Polls show that Arabs admire a lot of the Western values, cultural aspects in the West. It is more about policies than about way of life.
I'd rather be dealt with as a person than a persona.
Muslim women must stand up and speak out about who we are, what we believe and where we are going. I think we need to know that our counterparts in the west are also willing to listen and reciprocate.
The job description for a queen changes with the times.
The hardest [part] is some of the misperceptions that are leveled against me as a person and against Muslim women.
I'm amazed by the misconceptions about Muslim women and the Arab world that I hear, and that really does hurt me.
I don't think people by nature are extremists. You will never find a population of extremists. Extremists have existed throughout the centuries on all religions. And what happens is, extremists start to have more leverage when the situation is bad.
People sometimes think of 'queen' as a title that's shrouded with protocol and formality, and for that reason sometimes people are not easily saying what they want to say. They're reluctant to express their opinions, and I kind of find that frustrating because I want to know what people really, really think.
Today, I join King Abdullah in Paris to stand in solidarity with the people of France in their darkest hour...To stand in unity against extremism in all its forms and to stand up for our cherished faith, Islam. And so that the lasting image of these terrible events is an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy and support between people of all faiths and cultures.
It is all too easy to draw conclusions and make sweeping judgments about millions of Muslim women based on fleeting television images. That is not right.
First of all, in many Muslim countries women have incredible amounts of freedom, sometimes more than in some countries in Europe. So you cannot just make a generalized statement about women. Second, Islam is not the problem. It's tradition. It's culture. It's age-old mind-sets that need to be changed.
I work in areas related to child protection and family safety, women's empowerment, the creation of opportunities for youth, and culture and tourism. Daunting? Yes. Impossible? No. In fact, such challenges energize me.
Extremism is not endemic in my region, nor is anti-Western sentiment. No doubt there is discontent and distrust. That is towards more the American and some Western policies, and not toward the American people.
There are so many misperceptions and stereotypes out there that I would love to see clarified one day.
It isn't often that the logic behind a policy is so clear. But when it comes to the value of educating girls, the evidence speaks for itself.
Maybe clothes are a form of creative expression for me. An outlet. Because I don't get to express myself creatively through my official duties.
Of course, I tweet. Tweeting is a very personal form of expression. Who else could talk about my son refusing to wear a suit to meet the Pope, my husband flying a helicopter, or take a twitpic from our home?
Everybody's social life in Jordan revolves around family.
Religion and modernity are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
