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American Morning

Interview of Queen Noor of Jordan

Aired March 12, 2002 - 09:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And when the vice president arrives in Jordan today, he will be greeted by Crown Prince Abdullah and one of the most prominent members of Jordan's ruling family. Queen Noor, who has long been a voice for peace and women's rights, talks about the importance of that visit.

Queen Noor was here in New York last week, to celebrate International Women's Day at the U.N., and I had the opportunity to talk with her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

What continues to drive you? I mean, you could be, by now, leading a much more quiet life, having a lot more free time on your hands, but -- but you still make a point of traveling up here to attend, like the International Women's Day and fight for the rights of many women.

QUEEN NOOR, JORDAN: Well, I do believe, whether you're talking about women or you're talking about poverty eradication, disarmament, the issue of land mines. When you're talking about peace and security, whether in the Middle East or elsewhere, where I've seen progress made, it's been people coming together, taking leaps of faith in one another and working hard to transcend their own personal self- interests to achieve a common vision and common goals.

I learned from -- that was reinforced by my husband. That had, perhaps, started as a young person growing up in the United States with the Civil Right Movement and issues that were important to me as a young girl. But my husband helped me take that to a whole other level and looking at his struggles over so long for peace in the Middle East.

And never letting up, no matter what the obstacles. And today this lesson is more important than ever before, of his. Never in the face of seemingly hopeless odds giving up on the faith that we can have -- that together we can advance the process of peace. It is clearly in the interest of all of us. It just -- there are times when it -- it takes an example like his and other -- other heroes of our world today to remind us that we cannot give up.

And in Afghanistan, we have an example of -- of progress and transformation, God willing, that's taking place. I hope and pray that, in the Middle East, women, their children, their families, who have been suffering so much over the last several years, in particular, are also going see a glimmer of -- of light and hope in the future.

ZAHN: It wasn't that long ago that your husband, King Hussein, once stood in the Rose Garden and shook hands with Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, President Clinton, and everybody hoped, at that time, that that was going to be the agreement that would bring peace to the Middle East.

That hasn't happened. Can you even imagine how much that would break your husband's heart?

NOOR: I -- it breaks all of our hearts to see how much regression has taken place from those hopeful days. They -- we knew they weren't the end of a process. They were the beginning of a new process, but a much more hopeful and constructive process. And that process has suffered considerably. I -- I don't think of it in terms of how it would break his heart, but I think constantly of the example that he set in a -- in bringing people together, in addressing seemingly intractable crises with a positive spirit and with a determination to promote dialogue, rather than violence.

In a time like this, I -- I hope that -- that many in our -- in our region take -- remember those examples and -- and -- and will not lose heart. And I think we see progress in the worst of all of what has happened. We see it among moderates in -- on both sides. This horror at what has taken place, and this determination to stop the killing and to -- to work for a peaceful resolution.

ZAHN: Have you ever thought about becoming in any way politically involved in the process? Has anybody asked you?

NOOR: I -- I think that my contribution to the political has always been through my humanitarian commitment, and I have always believed that true security, the underpinning of most of these political policies and objectives, is, in fact, only guaranteed -- only achieved by addressing the fundamental needs and aspirations of people, on the individual, the village, the national and, ultimately, the regional basis.

And so my work in that sense that of a humanitarian politician, as it's often been described. And that's as political as I care to get.

(LAUGHTER)

ZAHN: Good for you. At least you know that going in. Great to see you.

NOOR: Thank you so much, Paula.

ZAHN: Thank you very much for your time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: That, of course, was Queen Noor of Jordan. We really appreciated her dropping by and spending some time with us.

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