Queen Noor And Envoy George J. Mitchell Sitting On Middle East Policy

Nadia: Your Majesty, thank you very much for this interview, we are honored to have you with us.

Queen Noor (QN): It’s my pleasure on the occasion of the Arab American Institute Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards to meet with you.

Nadia: It’s a wonderful occasion, but we know you’ve been an activist, and that the menace of nuclear weapons has been posing a threat to international security. You have been a founding member of an organization called Global Zero…you hope to get the world off nuclear weapons…do you think this is an easy task, to get all these states together, and try to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons.

QN: No, no of course, it’s not going to be an easy task at all. That’s why a hundred, almost a hundred leaders, former heads of state, and foreign ministers, and national security advisors, and military commanders from around the world came together last year in France when we launched Global Zero to help provide policy-work, diplomatic efforts and public outreach…because we understand that in order to succeed, we are going to have the heads of state, such as now, the Russian President and the American President have made a historic breakthrough in declaring they will work together to eliminate all nuclear weapons for the first time, and now we have to bring on board all the other nuclear-declared and non-nuclear declared countries…we’re talking about France, Great Britain, China, Israel, Pakistan, India. We need those countries now to come on board and also begin to reduce their arsenals as the Russians and Americans have promised. But it will take time and there will have to be a strong verification mechanism in place, so there is confidence on all sides and the public has an important role to play I think in supporting the leaders who understand now that the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the related risk of nuclear terrorism, on top of accidents and other problems that we have seen over the years, is the greatest security risk to our world today, no matter where we might live.

Nadia: Absolutely, and this is leading to the question, as you know, 96% of the world’s nuclear arsenals are in the US and Russia (Queen Noor: you know the issue very well) and we have seen President Obama and President Medvedev recently actually…there is some kind of new atmosphere, it could be détente (inchallah), but do you think that this could be a good start, if we could talk about these two countries leading the world.

QN: Certainly Russia and United States have a clear responsibility, which they are assuming, to lead, because they have, as you said, 96% of the over 23000 weapons that are in about 9 countries today. But, another 40 countries have enough material to make another 100,000 weapons and we’ve had 25 cases of materials going lost or being stolen in the last two decades, and terrorists have been trying to get their hands on weapons or to steal, to build, to have their own capability, which is a threat to all of us. So the leaders of many of the nuclear programs in their own countries are now coming together and saying there are two choices: one is we continue with the status quo and increasing proliferation, and the chances of either an accident, or a state using it, or a non-state actor making use of nuclear weapons…or, the only alternative, and this is from the experts, is to work for the total elimination of all nuclear weapons. It will take time, but it needs to begin now. It is with climate change, this is the other most urgent threat to global security today.

Nadia: Absolutely…President Obama as well seems to be very active in the peace process…you are not a stranger to the peace process; late King Hussein was involved in it…

QN: For so much longer even…

QN: Well I think we are extremely fortunate that he chose George Mitchell as an envoy to the region. George Mitchell brings the lessons learned from the Northern Ireland peace process, and I have thought for many, many years, and spoken often about the fact that I think those lessons are the most applicable to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

They learned after years of marginalizing the militants and other actors that they had to bring everyone to the table. Everyone had to have a chance to tell their stories, to be listened to, for everyone’s history and suffering to be respected. That was a vital step towards achieving peace, ultimately, and an agreement ultimately. And I personally think that has been absolutely vital and has been a missing ingredient in the peace process in our region and that is why it has come to a stalemate, I think, is that we weren’t embracing all the different constituencies and all the different leaders of those constituencies, whether we liked them or not. Everyone has to have a seat at the table.

Nadia: Are you talking about a Madrid style conference…?

QN: I don’t know what the form is going to take and I’m not as concerned about the conference formats, I’m more concerned about the fundamental principles which I think are that everyone has to be represented in the process and it is extraordinary what can happen. I have worked over the past 10 years, well actually 30 years, but in particular since the death of my husband in many conflict regions around the world. (Nadia: you were in Bosnia). QN: Exactly, and I have seen everywhere the importance of people sitting together who, the Balkans is a classic example: I have sat with men and women who lost all members of their families to possibly the family members of the people sitting across the table. I mean the worst of humanity took place in the Balkans and I found that by sharing their stories these people could begin to accept one other as fellow human beings, deserving of respect, and as partners in building peace, and as partners in building peace, building the future together, and that is really the only way that we’ll have security in our region, is if everyone has a stake in the process and everyone is guaranteed justice and security and opportunity for the future.

Nadia: Absolutely…you’ve also been advocating the concept of tolerance between the Muslim World and the West…recently there is a new sign of change, President Obama was saying recently in Turkey that the U.S. is not and never will be at war with Islam. Do you think that the words are enough? How can he consolidate or solidify these statements? What can be done between us and the West?

QN: I think we have responsibilities on both sides and the crisis, I’ve never subscribed the notion of a clash of civilizations…I think that was a politically, ideologically motivated approach. In fact, the conflict that I see is within our own societies and all societies, or so many societies today, between those who are, again, willing to listen and exchange, are open to one another, are tolerant, are conscious of the importance of building a future together…that no one who is marginalized or disenfranchised is ever going to be a partner for peace. In fact, always you will have a source of resistance, a source of tension and friction and insecurity in society if everyone doesn’t have a sense of security. So I feel very, very strongly that within our own world, with our Arab and Muslim World, we need to speak out, we need to confront those who advocate violence and who cloak it in religion when in fact it’s a political agenda and it isn’t true to our faith as I understand it having been taught by one of the most devout Muslims I have ever met, my husband, and I believe in the United States as well. We have a responsibility as Arabs as Muslims, and I also will say and have often said to the Arab-American community here, they have a responsibility, to again, to speak out, to use their voices in a society which allows for everyone’s voice to be heard…to work together, to unify their efforts…not to compete, but in fact that united, we can be a much more potent force for our goals than if we are competing amongst ourselves, who is going to be the most important or who is going to get the most attention.

In fact the most important thing is the struggle for peace and security and justice and I have great hope that with this new administration there is on the part of the President, certainly he has made it very clear in openness a larger view and understanding of the world and it’s many complexities…I am hoping that he will have an impact on the population here in the United States, but I feel that we have a responsibility to work here very hard as well, to promote the vision, or to represent the mainstream, the majority in all of our societies, a majority that is seeking peace, and security, and dignity and a sense of hope and opportunity at least for our children. I mean we’re willing, I think my generation is willing to sacrifice, if at least our children can have so hope for the future.

Nadia: Yes, that’s true. But also if you talk internally about women in the Arab World…I mean the first time you’ve been in Jordan in the 70s, 1973 until now, you have seen this process evolving. If you look now at the status of women in the Arab World, maybe in Jordan in particular, are they progressing or regressing…how do you see it?

QN: Well in times of economic crisis it seems that the involvement of women in the labor force tends to regress…that when you have increasing poverty and unemployment, as we are seeing in many parts of our region, that is a damper, and it is by the way, in the United States and in many other countries around the world…it tends to slow the opportunities available for women. On the other hand, in Jordan and in many countries in the Arab World, and sadly that’s not well understood in the United States and many Western countries, women are increasingly, whether they are conservative or more liberal or progressive, are increasingly in very important roles in public debate and discussion about critical issues effecting not only peace but also the kinds of societies we want to live in…and their voices are absolutely critical not only to the public debate but I think to the way their children and their families look at the roles and responsibilities they will have in society in the future. So I am very hopeful. I have seen an enormous amount of progress, but there is still a great deal, I think more required for women to freely understand what their opportunities and options can be…that they can be good mothers, they can be the heart of the family and the community, and at the same time have the ability to express themselves, to contribute as they might choose to the best of their abilities in the larger world as well.

Nadia: The award that your late father, Najib Halabi, that has been obviously for many years on the same night as the Kahlil Gibran award….but specifically tonight is going to be given to a renowned Arab-American, doctor-scientist, Doctor Elias Zerhouni, how do you feel about that…that it was given to him?

QN: Ohh, the award is a living legacy for my father from the Arab American Institute which he worked very closely with. I think he would have been delighted, not only that it’s been given to such a prominent and successful Arab-American physician, but also that the new Secretary of Transportation in the Obama administration, Ray Lahood, will be giving it to him with me. My father worked as a member of President Kennedy’s cabinet, first of all to desegregate all of the air terminals that at that time were segregated in the 1960s, but also to promote minorities in both business and government, and he, as an Arab-American, actually reached the highest point that had been reached to that point…and in a public administrative job in the government. So he was very conscious of the importance of supporting a range of minorities, obviously Arab-Americans, but also Hispanics and others. He really was a pioneer and both politically as a humanitarian and in business in promoting the active public service role of minorities, and especially Arab-Americans. He felt that if we want to be heard, and if we want to exert an influence in this country on the peace process and on improving conditions in the Arab World, that public service was one extremely important avenue for achieving that. He also worked very hard at trying to bring Arab-Americans and Jewish-Americans together to promote Arab-Israeli peace, and he was indomitable and in that respect he was very much like King Hussein in that he never gave up, no matter how difficult it became, no matter how many difficult forces were arrayed in opposition, he never gave up, and I draw strength from my husband and his example of constant struggle for the betterment of not only the people of Jordan, but his family was the entire Arab World, and I draw strength from his limitless faith in not only God but in his fellow man, in the Arab family, and in each of our ability to make a difference.

I think my generation is willing to sacrifice, if at least our children can have so hope for the future

Queen Noor

Nadia: On a personal note, apart from you being an activist seeking all kinds of causes to advance peace and equality, you’re also an author (QN: Yes). You wrote two books, Hussein of Jordan and A Leap of Faith, and one of them was #1 on the New York list of books and which was translated to 15 languages…you dealt also with tragedy and with death, where does Queen Noor al-Hussein draw on the inner strength? How do you deal with fate? Do you believe in fate? Do you believe that things are meant to happen the way they happen?

QN: I have an enormous faith, and it is faith in God, it is faith in mankind, no matter what I’ve seen…and that I’ve learned from my husband, no matter what he saw he never lost his faith in even the worst enemy. He never stopped looking for the positive, for the opportunity to work with even the most intractable foe. And so his faith as I said earlier is a constant source of strength and support for me. I’ve found not only in our life together, but certainly since his death, that my family are an enormous source of support for me…we are a typical Arab family, we are very close and Alhumdulilah we are, we give one another a great sense of support on all levels, but also, from my work. I think that’s how I fill the vacuum that’s been left behind and also how I try to give meaning to all of the lessons I have learned, to the example of an extraordinary Hashemite leader, who I had the great privilege of sharing a life with, and it is also, as in Global Zero, for example, it’s just one example of working for my children and their children, for the possibility that they will have a future free of the insecurity and dangers that are posed not only by nuclear weapons, but of course by conflict in our region and elsewhere…and your audience, if they wish, can join me and other leaders around the world and sign the declaration at GlobalZero.org

Nadia: That is wonderful, and I hope they are listening. (QN: I hope so too). Thank you very much for your time. (QN: Thank you). Thank you very much.

I have an enormous faith, and it is faith in God, it is faith in mankind, no matter what I’ve seen

Queen Noor