Transcript of HM Queen Noor's Interview with Ms. Samar Daoud for Al-Mushahid Assiyasi at Al-Nadwa Palace on 4 February 1997

Samar Daoud (S.D.): What is Jordan's role and Your Majesty's role and perspective regarding the peace process?

HM Queen Noor (HMQN): Jordan's role is a matter of historical record. It begins in the early part of this century and I think the leaders of Jordan throughout the years since have all represented an Arab struggle for independence and freedom and have sacrificed their lives or given fully of themselves -- as my husband has -- to try and promote peace and a Middle East that could represent once again the finest of our civilizations at peace.

Certainly since 1967, Jordan helped in the drafting of resolution 242 and sought towards its implementation and in the end its own treaty with Israel of 1994 is based on the principle of the exchange of land for peace (resolution 242). That agreement (1994 Peace Treaty) was made possible by the development following the Madrid Peace Conference and the Israeli-Palestinian self rule agreements, Oslo I and Oslo II, beginning with the Palestinian-Israeli Declaration of Principles in 1993. That was what opened the way for Jordan to then achieve its own declaration of principles and then treaty. Having provided the umbrella for the Palestinian delegation to Madrid, once the Palestinian-Israeli declaration was announced we then were free to proceed.

So, Jordan has played a role as an umbrella, as a catalyst, as a mediator. I think the most recent Hebron dilemma, Jordan's role and trying to resolve that reflects very well its role as a mediator, as a bridge if you will between different parties to the conflict over in fact a very long period of time. It's the most recent example. I think Jordan has a special credibility, a trust that it has earned over a long time with all the parties of the conflict. That is the greatest strength and role we have is in maintaining that trust and confidence, promoting trust and confidence between the other parties to the conflict, whether Arab states and Israel and if necessary Europe and the United States to enable a comprehensive peace to be achieved because without that all our efforts would have been mostly in vain.

As for my role, which you asked about: Before I married I had traveled in the Arab world and had seen a great deal of the potential but also of the consequences of the absence of peace, the waste of resources, the frustration and the insecurity, and lack of development. Over the years, my husband encouraged me to speak out -- probably more than any wife of head of state that I was aware of in the world not only just in the Arab world -- to speak out frankly and openly, sometimes quite forcefully about political concerns and the political and human face of the Arab people of this region in places like the United States where that face was not well represented and that voice was not heard. So, I have been able to play a role, not only to promote cultural understanding, to promote economic development through tourism and a variety of other efforts, which are more conventional roles for a wife of a head of state, but also to try to be an extra voice giving as I called it a humanitarian political message to the West. I hope that had reinforced the political and other efforts being made by so many. We will continue, we still have a long way ahead of us. We are no where near the end. I think the road ahead is going to be as difficult maybe more difficult in many respects, but at least we have overcome some major obstacles. I think there is now shared among the majority in our region greater hope than there was for a very long time.

S.D. Everybody knows that there is religious tolerance in Jordan under the aegis and guidance of His Majesty King Hussein; how do you personally see a dialogue of interfaith taking place in Jordan?

HMQN: I thought I should begin by making reference to the fact that Jordan and Palestine have been at the crossroads of this region, east and west, north and south, over the millennia. Peoples of different cultures and faiths have always mingled here. That has resulted in a dynamic that has left us many of the magnificent archaeological treasures that we all share as well as the spiritual blessings of the three monotheistic faiths. So, you will see in our antiquities, synagogues, churches and mosques, in some places side by side that demonstrate clearly how inter-linked and how the pluralistic nature of civilizations in our region over many years. There is today in Jordan and in a number of other countries, an increasing emphasis on interfaith dialogue as you mentioned. Jordan is one of several centers in the world that are promoting this.

The Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies has held several conferences here and has participated in several international conferences bringing together Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars to discuss the issues, the common bonds that link the 3 monotheistic faiths, to discuss the possibilities that there are to harness greater understanding and this kind of dialogue, to promote peace, to promote development and obviously understanding. I personally think that these interfaith efforts must focus on identifying and promoting a greater understanding of the common values of our religions, of promoting emphasis within the educational systems, of an appreciation of shared values and even history of the faiths. I think it is terribly important to understand these efforts can play a very important political role in terms of promoting peace and understanding – they may even be a vital component to that process. In Jordan, I know that the commitment is ongoing. It is not only a Hashemite commitment, but it is also a national commitment. I think there is great progress being made. There are scholars from Jordan, Palestine, Israel, so many countries in the Arab world, working together to try and identify the common ground. God willing they will succeed in making that something that will bond this family of worshippers of 1 God together in closer harmony.

One thing I wanted to add, there are a few other interesting projects that may promote this kind of dialogue in the country such as this new United Nations University International Leadership Academy (UNU / ILA) which we are hoping will begin in June this year and bring together potential leaders from throughout the world to meet with contemporary leaders to enhance their understanding of each other, of global issues, of common problems as well as the different problems that different regions of the world are facing. That of course will have an interfaith component because we will be bringing together leaders of different faiths and different cultures to identify common spiritual links as well as economic, political, social and cultural.

There are also other efforts on the level of the youth. There is a project called the "Seeds of Peace", which originated in the United States to bring together Arab and Israeli children to come to know one another, to exchange, to explain their concerns. There have been meetings in the region of some of the students with each other, but for the most part the program is a summer program that takes place in the United States. It has been fascinating to hear from these children, Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian – early teenagers, 14 - 16 year olds. I have heard Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian children talking about coming to understand the perspective of the other. So many have been brainwashed by propaganda, that when they finally started to discover that they are so much more alike and that politics on one hand can divide and demonize people, but in fact the human qualities and the very human hopes and fears and needs of young people when shared together, those will be seeds of peace God willing for the future. Those are wonderful programs that bring together young people of different faiths and backgrounds in our region to understand. The moving statements that they have made don't solve the political problems, but I think it is a light for us to follow for the future.

SD: How is the Jerash Festival enhancing cross cultural exchange among participating countries, do you think Jordan will ever invite Israel to participate in such an international event?

HMQN: An historical note of interest might be that in the first century A.D. during the period of the Roman Emperor Trajan, there's an inscription at Jerash of an annual festival that was held and that we now like to think was the first Jerash Festival ever. [One inscription at Jerash from the reign of Emperor Trajan (A.D. 98 - 117) tells of the inauguration of an annual contest, held in the South Theater, then the most splendid of its kind in the province, of the "Sacred guild of the ecumenical, victorious, crowned artists in the service of Dionysus and of our Lord". Such festivals had long been a feature of prominent cities across the Graeco-Roman world, and this guild context made the Gerasenes feel that they were truly "citizens of the world". Furthermore it gave stimulus to the patronage of the arts, which was seen as a worthy activity.]

I had hoped that the Festival -- and the volunteers who have worked with me over the years to establish it – would provide a forum for Jordanian performers to interact with one another, to learn from one another, to perform before Jordanian, Arab and international audiences. Then it grew quickly to include Jordanians and Arab and then eventually we have had performers from all the continents of the world performing in most of the areas of performing arts. I had hoped it would be a place where people young and old, of all income, backgrounds and all levels of education and origin could come together and share an experience together. I think these occasions are rare. They are very important to promote again a sense of family, a sense of common ground if you will. In this case the arts are a very good vehicle for bringing people together. It (the Jerash Festival) has succeeded in bringing people together from all over the world, especially from the region. It had contributed to a cultural renaissance in Jordan and is valued I think regionally as well as nationally.

In terms of Israeli participation, the issue has not come up yet. I believe there are visitors from all over the world, from all over the region who are here during the Festival. I don't have figures to know where they all come from , but perhaps there will be participation in the future. As with all cultural, economic, social and political efforts, the progress we make towards a comprehensive peace will very much determine how dynamic we are able to be in our bilateral relations in other areas.

SD: Tourism prospers with peace, how is Jordan planning to further this sector?

HMQN: It is a very important sector as you know for the economy of every country in this region. Recent figures indicate that in a context of peace, tourism could increase by 15 - 20%; this is what we could expect. In fact, the first 5 months of last year, Jordan forecast a boom – a 17% increase in tourism – and then with political disturbances that took place later on the year, in the end it was only a 2.8% increase only. It is very clear that tourism has enormous economic benefits that will only be realized by any of us in a context of peace. I think that sends a message to the peace makers whether Israeli or Arab, our economies are inter-linked with our political situation. So, it is a motivation, it has to be a motivation to achieve a comprehensive peace, because without a comprehensive peace there will never be a stable climate to promote sustainable tourism.

The government has decided to privatize the advertising and marketing of tourism in Jordan. There has been since our peace treaty in 1994 a $500 million investment in tourism in the country. We hare planning to double the number of beds by the year 2000. So we have great plans and hopes.

I have a special interest in something called eco-tourism, which is what I feel is the only sustainable tourism possible, especially in a country like ours and other countries in this region, where there are archaeological sites and environmentally unique sites like Wadi Rum, archaeologically significant like Petra or Jerash or the pyramids, or the holy sites in Palestine and elsewhere. These sites will only be valuable and generate tourism income if they are protected and not over developed. So, yes, while we want to increase the number of beds, it's very important to do it in areas where it will not do environmental damage if you will to the natural environment and to the antiquities.

It is very important as well in countries like ours, which are relatively poor to engage the local population in touristic-related activities. I have been involved in my work in the Noor Al Hussein Foundation and supported other efforts to develop income-generating projects for communities that are located near important sites. One wonderful example is Dana, which in 1994 was established as a Nature Reserve. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature -- which His Majesty and I are involved with in Jordan -- with the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program established an eco-tourism project in Dana. It includes a 15th Century village, overlooking Wadi Dana, which is only 45 minutes by car from Petra. It is a magnificent environmental sites, in that there are 4 eco-systems represented in this very large expanse of land. The old village had been abandoned and with private sector support, volunteers and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the village has been restored to become a production center of handicrafts. It has also involved agricultural projects, income-generating activities that are environmentally sensitive. It has provided new jobs for the local inhabitants who have moved back into the village. The villagers are also now the hosts to guests, to tourists who come to visit the site for environmental reasons; there is also a small hotel there and a restaurant is coming up. So, it is a stopping point for visitors to Petra and those interested in the environment. The villagers are producing agricultural products as well as wonderful, very original jewelry and other items which are for sale to tourists. It is a project which combines socio-economic development with environmental projection, with tourism as well. It is an excellent example of the direction that Jordan can move in and other countries in the area.

We have another project, which is a Noor Al Hussein Foundation Project, near Iraq Al-Amir, which is the site of an Hellenistic 2nd century BC palace that is a touristic stop. It has now become enhanced by the restoration of old village farmhouses, which is becoming an handicrafts village. It is a place where tourists can stop, have some refreshment on his way to see the old palace, on his way back, buy hand-made paper, hand-loomed cloth, a number of different handicrafts which we have established and are providing the local folk with income and providing the tourists with something unique that is not produced anywhere else. It also is going to ensure that the inhabitants are more careful to preserve and protect their natural environment and the touristic site.

In Petra, one of our most greatest treasures, I have been struggling with a number of private citizens to advocate the government to be more careful in its development planning around the site of Petra. It is a particularly fragile site and because it is so unique everyone wants to develop it with hotels, with facilities to benefit from touristic income and too much development will ruin the site. We have already have some poorly planned development that threatens the site. There are those of us who are eco-tourism oriented and there are those who are interested in profits and the economic benefits in the short term, but may not look to the long term to see if the planning is done badly we will ruin the site for future generations to benefit from. So we have to engage the local population in seeing the long-term view of their role in that community and not just how much money I can make today, but in fact how will my children live and how will their children live if I do not plan responsibly today and perhaps make some sacrifice for them to benefit as well.

These are some of the issue that I have been facing in Jordan. At the same time, Israel, Jordan and other countries in the Mediterranean region have started to develop joint tourism packages after the Middle East and North Africa Summit in Amman. There was the formation of a Mediterranean group of countries [the General Assembly of Middle East Mediterranean Travel and Tourism Association, which is one of the three regional economic bodies initiated during the Middle East and North African Summit (MENA) hosted in Amman last year] that are working together to promote tourism. Last year at a conference in Damascus, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan agreed to work together to promote tourism. Israel and Jordan. are working together to see if we can benefit in Jordan from their contacts in the United States, which is a weak market for us but a big market for them, and whether can help them benefit in South-East Asia where we have a stronger market than they do. So, we are trying to look for ways in which we can help each other because this is going to be the best way we can help people on the ground to feel the benefits, the economic benefits of peace and reconciliation. You can sign millions of documents, but that will not result in peace if people are not convinced and don't feel that they have a stake in.

SD: A recent advertisement in the American market place in which Jordanians, Palestinians and Israelis promoted tourism by emphasizing that peace is a fact and a way of life in the Middle East. Do you see further co-operation in this sector?

HMQN: I think what's important about that add is the co-operation. That aspect is important and will be increasingly in so many levels in our region. As Arabs we have not cooperated as effectively together as we might have, let alone the possibilities in the context of peace. So number one it is important because of the co-operation and I think it's also important because it reflects the will of the majority in this region to achieve a lasting peace. It reflects that optimism and that hope, but I would also add that we have to work terribly hard in the coming period in order for peace to be a fact. I think we can take nothing for granted and we can not be complacent because we have seen in the last year how hard we have to work, how vigilant we have to be. I come back to the comment about how people have to make peace. Hopefully it is a beginning that will develop, we must work to create the environment and the conditions in which that kind of optimism will prevail and that means a great deal of more political progress.

SD: How can Your Majesty describe your upbringing and your life before you were inaugurated as Jordan's Queen: your family, education and social activities.

HMQN: My grandfather emigrated to the United States from Lebanon and Syria at the early part of the century and my father from an early age became involved in aviation and government service. So from the time I was born we spent a great deal of time in and out of Washington. We never lived anywhere for more than 4 years, until I came to Amman I have never lived anywhere for more than 4 years. That probably prepared me well for adapting, learning and benefiting from different communities and different experiences. It probably made me more of an observer than perhaps I would have been had I grown up in one place all my life.

Certainly from the time I understood my Arab roots, I was very aware that I was not only a part of the world that I was growing up in, but being connected to another larger world and to the Arab world as well. As a young person growing up, perhaps the most important aspects of my life were this realization that I was part of a larger world than the community I was living in, that my family came from another place, but also I was part of a generation that grew up in somewhat unique circumstances in the United States. My father was in government service in aviation during President Kennedy's administration, so I was part of the Martin Luther King Civil Rights Movement and became very passionate about issues of social justice and civil rights. My generation was also passionate about peace, and the Vietnam War and issues about American involvement abroad, how to promote peace rather than warfare and the environment was also an issue of my generation. These issues have had a tremendous impact on my life throughout and became my issues when I married as well.

I studied architecture and urban planning at university because I felt it was a field that encompassed so many different aspects of man's life and it was a perfect discipline for trying to understand the needs of an individual or a community and how to be sensitive enough and creative enough to design solutions for those needs. I then traveled abroad and worked in South-East Asia, because I had wanted to learn more about the Vietnam War. I still felt strongly about it. I then came to the Middle East. I worked in South East Asia in Architecture and Urban planning and then worked in Iran in the field of urban planning for a British planning firm. I then worked in Jordan and during that time traveled to do research in a number of different Arab countries for a special project in Jordan. So, I had a very interesting perspective.

Just before I married, before the time that that was an issue. I had decided that perhaps I had seen enough of the different societies and cultures in the region. I had seen and learned enough to know how little understood Arab society, culture and politics were in the West. I applied to Columbia University School of Journalism. I decided that I could best serve promoting understanding and solving people's problems not through urban planning, but through journalism, in trying first of all to promote understanding because lack of understanding seemed to be the root of so many problems -- problems that were destroying economic resources as well as political efforts. So, I had just applied and been accepted for my masters degree when my husband (the King) began to see each other and talk. We found we had many political and humanitarian concerns in common, we found we had a lot in common and so, instead I married and pursued promoting understanding in a different way – in a way we have already talked about. I have also always remained very concerned about human rights, the environment, and peace. So I continued my work with him in other ways.

My parents were a great source of inspiration and support, my father in his public service and my mother as well in her community service. They both had an impact in the way I looked at myself as being a public servant. That's what I wanted to do more than anything else and that's thanks to my parents.

SD: How did Your Majesty perceive Jordan the moment you assumed your duties as the Queen of Jordan?

HMQN: Because I had worked in Iran, in the Far-East and the United States as well, when I came to Jordan and it became a base for traveling through the other Arab countries, I was just thinking about this because of your question. I was thinking that of course our societies, our cultures are very family oriented, very much influenced by the values of Islam and that is something shared throughout this region but I found Jordan an oasis within the region because it was clean, well organized and more importantly I think in this country I found the greatest measure of freedom and calm – a sense that the people were not terrified that someone might be listening to what they were saying and that they might be paying a penalty for saying the wrong thing, but that people felt free to express themselves and while we are not a rich country and are developing gradually and slowly, but somehow we're well grounded having had to work for everything we had -- not having had anything come too easily to us. Those were my impressions, relative to my travels in the area, that this was a very special country because it was moderate and balanced, very traditional but also very forward looking and free and getting freer.

SD: What are Your Majesty's relationships with other First Ladies in the Arab World and the rest of the world. Are there any special activities with the American and French First Ladies and the Queen of Great Britain?

HMQN: In the Arab world, I have had the opportunity and privilege of meeting quite a number of First Ladies – we don't usually describe ourselves that way. I would say that in many respects you find as much diversity among these individuals as you do among our countries. One thing that everyone has had in common is a desire to contribute to work for the benefit of her country, each in her own way and also in the ways often of the traditions of the country. Each has been very committed and involved to whatever extent she could be. I have had more contact with some than others depending on both political relationships and also distance.

There have been some who have been like mothers to me and the mother of Sultan Qaboos of Oman looked upon my husband as she used to say it as another son in a very motherly way. She had a very special role to play in trying to bring people together within the Gulf region as well as elsewhere. She was very much like a mother to me and we miss her very much. There are others who have shared similar goals in terms of social development work and other projects, some who have been very supportive. In the Gulf States, Sheikhah Fatimah of Abu Dhabi has worked very hard and been very supportive of other efforts in the region to promote development. In Saudi Arabia, there are also members of the family, not only women, but also men like Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and other who are very much involved in encouraging and promoting development. Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz in particular with his Arab Council for Childhood and Development has been very encouraging and supportive of projects in other countries. There are other members of the Royal Families who are not only interested in their own countries' issues, but also in others.

Suha Arafat of course has become a friend, a woman that I look upon as a sister, who is challenged by many of the same things we are challenged by and at the same time is in a very unique position. She is welcome anytime with her beautiful baby and I certainly wish her well and try to give her the benefit of my experiences if it's of any value. I know she is very committed to working for the welfare of her people.

In Morocco, in Egypt, in Syria, in Lebanon as well I have met the ladies who are committed to the development of their countries in different ways. I am full of admiration for all of them. Not only are the issues of women's involvement, but of promoting the welfare of all in their societies and trying, in many cases, to act as bridges between their societies and the rest of the world by promoting cultural events and activities.

In terms of Western women, there are a number of different initiatives that have been taken over the years. There was one in the United States that brought together First Ladies to fight drug abuse many years ago during the Reagan administration. There have been efforts launched by the wife of the former President of France Madame Valery Giscard D'Estaing who had a conference last year on children's rights in France and that brought together many of us.

There is another initiative that has been a longer ongoing initiative that Queen Fabiola of Belgium was very much involved with at the outset – the International Steering Committee for the Economic Advancement of Rural Women (ISC) that grew out of a large meeting in Geneva several years ago. The Steering Committee is about 4 years old and brings together every 1 years, wives of heads of state from all 5 regions of the world to discuss the progress they have been making in promoting the advancement of women, sharing ideas, brining in experts; the last meeting was in Amman. It enables us to learn from each other, to strengthen each other's abilities to advocate and promote the welfare of rural women and it is also an opportunity to focus attention on the subject, which is what we did at the Beijing conference, what we did recently when I went to the Food Summit in Rome. I think that this group has highlighted the possibilities that First Ladies can play a role of conscience, advocate, a lobbyist, and a catalyst for promoting understanding of issues and brining people together.

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