In a bold statement Wednesday, Queen Rania of Jordan said ISIS isn't being confronted enough by moderate Muslims and strengthening the economy in the Middle East would aid efforts in doing so.
Speaking at a major French business gathering in Jouy-en-Josas near Paris, the 44-year-old, who is also Muslim, said it was important to ramp up the battle against ISIS, which is dangerously close to Jordan's borders, according to Opposing Views.
"We are facing a time of great peril. Daesh, or the so-called Islamic State, continues to spread its diabolical ideology," she said. "Moderate Muslims the world over are not doing enough to win the ideological struggle at the heart of this battle."
"We're not actively helping Daesh, but we're not actively stopping them either. We can't stand against them until we as Muslims agree on what we stand for," she noted.
She believes the key to this battle would be to empower youth in the Middle East, as lack of economic opportunity can often encourage youths to join extremist groups, who often promise, among other things, money, as a result, according to The Straits Times.
They need "education, opportunities, work and... also a little bit of luck, that someone believes in them," she asserted.
The queen said about 100 millions jobs would need to be created in the region by 2020 to prevent economically imperiled youth from joining militant ranks, according to Yahoo! News.
"Failure is not an option because if we fail in the face of these extremists and if they win, the region will quickly be devastated," she warned.
