Spain: Time to Recognize Palestine as an Independent State!

Hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. So excited to be with you as always on this November 30th, last day of the month. We got only another month and 2023 will be over. Anyway, very excited to be with you. I'm going to be talking to you about developments that we don't hear much about it. Yes, there are some articles about it and I'm going to post all this for you in the description. And this one has to do with Spain taking the initiative, uh, actually it threatened the EU to move forward with recognizing an independent Palestinian state. It's a major development because that was the main obstacles for why Palestine never get— because it was never recognized at the UN as an independent state. Even the flag of Palestine, it says Palestinian Territories. So very interesting. And this is what I'm gonna be talking to you about and put this within the context of not only what's going on in Spain itself, because Barcelona, which is part of the Catalan, have cut off its ties with, uh, uh, Israel. I intend to do a video for you, recorded one or live stream, either or, because I need to explain to you few things that you need to know. Uh, oh, Asad, thank you so much. Uh, hello, Dr. O, how are you? Wishing you good health. Thank you so much, sir, truly appreciate you for being here. So, uh, here is the thing, and I'm gonna do— I can go quickly here through thanking the channel supporters and members, of course You can't move forward without doing that because gratitude is the key. So I'd like to give a shout out to new two members, channel members, by the name Emerson Bangora. Thank you very much for becoming channel members. And the second person is POF Star Vibes. Thank you very much for becoming channel member. Uh, another channel supporter by the name is Twangsa. Thank you very much for becoming channel supporters. And of course, I can't forget those who bought me coffee, the latest being Juniper Lee. By the way, Juniper Lee was the first person to buy me coffee when I launched this way back. So thank you very much, Juniper Lee, truly appreciate it. So, all right, remember guys, to please, for all of you, if this is your first time, hit that subscription button. I would really appreciate it. But remember to write down or put down on the chat box where you are joining me from. I would really appreciate it. So let's start with the— like I always do in this platform here, I have like some sort of a structure for it to put things in perspective. We start with the key questions, and the key questions, there are 3 that I thought about being more relevant, is, uh, with the decision of Spain, or the threat of Spain, Is EU divided over the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza? It's one question. Second question, let's just hypothetically assume Spain moves forward. Will other countries follow suit or follow in the footsteps of Spain, which means it will be more recognitions of an independent state? I can think of one right off the bat. That will be China. I, I bet you this, given what just been stated at the conclusion of China's presidency at the UN Security Council, which was wrapped up today, as a matter of fact, what Mr. Wang Yi has said. So, and the third question is, is the collapse of the Western order here? Because the division that exists in Europe, it's mind-boggling to realize what Europe has been experiencing throughout World War II, you will think they will, they will come to a reality with what's taking place in Gaza and say, enough, we can't have this again. But to me, it's like the collapse of the ideals of the West. Where is the West? Where is those ideals? Where is the rule of law? Where is the ICC? Where's the institution that calls for democracy? Where's the institutions that call for human dignity? Human rights, where is all that? Democracy, however you perceive democracy to be. Oh, I mean, we don't even have democracy in our own country, sad enough. Yeah, so these are the questions that I want you to keep in mind as we move forward into this conversation. Oh, Peng Wan, once again, thank you so much for your Super Sticker. I know you just put a Super Sticker on the other big channel. I was there earlier, so thank you so much for your support, truly appreciate it. So now let me just give you a background because you need to understand, uh, a brief background here. And what happened basically is that the EU, uh, Spain on Friday, uh, actually last, a few days ago, uh, threatened, uh, to take an individual decision which means they'll break away from the EU and not follow the policy. It's no different than what, uh, the Prime Minister of Hungary did to the EU regarding immigration when the EU was trying to impose Ukrainian immigrants onto their country. And he said, no, we don't want that. And it's his country, he can decide whatever. If people don't want immigrants, hey, you gotta respect that. If we are to say about democracy? Well, isn't that something called free will? Same thing here, that Spain sort of threatened to recognize Palestine as an independent state, and they gave the condition under which they will do that: if the European Union did not do so. Well, to me, European Union is so weak. Look just what happened with the Ukraine conflict. And look at where Germany is today. Look where France is. Look where the UK— all of them. This is why I post for you in the community, guys, that picture of the G7 foreign ministers. Hypocrites, no more, no less. Uh, somebody put— I like that description— Seven Dwarfs. Yeah, uh, all joking aside, you know, what do they stand for? You know, tell me, can anybody tell me if this G7 foreign minister or the EU as a whole stand for something that matters for humanity? I'll challenge whomever. And this is what Spain is doing, calling for now that they will move forward with this. Now the question, because we gotta be pragmatic here, will Spain move forward with this or not? Because that's when the leadership is tested. Sanchez, the prime minister, seems to be a sort of strong-willed, but in politics, you all remember, I'll give you a quick example about, uh, uh, Giorgia Meloni. The Italian prime minister, when he took over, we're gonna do this and do that. All of a sudden, she caved in to the pressure from the US and the EU and end up sanctioning or supporting whatever operations against Russia, even though she was against it from the beginning. So I will, I will, I will hold my judgment about the prime minister of Spain, Sanchez, regarding this decision because it's a major one. Will Spain move forward with it? But this is where I'm seeing the signs of it. If Barcelona, which is Catalan, remember, you all know the history of Catalan and the rest of Madrid when they tried to separate in 2007, you know, and they threatened jail. And as a matter of fact, some of the Catalonian leaders went to jail and so forth. But the city council made in Barcelona decided to cut off ties with Israel. Even though Barcelona has what they call the twin city with Tel Aviv, where they can exchange cultural stuff, they didn't care. So the minister, I think the one of the minister foreign, uh, one of the ministers, foreign minister, I think she just resigned. So, and this is why we need to put this in perspective. But before we move forward, you're gonna have to understand the history of Spain vis-à-vis the Arab world. It is a lot of history out there, and I intend to share it with you, uh, for many reasons, but one of them mainly because my ancestors are from this part of the world. No, so here's what's interesting. So, so let me share, uh, first of all, I'll share a map with you about the, uh, the, uh, this is way back Oh, let me share this, uh, share screen. Okay, the map. And this goes way back, guys. This one is about, uh, let me make this full screen for you so you see. Yeah, this is the northeast, uh, of Iberia, which is the, uh, that's way back during the Arab conquest. It goes back to 760. Of course, things have changed from today, and I'm gonna share with you, uh, today's map. So this way, or contemporary one, that is, so you put things in perspective here. Uh, first of all, we need to also understand a little bit about the Spanish Empire because Spain played a major role when it comes down to the world history. Uh, we can't ignore that, of course. Okay, I'm gonna share this with you and we look at a little bit of history here, uh, just to put it in perspective for you. Uh, this is like where it goes back, uh, for the Spanish history and, and, and of course, uh, way back in the, uh, yeah, it goes way back. Where is that one? Right there. Uh, it goes way back to the, uh, 15th century. At that time, it goes, uh, the idea of how the, the Kingdom of Spain in itself, which from the 15th century all the way to the 20th, the changes that it, it happened. Well, what happened was back at its height, way back when it was a major one territories uh, of the 5, uh, on 5 of the world continents. Yeah, they were in different parts. Uh, let me see if I could show you, uh, the different— yeah, here's a map here, right here, guys. This is about Spain in different continents around the world. That's how it was. So that include large parts in Europe, of course, Americas, Caribbeans, along with the smaller possessions in Asia and Africa. No. And this is where, uh, the, the, uh, the Kingdom of— or the Empire of Spain back then started to separate in, in, uh, Iberian Peninsula. That's where it happened. And of course, by mid-20th century, that's when Spain's once vast empire, uh, was all but gone. It's no different than the British Empire today. The only territory that Spain controls outside its own border on on the Iberian Peninsula was a small enclave in North Africa, and that is called Ceuta. It's S-U-A-T-A, which is in Morocco. And they still— Morocco and Spain— locking heads over the control over that. Both of them, they still have some tensions regarding that part of the world. So I'm gonna share another map with you because you need to see that one as well. And this one about the, uh, about Andalusia. And I'm gonna leave this on, guys, because, uh, just for you to put things in perspective. And once again, this is where my ancestors came from. Let, let me make this bigger. Extend for Full screen. Here we go. So, so what you're looking at here, and I'm gonna make this, uh, smaller a little bit to see, Andalusia of Spain. This is where usually the expansion of the Ottoman Empire reached all the way. And what happened between Andalusia and Seville— they call it Seville or Sevilla in Spain. When you go to Spain, you know, you pronounce the, the Spanish language, they call it Sevilla. That's no different than the Catalan Uh, when you compare the Spanish language in Spain and the Spanish language in Mexico, for example, or Latin America, there are certain terminologies that they are not the same. It's no different than England— English, I'm sorry. Here in the US, we call, for example, an apartment, you know, in England they call it flat, you know. It's English, but it's different pronunciations. So you can just see, and it says right here about where Andalusia was, it was ruled by Muslims because when you go to Sevilla and Andalusia, you still can see the architecture that is Arab-made because the Arab civilization was very developed back then. I mean, you look at astronomers, you look at in medicine, the physics, mathematics, all those were Arabs back then. And the Ottoman Empire during its era of golden years as well, or the Arab golden years, expanded all the way to Sevilla. That's how far they controlled the whole idea, the whole area of Spain. And this is where the reason being, because in this part of Spain has been inhabited by individuals from Arab origins. The Syrians are there, the Lebanese, the Turks, the, the, the Lebanon, yeah, mainly Lebanese. Even some Moroccans from Morocco are over there. As a matter of fact, during the conquest, those individuals who were here, they had to flee Spain, cross Gibraltar, and went to the mountains in Morocco. That's the old history that goes for that one. So, but it's— it help— it will benefit— it will benefit us to understand this history to put it within the context of why Spain said what it said regarding moving forward with declaring the independence, or threatened to declare Palestine as an independent state. So, so as I said earlier, they have been Arabs in Spain, and that goes earlier than 15th century. That goes back to the 8th century, when back then the Umayyad The Umayyads at the time conquered the Iberian, uh, uh, or Iberian Peninsula, and that's when they created modern-day Andalusia. They pronounce it here as Andalus, which is the Arab word, the Arabic word, I'm sorry, Al-Andalus. That's the Arab word. In, in, in English, we pronounce it as, or as Andalusia. That's how it's known. So, and in modern time They are today. If you go to Spain, you go to Sevilla, you go to Andalusia, you will still see some expats from ranges from Arab countries that includes Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine territories, and Iraq, in addition to other small groups from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, and Sudan. This is why I'm saying the historical context, and this didn't happen Go back to the 8th century, move forward to the 15th, between the 15th and the 20th century, Spain has always welcomed Arabs because Arabs contributed to the, what the Spanish culture at that time used to be. So Muslims' conquest of Spain was some sort of through the Iberian Peninsula by the Umayyads, as I mentioned, that occurred approximately 710 to 780. Now that was a— and the conquest resulted in the defeat of the Visigothic Kingdom at that time, and that's when the Umayyads were established in Andalusia. That's how far back you go. So during the 6th caliph of the— 6th Umayyad caliph, his name was al-Walid, between 705 and 715. Tariq ibn Ziyad, well known in North Africa, especially in Morocco. He's the one who conquered. Tariq ibn Ziyad departed from North Morocco in 711, uh, 700, across the Strait of Gibraltar. It's very interesting. As a matter of fact, if you go to Morocco, you go to the city of Tangier, way at the, the downtown Tangier, because the elevation, you can still see the lights in the mountains of the Gibraltar from all the way across the Mediterranean. So very, very interesting sights. And when he crossed over through Gibraltar to force about 1,700 men to launch a military expedition against the Visigoth kingdom in Toledo, was in southern Spain, which controlled at that time a former territory of the Roman Hispania. That's how far back it goes. After defeating the Visigothic King Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete in July of the same year, Tariq ibn Ziyad was reinforced by an Arab force led by the Wali Musa ibn Nusayr. And continued all the way northward. This is where you see even in Spain the Catalan and the, the south of Spain versus the west of Spain. There's a— not a disconnect there, but the Catalan, for example, wanted to have their own state, forget about being part of Spain altogether. So 1713, uh, uh, that's when changes were happening, in that part of the world. And, and you move forward till, uh, uh, became the 13th century when, uh, Pope backed Reconquista in the mid-13th century, which was aimed at reclaiming the peninsula for Christianity. That's, that's what's, uh, a nutshell of what this history is all about. And without understanding this, guys, you won't be able to understand the context of why Spain, the only country in Europe— yeah, the only country in Europe— pushing for the recognition, or threatening, at least for now, for the recognition of Palestine as an independent state. And there is the question again, will they do it? I don't know. It's, it's a challenging undertaking because That means Spain will go against the EU, against all odds for the Western. But at the same time, to me, will be a clear confirmation of the decline of the Western sort of order as we know it. Because now countries— because here's the reality of it. Spain, by saying this or threatening the EU, is because they don't believe in what's been happening, the atrocities that's been committed. And as a matter of fact, I, I found a quote here by, uh, uh, uh, the Spanish prime minister saying, and I quote here, that the country Spain could make its own decision on recognizing Palestine state if the EU does not do so. And that's how— and the reason being because of all this, the position was preceded by statements of the Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez, in which he said that Madrid supports the recognition of a Palestinian state in the very short term, end of quote. Once again, in diplomacy, guys, when it comes down to foreign affairs, global affairs, and so forth, diplomacy, the words are not just thrown out there, they are well measured. This is with the assumption that the person who uttering these words knows what he or she's talking about, unlike our incompetent president who just throwing the word about dictator Xi. What, what the heck President Biden was thinking? And that's why you don't see President Biden as a statesman. No, far from it, far from it. So when you see the words, when it comes down to diplomacy or international affairs, those words, as I said, they are measured. So, and the argument for the Spanish government is that even with the ceasefire, the ceasefire, as I said, the Europeans are looking at it to save face for Israel. Shame on the Europeans for not taking stand and say, wait a minute, Israel, you You are committing genocide. You call spade a spade. You can't wishy-wash this kind of stuff. You know, nothing against Israel, nothing against any country. It's what's right. It's what's right. What Israel did, what we are doing in support of Israel, it's not right. Those are crimes, and somebody will have to be held accountable for that. President or prime minister or the general or whatever, doesn't matter. There is a law. This shouldn't be a distinction between a king and a servant. No, of course the king will break the law if he choose to, like the, uh, the current one, uh, who say it's a— who said some statements very racist. That's King Charles, which we all know, you know, is he even be qualified? Ah, you know King Charles, you know. So, and, and I, I wonder what the British people are thinking. But again, it's their country. I can't— I'm in no position to judge them, and I will not because that's not my place. But it's just common sense, uh, uh, where, where things are. And this is where I see that challenge of, uh, uh, uh, the Prime Minister of Spain, Sanchez, is going to be facing. Because if he moves forward with this, that's going to be a big blow for the EU. EU that has lost sovereignty already. Ask anybody in Europe. Ask anybody in Europe, especially in Germany and France, UK, but mainly Germany. Ask anybody there. Does Germany have sovereignty? Is Germany a sovereign state? You know, I don't ask you the question, guys. Do you think some European countries do have sovereignty as we speak? And not just, you know, the idea of— this is why, uh, uh, sort of, uh, uh, Israel recently, and I confirmed the information, recently summoned the ambassadors of Belgium and France. Why? To protest the statements by the head of the governments of those two countries. You know, the Prime Minister of Israel, because he's been— he is now— he committed crimes. Let's just not sugarcoat it. Let's not. It's a fact, simple as that. And by the way, some inside the Israeli government They don't agree with his approach. They don't agree with him at all. He's leading Israel to the end. So must I, as one who've been watching the developments of the US-Israeli relations for years and years, decades. It's coming to an end. This conflict exposes now the really how weak is the foundation of what's going on. Because if you recall, they used to call Israel the only democracy in the Middle East. Is what they are doing relates to what a democratic state does? What happened to human dignity? What happened to human rights? What happened to, you know, attacking civilians, bombing hospitals, And again, I'm not defend— defending any here. I'm providing the objective arguments. So what the prime minister, uh, uh, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said, and I quote, I strongly— listen to this carefully— I strongly condemn the statements of the prime ministers of Belgium and Spain, but not holding Hamas responsible for not I'm sorry, and not, uh, and Spain about not holding Hamas responsible for the crimes it commits. End of quote. Wow. Well, let me ask the question, you know, uh, uh, why did Hamas committed what it committed? If we call them crimes, why did he committed that? You know, like, uh, uh, most of those of us who, uh, analysts who understand how international law is set on all, all that. When it comes down to declaring self-defense— well, self-defense in your own territory, not in an occupied territory, because first of all, it's not your territory that is recognized by international law to begin with. This is where the, the difference is. And that's why you are hearing now, even in Spain, calling for Netanyahu's trial, and rightly so. But where is the ICC, the International Criminal Court? We all remember when the, the summit of the BRICS, uh, was in South Africa. What did the ICC say? Threatened to arrest Putin, right? Well, how come now it's not applied to Netanyahu? Why not even an investigation is conducted, which is the basic things to start with? You know, are you going to conduct investigation after the, after the dust settles? It's too late. What's the point? And this is why the leader of the Spanish left-wing party, Podemos Party, it's called Podemos Party, her name is Ayan Abilera, criticized the Prime Minister Sanchez himself and the European for not showing enough courage against Israel. Even Germany— after you think what Germany suffered and experienced, they would be the first to stand on the right side of history. They couldn't. And right there it tells you that Germany doesn't have any sovereignty left, has no sovereignty whatsoever. It shows you right there. Uh, let me say thank you to Zain Muhammad. Thank you so much for your Super Sticker, truly appreciate it, sir. Uh, it tells you right there where this, uh, sort of— no, no sovereignty. Or European Union is like I always say, and you can quote me on this if you like, European Union is like a child who is always in need of a constant discipline and direction, and it will never stand on its feet. That's how the Europe— the way I see it. Of course, there are those who might disagree with my assessment, and you are entitled to your opinion, and I respect it. So, but to me, given the conditions of what's taking place here, that's how I see it. And this is why uh, uh, sort of the Spanish, uh, uh, prime minister was criticized, and the concerns, uh, about his meeting with the Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo. With both of them, they met with the Israeli, uh, uh, president, uh, Isaac Herzog, and the prime minister Netanyahu. And this is where, again, and, and this is not just my word, Uh, Bilara, who is the, uh, the former minister of the social rights, uh, said in press statements that— and I put this in quote— this visit may help exonerate Netanyahu, a war criminal who should be tried before the International Criminal Court. End of quote. Banks are clear. What the European Union is doing is playing double standard. That's the bottom line to it. So the— now the prime minister will have to go, uh, or should go to Brussels where the decisions are made. You know, you get the capital Brussels where the decisions about all European countries. Well, wait a minute, who are you to decide for me? Look what Europe is doing right now with with this Ukraine conflict that we put our thumb on the European Union and said, you do as we say. As a matter of fact, uh, uh, what's her name, the, uh, uh, Bilara, uh, she even stressed that, uh, uh, Brussels, meaning the EU, she's referring to EU because that's where the headquarters of the EU is, Brussels is in place to impose economic sanctions and arms embargoes against Netanyahu and his team, as happened against Russian President Vladimir Putin. So the logical question, any, any person with some common sense, rationality, and objective assessments will say, well, how come one standard is applied to Israel and another standards applies to Russians. How come the EU rushed so quick to impose economic sanctions and arms embargo on Putin but not on Israel, on the Prime Minister of Israel? It's a fair question. So, and this is where you are seeing these challenges going on right now. And the question that I asked at the beginning, whether Spain will move forward, put the money in its mouth— where its mouth is, as we say. I don't know, I can't confirm whether it will happen or not because, uh, I, I've learned enough throughout the years, uh, what, what politicians say versus what they do. I'm not saying he's just bluffing, I'm not saying he's just giving hot air, I'm not saying— no, all I'm saying is whether he's going to follow through on his stand or not. That is what I'm saying. And mind you that the— on the past 40, almost 50 days now, uh, uh, the Israeli Army has launched devastating attacks on the Gaza Strip, leaving about the latest report— and the numbers could be different, of course— but the latest one that I checked was 14,854 Palestinians dead in including 6,150 children and more than 4,000 women and about 7,000 missing, in addition to more than 36,000 injured. That's the latest, uh, uh, stats that came out. So now the next question we need to ask is, what is about Barcelona that is now decided? But someone— this is decision is made, decided to cut off ties with Israel. So, and as I said earlier, guys, I intend to do video for you about this one here and, uh, to highlight this within the big picture of really what's going on in Europe. Because Europe now, it's becoming, uh, how do I look at it? Europe is, is, is another weak link in the global affairs. Europe is irrelevant in international affairs. There are only 3 countries that matter: China, Russia, the US. That's about it. Europe, despite the hype you hear about, uh, uh, the foreign minister, G7 foreign ministers, you know, it's nothing but hypes. So, and again, the, the, the question, uh It's whether Spain moves forward, and if it does, whether other countries will follow suit or not, mainly in Europe. I mean, you got countries outside Europe, like in Latin America. Venezuela is willing to do that. I think Ecuador, if I'm not mistaken, willing to move that direction as well. I'm sure China will, but China is pushing for a lasting peace, diplomatically speaking. And China has its— it's a different approach altogether. We saw what China did regarding Iran and Saudi Arabia. They were able to broker a deal. That's why I asked the question, is China the honest broker that the United States never was? The answer is clear. The answer is clear. You know, uh, I wish my country would be the one taking that, but I can't shy away from the truth. You know, uh, the government. And when I say my country, I'm referring to the government. Remember, always remember, guys, separate people from— that's like when we talk about India. Sometimes I mention India, I'm not referring to the Indian people, I'm referring to the Indian government, uh, Narendra Modi's government, which, by the way, I intend to do a video for you. Well, we're going to do it tomorrow for the live stream about the BRICS, what they've been thinking and how India, India government, again, it's going to be sabotaging, uh, that process. I've, I've, I've been convinced now that India, uh, will be the one to undermine, uh, the, the progress, uh, uh, moving forward. I mean, correct, I could be wrong, but, uh, the way I see it, it just, that's how I, I see India, uh, moving forward in that line. So, uh, Indian people are different, you know. There are decent people. I mean, we cannot, cannot judge everybody, of course, because that would be the wrong thing to do, and, and that is not the right thing how you approach certain things. Uh, I want to share something with you that I came across here. And I don't know where I put it. Uh, this is regarding India because, uh, it was a comment, uh, about the approach to how they're going to manage this, uh, BRICS and, and so forth, whether they're going to be, uh, hindering that decision or they're going to let it move forward and support uh, uh, moving forward. I don't know, I know it's hard to tell. So I'm, I'm trying to locate this, uh, particular comment, but yeah, I, I don't have it here. Speaking of comments, while I'm thinking about it, guys, uh, I do, uh, by the way, some of you ask me to reach out to Pep, Pep, uh, Escobar. I'm trying to reach out. Sometimes I sent, like, I sent a request to, uh, Carl Zaha, never heard back. I'm assuming these people are busy, and so, but they have my, uh, I sent my, my, uh, my request there, uh, for, for them to come over the show, and I would love to have them here, but for now it's not happening. So that's, that's what it is. Uh, yeah, I will be talking to you. I just wanted to come on the air here briefly to share this with you. Tomorrow we'll be talking about BRICS, because usually if I don't have anything of substance, I don't stay on the air to fill the time, whatever. I don't do that. I don't believe in that to begin with. So, uh, I intend to address that one for you, and I'm going to ask— I'm going to answer rather, uh, a few questions for you. So I see first question here from Boon. Hi, Boon. Question: do you know much about the EU's bid to start the chips manufacturing? I have a feeling it will not really get, get off the ground. What do you think? No, they can't. They can't. Europe shot itself in the foot, the bottom line. Especially even now in Netherlands with the, uh, what's the company, ASML. They are pushing back against the US. Because they wanted to sell the, the, the logarithm machine— lithography, I'm sorry— equipment. China said thank you, we're not interested, because China is developing its own, you know. I mean, look no further than what they developed regarding the, uh, their iPhone, their, their phones, the, uh, Huawei and all that, the, the chips that's been used in space. No, no, Europe is Yeah, they could do, but no, I, I don't see, because Europe was counting a lot on the Chinese market. Yeah, you can't— like I always say, no matter how you slice it, you cannot ignore the sheer size of the Chinese economy or Chinese market, no matter what. So Europe, Europe, we wanted to keep Europe down intentionally by design We never want the economy of Europe to move up. That is why. And I am now thinking, I can go as far as now saying, soon, possibly, possibly, but soon, if this ceasefire in Middle East doesn't hold up, you might start seeing the footprints of NATO getting in. Because we have to get Europe involved in conflicts for us to keep the control over Europe. Finland just yesterday shut down the last crossing, border crossing between Finland and, and Russia. Why would they do that? Yeah, you can just see, see where the pressure is coming from. So I don't see— and Germany now is bad economically. As a matter of fact, uh, Michelin— Michelin, Michelin is the French company for tires. Well known, well established, just slashing jobs now in Germany, shutting down because of the high energy cost. I read it yesterday, checked it yesterday. They're shutting down, uh, not our— its entire operations, but they're shutting down certain areas, uh, the 1,500 jobs, the last one I, I, I read. So this is what I see. China moved on. This is why I always say containing China is wishful thinking. That containment policy is wishful thinking. And as a matter of fact, we're gonna be— when I say we, the government— we're gonna be undermining Chinese efforts. For example, the Arab-Israeli conflict. We won't want that conflict to resolve. We won't want an established Palestinian state because peace in the Middle East doesn't bode well for Israel, doesn't bode well for the US. But it bodes well for the rest of the world. It's unfortunate. So, so let me see another question from you. And again, I'll be talking tomorrow about, uh, BRICS. Uh, I, I have serious, serious questions about, uh, BRICS and with what's going on. Hong Wan, question., would that mean Spain being the catalyst for Israel being isolated by Western major powers? No, not necessarily, not necessarily, uh, because here's the reality of it, uh, uh, is that Israel cannot survive on its own, no matter what you hear, no matter what you read. I'm telling you this based on experience. I'm telling you this based on my years in Washington, the close relationship behind closed doors, uh, uh, with Israel. Israel will not survive on its own. Do you know it? We know it. But for us, is our eyes and ears in the Middle East. That's why we arming Israel to that level. How do— well, whether other countries is, is going to be, uh, sort of, uh, follow this— no, no, other countries are so weak. I mean, even I'll be honest, I don't know yet whether Spain will move forward. It's a major decision. I used to say the same about the Prime Minister of Italy when she took over. Well, I said, well, at least somebody can take stand in the EU. So I was surprised, and I bet you she was pressured to the point that Italian government now wanted to end its, uh, participation in the BRI, the Belt and Road Initiative. They're gonna pay the price economically, mark my word on it. But it shows you how easy for us to pressure, uh, Europe, because we holding Europe from developing. Just go back, I'll tell you just this, go back about 10 years ago, just go back and assess where the German economy was under Angela Merkel, and find out why in comparison to what it is today. So, so now countries will not do, will not, because they're too weak. They're too weak to even to extend. They couldn't, they couldn't. Oh, Assadullah, good to see you from, uh, Pakistan. Good to see you, sir. Let me see another question. I hope I answered this. Catalonia has always been home of anarchists, communist and liberal thinking people, and would like to be their own country. That is true, Ken, and this is why they had the issue in 2007. I know there was someone made a comment way back when I talked about Kashmir. He said, why aren't you talking about Catalan, about Barcelona? Well, Barcelona did want the Catalan, and they end up jailing them. I, I went to Barcelona way back, and I And yeah, they think on their own. They, they are not followers. Look at them, they already cut off ties with Israel. They're not waiting for Madrid to get, uh, the okay from Madrid. They want to head forward. That's still that, like the— it's almost similar to what, uh, China is doing with Taiwan. They, they're letting them live their own, but they still belong to Taiwan, still belong to China. Catalan or Barcelona still belong to Spain. But they letting them doing whatever. So, so I don't see, uh, uh, yeah, they could, they could, uh, whether they're gonna have independence or not, it will lead to a civil war. That's the way I see it. And I don't know, will that happen again? I, I, I'm not sure. I'm not certain. So, all right, let me see, uh, some other comment here, or a question, or a, or a comment or statement. Uh, uh, hello David, you are busy with live streams today, so happy to see you again. Greeting from Europe. Thank you so much. Yes, because again, once you devote yourself to something, you, you do it 100% or not at all. There is no cutting corners. I don't believe in that. So, and, and, and I, luckily, I, I eat well, uh, I take care of my health, uh, And so I stay in a good shape to have enough energy to do, uh, all this. So thank you so much. Uh, let me see. Yeah, you look at now France and UK, and even the UK now, the, the, the incompetent Prime Minister Sunak is, is, is calling back on David Cameron. Well, you all know the history of David Cameron himself. Now is going to be in charge of foreign affairs. That tells me right there that the— it's chaotic inside most European countries. Not all, of course, but majority of them are. And this is where Europe, like I said again, like the child that never grows up and is always in constant need of support and direction. That's just the way I see it. Uh, yeah, he is, he is, and Jewish people will tell you, Jewish people will tell you they don't see eye to eye with where Netanyahu's taking. This is why there is chaos inside Tel Aviv, the government. There is chaos inside, even within our military establishment, the intelligence establishment. He is trying to protect himself from jail. That's— but at the same time, committing crimes like this, ICC needs to step in. But ICC, like the UN, has no teeth. It's nothing but, but, uh, a bravado, no more, no less. So, uh, all right, let me see your hung one here. Dr. O, are the EU unable to stand on its own feet, or is Is it the US is keeping the EU down and the European leaders are too stupid to see this happening? I'll go with the latter, but the latter as far as the US keeping the EU down, but I will— but not the last part that the leaders are stupid enough not to see it. They saw it, they see it, they saw it, they know it. It just— they don't have the courage to take a stand. This is where the problem is. So when you have somebody called a leader but with a weak mind It's because the strength is not here, because the interest was never about doing the right thing. It was about political career and status. That's all it was about. They know it, but they don't have the courage to step forward and say to the US, no thank you. You know, this is what differentiates Angela Merkel from the incompetent or, or the clown Scholz. He's not even equipped for that. Angela Merkel at least has developed, really learned quick, because remember Angela Merkel's background— she was a chemist, she was a scientist. She got that mind of breaking things down to understand it. She did that with politics, and guess what? She learned quick. And look where Germany was under her leadership. I talked to some Germans in my last trips. I ran into some in the elevator and I asked them, said, yeah, we miss Angela Merkel. Merkel, you look at the economy where it was. We were concerned about the economy of Germany going that up. We're gonna have to figure something. And it was all due to access to cheap energy from Russia. That's all it was. As a matter of fact, Merkel and Putin had a good relationship, you know, friendship. That is, I remember one meeting, uh, President Putin brought her flowers. That's a, that's a gesture, that's a good sign of a good friendship. And we in the West saw that and said, no, no, no, no, no, we can't let this happen. So it was by design. Otherwise, how would you explain the 40,000, 50,000+ troops on German territory, literally. Why? The Berlin Wall came down. Soviet Union ceased to exist. So why are we still having almost 50,000 troops there? What for? So interesting, very, very interesting. So I'll, uh, I'll take last question here, guys, because I have to go to decorate The Tree. So this is, uh, what I intend to do this afternoon, and tomorrow we'll do breaks. Yeah, uh, question from Axelam. Question: Do you think Israel will be investigated after the war? No, that, that's the sad reality. Yeah, and right there it tells you that all these calls and hypes about democracy, and it pains me to say this as an American, you know, it pains me, but you can't, you can't shy away from the truth. You can't. What's right is right. No, the system is flawed. System is flawed, is corrupted. Till people wake up, till people grasp, they understand. This is why I like our community, because— and again, when I say, guys, please hit the like button, spread this damn algorithm, that's how it works. Once you spread, once you share the, the video, more people will become aware. But even with that, I'm finding out now that some of you sent me comments that saying they've been unsubscribed. How? It shows you're right there. They still I'm, I'm even surprised as to where the channel is given the nature of the content. You know, it's not all about the numbers. I— it's about the quality. But it's still— I've been suspecting this for a long time since I started. So, so it's the idea of till people truly understand the reality. That's why I was looking for a comment, and I'll find it from an individual from India. He He was from India, and, and, and I truly liked his comments because he was one of those that reflects the reality about how the people think versus how the government act. Two separate things. And this is why I always say when I mention India, I am not referring to Indian people, I'm referring to the government. So, so in this case here for Israel, no, I don't see that happening because it would have happened for other atrocities that's been committed before. So what you're going to be seeing, probably if the ceasefire holds— but ceasefire will not hold till there's negotiations— you're going to see rebuilding. There will be donations for money, rebuild Gaza again, and the cycle starts again. Where the solution is, is when Palestine declare its own state, Israel has its own, there are borders back to go back to 1967 borders, and that's it. Well-established entities. Other than that, I mean, you look at— for us, we're the first country to recognize Jerusalem as a capital. Well, wait a minute, how'd that happen? What about the Christians? What about the Muslims? So, so it, it shows you right there the double standards of the system itself. Oh, Bon, thank you so much, Bon. I truly appreciate you. And I— you wrote, nice to be able to join you here as always. So great to have you because of your very interesting questions, Bon. And you've been with me here for a long time, so I truly appreciate your support, Bon. Thank you so much. All right, I'll see one last question. Osiris. There you are. Thank you so much, Osiris. Osiris has been a great supporter. Thank you so much, Osiris. Truly appreciate you. Truly, truly appreciate you. Uh, okay, let me see, uh, if one last question, guys. Um, and, and for tomorrow, guys, just prepare your questions, uh, uh, when you get a chance for tomorrow about BRICS. David Oualaalou, you wrote, David, I've been unsubscribed automatically by YouTube or other channels which nothing to do with politics. I don't know why. Perhaps this happens not only at this channel. Oh, that's interesting. So could it be, guys, a glitch in the algorithm? Because I don't know. I really don't know. All I can tell you, I listen to my instinct. I'm suspecting something. That's all I can say. You know, I've been around long enough to know what to look for. So, so anyway, guys, I hope you did find this conversation interesting, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for another live stream. Please remember to hit that like button and spread the word about the channel. I will greatly appreciate it. Thank you all for your support, and we'll see you tomorrow. As always, remember, geopolitics impact your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, bye-bye.