Queen Rania urges global youth to meet hate and indifference with hope

Queen Rania of Jordan has urged global youth to meet hate and indifference with hope at the One Young World Summit in Munich.

During the opening speech, she reflected on the fallout from war in Gaza and how inaction and indifference enabled and contributed to the resurgance of hate worldwide.

She said, “Over and over, experts warned that, in Gaza, mass displacement, famine, and genocide were imminent. And, in the past few months, both famine and genocide have been confirmed by independent international and UN-mandated bodies. The world saw it coming, but failed to act to prevent it.”

“It’s not just Gaza,” she added. “Around the world, we’re seeing hatred seep back into the foundations of our global community. And the danger isn’t only in what hate destroys, but in what it reshapes – our moral compass, our sense of decency. The enormous task of reconstruction awaits. Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine continues. Its subjugation of the Palestinian people is ongoing. And a just resolution to this decades-long conflict, for both the Israelis and Palestinians, remains elusive.”

Over 5,000 global youth from around 190 countries were in the audience.

Queen Rania added, “Perhaps that’s because we’ve witnessed, in real time, the raw reality of what hate looks like when it transforms from a feeling, to words, to action. But hatred is not harmless. To dismiss it as ‘just talk’ is to ignore how every genocide has begun: with words. Just talk – until hateful rhetoric cleared the path for unspeakable violence.”

“In the aftermath of the October 7 attacks, when an Israeli official announced a complete siege on Gaza, he described the population as ‘human animals.’ He was operating from a time-tested playbook: Convince the public you are dealing with beasts, and violence becomes not just acceptable, but necessary.  This is not about weighing grief or comparing pain. It is about affirming that every human life holds equal worth. Yes, every atrocity is unique, but the value of human life is universal. To defend that truth today, wherever it is under threat, is not to challenge memory, but to honour it.”

she added, “Hate is given license by those who refuse to approach difficult issues, because they say ‘it’s complicated,’ when what they really mean is, ‘we can’t be bothered. But indifference is not benign either. It sustains injustice. It is a silent surrender to indecency, one small compromise at a time.  Just know that hope is not naïve optimism; it is defiant courage. It’s what drives people to call for the freedom of a people they’ve never met,” she added. “It takes more strength to love than to hate. Bearing witness to atrocities is not painless. But heartbreak is the price of being awake.”