CNN, Hamas and the Queen of Jordan

Screen Capture via YouTube

Queen Rania - wife of Jordan's dictator - has become quite a fixture on CNN. Her apologetics for Hamas, while infuriating, ought to be heard by all.

It is important to realize that CNN is directly enabling Hamas in this war by repeatedly providing this woman with a platform. 

Couched in sacchariny words, a soft voice, a winning smile, Rania's hateful message sounds convincing. And it is clearly one that CNN's veteran presenter Becky Anderson and CNN itself welcome. They referred to it hours later and re-aired her choicest morsels. 

Just dismiss the facts as "insulting", "outrageous" and "audacious" and you're a star at CNN.

Here are just a few verbatim quotes I selected from her Hamas promo: "Hear what Queen Rania of Jordan said about Hamas and the 'root cause' of the conflict" [CNN, November 5, 2023]:

• "For the Israelis to claim that they are trying to protect citizens, citizens is, you know, honestly, it's an insult to one's intelligence. When 1.1 million people are asked to leave their homes or risk death, that is not a protection of civilians."
• "Of course, the use of human shields is criminal, but even if one side uses it, puts a civilian in harm's way, that civilian is still entitled to full protection under international humanitarian law... 
• "I find it really outrageous when Israeli officials audaciously dismiss Palestinian casualties as human shields."
• "If we want to make sure that we never have to be in this situation again, we have to ask ourselves how we got there."

How we got there? Needless to say, the barbaric atrocities of October 7 barely get a mention from Rania. For her, Israel alone is the culprit.

• "You know, I think the world is just screaming when how many more people have to die before our global conscience awakes? Or is it forever dormant when it comes to the Palestinians.."

Actually, the world is now screaming about the Palestinians. It's the Israeli victims who leave it unmoved.

So it should not surprise anyone that the kingdom headed by this royal couple is harboring an active Hamas operative, Ahlam Tamimi, who, in 2001 murdered 16 innocents in a Jerusalem pizzeria. The US Department of Justice unsealed charges against her in March 2017.

Our child, Malki, was one of the eight children among her victims. 

Jordan's refusal to extradite Tamimi under a valid 1995 extradition treaty with the U.S. is a clear indication of where its sympathies lie. Hamas could not ask for a more effective spokesperson than Rania.

Bear in mind that she, alongside her husband, rules a state that is considered a close ally of the U.S. and enjoys its largesse of more than a billion and a half dollars annually from American taxpayers.

Isn't now the time for the U.S. State Department to end this charade of "shared ideals" with Jordan - a blatant Hamas supporter?