Queen Rania captivates
American TV audiences

By Ray Hanania*

AMERICA IS a TV nation. That means that probably 90 percent of Americans learn about issues, outside of their immediate environment, come from the TV set. Whether it's news reports, features or even entertainment programs, it's the TV.

And Sunday is the biggest night for most Americans to sit around the TV as a family and watch. One of the top-rated programs on TV on Sunday is a one-hour news documentary program called "60 Minutes."

So when Their Majesties King Abdallah and Queen Rania decided to grant an interview to 60 Minutes and their reporter Christian Amanpour, it was another brilliant move.

While other Arab leaders look at American and the Western media as "risky," King Abdallah and Queen Rania took a very calculated gamble that paid off big for them.

"60 Minutes" ranks high among the programs in the United States that are broadcast on Sunday nights. It's most recent rating is 9.7, which means that no fewer than 10 million American families were watching out of the total of 97 million American homes that have TV sets. That's impressive.

What Americans saw was a very educated and highly articulate Jordanian monarchy. King Abdallah came across as a very articulate individual. His English was perfect and that's the one thing American's like to see in a foreign head-of-state. And, more importantly, Queen Rania came across as "very western," far from the image of extremist fundamentalists as most Arabs and Arab women are oftentimes portrayed through the biased spectacles of the media.

Queen Rania scored many points during her interview on "60 Minutes", broadcast on Sunday, 2 April. The first was her image as an independent woman, driving through the streets of Amman-surrounded by bodyguards, certainly, but still projecting an image that she is her own person. And, she was projected as a highly educated woman. They mentioned many times about her banking and computer industry background and her college education.

Queen Rania also came across as very compassionate. She is behind several programs that American TV audiences learned about that are intended to help the people of Jordan. Micro-loans to help stimulate small businesses, a dedication to rejuvenating Jordan's economy and her own level-headed approach to the problems.

When Queen Rania told Amanpour that before she became Queen, she used to go to sleep at night thinking about her family, and then explained that now, as Queen, she goes to sleep worrying about all kinds of problems that can plague Jordan, she showed that she is a good person with dedication to serve the people.

Queen Rania also touched on a subject that is very topical in the United States-reports on so-called "honor killings." This is a shocking practice to any civilized society, and is often cited as an example of a nation's backwardness.

The people seen defending so-called "honor killings" are usually old men with fundamentalist viewpoints who hide behind distorted interpretations of religious viewpoints. Honor killings are not exclusively a Muslim problem.

Christians and Jews also practice the extreme and unjust means of punishing women accused of sexual promiscuity. (Remember, I said accused, not convicted, which is the reason why so many Americans view this as a problem.)

"We are moving on the changing of the legislation. We will make it much harder on the people who commit these crimes," Queen Rania told Amanpour during the "60 Minutes" interview.

I wish her luck and give her support. It's something that must be stopped. King Abdallah also came across not only as an eloquently educated person, but as someone who understands the difficult issues he faces as Jordan's King.

"I want to better the life for them (his children) and for my people too," King Abdallah told the interviewer.

Too many Arab leaders underestimate the power of the media. In the United States, the easiest way to control fanatics and extremists is to allow them access to the media. The media does report on the views of the most extreme of Americans. And, extremists in this country can publish their own newspapers, reaching very small audiences.

By allowing this to occur, American politicians better control the extremists who would undermine their government. The worst thing they could do was crack down on these extremists and imprison them, as is done in many Arab countries.

The interview on "60 Minutes" is another example of how the media can actually work in favor of the Arab people.

Nearly everyone I spoke with who saw the interview with King Abdallah and Queen Rania said, "I didn't realize she was so intelligent and he was so compassionate. They speak English perfectly."

I had the pleasure of meeting Queen Rania last year during her visit to Chicago. I helped organize a welcoming reception of Jordanian-Americans and children to greet her.

She came across as a very pleasant and reasoned person. What she conveyed to me also was conveyed to millions of Americans, whose views will impact, long-term, American foreign policy, especially with respect to Jordan's future and its needs.

Many Americans also said they felt they could "trust" King Abdallah. It would be nice if more Americans could see even more of responsible and reasoned Arab World leaders like King Abdallah and Queen Rania. And, it might also be nice if Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat took notice of how well King Abdallah did on TV.

I've already urged President Arafat to shave his five-day revolutionary growth when he does American TV, and also put on a suit. It may not go over well with the fundamentalists who are constantly criticizing him, but nothing would make that stop.

And President Arafat might even consider putting his wife, Suha, on American TV. She is articulate, when given a fair chance, and with a sympathetic reporter. And it could do so much to change American feelings about Palestinian rights. They certainly made me proud.


*Ray Hanania is an award winning Palestinian-American journalist and writer.