Jordan’s Queen Rania receiving the Global Trailblazer Award: “The statue of liberty was first conceived as a Muslim Arab woman”

Her Majesty Jordan’s Queen Rania Al Abdullah was granted the ‘Global Trailblazer’ award in Washington DC at the 16th annual Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards. For those who don’t know, the awards honor worldwide female leaders in the areas of human rights, political development and economic empowerment and are given by the Vital Voices Global Partnership in recognition of international leaders influences to positive change on both the local and global levels.

In her acceptance remarks, Queen Rania started her speech saying that the statue of Liberty was first conceived as an Arab woman. Not only that, it was also modeled after a Muslim, Arab woman. Then the Queen referred to the historian Edward Berenson stating that the monument was originally intended to stand at the opening of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Then apparently the designer, “Bartholdi” who drew inspiration from local people of the region; took it to the United States once the ruler of Egypt ran out of funds.

One must admit, it was a powerful speech to begin with. She spoke on behalf of all Arab women out there; then referred to the plight of women and young girls in areas of conflict and volatility across the Middle East from Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

While the Queen acknowledged that Arabs are accountable for changing their reality and struggling for their future, she condemned the extremists, who commit crimes in the name of Islam. Then; urged her audience to take part in rewriting the future of Arab and Muslim girls and women by viewing them in a different light.

In her closing remarks, she asked the audience to “celebrate the power of women to connect across lines that divide,” stating that it is women who help “cultivate common ground” on which progress is built.

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