In an interview with American news broadcaster CBS last week, Queen Rania of Jordan drew the ire of some when she said, “I challenge myself every single day to put myself in the shoes of an Israeli mother, who has a child that’s been taken as a hostage... and I try to empathise and see where they’re coming from."
Since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza, Queen Rania has been a key voice highlighting the plight of the Palestinian people. Apart from her role as Queen of Jordan, Rania draws both on her Palestinian heritage and her articulacy in both English and Arabic, when she speaks to Western and Arab audiences on their respective news channels.
However, these critics—who often try to vilify those with different views—simply cherry-picked this quote out of the lengthy interview in an attempt to demonise her without even bothering to listen to the full interview. Despite always highlighting the atrocities committed by Israelis against Palestinian civilians, she is constantly criticised by some Arab media figures and intellectuals who wish to discredit her.
Then you have someone like Motaz Azaiza, the young Palestinian journalist from Gaza City who became known as the "superhero of Gaza". He studied journalism and media and is proficient in English. Azaiza has meticulously documented the crimes committed by Israeli forces against civilians and children in Gaza through his camera lens. During the initial stages of the war, he became the world's window into Gaza; his Instagram following even surpassed that of the President of the United States, Joe Biden.
On 12 October 2023, just days after the war began, Motaz suffered a personal tragedy. He was en route to cover the Israeli forces' shelling of the Deir al-Balah area when he arrived at the building where his family resided. Overwhelmed with grief, he broke down in tears, saying, "My entire family lives here... my entire family is in pieces."
