Ignoring the US Is Becoming the Norm!! Here's Why...

Hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. So good to be with you as always. I'm so excited about the show today because I am going to be talking to you about the, uh, uh, closure of the Arab League Summit that was just concluded yesterday. As I promised you, I will do so. So, and, uh, I'm using a— you might notice the, uh, the visual here, the camera that is. I just uploaded some new software of sort, and it seems to be working very good. So anyway, let me first of all, like I always do, uh, I want to extend my sincere thanks to the, uh, channel members, supporters, and all subscribers, all of you for that matter. But I'd like to give a shout out to, uh, Steph Lynn, who became now a new member. I'm going to show it right here, guys, for you to see. So thank you so much, Steph, for your support. I truly appreciate it, and it means a lot to me. So, uh, and for you, if this is your first time on this channel here, please make sure to subscribe so you can support that channel that way if you like it. So Uh, what I'm going to be talking about today— so today is the Arab League Summit, you know, and how, uh, what I'm going to be focusing on, uh, after I detail a few things and the history of the Arab League and the Middle East for that matter, is also how it is related to President Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Yeah, the Arab League Summit has something to do with those two. So Then the question that we need to ask ourselves is, does it matter? The Arab League Summit as a whole, does it matter? And the second question we need to ask ourselves is, which direction is gonna— this is gonna be taken? Is it a new direction geopolitically and economically? And most of the analyses and research and indicates that that will be the— it is the case. Uh, and I will detail a few things, uh, to you about this. And the last thing, of course, as always, is the timing of it. It's very, very important for you to know. So let's do our tour around the world so you can at least, uh, know what's going on. And by the way, hello, Athan Wu, good to see you as well. Uh, uh, and I'm assuming you guys can hear me, no issues there with the sound. So, uh, let me share the some highlights for the what's going on as well. Here's the first one here. Uh, and by the way, no, no, no, no, not this one. Uh, this is what we're going to be talking about today. So that's just for those who missed the few first seconds. Uh, that is, it has to do with the, uh, Arab League Summit, the 33rd summit of the Arab League that was just been, uh, uh, just concluded in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. So now for a tour around the world, I'm going to only focus today on two because I didn't have a lot of time to research. Usually, just to let you guys know, when I do a live stream, usually back home, that's why I do it a week ahead, because I have to research few things to make sure and check on the information. So I didn't have enough time between yesterday and today, so this might be a little bit short, different, and, and which else. It won't matter. The content is what matter, the quality of the content. So, so here's the first one I'm going to share with you, is this image here. And this one has to do with Bakhmut, and I did a video on it on the channel. For those who have not seen it, check it out. So the Russian army confirms its full control of Bakhmut and the end of its longest battle. Yeah, uh, Western media is going to be reporting it differently. As a matter of fact, I saw one just before I got on the air here. I saw one that says that Ukraine now, uh, was able to take control of a small section of Bakhmut. I don't know how much, uh, how much faith or trust I will put in that statement. So, uh, the second one I will share with you, it has to do with this individual here. This is the UK Prime Minister, uh, Sunak, Rishi Sunak. So, well, I, I, I laugh, not laugh out of sort of making fun of the guy. No, no, you don't do that. You don't make fun of other people. I laugh out of stupidity and lack of depth in understanding. And why? Because listen to this, guys. Here is what Richie Sunak said. He said that China— and I quote here— China posed the biggest challenge to the world's security and prosperity. Yeah, that's what he said. I mean, would you believe something like this? To me, if I am to challenge him on this, all I say to him is, you know, how about if you consider NATO as a threat to the global security? You know, that's to me is common sense. So I found it very, very sort of really lacking depth as far as his statement. It is my belief that he's been pushed by his, uh, the party members. And of course, after the G7 that just concluded in, in Hiroshima, you can just see— actually, I had a chance to read, uh, their final statements, and all it is geared towards China. And of course, they want to, they want to woo India out of to their camp. So, so that's, that's where the difference is. Now, today on the health section, I'm going to skip it because I did not do an in-depth research about what I wanted to share with you. So I don't want just put whatever quickly here. I don't, I don't cut corners, so I decided not to do it this time, and we'll do it in the next live stream when we, we do, we do that one. So, uh, before I delve deeper, I need to state something about a map that I posed yesterday, or posted rather, yesterday, and I think I saved it. This one right here. Did you guys see this word Arabian Gulf? I know it has been, and I left it as is because first of all, this map is slightly older, uh, and second, that word Arab and Persian Gulf is used interchangeably in, in the, in the literature. It is no different than what happened with Indian Ocean or Pacific Ocean. You know, I've seen them both, I used both That depends again. So of course, in this case of the Persian Gulf or Arabian Gulf, you have to understand the history of, you know, who was living in that part of the world. So, and, and I am glad, and thank you to those members, or to those members of the community who pointed that to me. So, so it's not— it was done intentionally per se, but it wasn't. So I just wanted to to clarify that one for you, to know that it's interchangeable, it's used interchangeably. So, all right, let's, uh, let me check one thing here quickly because I always like to make sure everything is working accordingly. Then we're gonna— oh, oh, Jane Smith from New Mexico, good to have you here. So Uh, Coach Hoy Hoy, hello from Malaysia. Good to have you as always. So, so let's jump in into our talk here. So as I said, the, uh, the Arab League Summit just concluded in, in Jeddah yesterday, as a matter of fact. So there was the 31st, and all this is good and all that, but that's not where we're going to focus on. What we're going to focus on is as far as the you know, the message it is sending. And here is what's interesting. And again, like I always tell you guys, I always like to read the final communiqué or the final statements for the summit. And this one here, when the summit concluded in, in the Saudi city of Jeddah, it was included with the statement by adopting the, what's called the Jeddah Declaration. What does it mean? It means that it calls now for the Arab unity to solve regional issues. So this usually, it sounds vague, right? You know, but in it, there is a message there that the— this summit here wants to ensure that Syria gets back on track because now it's been readmitted after being kicked out in 2011. By the Arab League. So, so because the summit in the declaration itself, it says the declaration welcomed Syria's readmission to the Arab League. That is a big statement. Why is this? It's because, as you may know, the United States imposed sanctions on the Syrian And now the US is threatening any country that can reestablish ties with Syria. Well, wait a minute. This is now the Arab world saying sort of, we don't care what the US thinks, because that's basically what it is. They didn't care. That's why I use the term snub in a title. The Arab League basically snubbed the US. But this sends another message, and the other message is It shows you how slowly now it's becoming more clear how irrelevant the US is in the Middle East. Why? Because countries that matter in the Middle East are shifting east. That is the reason, uh, uh, uh, for it, you know. And the statement continues by vowing to intensify the Pan-Arabic— the Pan-Arab effort to help Syria, uh, sort of tackle the crisis it's going through. So that is what, uh, important about this. Now, there is another statement in the final declaration, and the declaration also rejected— that's a strong word usually in the diplomatic jargon, it's a strong word— rejected foreign interference in the domestic affairs Arab countries and categorically reject all support for the formation of armed groups and militia outside the scope of state institution, end of quote. What do you guys think the message is? If you can type in the answer in the chat box if you feel like it, so, because there is a message there. So, but before I move forward here. I need to share with you briefly the history of the Middle East, then I'll share with you briefly the history of the Arab League, because it will make more sense to you. Like I said yesterday, and I'm not going to repeat myself here, so the Middle East was once home to great, great civilizations. Because if you read the history of the Middle East, you will know, you know, that made groundbreaking advances in astronomy, okay, mathematics, and philosophy and art and, and, and other subjects. So, and all this goes way back, you know, you go back to, for example, the 12th century. So the 12th century, the Muslim empires controlled the territory spanning from— and I'm gonna show you the map how far it was spanned from, I believe, what is the map, is right here. It was spanning from modern-day Iran all the way to Spain. That's how far back it, it goes. And when I say all the way to Spain, that means it goes through, for example, Baghdad, which is the capital of Iraq, and Córdoba, which is in Spain. And by the way, Baghdad, just FYI, for those who do not know, Baghdad was the center of where the grammatical rules of the Arabic language were established. So Arabic language is slightly complicated as far as grammar, you know, I mean, you'll get a hang of it once you learn it. It's just for you to understand that in Baghdad, that's where those rules of grammar were set. That's how old Baghdad is historically, but also the role it played when it comes down to advancing the, the Arab civilizations. And between both, Baghdad and Córdoba, which is in Spain, became centers of learning, learnings where, for example, scholars have translated, uh, the writings of Aristotle. You know, this is also where algebra was invented. Algebra, by the way, is an Arabic name for al-Jubayr. Al-Jubayr, he's the one who created algebra that we study today in, in, in, in modern world. Fast forward to one more century after the 12th, the 13th century, and ethnically, an ethnically Turkish tribe began a campaign of conquest that gave rise to the Ottoman Empire. It goes way back to the 13th century, which will, which will, which will bring almost the entire, entire Middle East and their, uh, and the territories as far as Spain, uh, all the way to the gates of Vienna, all of which was under control the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Of course, the modern, the modern Middle Eastern today, the borders that they are began to take shape in the early 20th century, like I said yesterday, when France, Russia, and UK carve out the whole region. So that is one thing. Now you need to understand the historical part of the Arab League, how it's all started and what is it. The Arab League is a regional organization of Arab states Remember, pay attention here, guys. I didn't say of Muslim states, because sometimes you can be an Arab but not a Muslim. Not every Arab is a Muslim. And this is where a lot of Western make the confusion, confusing Arabs with Persians. Persians are not Arabs, and Arabs are not Persians, you know. And just somebody is a Persian doesn't mean he or she cannot be Muslim, and vice versa. You can even be an Arab and be a Christian, of course, or Persian and be Christian, whatever. So just, uh, this is this misconception in the West that they don't understand this. So the Arab League is a regional organization of Arab states in the Middle East and parts of Africa, like for example North Africa, uh, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt. You can go also to Sudan, you go go to Mauritania. And I'm gonna talk about this as part of this organization. So it was formed in 1944, formed 1944, but it was on March 22nd, 1945, where it was officially formed in Cairo as an outgrowth of Pan-Arabism. So, so the league itself, the Arab League, aimed to sort of focus, uh, its regional developments on economics and this sort of settle disputes and among between, uh, states and, and, and countries. The league, the Arab League, there is no one country that controls the process. The Arab League makes the decision on the majority basis. It's almost similar to what BRICS doing. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, they make the decision collectively. So the Arab League is no different. But there is no mechanisms, yes, no mechanism to compel members to comply with the resolution. For example, if a decision is made, like what happened with the, uh, with the expelling Syria in 2011, no country was forced to go along with that. If any country chooses to say no, they, they could. So, so just briefly here before I jump into this, 1944, it was the leaders of Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, North Yemen, because Yemen back then was divided into the north and the south, North Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Transjordan, which is Jordan today. They met in Alexandria at that time in Egypt and agreed to form the Arab League state by signing what is called back then The Alexandria Protocol. 1945, that's when Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and later Saudi Arabia and North Yemen signed the Charter of the Arab League, meaning what? Making it formal, uh, organization. 1945. 1950, uh, saw the, uh, the signing of the Declaration of Joint Defense an economic cooperation treaty. Believe it or not, they do have a joint defense. Uh, usually you don't hear much, uh, about it because the, you know, religious tensions, tensions sometimes, ethnic tensions, social tensions, border, which you don't have much of that. But they do have a joint defense, not the same level as, for example, NATO, but there is one that exists. 1953 Libya joined the league, Sudan in 1957, Morocco in 1958, Kuwait 1961, Algeria in 1962, South Yemen in 1967. Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates joined in 1971. Then you have Mauritania joined in 1973 and Somalia in 1974. In 1976, you got Palestine represented by the PLO, the, the, uh, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, uh, joined in 1976. So did Djibouti in 1977. And in 1979, here is the interesting part, the league, the Arab League, that is, suspended Egypt membership and moved its headquarters from Alexandria to Tunisia because Egypt signed the peace deal with Israel back then. That peace deal still holds till today. As a matter of fact, I'm going to share something with you here, uh, that the aid we used to give Egypt, we still giving Egypt, that's nothing but a payment for their peace deal they cut with Israel. We're still doing it till today. 30 years, 40— yeah, 35 years or something like that, since 1973, after the war of '73, October. So that is the reason why we're giving money to, uh, to Egypt. So now let's talk about the, the meeting in itself, the summit that is Here is two things that I want you to understand, like I put in the question. You're going to ask yourself, why the heck Vladimir Putin, President Putin, is addressing the Arab League, and why the president, comedian Zelensky, was in Saudi Arabia? He was invited. Yeah, that's interesting, uh, and the reason being because Saudi Arabia is trying to sort of pave the way for negotiations of peace to settle the conflict. As you may know, China already sent an envoy to Ukraine. Okay, now Saudi Arabia invited the, the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to come, and he addressed— I have, uh, I have a picture here for you. To see when he was addressing the, uh, is this one right here. That's when he was addressing the, the, uh, the delegates there in, in Saudi Arabia. So, uh, interesting enough is that, uh, you got also, uh, Saudi Arabia doing this because they also allow, uh, President Putin to address the Arab League And this way Saudi Arabia showing that it wants to— not just Saudi Arabia by itself, but the whole Arab world for that matter— wanted to listen to both sides, listen to Ukraine, what it has to say, listen to what Russia has to say. This way they won't play favoritism. So this is the reason why they wanted to listen to all parties, you know. And this come during a joint conference with the Secretary General of the League, uh, of Arab states. Uh, he's from Egypt. His name is, uh, Ahmed Abou Ghait. Yeah, and that's what he stated, uh, after the end of the conclusion of the summit. What's interesting also is that the Saudi foreign minister welcomed the messages of both President, uh, Xi Jinping and President Putin. Yes, President Xi addressed the Arab League as well. But did you notice something, guys? Who didn't address the Arab League? Who was absent? Who wasn't even asked to address that? Is the collective West. And you all know what I mean by that. Wasn't even asked to address that. This, you know, putting my geopolitical analyst hat, this shows how much now The West, the Arab world wants to move away from what the status quo that was in the Middle East. That is the importance, uh, uh, excuse me, that is the importance of this message here. So, and because the, like I said earlier, the declaration wants to focus on promoting, you know, actions within the Arab world and itself. You know, they didn't ask for the assistance from the United States or Europe for that matter, because they focusing on, on the Arab countries' unity. They are also wanted to resolve the Sudanese crisis. As a matter of fact, now the— there is a ceasefire in Sudan, okay, thanks to who? Saudi Arabia, not the United States, even though The US ambassador in Khartoum came on the air today and stated— he didn't say that it was the US that did, he just said that they need to hold this and that. But it's interesting that he came today, but it was Saudi Arabia that was working behind the scenes in Saudi Arabia to ensure that both parties in Sudan sort of stop the fighting till they figure out a mechanism of dialogue by which, uh, they can resolve the issue. So, uh, for the sake of the civilians, there are always civilians gets, gets in, in, in sort of harmed. So the Saudis argued, they stated that the Sudanese talk were still underway. As we speak, and that it's too early. And it is indeed too early to talk about a solution. This is almost the same thing as Ukraine and, and, and Russia. Of course, China initiated the 12, uh, the 12-point peace, but it was rejected right away from the bat. As soon as China announced that, the US sort of challenged that. Rejected it. So this is why Saudis were smart enough to say that the talk about, uh, resolution to the Sudan conflict, it's too early. So now the key about all this summit, the importance of it, the importance was about regarding Syria. And let me share a picture with you here, guys, so you'll see the arrival of the Syrian president right here when he arrived to— so this is one of the royal family member, I forgot his name here. I think that's the foreign minister. So the Syrians, you know, the, uh, the Al-Farhan, who is the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, stressed that Damascus return to the Arab League came for the benefit of the Syrians. And, uh, this is what's very, very, very important to understand, because that was a message saying to the US, we don't care about whether you are imposing sanctions or not, we are going to welcome Syria back to the Arab League. And that's why Washington now went ahead and issued a statement that it will sanction any country that can sort of reestablish ties with this. But there is also another big picture, and the big picture has to do with, of course, the, the, the broker the deal that China was able to achieve between Saudi Arabia and Iran. That one paves the way for the Middle East now to go on a different trajectory, one that will see, uh, sort of reestablishments of ties that's been sort of, uh, cease to exist for a while or were brokered at some point. For example, Iran is in talks right now with Egypt because the ties were severed a few years ago. They are back now, the talk. Iran is about to open its embassy in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is about to invest inside Iran. No, because if you ask me 10 years ago, would you ever think about this happening? I'll say no. And here it is. And this is why the timing of the Arab League Summit came at a crucial time. It's, it's a juncture in a geopolitical trajectory that is so crucial, highlighting the shift that is taking place right before our own eyes. And this is exactly what is happening. Uh, you're looking at also, uh, trying to figure out a return for the Syrian refugees. As a matter of fact, even Turkey suggested that they will assist with the rebuilding. Yeah, that's how important that is. And because when you think about the Middle East as a whole, what does the Middle East have? You all know, massive natural resources. So, and you think about the idea of countries, some countries in the Middle East joining, for example, BRICS, like Saudi Arabia, like Iran, like Iraq maybe. So, and bringing with them their, their, their, their oil production. It's not only going to serve the BRICS members, of course, because they're all going to benefit, but it's going to expand the economic opportunities for in the different regions of the world, you know. Mind you, just like we saw the, the, the meeting of, uh, what is this picture right here? I'm gonna share it. I saved this image right here, this image here of the, the China with the Central Asian nations: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan. And yeah, there are 5 of them. So, uh, so when you think about the economic opportunities, now you add to that the idea of, uh, uh, Iran and Russia building the, the, the railway, which I talked about yesterday. You can just see the Middle East is realizing that era of the dominance of the United States is gone. And this is nothing new, at least for one who's been watching the trajectory of geopolitics for the last 20-plus years or 25-plus years or so. The last 10 years, as a matter of fact, Since the invasion of Iraq, it became clear to me that we are on a, on a declining slope. I, I argued personally against the invasion because I highlighted the historical aspects of that part of the world and explaining that in a writing when I submitted my writing that it would not be a smart idea to do because if we get in, we are not going to get out till about 15, 20 years. And I was told that no, it's going to be a quick in, we just liberate Baghdad and get out. And I said, yeah, not going to, ain't going to happen. And that's exactly what ended up. Why? It's because the historical aspects of that part of the world, you know, if you look at the tensions that existed between Sunnis and Shiites, for example, it's nothing new. That goes over almost 1,000 years Plus, you know, how can we ignore the historical aspect and assume that things are different today? Yeah, they are different, but still, the past shapes the present and will influence the future. Because now when you look at Iraq, Iraq, I don't know, I don't know if it's going to go back to whatever it was. Like I mentioned earlier, Baghdad used to be the center, yes, the center of where the grammatical rules of the Arabic language were established. So it's no, it's no small matter. So, and now you see in the idea of re-inviting, or readmitting rather, Syria into the Arab League, like I said yesterday, All politics in the Middle East has to go through Damascus because Damascus, uh, is also played a major role in the developing of the Middle East. It was a center where a lot of political maneuvers took place when it comes down to the Middle East. As a matter of fact, Damascus was also been known to have, especially with the regime of Syria, which has close ties to Iran. It's not any secret about this, but also they have relations with other countries as well. So Damascus has always, always played a role into shaping politics in the Middle East, something we think we understood, and in reality we never did. Otherwise, the assumption was, uh, if, if, uh, we impose sanctions on the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad will be removed. Now all this proves that we were wrong. We were wrong because that's what triggered all this, was the uprising back in 2011. And even back then I argued that this is not going to be settled very well. You'll be looking at over a decade or so. And that's exactly where it lead to— it led to. It's because those tensions were fomented by outside players. I'll say it straightforward, it wasn't homegrown. I guarantee you this. So, and the idea of, uh, admitting or readmitting, uh, the, uh, Bashar al-Assad into Arab League suggests that now The Arab League, or countries for that matter in the Middle East and North Africa and part of Sudan and Mauritania, they are now willing to sort of go with the change of the new geopolitical trajectory, you know, because the Middle East is moving forward. We're already seeing that, for example, Saudi Arabia, and I give examples to make sense to you. So the Arabias investing a lot in, in China. They built, for example, uh, a refinery, a brand new refinery. It's about $10 billion project, and I documented that in my book. It tells you right there, the— yeah, they could have invested in the US, but they choose not to. They want— because they are seeing where the, the trends are headed. The shift of the wealth from the West to the East is moving towards that part of the world led by China. Now you have United Arab Emirates, you have Qatar, which signed a deal of 25 years with China. You know, all this suggests Iran, of course, is having a deal with, with China, a 25-year agreement as well for $400 billion. So all this is an indication of where things are headed, and the Middle East kind of reached the point now of where the US influence it's not felt anymore. Because when you have Saudis right now— because this is the big— like I always say, guys, and I know I repeat myself sometimes, in international relations, context matters. The fact that this image here— I'm going to show it to you— the fact that this image made a tour around the world, right there, it shows you now that Even Arab countries are willing to take step forward to settle the conflict between Iran— I'm sorry, between Russia and Ukraine. And this is exactly why Saudi Arabia invited President Volodymyr Zelensky, but also gave the platform for Russian President Vladimir Putin to address the Arab League, and of course to the Chinese President President Xi to address the, uh, the Arab League. Yeah, the idea of how much President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is going to get out of the Arab world, I don't think he's going to get much. But unlike his tour in Europe, or what the G7 just declared now, that they're going to sustain more and more support by now allowing the F-16s for Ukraine, which You know, it's really, uh, doesn't make sense because it takes about 3 to 4 years to train a pilot. So who's going to be flying those planes? So obviously it would have to be, uh, pilots from NATO countries, which means what? That means officially, if they start flying those planes, that means they are officially engaged in a war against Russia. And once you start using F-16s, then you elevate the tension, the level of the, of the conflict. By now you're gonna have to use some advanced systems, and, uh, and we all know where it's gonna lead to. This is where the big concern about, uh, what's going on with— why, why the idea of, uh, the G7 just talking about sustaining the support for Ukraine? Uh, I want to say, uh, let me see something here. Okay, so that's the idea of— that's one. So, and also the other aspect of it has to do again international— in international relations context matter— the fact that the two leaders of— the leader of Russia and leader of China addressed the Arab League, but not the United States or Germany or France. You know, that just shows you right there. Uh, today I, uh, I put a tweet. If you get a chance to see it, you can follow me at D— @D Oualaalou. D-O-U-A— let me write it for you guys so you know. This will be easier. And I put an image there, a picture that is Let's see, right there, so you guys can see it. Uh, image of, uh, uh, President of France Macron talking on the sidelines of G7 to Biden and pointing to his head. So I put a tweet there that's saying, uh, uh, was, was President Macron telling Biden 'Can you think straight? Are you all right in the head?' That just— I found it funny to write. So that's like political satire sometimes. So the idea of, on a serious note here, the idea of the West wasn't even invited to address the Arab League, knowingly, knowingly. And also, we know how much oil the West gets from Saudi Arabia and some other countries in the Arab League. And that's to me right there is a clear message, as clear as daylight, that shows how much the West and led by the US, the influence they once have and exerted in the Middle East is waning down big time. Because remember, the Middle East was carved out based on France, UK, Russia at that time, and of course the US later on after World War II. And if it weren't for access to oil through Saudi Arabia, the outcome of World War II would have been different, because Japan, that was the weakest, uh, point for it, that it did not have access to energy. This is where at that time the US made the deal with the Saudis in, in Yalta. I believe that's where the meeting took place to ensure access to energy and to oil, and it became the norm since that time. So, so this is where the importance of understanding what this Arab League summit is all about. Now, there is one thing that I need you to understand. Uh, I'm trying to see, uh, there's one thing I need you to understand. Despite what you see, there is no unity that exists, strong unity among Arabs. Why? There is an adage and saying that goes in the Arab culture. It goes like this, uh, the translation of it is, the Arabs agree not to agree. You know, today you look at this image of all of them, like the one we, which we, I showed you here, they all getting together in the summit, but still there are some tensions that exist between— it will always be, be the idea there. So, and also because Arab, the center around one particular issue, and the issue is Palestine, you know, which is another conversation for another day because it's so complicated. I can't just summarize it in 5 minutes. But just to give you an idea, Arab countries or governments, that is, do find it convenient sometimes to shift attention from their domestic failure in economics or otherwise into the Palestinian issue. You know, that's always been the norm. You look at since Uh, since way back, I can even remember since way back, that's always been the norm. When any Arab leader wants to shift attention, they always address the Palestinian issue. They don't care much about the Palestinians, but that's how it is. But the Palestinian leadership itself got some serious problems, and I'm talking here based on a research that I conducted. And I have the proof and I documented all this. The late Yasser Arafat, who was the head of the PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Army, in 1993 he was presented with a peace deal, but he turned it down. He turned it down for one reason, because if he would have accepted it, okay, that will end any financial support the Palestinian Liberation Organization gets from the Arab world. Most Arab countries donate money, whatever they can afford. Saudi Arabia, of course, donate more and so forth. But at that time, Yasser Arafat looked at it differently and said, no, no, we're not going to accept this and this and that. Only to find out that once he died, the next 2 days after his death, it was a transfer of a $10 million $1 million from a bank in Switzerland to a bank in Paris where his wife used to live. His wife used to live in France. His wife wasn't living in Palestine. So, and makes you just question, you put a question mark as to, okay, is this the reason why that issue has never been settled? Yeah, I understand the tensions with Israel. I understand that Israel also sort of, uh, being too aggressive in certain aspects and does not being held accountable on a certain aspect because the US is providing a cover for it. We all know this. It's, it's, it's nothing secret. It's, it's nothing new and so forth. But at the same time, the 1993, it was the Oslo, it was in Oslo, and I had a chance to talk to Ambassador Ross at that time. He was the special envoy for the United States government regarding that issue. I talked to him personally and I asked him, you know, he said, yeah, uh, he told me that we presented all the options for— it was the Palestinians that turned it down. So the Arab countries sometimes find it convenient to shift attention of their population. It's no different than what we do. You look at our government, you know, heck, our government, uh, brainwashing The masses, the most Americans have no clue what's going on. You, you'll ask them, for example, and, and I'll tell you this, you ask them, what is the source of the conflict of Ukraine? They're not gonna know. And most what they're gonna repeat is what the media has been feeding them. Oh, the Russians have invaded. Well, wait a minute, why did Russia invade it? If you want to use the term invade, why did Russia want to Ukraine? They will never know how to answer that. The government itself will never disclose that. Uh, same thing, you ask them, why do we have tensions with Taiwan, with the, with China? You know, they're not going to know. So it's not just the Arab, the Arab, uh, the Arab governments, but also us. We do the same here. So, and this is where I hope, at least what I'm doing here with this channel and the big channel also, is to help you guys see the big picture here, to raise awareness and to help the masses understand. It's all about having a grasp of what these issues are all about. Uh, of course, I always see those silly and stupid comments, but it's okay, that's okay. Why am I gonna let negative energy— you know, you always stay away from that. So, uh, but that is the reason why, you know, as I told you last time, and I'm not bragging about this I turned down a full-time teaching position because this is what I, this is what I like to do. This is what I love to do. And I, when I sit here, I'm excited because I want to be here, you know, and I don't want to just sit here and talk nonsense. You would never expect this from me. If I don't have something of substance to say, I keep my mouth shut like I do right now. I am done talking. Anyway, let me see if you have some questions. And I'll answer a few and we just go from there. Uh, first of all, if you will be kind, uh, uh, and, and type in where you are joining me from. Oh yeah, I can see one. Ashraf Ali from Maldives, good to have you. Wow, so exciting to be here. Uh, Steph Lynn, once again, I can't thank you enough for your support. You know, Steph Lynn became a member of the channel. Thank you so much, Steph. Appreciate it. Uh, let me go back to the top, and if you will be kind and just type in, if you feel like it, you don't have to, if you can tell me where you are joining me from. I like to share locations with, with our viewers in the community. And by the way, guys, if you get a chance to look at those comments that other viewers post in our community, they are very, very insightful. I read some, and I always put I hope the community gets a chance to read this post. It's very, very informative. I, I, I can attest to that one. So I would never suggest something that would be a waste of your time. All right, uh, oh, Arena from Cape Town, good to have you here. Cape Town, I'm assuming, uh, Cape Town, South Africa, right? Cape Town, or— yeah, right here, Cape Town. Good to have you. Let's see here, let me see if I see someone else. Oh, and Fred from Malaysia, good to have you. Hong Long, as always, from UK, good to have you here. Uh, uh, let me, let me ask this, uh, answer this question for Athene Wu. Why not? Question: Bakhmut has finally fallen into Russian hand. What do you think will happen next? Could F-16 change the course of the conflict? Biden seems to really want World War III. Europe is just so weak. Great, great question. First of all, the F-16s, they ain't gonna make it, you know, that just, uh Uh, yeah, sometimes in the, in, in the world of global affairs, you just have to show— it's nothing but a window dressing to show that we still showing unity and support for Ukraine. And now we elevated the conversation to providing F-16s. But really, who's going to fly the F-16s? Ukraine doesn't have this pilot for them. Ukraine has the pilots for the MiG, to a degree, the old models anyway. That means either Polish fighters, uh, fighter pilots will have to go, or Danish for that matter, or some other country. Bulgaria is not going to send its— as a matter of fact, Ukraine, believe it or not, Ukraine was thinking about blowing up a pipeline in Hungary because in Hungary the pipeline gets Russian oil. That's how stupid Ukraine can get. They want to target a NATO country. That's, that's how much they want to do. So when you hear or read that the West is going to send the, uh, F-16, ah, it's going to take time because remember, 3 to 4 years to train those. That means what? That means that West is, or the US, that is thinking in terms of dragging this for another 3 or 4 years. That's the way I see it. But Biden doesn't know. Biden Uh, not making fun of the man, whatever. I, I care less for the man because he's the president, but so what? But mentally, he's not all together. So some of us, when we get older, we might experience dementia, we might experience, uh, Alzheimer's or whatever. So, but he's not. So it's not President Biden that's making decisions. It's behind the scenes. You know, he just, he just a moving object. They tell him move this way, he will move that way. That's about it. So, so that's the way I see it. Uh, Jack Robert from London, as always. You know, I'm surprised at the statement by the, uh, Prime Minister, which is very, very— it shows his lack of depth in understanding. He's been told what to say. It's, it's sadly enough Uh, all right, let me see who else. David K, hello to you as well. So, uh, who is this? This is Johan Slam from Europe. Hello to you, good to have you. Uh, oh, we got somebody from Brazil. You have DNA 2019. Believe it or not, one of the individuals I met in the elevator in the hotel I'm staying at was from Brazil. So it was, it was very interesting, uh, to see that. Uh, let me see who else. And once again, guys, I truly appreciate you for keeping this civil, the conversation in the chat room. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much, because there are some other people, they come to see And, and so far there are, uh, some people that they said, hey, we didn't know this channel exists, and all that stuff. And it's based on your comments, has nothing to do with me. I'm, I, I'm just part of it, you know. It's us, all of us. It's not just one. And I don't believe in one person, you know. It's community. All right, let me see if there is another question here. Then if not, I I am gonna sign off here and, uh, go get ready for next week. And I got a lot to do on— because I have to move to another location. Uh, question from Abby. Question, Dr. O, do you think Israel will sabotage this union? Israel has been bombing Syria indiscriminately, killing women, children, elderly men, since the 1780s. Their goal is to destroy it. Uh, they won't be able to sabotage it per se, uh, but remember, Israel is cutting some deals with some Arab nations. As a matter of fact, I just read today that— I think Bahrain. And what do we have in Bahrain? I have the Fifth Fleet. Bahrain is considering negotiations with the Israeli Foreign Ministry about establishing relations. So, uh, even Israeli Prime Minister, former Prime Minister, uh, back then, who is now, uh, Benjamin Netanyahu, I think it was a secret trip to Saudi Arabia a few years ago, you know, quietly, because Saudi is known for challenging, no Israel and all that. Behind closed doors is different story. So there, there is no way they can sabotage it. They won't, they won't need to anyway. It's because there is one rule when it comes down to the Middle East, and the rule is Israel will always have military superiority over any other country in the region. That's just the norm. This is why Israel went ahead and bombed Iraq back then. So, and now they threaten to bomb Iran, but they're just threatening. They won't be able to because first of all, Israel does not have, uh, tanker to, to, uh, big tankers, uh, to so they can fuel jets crossing over. Second thing, which country in the Arab world will allow its airspace to be used by Israel to attack Iran? And third, Iran has now developed some long-range missiles that can reach Tel Aviv. Usually those considered medium range, but it's a long range missile. They will shower, and I mark my word on it, if Israel attacks Iran, they will shower Tel Aviv. And, and it won't, it won't be— it's not a smart thing. It's not a smart idea for Israel to do that. That would be suicide, you know. So, so I don't see that happening. Uh, uh, Okay, David K, you wrote, Dr. Oualaalou, I suppose that any US NATO pilot who fly F-16 Ukraine will not be in their US uniform but will formally resign from their home country militaries and become contractors. There is that possibility too, but there is also another option, and the other option is they will go on suicide mission. So that's basically what it will be. So, uh, I don't— the way I see it, it's not a smart move because that will formally declare the West is in, in a war with Russia and the US, whatever country is going to go. And if it is a member of, uh, of NATO, of course that means NATO is in, which we already know, uh, it's a proxy war. It just— I don't know why the West is denying that one. So I don't quite understand it. All right guys, uh, I'm, I'm just trying to see if there is any, uh, any, any question here. And if not, uh, Nakaba, yes, yes, Steph, there's a— in Indonesia or Malaysia, I believe, they just— I saw, uh, uh, peaceful demonstrations about celebrating the, the Nakba that took place back then. So, uh, all right guys, well, I hope you find this very informative. I'm very excited about the new software for the camera, so it's working perfect. So, uh, I just worked on that one. I look forward to seeing you next time, and as always, remember Geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, guys. Bye-bye.