Convention of Women for Peace in the Middle East
April 11th, 2007Rania Al-Abdullah,Queen of Jordan has been described by HELLO! magazine as “Known for her business savvy, elegance and outspokenness, Queen Rania has divided opinion between those who feel she should take a more traditional role and those who see her as a shining example for Arab women. “I am an Arab through and through,” she insists. “But I am also one who speaks the international language.” Rania has pushed for education reform, fighting for better school facilities and mandatory English language training. She is also an enthusiastic supporter of the micro-fund movement which provides financial assistance to would-be entrepreneurs. And while some say she has overstepped her bounds, she continues to discuss formerly taboo topics. “The approach should be to talk about it, bring it to the surface – not to sweep it under the rug,” she insists.
Queen Rania has called on women to join her in solving the current Middle East crisis and invited select participants from Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, etc. to Jordan next spring for a Convention of Women for Peace in the Middle Eastaccording to ISRAEL21c
Queen Rania hand-picked Galia Albin to represent Israel.
Galia Albin is one grandmother who isn’t spending afternoons knitting booties, baking cookies or changing diapers. Instead, she’s running to television studios for tapings, representing Israel at international business forums and wielding influence on Israeli policymakers. She is one of the country’s powerful women and her mission is to influence and empower other women throughout the world.
At 57, Albin holds a slew of titles and positions in both public and private sectors in Israel and beyond. She serves as company director of at least ten publicly held Israeli/international giants including Marks & Spencer Israel, United Steel Mills and the Koor Industries Group, she chairs the Business Forum Women’s advisory to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the National Council for Children, The Center for Economic Development Among Jewish & Arab Women and serves as Director of the Israel Women’s Network.
Dr. Raanan Gissin, the former adviser to past prime minister Ariel Sharon, and a 30-year friend of Albin’s who sometimes guests on her show, says he sees huge potential in Albin’s dream of bridging the peace gap. “Israel is like an island surrounded by enemies and fences. Her non-conformist way of reaching out is very important because in going beyond the regular formalities, sometimes people can be reached.”
Sharing Albin’s dream of regional peace, Lebanese born Fadia Otte says that when she and Albin discussed the region’s conflict in Deauville they found a common bond. “When I met Galia we were nearly in tears over recent events. She wants peace between Arab and Jewish women and I want the same. We have a moral obligation to meet in Jordan and try to bring peace,” Otte told ISRAEL21c from her Paris home.
Good luck to them all .
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Well, queen Rania was never a princess, in fact, she was just like the rest of jordanian women, that is so normal, she is very Intelligent and Warm-Hearted, I admire her fight especially for honor crimes in Jordan.
Lets just hope that we will reap the results of such meetings and conferences one day
We need more of these initiatives! cheers to Queen Rania and all of the women who are participating! Thanks for the heads-up on this, Yoni!
Definitely an interesting read, however I am very skeptical of Queen Rania’s actions mainly because she talks too much and does very little, so I hope she takes this more seriously than her previous false promises. She loves doing things for the sake of limelight more than for the sake of change (to me it seems that way) so I honestly don’t expect much from her. But we’ll see. Thanks for telling us about it Yoni, your posts are actually amongst the best here!
however I am very skeptical of every leader in the middle east’s actions mainly because they talk too much and do very little.
Haha, good point.