Queen Rania delivers message from Arab youth to American students
AMMAN (JT) — Encouraging interfaith dialogue and tolerance, Her Majesty Queen Rania joined a group of students in Manhattan on Monday morning to remind them how similar young people throughout the world are.
The Queen joined the students at the Norman Thomas High School for a lecture on the global economy. The students, part of the Junior Achievement (JA) New York programme, are learning about key aspects of the global economy and trade.
When she participated in a JA session in Jordan last year, the students asked the Queen to deliver a message to their US counterparts. The opportunity presented itself when Queen Rania read the message to the students on Monday:
“To the young people of the world, we are the young people of the Arab world. We want to extend the bridges among us — East and West, young and old. We want us all to feel that we are part of this big global family.”
Queen Rania also engaged the students in a discussion on interdependence and interconnectedness in the world.
“Today we need to make sure we are all well-informed and aware of what is happening, dry facts are not knowledge, we need personal interactions,” she reminded the students.
Ben and Izzy launched
Also during the Queen’s four-day working trip to the US, she launched a new animated TV series, Ben and Izzy, produced by Jordan-based Rubicon.
“This cartoon uses a language that modern children understand — a language that unites them, whatever their background or beliefs, and makes them realise that you don’t have to be alike to get along,” she said in her keynote address.
The series documents two 11-year-old boys, one Arab and the other American, as they travel through time and explore different cultures.
“Whether we are Muslims, Christians or Jews... whether we live in the Middle East or the Upper West Side... we all want our children to be able to make the most of their potential in a secure, peaceful and just world,” the Queen went on to add.
“In a year when we have seen cartoons used to fuel misunderstanding and division, I am delighted to see this new cartoon explicitly designed to bring people together,” she said.
Earlier that evening, Queen Rania attended a reception hosted by TIME magazine to honour their selection of the 100 most influential people for 2006. His Majesty King Abdullah and Queen Rania were selected as one of the Power Couples on the 2006 TIME 100 list.
Meanwhile, on Sunday evening, the Queen attended a fundraiser hosted by Save the Children to raise funds for the organisation’s Jordanian and Lebanese chapters.
A delegation of donors will be visiting Jordan in November to support more Save the Children projects in the Kingdom.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
From:
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/homenews/homenews3.htm