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Intelligence on the World, Europe, and Italy
Cernobbio Forum
THE QUEEN'S SPEECH
Queen Rania’s Speech at the 50th European House
– Ambrosetti (TEHA) Forum - Cernobbio, Italy
"I last joined this Forum in 2005. Some of you may remember that year. Armed conflict was roiling
Afghanistan and Iraq. Terrorists carried out horrific bombings in London, Sharm El-Sheikh, and
Amman. A devastating earthquake hit Kashmir and a hurricane thrashed New Orleans.
I never imagined I’d look back on those days and think, “Those were simpler times.”
And yet…
Today, we come together in a moment of profound uncertainty. It seems like everywhere we turn,
we’re met with something worse.
Conflicts raging. Climate changing. Disruptive technologies emerging faster than even their
creators can understand. Economies struggling to provide opportunity for rising generations.
And all of this against a backdrop of deep and divisive mistrust.
Of course, trust in leaders and governments has been declining for years—but today, we are seeing
something far more alarming: A loss of faith in the rules and moral standards meant to govern our
world.
Many of those global rules and standards were forged in response to brutal wars and bloodshed
here in Europe.
From the United Nations, to the International Court of Justice, to the UN Declaration of Human
Rights, the world came together to establish norms for a future better than its past—a future based
on the values of the UN Charter: peace, justice, and human rights.
This global system remains a work in progress. But for people to trust in the enterprise, they need
to believe in its integrity.
And right now, for much of the global public, that integrity is in shreds.
Looking at Israel’s war in Gaza, they see a glaring double standard… or worse yet, a seeming abdication of any standards at all.
The events of the past year are known to us all.
On October 7th, Israel was attacked by Hamas—a violent escalation that shocked the world. 1,200
people were killed, more than 250 taken hostage. As the international community has affirmed,
Israelis, like all peoples, have the right to live in and peace and security.
Since that time, Israel has responded by taking its blockade of Gaza to new, inhumane levels, and
pummeling it with devastating force.
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The Gaza Strip, an area barely a third the size of Rome, has been hit with an estimated 70,000 tons
of bombs— that’s more than all bombs dropped on London, Hamburg, and Dresden throughout
all of World War II.
- Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed—the majority women and children.
- Nearly 100,000 more have been injured.
doctors describe the horror of amputating on children too young to walk. According to Save the
Children, over 20,000 children are estimated to be lost, detained, buried under the rubble, or in
mass graves.
Israel has put almost 90% of the Gaza Strip under evacuation orders – while repeatedly targeting
areas it had declared to be safe. Nearly the entire population has been displaced at least once.
Almost the entire population is facing acute food insecurity. Israel restricts and obstructs access to
humanitarian aid while Palestinian children starve.
- It has been nearly eight months since the International Court of Justice – the world’s highest court – determined it was plausible that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
And it has been 10 days since Israel launched a wide-scale military assault on the West Bank,
inflicting further destruction and displacement on Palestinians living far from the Gaza Strip.
For decades, beginning before last October, Palestinians have been subjected to a crushing,
criminal occupation.
Palestinians, too, have the right to live in security and peace. And yet, here we are… Still.
Unimaginable civilian suffering is being normalized, every day.
But I ask you: Try to imagine what it must be like, to not be gathering here beside beautiful Lake
Como, but to be a parent in Gaza.
You’ve lost your home – and I don’t just mean your house, but the photo albums, the well-worn
armchair, your child’s favorite blanket and first toy… everything that is familiar and comforting
to you.
You’ve moved your family again and again, so many times that you’ve lost count. And yet,
nowhere is safe.
You’ve buried a child. Another has lost a leg, and half their weight. Your whole family is starving.
You look toward the future and see a bleak horizon.
No hospitals. No schools. Not a single university still standing. Almost every neighborhood is
wreckage and rubble and ruin.
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You spend your days waiting: For meager food rations. For a ceasefire that never comes…. For
your turn to die.
In the midst of a crisis, it can be difficult to see beyond it. But that is what this pivotal moment
demands.
Last year, the Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah wrote, “The last time millions of people were targeted and trapped based on their identity, the world said ‘never again.’”
What is the world saying now?
- I ask you: Would any Western population be expected to tolerate decades of occupation,oppression, and violence? Yet, in Palestine, this injustice has been rationalized and allowed to go on in full view of the global community.
- Is the world saying that Israel’s security is more important than anyone else’s – and, therefore,nothing is off limits in its pursuit? That no level of Palestinian suffering is too high a price to pay?
This devaluation of life must be called out for what it is: anti-Palestinian racism. And if “never
again” singles out some based on identity, then that promise has been broken.
This failure cannot stand.
The international community must ask, and answer, “What next?”
And then it must act.
The bloodshed must stop. But that’s not enough. We must blaze a better path—one wide enough
for everyone to walk.
And I call on our friends in Europe to play a prominent, active role. To weigh their responses to
this conflict against long-espoused European values.
For years, Europe has positioned itself as a champion of international law and human rights,
earning it goodwill, respect, and soft power around the world.
- Yet, what is the Global South supposed to think when they see the West stand up for the people of Ukraine… while leaving innocent civilians in Gaza to unprecedented collective punishment?
- What are they to think when global leaders express outrage at air strikes on foreign humanitarianworkers, but not on the desperate Palestinians those same aid workers are trying to support?
- What are they to think when the ICJ’s advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation is illegal is ignoredby some and dismissed by others, even as Gaza’s displaced children are being bombed in tents…or killed by Israeli bullets to the head?
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What conclusions are people to draw about who matters, who doesn’t, and why?
More than hypocritical, the double standard is dehumanizing. It is cruel. And if it isn’t racist, Idon’t know what is.
It sends the message that many powerful nations see some people as “less than.”
And it suggests that the global community is sanctioning a world—to borrow the words of ICC
chief prosecutor Karim Khan—of “grab what you can, do what you want, take what you will.”
Coming to you from the Middle East, I can tell you, this is the world many in my region see today.
And that is a very dangerous world.
Because when international humanitarian law is applied selectively… when UN resolutions are
discounted… when international courts are bullied and belittled… we have entered a new era of
global disorder – in which none of us are truly safe.
Will the global community course correct… or continue to edge toward chaos?
What next?
The people of the world deserve a global system they can trust, free of prejudice, moral loopholes,
and deadly blind spots. And trust in that system has become intrinsically tied to the fate of the
Palestinian people.
That’s why rejecting double standards, demanding accountability, and finding a common path to
peace are necessary to create the future Palestinians, Israelis, and all of us deserve.
This is no simple task; after all, failed peace talks have been a recurrent feature of this conflict,
and a lasting resolution has never felt farther away. But we cannot resign ourselves to an intolerable
reality.
If we are to forge a just, sustainable peace that honors both people’s rights and aspirations, we
need to start from a shared foundation – one that rests on a number of basic principles we can all
agree on and adhere to.
Our vantage points may vary, so let us begin with the common ground: five indisputable principles
that should underpin all genuine enterprises for peace.
First, international law must prevail, without exception.
It’s human nature to let emotions color our judgement. But the law is reason without passion. And
its application is guided by evidence, not emotion.
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And I’ll be honest: I’m not neutral. I’d guess none of us truly are - no matter how hard we try.
That’s why we need the law. We will never resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which inflames
passions across generations and borders, unless we anchor the effort in a bedrock of impartiality.
And while compromise is key to any peace process, international law must set the floor. That
means enforcing legally binding UN Security Council resolutions, and respecting the opinions and
rulings of international courts, even when they’re politically inconvenient.
Second, autonomy, dignity, and human rights are universal and unconditional.
The right to self-determination, to equality, to freedom from persecution and discrimination – these
are human rights. They do not need to be earned. And they are non-negotiable—irrespective of
how much global influence, political leverage, or military power one side might have.
Peace cannot be created by strong-arming a weaker party into unequal terms. Palestinians and
Israelis have an equal right to security and self-determination.
A number of European countries have acknowledged this by recognizing a Palestinian state. I hope
that more countries in Europe and elsewhere will do the same.
Third, for justice to prevail, there must be accountability.
In a just global society, individuals, institutions, and nations are guided by the knowledge that they
are answerable for their actions… that checks to their power will be enforced… and any
wrongdoing will be met with repercussions.
Without equally-enforced accountability, justice is impossible. Trust erodes. The entire system
falls out of balance. In Gaza, we see the catastrophic consequences of that imbalance: a powerful
nation, creating conditions of mass hunger and displacement, facing little pushback.
The flipside of accountability is impunity – and a sense of impunity doesn’t develop overnight.
For the past 57 years, Israel has not only sustained, but entrenched, its illegal occupation of
Palestinian territory through an ever-growing network of settlements. The international
community has been vocal in its rejection of this; but words are not enough. “Condemnation” is
an expression of ideals, not policy. To achieve justice, we must bridge the gap between principle
and practice.
Ultimately, without accountability, talk of international law… of justice… and of human rights is
reduced to hollow rhetoric.
Fourth, true security is not zero-sum. A just peace makes security mutual.
The late Shimon Peres was a longtime participant in this Forum. Listen to what he had
6 to say, in a speech a decade ago:
“Israel will not have permanent security without peace … Israel will be giving up its future if it
sees the status quo as its desire.”
For decades, Israel has sought to ensure its citizens’ safety by denying Palestinians’ right to the
same. But that route is unsustainable; it has brutalized Palestinians, and failed to keep Israelis safe.
Neither side’s insecurity serves the other. It only perpetuates the problem—an endless cycle of
repression, resentment, and retaliation. Only a just peace can break that cycle.
My fifth point is a simple one: Voices on the very extreme must be blocked from the conversation.
The future cannot be held hostage to those who advocate for mass starvation, extermination, and
expulsion… who applaud collective punishment… who defend the indefensible. They must be
called out and shut down.
Because incitement against an entire population is not an exercise of free speech – it is a vile breach
of decent human conduct.
For my part, I have no illusion that restoring hope for peace will be easy. The points of contention
are many –– but surely, these are five principles we all know to be true.
That upholding the law is a must, not a maybe… That human rights are not open to negotiation…
That without accountability, injustice is not only sustained, it is normalized… that peace – real,
lasting, life-affirming peace – is key to security… and that extreme voices cannot be allowed to
dictate the conversation.
We cannot go back to the days before this war. As we ask, “what next?” the answer cannot be,
“more of the same.”
Europe can help promote a better way forward… one in which our international system yieldsfairness, not favoritism… where immutable ideas outweigh short-term interests… and where allstakeholders are more concerned with the human cost of war than the political cost of peace.
Imagine reaping the benefits of that future.
Imagine being a parent in that Palestine. In that Israel. No empty stomachs or empty seats at the
table. No crippling sense of uncertainty. No reason for animosity between two peoples, living side
by side in the holy light of peace.
In the words of Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye, “It’s late… but everything comes
next.”
Thank you all very much.
- 11.10: speech by H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan.
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