT) — Her Majesty Queen Rania has stressed that social harmony and
acceptance amongst people of diverse backgrounds can only be achieved when they
acquire mutual knowledge and respect for one another.
I think the solution is for people to really arm themselves with knowledge, but
knowledge is not enough, knowledge of the other is not enough. We need to reach
out and interact,” she said.
Her Majesty’s remarks were made during an interview with the Italian daily
Corriere della Sera on Thursday.
Speaking of the dangers associated with the lack of such knowledge and
understanding, Queen Rania warned that relying on stereotypes only evokes a
greater sense of “mistrust and suspicion between people.”
“It’s very easy for us to really sort of shelter ourselves and create barriers,
and not to reach out to the other, to the unknown,” she added, stressing that
only by breaking such barriers, can people realise their commonalities.
“We have to venture and reach out to the unknown. And when we do that, we’re
going to find out how similar those ‘so-called’ others are to us. At the end of
the day, I think we are all combined by our humanity, our similarities. We all
have the same issues, aspirations, and challenges and we want the same thing for
ourselves and our children.”
On the issue of the ongoing debate on the veil in the West, Queen Rania noted
that amidst the increasing suspicion of Islam over the past few years and the
feelings of marginalisation within Muslim communities in the West, “people have
started to look at the veil as a political issue,” but “it is a symbol of piety,
of modesty, of devotion to God.”
“We shouldn’t judge women by what is on their heads but by what is in their
heads,” said Queen Rania, adding that “it is very dangerous when we start making
assumptions about a person based on outward external façade.”
When asked whether or not people in the world do have the will to get to know
one another, Her Majesty responded that “the will, will come from the need, and
there certainly is a need.”
She went on to say that in today’s world, “there are so many divisions, there’s
so much mistrust, there’s so much suspicion, and that is leading to a fragmented
world,” adding that “for societies to succeed in the 21st century, they really
have to embrace diverse people from diverse backgrounds, they really have to
succeed in multiculturalism, and I think that need is going to be the impetus,
or the reason that will make people reach out to one another and try to break
through the misunderstandings.”
This need, and will, according to the Queen, already exists. “Among the
moderates, there is a will to reach out; there is a will to create bridges of
understanding,” she emphasised.
Asked whether the Arab world should promote such a message of tolerance and
understanding, Queen Rania said, “I think it’s our responsibility, first of all,
to stand up and say who we are as Arabs and Muslims, and try to explain to the
world what our values are, what we stand for.”
“We have to realise that we are in this together. This is not a fight between
Muslims and non-Muslims, this is a fight between extremists from all religions,
and moderates from all religions,” she affirmed.
A Royal Court official stated that some media outlets have relayed partial
quotations of Her Majesty’s statements, which may have resulted in a
misinterpretation of her answers. According to the source, such
misinterpretations may have also resulted from the fact that Her Majesty’s
statements were translated from English into Italian, the language of the
publication.