Queen Rania

Queen Rania Challenges Jordanian Hardliners Over Honor Killings

2009-12-22T02:11:16Z

Queen Rania is speaking out about honor killings in Jordan.

Sheikh Hamza Mansour, leader of the parliament’s Islamic Action Front is blocking an attempt to introduce tougher sentences for men who have killed their sisters and daughters for bring “shame” on their families.

“It’s as if the government is giving up our personality to turn us into a Westernised society,” he said. via Telegraph UK

Queen Rania finds it “deeply offensive” that the killing of 20-25 women a year is condoned in Jordan and increasing.

Sentences for famly members remain light, often as little as six months to three years in jail.

If men argue that they commit the killing as a “crime of passion”, their sentence is reduced. Sheikh Hamza resents that media and interested parties (like A of C) in honor killings represent forces trying to kill Muslim families, according to Telegraph UK.

Details of a recent killing are that brothers were called by a husband to kill his wife, who dishonored the family by wandering outside her home during the night, carrying her 16-month-old baby son.

When Abu Ishmael and his brothers arrived at their sister’s house, they were greeted by catcalls from her relatives, goading them to carry out the killing. “Are you men?” they shouted. “Show us you are men.”

She was dead — a woman of eight stabbed 28 times — within 30 minutes of being picked up by her brothers.

Queen Rania and Princess Haya Join Kofi Annan in Tck Tck Tck Climate Change Campaign

2009-11-25T12:08:57Z

Queen Rania and her sister-in-law Princess Haya, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan and sister to Jordan’s King AbdullahJordan’s Queen Rania and her sister-in-law Princess Haya have joined forner UN chief Kofi Annan’s Tck Tck Tck - Time for Climate Justice Campaign, joining more than 80 other celeberities and high profile Climate Allies worldwide in the countdown to Copenhagen.

Princess Haya, married to Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said climate justice was a matter of right versus wrong.

“As individuals and countries we simply cannot afford to be isolationist at this point; we all have a responsibility, a collective responsibility, to succeed and therefore to survive.”

And she said: “In my region, the Middle East, the threat is imminent, terrifying and diverse. Whilst some lands are in danger of being submerged within 100 years others within the same region are threatened with desertification.” via Associated Press

This video is a high impact one and very well done. I am concerned that we’re going into Copenhagen with more confusion than is desirable. Getting the facts of climate change straight is our biggest challenge, in order to prompt America to take action. Anne

Beds Are Burning - TckTckTck Campaign

Queen Rania Is Embraced By the Global Boys Club

2009-11-18T11:25:37Z

Playing Favourites

If asked to name my five favorite women in the world, Queen Rania is one of them. I adore her at the risk of losing any journalistic integrity that I probably don’t have.

Without question she is a Smart Sensuality, Smarty Pants woman of epic proportions, a wife and mother to an entire nation, as well as her husband and four children.

Her Majesty Queen of Jordan Rania Al Abdullah and Jorge Sampaio, UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilisations, received the 14th North-South Prize of the Council of Europe 2009, 16 March 2009, Lisbon, Portugal I’ve tracked Queen Rania for almost two years now and find her to be the most progressive woman on the planet, just slightly ahead of Hillary Clinton, who is truly coming into her own in 2009.

In the best sense, Queen Rania is part of a royal couple and her role would be considered breathrough in America, not only the Middle East but anywhere in the world. Reading her websites and queenly schedule, I can confirm that Queen Rania may just be the hardest-working woman in the world.

Reading about Queen Rania in the Jordan Times or London newspapers, following her on Twitter, I see that she moves in a variety of high-profile initiatives, with far more freedom and influence than America’s first lady Michelle Obama.

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 25JAN08 - Bono (R), William H. Gates III, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation, USA (2R), H.M. Queen Rania (3R) Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, Gordon Brown (4R), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Yar’ Adua, President of Nigeria (5R) and other participants stand together to ‘Call to Action on the Millenium Development Goals’ during the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 25, 2008. Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) swiss-image.ch/Photo by Andy Mettler This photo from Davos, Switzerland 2008 sums up Queen Rania’s influence in the world: She stands between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Bill Gates, with Bono an arm’s length away.

As some Muslim women make arguments on A of C why burqas are good for women, Queen Rania is one of the world’s most articulate female change agents. Burqas are not in her closet, although she admits that it irks her that Westerners see the burqa as a symbol of helplessnessand oppression: “To us it’s a sign of modesty and devotion to God and it’s up to women whether they wear it.” via London Times

As a Muslim women, Her Majesty is committed to bringing her directly honest, moxie viewpoint to the most influential and important people on the planet. One doesn’t get the feeling that the Jordanian palace PR gurus have her on a tight leash. In fact, I think Queen Rania is actually walking her Bo. How refreshing!

Most of these movers and shakers are men, and this regal woman holds her own beautifully on the world stage. In this respect, Queen Rania is the ultimate 21st century woman’s role model for all women, not only Muslims.

Queen Rania: All Walls Prevent Human Progress

2009-11-09T22:12:13Z

Her Majesty Queen Rania visits the Asma Bint Yazeed Elementary School for Girls in Jerash Governorate on Wednesday (Photo by Nasser Ayoub)

Queen Rania, now in London for several days, has posted her reflections on the celebration of Berlin’s wall coming down with a reminder that Israel’s wall is going up. The entire essay is printed on Huffington Post. Here is a sampling of Queen Rania’s thoughts about walls:

As the people of Germany celebrate a wall coming down, the people of Palestine are overwrought by a wall going up.

According to the Israeli government, their “Separation Barrier” is meant to divide Israel from Palestine, and protect Israelis from attacks. But to ‘protect’ illegal Israeli settlements, the wall snakes deep into Palestinian land, cleaving families from friends, homes from schools and universities, and workers from their land and their jobs. Innocent Palestinians, suffocated. A nation, imprisoned.

Queen Rania Honored in Rome

2009-10-23T22:38:35Z

Queen Ranis’s Italian wardrobe included a Giorgio Armani Privé gown.Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday received the Marisa Bellisario Golden Apple International Award in recognition of her humanitarian work, dedication to peace and lasting commitment to the rights of women and children around the world.

The honor was presented to Queen Rania in Rome, before an audience over 300 political and business leaders gathered at the Montecitorio Palace in Rome, seat of the Italian chamber of deputies.

In addressing her audience, Queen Rania focused on the importance of education for the world’s women.

“The greater the number of women with economic power the stronger the foundations of society will be,” she said, citing that women would be responsible for some 3.5 billion euros (about 5.3 billion U.S. dollars) of new global revenue over the next five years.

Queen Rania emphasized along with women’s success stories, is the undeniable fact that “millions of others are cut off from the working world and their chances of expressing themselves are denied.”

“They are condemned to living half a life,” Rania explained, adding that “in the Arab world our women know this situation well. “

Chamber of Deputies Speaker Gianfranco Fini praised the Jordanian Queen for supporting the Middle East peace process and the United Nations Millennium poverty targets as well as being “a protagonist not only in Jordan world but also in the wider world of relations between the West and Islam.”

Queen Rania wore an unusual silk crepe gown by Stephane Rolland in ivory, featuring a cape and a tie at the waist that finished in gold tassels.

Candid as Always, Queen Rania Discusses the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict at Yale University

2009-09-29T22:05:17Z

Candid as always, Queen Rania spoke about the Israeil/Palestinian conflict at Yale UniversityLooking for more news on Queen Rania’s visit to New York last week, we found her at Yale University last Tuesday, joining Yale President Richard C. Levin in a frank conversation on key topics including her bold statements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Queen Rania, daughter of Palestinian parents, was born in Kuwait and educated at the American University in Cairo. Reminding guests that Jordan lives daily with the consequences of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, Queen Rania asked Americans to become more involved with this key issue for people living in the Arab world.

Queen Rania Cohosts "Important Dinner for Women"

2009-09-24T15:02:15Z

Important Dinner for Women guests (from left): Wendi Deng, Mrs Brown, Queen Rania of Jordon, Nicole Kidman, Ethiopian model Liya Kebede and Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi gather at New York restaurant Cipriani’sQueen Rania of Jordan, Wendi Murdoch and Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi hosted 300 of the richest and most powerful women at Cipriani restaurant in New York last night, to throw the spotlight on the world’s poor and deprived women.

The dinner — called Important Dinner for Women — highlighted the Millennium Development Goal of reducing death from childbirth by 75 percent by 2015, which would saves 10 million lives.

British First Lady Sarah Brown gave the keynote address on maternal mortality, noting, “When a mother survives, a lot survives with her, and when women come together, they are an unstoppable force for change.”

For more on the event, read UK Daily Mail Sarah Brown Dazzles as She Meets Geri Halliwell at Celebrity Dinner, While Other Leaders’ Wives Look Bored at the UN.

Queen Rania Visits Young Women's Leadership School of East Harlem

2009-09-22T10:48:00Z

via Huffington PostEarlier this week Queen Rania visited the Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem, a school that defies the worst characteristics of schools in poor American communities, by placing its girl graduates in the top 4 percent of New York City high school students.

Queen Rania marked her appointment as the Honorary Global Chair of the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) in a tour, accompanied by UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman.

H.M. Queen Rania told the girls that education was, for her personally, “my compass, my springboard, my sword.”

Amman's Jordanian House of Art

2009-09-02T11:00:00Z

via The Jordan TimesIn 2002, in honour of Amman’s selection as the capital of Arab culture, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) established the Jordanian House of Art in the building that once housed the famous school.

The House of Art, inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Rania in May of that year, is part of GAM’s initiative to restore the city’s old landmarks and transform them into cultural institutions, and houses a collection of old Jordanian musical instruments as well as traditional Jordanian, Palestinian and Circassian clothing. The building also exhibits the original studios of Jordan Television and Jordan Radio.

Many local residents say that Wadi Seer Street and the Fatmah Zahraa School embody the very soul of Amman and serves as a historical lens for earlier life in the city. In what I admit is a romantic vision, many Circassian merchants used to come from Wadi Seer bringing various kinds of fruit, such as grapes and figs, to sell near the school.

The area was a prestigious one to residents lived here such as Hanan Toukan, the mother of the late Queen Alia, and Nasseriddine Assad, the prominent academician and former minister. I would truly love to visit! Anne

Queen Rania with Sarah Brown at 10 Downing Street

2009-06-22T21:34:13Z

The British Prime Minister’s wife Sarah Brown is holding her own against string of stylish and beautiful women coming through 10 Downing Street. Carla Bruni Sarkozy, Michelle Obama, and now Queen Rania, looking particularly fabulous as the Smart Sensuality woman that she is.

Below, Queen Rania’s Wolf Blitzer “Situation Room” video and link to her Smarty Pants Channel.

On her recent visit to Washington, Queen Rania met with Wolf Blitzer, advocating an $11 billion investment in education for all children in the Middle East. Wolf Blitzer presses Queen Rania on the problems of young girls and their lack of education in the Arab world.