“In a world where it so easy to connect to one another, we still remain very much disconnected”

I just checked out Queen Rania’s message on YouTube. The clip has received over 81,000 views already (UPDATE 3 April 2008. The clip has now almost 500,000 views and over 1000 comments). Give this a few more days and the clip would have achieved a reach that rivals the major news networks (who mostly only would take a sound bite from a long interview and overlay it with all kinds of of moving text and graphics anyway).

The clip has also attracted hundreds of comments so far. Reading through some of them proves the queen’s point. The stereotypes are sometimes shocking.

We live in a very bad time. Security checks on mall’s entrances and airports. Alarmist reports about this or that cultural phenomena. Flag burnings of this or that nation. Mindless stirring of religious sensitivities. Unresolved military occupations. Civil wars of fire and words. Fear. Fear and more Fear.

Haters and fanatics on all sides are having a field day..

“But they attacked us”

“But they want to destroy our values”

“But they want to control the world”

It’s the same talk on both sides.

The geopolitical game is ugly. A lot of cultural clash talk masks the fact that what is at stake are economic interests, greed and power. The “West” is hypocritical.

Equally ugly is the talk of identity and culture that masks the internal oppression of rights and the festering stagnation of societies. The “East” is hypocritical.

There is no way to describe the situation in the world today other than “ugly”.

Yet cynicism, pointing the finger at what “the others” are doing and disengagement only play into the hands of those whose contribution is the stalking of the fires of hate. And hate is the fuel of the hypocrites wars.

Queen Rania cannot be expected to single handedly change geopolitics with a YouTube clip. But at least she is doing something to create a bridge of understanding. And she’s using the right media to do it.

There will probably alway be greedy corporations, power hungry politicians, crazy army generals and disgruntled terrorists who will have their reasons, real or imagined, to wage wars.

We, the people, are, regrettably the fuel of these wars. So the least we can do is to talk to each other and get a little more enlightened, before we get blindly sucked into the wars that we get sold.


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9 responses to “Can Queen Rania’s YouTube clip make a difference?”

  1. Woofer Avatar
    Woofer

    Good on her!
    She is pretty much the only hope for the voice of woman in this country to be heard. She is stepping out to bridge or tame the ignorance of the west to the extremists of islam and to show to everyone in between that humans are humans and generally normal but different. Some may have a go at her for all sorts of reasons but it is a small step that some one has to make.

  2. Nas Avatar
    Nas

    here here!

  3. ياسمين حميد Avatar
    ياسمين حميد

    from what I saw in the comments on the clip… ummm… I don’t think so.

  4. Joseph Avatar
    Joseph

    you’re right! Its now 111,688 views! Amazing

  5. Craig Avatar
    Craig

    Queen Rania cannot be expected to single handedly change geopolitics with a YouTube clip.

    She sure can’t! Not once people start reading Jordanian blogs and realize just how many asshats live in Jordan, eh? :D

    I wish her luck with that, but I think she’d be of more service if she tried to change Jordanian culture first, though. Jordan has a real problem. Jordanian blog commenters are the most angry and hateful of all Arabs, and I don’t believe for a second that the general population doesn’t reflect that.

  6. Ali Avatar
    Ali

    It’s a great intiavtive, and dialouge is the key. My sister has wrote a book called”Arab Voices Speak to American Hearts” and there is also a group under the same name on Facebook, a chance for Arabs to reach Americans
    here are some links
    http://www.arabvoicesspeak.com
    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7636194277

  7. rula Avatar
    rula

    beautifully said..
    Queen Rania does represent women in the Arab world and therefore should get all the support.
    people living in the west SHOULD see this,,
    God bless

  8. omar Avatar
    omar

    I’ve been strolling through the comments on that video for DAYS! it sparked amazing discussions, arguments, namecalling and most importantly questions and inquisitive thoughts. I was more than happy to try to reply to a bunch and clear out a couple of things. Quite fun actually!

  9. mesh3al elfayez Avatar
    mesh3al elfayez

    this clip is amazing.. maybe we’re a tiny population and our leaders aren’t that important in the world (i mean as much as bush or european leaders) to decide and make changes in our world.. but she’s at least one of the rare arab people who are trying and the only way to success is to try.. when there is a will there is a way! queen Rania is a great enlightened queen .. one in a billion i’d say! our world hadn’t and won’t see anyone like this great lady!
    about what craig said… well.. i don’t see why you said that because i’ve been to 8 arab countries in the past 5 years and i saw how they all respect us because of our peaceful history and our great leaders and they all said we are the only arab country that would become the most open minded and most successful! it’s not the oil that will make us reach the top (as gulf countries’ people think) because education is the base of our success whereas their success is based on their money and they won’t have oil forever so they will fail one day!
    now back to the clip… i have a blog and will post this link in it to let my friends from all over the world watch it (from europe, the americas, asia and africa!)… hope it will show them what arab people truely are…