Jordan’s Queen Rania Rues West’s ‘Glaring Double Standard’ on Gaza

A handout picture released by the Press Service of Jordan's Queen Rania on October 24, 2023, shows her speaking in an exclusive CNN interview from Amman about the ongoing Gaza bombing. (Photo by Queen Rania’s Office / AFP)
A handout picture released by the Press Service of Jordan's Queen Rania on October 24, 2023, shows her speaking in an exclusive CNN interview from Amman about the ongoing Gaza bombing. (Photo by Queen Rania’s Office / AFP)
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Jordan’s Queen Rania Rues West’s ‘Glaring Double Standard’ on Gaza

A handout picture released by the Press Service of Jordan's Queen Rania on October 24, 2023, shows her speaking in an exclusive CNN interview from Amman about the ongoing Gaza bombing. (Photo by Queen Rania’s Office / AFP)
A handout picture released by the Press Service of Jordan's Queen Rania on October 24, 2023, shows her speaking in an exclusive CNN interview from Amman about the ongoing Gaza bombing. (Photo by Queen Rania’s Office / AFP)

Jordan's Queen Rania accused Western leaders of a "glaring double standard" for not condemning Israel's killing of Palestinian civilians in its bombardment of Gaza, in an interview aired Wednesday.

The royal, born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait, blasted Western nations for opposing a blanket ceasefire and said their silence gave the impression they were "complicit" in Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.  

"The people all around the Middle East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world's reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding. In the last couple of weeks, we have seen a glaring double standard in the world," she told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

"When October 7 happened, the world immediately and unequivocally stood by Israel and its right to defend itself and condemned the attack," she said of the day when Hamas militants began a rampage that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped more than 220 others, Israeli officials say.

"But what we're seeing in the last couple of weeks, we're seeing silence in the world."  

Israel has responded with relentless air strikes on the tiny Palestinian territory which Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says have killed 6,546 people, mostly civilians and many of them children.  

It has also imposed a total siege on Gaza's 2.4 million residents who are facing a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis, the United Nations says.  

'The silence is deafening'  

"Are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family, at gunpoint, but it's OK to shell them to death?" Queen Rania asked.  

Many Western governments have repeatedly and publicly voiced their support for Israel while also urging it to respect international law.  

Queen Rania said of the West's refusal to back a ceasefire that "the silence is deafening and, to many in our region, it makes the Western world complicit through their support and through the cover that they give Israel".  

Israel and its allies have so far rebuffed calls for a blanket ceasefire, which the White House has said would only benefit Hamas.  

The United States last week vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a "humanitarian pause" in the raging Israel-Hamas conflict, saying the text did not recognize Israel's right to defend itself.  

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday spoke of "epic suffering" in Gaza, and said there had been "clear violations of international law".  

Guterres sparked a furious reaction from Israeli diplomats when he said that the Hamas attack "did not happen in a vacuum".  

That sentiment was shared by Queen Rania, who told CNN that it was wrong to say the conflict started on October 7.  

"This is a 75-year-old story; a story of overwhelming death and displacement to the Palestinian people. It is a story of an occupation under an apartheid regime," she said.  

When pressed on that claim, Rania cited international human rights organizations, which have previously accused Israel of apartheid.  

Israel responded to a 2022 Amnesty International report which said it was perpetrating apartheid by calling Amnesty a "radical organization", and saying the country was "a democracy committed to international law".



Yemen's Houthis Shoot Down What Witnesses Say Was a US Drone, American Military Investigates

Supporters of Yemen's Houthis attend an anti-Israel rally in solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on November 1, 2024. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)
Supporters of Yemen's Houthis attend an anti-Israel rally in solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on November 1, 2024. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)
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Yemen's Houthis Shoot Down What Witnesses Say Was a US Drone, American Military Investigates

Supporters of Yemen's Houthis attend an anti-Israel rally in solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on November 1, 2024. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)
Supporters of Yemen's Houthis attend an anti-Israel rally in solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on November 1, 2024. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)

Yemen's Houthi militants shot down what bystanders described as an American drone early Friday, potentially the latest downing of a US spy drone as the militants continue their attacks on the Red Sea corridor.
The US military acknowledged the videos circulating online showing what appeared to be a flaming aircraft dropping out of the sky and a field of burning debris in what those off-camera described as an area of Yemen's al-Jawf province. The military said it was investigating the incident, declining to elaborate further.
It wasn't immediately clear what kind of aircraft was shot down in the low-quality night video, The Associated Press said.
The Houthis have surface-to-air missiles capable of downing aircraft such as the Iranian missile known as the 358. Iran denies arming the group, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in seaborne shipments heading to Yemen for the Shiite Houthis despite a United Nations arms embargo.
The Houthis have been a key component of Iran's self-described “Axis of Resistance" during the Mideast wars that includes Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hamas and other militant groups.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for downing the aircraft. However, it can take their fighters hours or even days after an incident before they acknowledge it.
Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the militants have shot down MQ-9 Reaper drones in Yemen in 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024. The US military has declined to offer a total figure for the number of drones it has lost during that time.
Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the US military and the CIA over Yemen for years.
The Houthis have targeted more than 90 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well.
The militants maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. The tempo of the Houthi sea attacks also has waxed and waned over the months.
In October, the US military unleashed B-2 stealth bombers to target underground bunkers used by the Houthis.