Israel

President Levin, Dean Lorimer, faculty, students… thank you so much for making me feel so welcome here at Yale. I’ve wanted to come here for many years, and am so grateful to everyone for the hospitality and kindness you’ve shown to me and my staff.

I’ve really been looking forward to seeing the Yale landmarks that I’ve been hearing about for so long – the Beinecke Library… Harkness Tower… Old Campus… Peter Salovey’s moustache.

On-off negotiations, limp handshakes, violated agreements, starts and stops, hopes dashed. This, the landscape of the Middle East peace process in the last decade. In 2006, what our region needed was a renewed peace effort; what our region got was the devastating cat and mouse conclusion of Hezbollah’s skirmishes and Israel’s imperious invasion of Lebanon. 

The fall of the Berlin Wall: what a testament to the power of peaceful revolution. Even as a high school student in Kuwait, it was impossible not to be swept up in the emotion, as I watched people clamber to freedom, family and friends for the first time.

What do chocolate, cookies, A4 paper, potato chips, cumin, toys, jelly, nuts, dried fruit, nutmeg, and goats have in common? It's a tricky one. If you're a moderate, they have nothing in common. But if you are a hard-line Israeli politician, they are all potentially dangerous goods that could threaten Israel's security. It seems that side of the political spectrum has won the argument, as all the above are items that the Israeli government has prohibited from entering Gaza. It's understandable.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department- New York) In an address at Yale University in Connecticut, on Tuesday, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah called for greater political courage in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Following remarks from Yale President Richard Levin, Her Majesty reflected on the desperate plight of the Palestinian people, underlining the deprivation and despair brought about by years of instability and stalled hopes.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Marka) Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah lent a helping hand to volunteers at the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Commission as they loaded twenty two humanitarian relief trucks with nonperishable goods and medical supplies, Tuesday.

(As it appeared in the Huffington Post)

Ironic. The peace conference, that brought me to South Africa, has been postponed.

A gathering billed to bring people together... that symbolized the power of dialogue and intercultural understanding... that was to be a medium for solutions to ongoing conflicts around the world has, instead, polarized opinions, fuelled frustration, and caused divisions.