Jordan's Queen Rania compares Israeli rhetoric to Nazi propaganda during Germany visit

Jordan's Queen Rania compared the rhetoric used by Israeli ministers to Nazi propaganda against Jews in the years leading up to the Holocaust during a visit to Germany on Tuesday.

The Jordanian royal addressed youth delegates at the One Young World Summit in Munich, warning them that hate speech can lead to genocide, as happened following years of Nazi propaganda against Jews in 1930s and 1940s Germany, culminating in the murder of 6 million Jewish Europeans.

It follows the dehumanising language used by Israeli officials against Palestinians during the war on Gaza, which has been described as a genocide by leading rights groups and academics.

"To dismiss it as 'just talk' is to ignore how every genocide has begun: with words," she said.

"Dehumanising speech has served as the prelude to some of the worst chapters in human history. In the 1930s in this very city, the Nazi party called Jewish people vermin. In Rwanda, public radio broadcasts described the Tutsis as cockroaches. In Myanmar, nationalists compared the Rohingya to stray dogs."

She then took aim at former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, for his comments in 2023 when he said Israel is waging war on "human animals" and enacted a complete siege on the enclave, home to 2.3 million people.

"In the aftermath of the October 7 [Hamas] attacks, when an Israeli official announced a complete siege on Gaza, he described the population as 'human animals'," Queen Rania said.

"He was operating from a time-tested playbook: Convince the public you are dealing with beasts, and violence becomes not just acceptable, but necessary."

Gallant's comments have been used as evidence in South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

The war on Gaza has killed at least 70,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the enclave to rubble, with Israeli politicians calling for the whole population to be expelled and the territory to be annexed by Israel.

Gaza has also been devastated by disease and famine, due to an Israeli siege on the enclave, while international reporters have been barred from entering to report on the devastation.

 "In the past few months, both famine and genocide have been confirmed by independent international and UN-mandated bodies. The world saw it coming, but failed to act to prevent it," Queen Rania added.

Anti-racism campaigners have also compared the Nazi-like rhetoric used by the European far-right, including in Germany, against Muslims and Palestinians.

Queen Rania has used her profile to criticise Israel's war on Gaza and spoken out for Palestinians in the enclave over the past two years.

Jordan has taken part in aid drops over Gaza, with tensions between Israel and Jordan mounting, but the two countries still maintain diplomatic relations.