Newsweek

On-off negotiations, limp handshakes, violated agreements, starts and stops, hopes dashed. This, the landscape of the Middle East peace process in the last decade. In 2006, what our region needed was a renewed peace effort; what our region got was the devastating cat and mouse conclusion of Hezbollah’s skirmishes and Israel’s imperious invasion of Lebanon. 

Let me start with the traditional greeting of Islam: peace be upon you.

I welcome the opportunity to engage in this conversation, and I am glad to think global readers are interested in Islam, a religion shared and cherished by millions of men and women around the world. I hope that this exercise challenges perceptions that Muslims are somehow different…strange…a breed apart. The other.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Amman) Taking part in an interactive online conversation about Islam, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, called for better understanding of Muslims, insisting that "if we are to build true understanding among and within our societies, we must approach each other as fellow human beings". In her contribution to the Washington Post/ Newsweek On Faith series titled “Muslims Speak Out” , Queen Rania highlighted how integral Islam is to her daily life and work, reminding readers that Muslims are mothers, fathers, spouses, students, neighbors, and frien