Queen Rania says antisemitism weaponized to silence criticism of Israel

Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan has said that antisemitism is being weaponized to silence any criticism of Israel while urging for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“What we’ve seen in recent years is the charge of antisemitism being weaponised in order to silence any criticism of Israel,” Rania said while speaking during an interview with CNN on Sunday.

Israel declared a complete siege on Gaza and has martyred nearly 1,000 Palestinians and injured 32,000 civilians including children and women since the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Speaking in support of the lives of Palestinians, Queen Rania said that being pro-Palestine does not equal to being antisemitic or pro-terrorism.

“Let me be very, very clear. Being pro-Palestinian is not being antisemitic, being pro-Palestinian does not mean you’re pro-Hamas or pro-terrorism,” she said.

“I want to absolutely and wholeheartedly condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia…but I also want to remind everyone that Israel does not represent all the Jewish people around the world. Israel is a state and is alone is responsible for its own crimes.”

Rania’s comments came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup and carry out another attack on Israel.

Blinken made these comments on Saturday in Jordan at a summit where the Arab leaders called for an immediate halt to the fighting.

Rania said that not accepting the ceasefire is “endorsing and justifying” the death of civilians.

“I know that some who are against the ceasefire argue that it will help Hamas. However, I feel that in that argument, they are inherently dismissing the death, in fact, even endorsing and justifying the death of thousands of civilians, and that is just morally reprehensible,” she said.