Israel eta NATO zale estatu guztiak Palestinaren aurka (1)

Bideoa: https://x.com/i/status/1807069131247673526

Scott Ritter/U.S. Tour of Duty@USTourofDuty

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Ask the Inspector Ep. 196 with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (rescheduled)

Bideoa: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1vOxwrPglQNJB

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Toula Serna@toulaserna

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Scott Ritter: Lebanon Device Attacks, Hezbollah Military Strategy & The BRICS Palestine Solution

Bideoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RikLifVQ-FU

Former United States Corps Intelligence Officer and UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter joins Mnar Adley today on The MintCast to discuss the Israeli pager attack on Lebanon, Hezbollah and its military strategy, how 12 months of war have changed Israel and Palestine irrevocably, and how BRICS could aid in achieving lasting peace in the region.

Transkripzioa:

0:00

What’s up, everyone? And welcome to the MintCast podcast. This is the official podcast

0:05

for MintPress News. I am Mnar Adley. I’m the founder and director of MintPress.

0:11

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a new interview as I have been traveling in London doing a few speaking engagements

0:16

on the genocide in Gaza. And I was also invited to a few podcasts where I spoke

0:21

extensively about how Palestine’s Arab neighbors are aiding Israel’s genocide,

0:27

literally from Egypt, for example, dedicating five ports to ship over

0:33

$330 million worth of exports to Israel. And for all we know,

0:38

that likely includes weapons, of course, that is all to help Israel circumvent the Yemeni

0:45

Red Sea blockade. I also wanted to take some time to improve the video

0:51

and audio set up so we can provide the highest quality interviews and content and produce more for our viewers

0:59

and listeners. And so I just want to remind everyone that we here at MintPress have been heavily

1:05

throttled by YouTube. Many people in the comments have noticed that. And so so we ask you to hit

1:10

like, subscribe, comment and engage with our videos as much as you can to help us circumvent

1:16

that censorship. And we all know why YouTube would throttle our coverage. So anyways,

1:22

without further ado, I wanted to bring on our next guest, which is Scott Ritter.

1:27

Scott is a former United States Corps Intelligence Officer and U.N. Weapons Inspector in Iraq.

1:34

He’s an author and a geopolitical analyst whose work you can find at ScottRitter.com.

1:39

He has closely followed the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East. So we’re very honored

1:45

to have you here, Scott, with us. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much for having me.

1:52

Now, Israel recently launched a new wave of attacks against Lebanon,

1:57

planting and detonating explosives in Lebanese pagers, killing many

2:03

and injuring thousands of Lebanese civilians. Now, if we look at the media coverage here

2:09

and in the United States and in the West in general, they are headlining with

2:14

Israel planting explosive in hundreds of pagers used by the militant armed group Hezbollah,

2:20

which have exploded simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria. And so I’m just going to play a video

2:26

from State Department spokesperson Matt Miller to hear

2:32

what he had to say about this recent attack. So let’s play that.

3:20

Okay. So once again, we have Matt Miller giving us

3:25

the biggest non-answer, like a pretty standard non-answer that we’re used to hearing

3:31

the spokesperson of the State Department give. So, Scott, what is your response to what Miller has had

3:38

to say about this incident? I mean, it’s a smokescreen being put up by the State Department.

3:43

That’s their job to make it difficult for reporters to discern

3:51

what’s happening on the ground in Lebanon. I think there’s no doubt

3:56

that Israel was behind this. If you read the Israeli press, the Israeli press is saying that this was

4:02

a Mossad operation. And that’s interesting, because if Mossad is

4:08

indeed taking credit for this, there’s a 100% certainty that the Central Intelligence

4:14

Agency of the United States was at least aware of this.

4:19

Now, we know in the past that when Israel has sought to carry out

4:25

targeted assassinations and despite the fact

4:30

that the vast majority of the people who are victims of this terrorist act and it is a terrorist act

4:37

weren’t killed, there were, I believe, either eight or nine deaths, probably more along the way

4:43

as some of these injuries manifest themselves. But this was targeted assassination.

4:50

In the past, when Israel sought to carry out actions of this nature, they did inform

4:55

their CIA counterparts for deconfliction purposes to make sure that it wouldn’t

5:01

create a policy problem for the United States or disrupt American operations.

5:08

So there’s no doubt in my mind that the CIA was notified by Israel at some point.

5:15

I’m not saying that they gave them significant advance notifications, but enough notification

5:21

that the CIA could make alterations as needed to ensure

5:26

that its resources weren’t impacted by this indiscriminate attack.

5:32

This means that the United States knew about this, and there can be no doubt about that. And it also means that Mr.

5:38

Miller is lying. But then again, that’s his job as a State Department

5:44

spokesperson, is to lie, is to spin information in a way that protects,

5:51

I can’t say American interests, because when I say America, I’m invoking ‘We the people.’

5:57

And this attack was not in the interests of ‘We the people.’ So protecting the interests of the Biden administration,

6:06

the U.S. government in this in this case.

6:12

Let’s be clear, the United States would not carry out an action of this nature. I know when I’ve mentioned

6:17

this, people take umbrage and they say, well, the U.S. has bombed this. They’ve attacked wedding parties in Afghanistan,

6:22

they’ve done X, they’ve done Y, they’ve done Z. Yes, those were military operations.

6:28

And the United States has long hidden under the umbrella of,

6:33

you know, legitimate intent. That our intent wasn’t to attack a wedding party. Our intent was to take out

6:39

terrorists. So we had a legitimate military target and we’re sorry it went bad.

6:45

This was the level of indiscriminate attack that no legal authority

6:51

in the United States could ever sign off on because it fits the definition of terrorism.

6:57

And so not only was the United States cognizant of this attack, we were cognizant of the nature, the scope and scale

7:04

of this attack. And we therefore knew that this was a terrorist attack and we did nothing

7:09

to stop it. So we are complicit in this attack, plain and simple.

7:15

Israel could not and would not have carried out an attack of this scope and scale without

7:21

notifying the United States. And the United States apparently did nothing to prevent this.

7:27

Well, Matt Miller has also been described as the smirking liar.

7:32

And, you know, that’s what he’s been really good at, is wearing his perfectly ironed suit to pretend like,

7:39

you know, the United States doesn’t really know where these bombs are being dropped in Gaza or what Israel’s actions are

7:46

in the region. But Israel is one of, the strongest partner of the United States,

7:51

receiving over $10.3 million per day of our

7:57

taxpayer money. And so I would definitely have to agree that the United States, of course, would have known

8:03

of this kind of attack that Israel and its Mossad are planning.

8:08

What kind of precedent does this set? I mean, have we ever seen anything like this before?

8:16

Nothing on this scope and scale. Israel, since at least 1996, has been carrying out

8:22

targeted assassinations of Hamas officials, Hezbollah officials,

8:28

people they call terrorists, using personal electronic devices that have had

8:34

explosives embedded in them. I think the the most famous incident

8:39

took place in 1996 where the Israeli Shin Bet

8:44

assassinated a Hamas operative. The nickname was ‘The Engineer.’

8:49

He was a bomb maker. And they managed to get a phone to him and made a phone

8:55

call, or were monitoring phone calls. And when they confirmed that he was on the listening to the phone,

9:01

they detonated the explosive in the earpiece and blew his head off.

9:06

And they’ve done this repeatedly, but they’ve always been very targeted

9:11

attacks. So, you know, trying to take out an individual here, an individual there, something of this scope

9:17

and scale has never been attempted before. And one of the reasons is that

9:25

I think you can defend a targeted assassination. People may disagree

9:31

with your, you know, how you define the target, etc.. But from a moral standpoint,

9:38

I will tell you that if I were an intelligence official or a security official and there was a person out there

9:43

that my legal chain of command said needs to be eliminated, I would have no problem

9:50

giving him a cell phone that blew his head off. It’s the way of the world.

9:56

But I would have a huge problem disseminating

10:01

explosive devices into society with no way of knowing who had them, who possessed them.

10:08

And we’re talking about not hundreds, but thousands of devices.

10:15

They could have been in a pocket of somebody standing next to their child

10:21

in a in a grocery store. It could have been on a dresser as

10:26

a wife was cleaning the dresser. They could have been held by somebody it wasn’t the intended target.

10:33

This is something that is unjustifiable. It can’t be justified

10:39

under any circumstances. There’s no element of the law of war that would allow

10:44

this kind of indiscriminate attack. And yet Israel has done it because Israel has carried out

10:50

similar indiscriminate attacks. I don’t need to tell you about, you know, what Israel has done in terms

10:56

of collective punishment for the people of Lebanon, for the people of Gaza.

11:01

The notion that civilians have no rights, they are one and the same of the targeted groups.

11:07

And Israel’s gotten away with it. I mean, they’ve killed 40,000 Palestinians or more,

11:12

depending on who’s doing the counting, in Gaza, most of whom are women and children,

11:18

and the world is doing nothing about it. So I think Israel felt that it could get

11:24

away with this, and I think they would have gotten away with it except for one thing

11:31

they used personal electronics. And there’s not a person out there today

11:36

that isn’t in possession of one of these or a pager or something.

11:43

And we all now look at that phone or look at that pager and say, there but for the grace of God, go us.

11:51

And this is a line that Israel crossed without coordination, without coordinating with the United States,

11:56

and without coordinating with its partners. And it’s created a huge

12:02

confidence issue with people about Western made electronics,

12:08

about the companies that produce them. How did Israel get into apparently this

12:14

this Taiwanese affiliate in Hungary? How did Israel get into this factory?

12:19

How did Israel make these adjustments?

12:25

Who is in charge of, you know, quality control? Did the Hungarian factory

12:30

know about this before? And did the Hungarian government know about this?

12:36

And this is going to create, I think, a crisis of confidence amongst the consumers

12:42

that could end up costing Western companies billions of dollars

12:47

because anybody with any shred of common sense will immediately throw away their Western made

12:55

electronic device and go find one that’s sourced from a country such as China,

13:00

where, you know, Israel is not going to be able to infiltrate and corrupt the integrity of the

13:06

of the electronic device to achieve either intelligence collection goals or assassination.

13:14

Well, I think we you know, most people that saw this immediately thought, well, if Israel could do this

13:20

to Lebanese people on their Motorola, I believe it was Motorola pagers,

13:27

then they could do that to anybody around the world and even in the United States.

13:33

And, of course, MintPress has done extensive coverage on Israel’s NSO Group

13:40

and its work with Cellebrite. It’s another tech company to infiltrate people’s

13:46

cell phones, spy on them and to plan coordinated assassinations like they did with…

13:54

What’s his name? Jamal Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia with Jamal Khashoggi. Excuse me. So,

14:00

Hezbollah has proven itself again as an effective fighting force against Israel.

14:06

Otherwise, we wouldn’t even be seeing this kind of these kinds of attempts by Israel to assassinate

14:11

and disrupt, you know, Lebanese civil life and commit

14:17

this kind of terrorist attack. You recently stated that Hezbollah’s attacks against Israel

14:22

have actually been limited. And I would you know, we would agree with that and that these attacks

14:27

that Hezbollah has committed against Israel in defense of Palestine and Lebanon south

14:34

are really just the tip of the iceberg. Could you explain what you mean by that? And does that mean

14:40

we could potentially see a far more deadly attack on Israel if things escalate?

14:47

Well, Hezbollah as an organization has been successfully fighting Israel for some time now.

14:54

They’ve actually defeated Israel twice. The first time was,

14:59

I believe, in 2000 when they evicted Israel from southern Lebanon. Massive Israeli defeat.

15:06

And I think the second time was in 2006 when Israel

15:11

entered into a I think a 30 day war and vowed to destroy

15:17

Hezbollah. And at the end of the day, it was Israel that had to back down. Hezbollah was not destroyed.

15:23

Since that time, Hezbollah has been singularly focused on improving

15:28

how it would confront Israel in any future war, realizing

15:33

that a future war would probably be existential in nature, meaning that it wouldn’t be a limited conflict,

15:39

it would be a conflict to the death, and that Hezbollah

15:44

needed to do one of two things: create such capacity that Israel would never dare

15:52

seek to destroy or eliminate Hezbollah, meaning that Israel would know that if it went down

15:57

this path, the consequences could be the existential termination of Israel,

16:03

or if called upon to do so, to actually defeat Israel strategically.

16:08

We’re in a unique situation here where this conflict between Israel and Hezbollah

16:14

is not between Israel and Hezbollah. It’s an extension of the conflict in Gaza,

16:20

where Hezbollah has entered in this conflict in order to provide support to Hamas.

16:26

And this is what people need to understand. The primary goal and objective of Hezbollah

16:32

today is to support Hamas, to support the Palestinian cause.

16:39

And anything that is done on the battlefield is done for that purpose.

16:44

Hamas right now, in my opinion, and I know there might be people who disagree, is winning

16:49

this conflict. They’re winning it strategically. They’re paying a horrible price for this.

16:55

But on October 6th, nobody was talking about the creation of a Palestinian state.

17:01

Today, that is one of the, it’s on the tip of the tongue of so many people around the world. Why?

17:07

Because the world has seen the truth about Israel. The world has seen, been forced

17:13

to look at Gaza and say, how did this happen? Why is this happening? The Israeli overreaction

17:19

to October 7th actually backfired to the Israelis because

17:24

the international community is not normally prone to digging too deep into Israeli-Palestinian

17:31

storylines. And had the Israelis simply said we were attacked and vicious things had happened

17:37

to our people, the world would have rallied around Israel, I believe. And once again

17:42

ignored the Palestinian cause. But Hamas knew what it was doing. It knew that the Israelis

17:48

would overreact and the Israelis did. And in doing so,

17:53

alienated the world that was inclined to be supportive of Israel. People around the world

17:59

that said, I am sympathetic to the Israeli cause, said, well, I can’t be sympathetic to the slaughter

18:04

of Palestinian civilians. And then the lies told about Israel across the board, about,

18:11

you know, who was responsible for the vast majority of the deaths, blaming it on Hamas when it was the IDF who

18:16

killed most of the people who died on October 7th, the lack of rapes, no dead babies,

18:22

no beheaded babies. Just a gross exaggeration and an outright fabrication of the narrative

18:28

has been exposed and Israel has not fared well. And so today we have the United Nations

18:34

giving Palestine a seat. That was not going to happen on October 6th.

18:40

We have European nations recognizing the existence of a Palestinian state. That would never have happened on October 6th.

18:46

And we have Gulf Arab states who, as you have accurately said, have betrayed

18:52

Palestine consistently. They’re not inclined to be supportive of Palestine even today.

18:58

But the politics of the situation are that they cannot even think about normalizing relations

19:03

with Israel until there is a Palestinian state or at least a discussion about this.

19:08

So we’re looking at a situation where because of what Hamas has done,

19:14

for the first time there is realistic talk about the creation of a Palestinian state.

19:19

Moreover, Israel has committed fatal harm to itself, economically, socially.

19:26

I already talked about the damage done on the international community, but domestically, Israel is a deeply fractured state.

19:32

Militarily, Israel was never organized to carry out a war of this duration.

19:37

They didn’t have the resources to sustain it. They’ve run out of spare parts. Israel is strategically defeated.

19:43

And the reason why I say this is now you put yourself in Hezbollah’s shoes.

19:50

Their goal was to help facilitate this strategic victory on the part of Hamas. They did so by engaging in

19:58

carefully planned escalatory actions designed not to

20:05

turn into a complete war, but to manage the conflict so that they drained

20:10

Israeli resources away from Hamas. They further weakened Israel. Look what they’ve done in

20:15

terms of 60,000 Israeli soldiers, I mean, settlers in the north that had to flee their homes.

20:21

That is an economic drain on Israel. They’ve damaged the

20:26

the confidence that the Israeli people have in Israel. I mean, Israel was supposed to be

20:32

the safe haven for Zionists who could come in and live in peace and harmony and prosper.

20:37

Not today. Israel is a horror for these people. They don’t live in peace. They don’t live in harmony.

20:42

They are not economically prospering. And eventually, many of these people will leave Israel. And that’s the end of Israel.

20:49

Hezbollah knows this. They are on a path of strategic victory.

20:54

The one thing that would change this is if the nature of the war changed away from the focus

21:01

where it rightly belongs on Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza,

21:06

and instead shifted to a major regional conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

21:12

Hezbollah’s goal has been to avoid this kind of escalation because it would be damaging to the strategic objective

21:18

of helping Hamas. This terrorist

21:24

act with the pagers is designed by Israel to provoke Hezbollah

21:29

into carrying out a retaliation that would justify,

21:34

not to the Israelis, but to the Americans, an Israeli response. The United States has been holding Israel back

21:41

because they believe that any strategic conflict with Hezbollah

21:46

would not end well for Israel. Hezbollah has built military resources, precision guided missiles

21:54

that will defeat the Israeli missile shield and if launched in significant numbers,

22:00

wreak havoc on Israel politically, economically, militarily. The United States knows this.

22:06

Many in the Israeli defense establishment know this, which is why an Israeli conflict

22:12

against Hezbollah, where it’s just Israel versus Hezbollah is not sustainable.

22:19

Israel needs the United States to come in on its side. The United States has made it clear that it will not do

22:25

so if Israel is the initiator of the aggression

22:30

that leads to a broader war. So what Israel has done here is carried out an action.

22:36

And as we said, it’s an action that the United States was cognizant of and possibly gave a green light

22:41

to, definitely will not condemn Israel for this. Hezbollah, I hope,

22:48

recognizes this as a trap. It’s such a horrific attack.

22:53

The gut feeling is Hezbollah has to do something, has to do something dramatic, has to do something.

22:59

But I’ve listened to Hassan Nasrallah and I’ve listened to Hezbollah leaders.

23:05

These are people who understand Israel perhaps better than many Israelis understand Israel.

23:11

And I think they understand what’s happening here. They definitely understand the geopolitical dynamic here.

23:17

And they also understand that they’re winning, that they’re winning this. Look, let’s just put it this way.

23:22

If Israel were going to attack Hezbollah, why would you use this capability,

23:29

which created huge disruption amongst Hezbollah, a lot of chaos, a lot of disruption,

23:34

that did not do anything. See the moment to attack Hezbollah is literally one minute

23:41

after the pagers explode. Now, Hezbollah is disrupted. Command and control is disrupted.

23:47

You come in heavy, you might have a chance to prevent Hezbollah

23:52

from executing its plan. Hezbollah has adapted to this. With all the horrors that occurred,

23:57

Hezbollah has already adapted. They are prepared for anything right now. So clearly,

24:03

Israel isn’t looking to attack Hezbollah on its own volition. What Israel’s looking for

24:09

is Hezbollah to retaliate against Israel on a scope and scale,

24:15

significant enough for Israel to say this is an existential threat. We must defend ourselves,

24:21

respond aggressively, and the United States, you must come with us. That’s the goal here.

24:27

So I think that Hezbollah, it has the capability to defeat Israel,

24:33

but understand that any war between Hezbollah and Israel isn’t going to be a one way street.

24:40

I mean, you’ve been to Lebanon. You know the history of Beirut. You know what Israel did to Beirut. You know what Israel did

24:46

to southern Lebanon. You know what Israel’s capable of doing? Israel will destroy Lebanon

24:51

in any conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Israel may be destroyed as well. But for the people

24:56

of Lebanon, this would be an absolutely devastating conflict. And,

25:02

you know, at the beginning, you said that Matt Miller and the United States views Hezbollah as this militant

25:07

terrorist organization. But it’s not. It’s a political party,

25:12

part of the Lebanese government. And they are committed to the betterment

25:18

of Lebanese society. They are committed to doing good

25:23

by the Lebanese people. This is why Hassan Nasrallah will never initiate

25:29

an attack against Israel that brings unnecessary harm down on the Lebanese people

25:35

because he is a Lebanese political leader. He is a man committed

25:40

to safeguarding Lebanon. And this is a dynamic that is often missed in the West.

25:45

That Hezbollah isn’t a terrorist organization. They aren’t a militia. They are a political party

25:51

committed to doing doing right by the people of Lebanon, by the Lebanese government,

25:58

by the region as a whole. So even though they have the ability to defend themselves,

26:03

I think that Hezbollah will behave responsibly here

26:08

and carry out Hassan Nasrallah’s strategic goal of helping Hamas by carefully

26:14

managing the escalation. That’s my take.

26:20

So just to clarify, I’m Palestinian-American. I’m not from Lebanon. I’ve never been to Lebanon. I’m from Al-Quds, Jerusalem.

26:26

That’s okay. But I think it’s really important. The points that you made are very important

26:32

because a lot of people are looking at what’s happening in Gaza and for so long

26:38

have asked the question like, you know, if Hezbollah was truly trying to defend Palestine, why don’t they do more?

26:43

And so you really painted a great picture of why strategically

26:48

this is the take and this is why they’re taking the actions that they are, because they know that these kinds

26:54

of terrorist attacks by Israel are really just poking, poking at Hezbollah

27:00

so that they can pull them into a broader war and have Hezbollah do the bigger damage,

27:06

the stronger damage so that Israel can draw the United States into a broader conflict.

27:12

And of course, neither Hezbollah nor Iran nor other countries that are resisting Israeli occupation

27:19

and this genocide want. And you you kind of answered my question about Hamas,

27:24

but I’d like to know before I get into the next question, I just want to remind everybody that this video and all interviews

27:30

that we put out on our YouTube channel and our podcast on Spotify

27:36

are all funded and supported by our members on Patreon. So if you’re enjoying

27:42

this conversation with Scott Ritter and myself, please become a member on our Patreon. You can join for

27:47

as little as $5. As you can see, and as you’re hearing, you know, we are independent media

27:54

that rely on our donors and our viewers and our readers, and we’re standing up against a very strong

28:00

military machine. And we are looking to break through the fog of war

28:05

and dissect these war narratives that are in the interest of the public. And so,

28:11

Scott, I’m curious to know, you know, do you think this war

28:16

has actually left Hamas in a stronger position than before? You talked a lot about

28:22

Palestine as a state is now in the conversation. But what about militarily

28:28

and strategically? Is Hamas in a stronger position than before October 7th?

28:36

Well, let’s let’s talk about Hamas before October 7th. Sure.

28:42

First of all, amongst the Palestinian people, Hamas was not necessarily

28:48

widely embraced as the legitimate leadership of Palestine. There are many people

28:54

who are frustrated with Fatah, frustrated with the Palestinian Authority, frustrated with President Abbas.

29:01

But the history between Hamas and Fatah

29:06

is not a good history. A very bloody history, very controversial history. And so there are many people

29:12

in the Palestinian community did not view Hamas as being capable of representing them

29:18

when it comes to their their aspirations for statehood. Hamas was never

29:25

organized to defeat Israel. Hamas was always organized to defend

29:32

Palestine, to defend Gaza. They’re not like Hezbollah,

29:37

which is a conventional fighting force. Hamas was

29:43

an organization militarily designed to protect Palestinian interests in Gaza, in the West Bank

29:49

if given the opportunity, but not to invade and occupy Israel. So we have to be realistic

29:55

about the military capacity of Hamas. And the other thing was that

30:01

Hamas was having a hard time generating any traction on

30:07

the international community about a Palestinian state because they were undermined

30:12

by the Palestinian Authority. This is my personal opinion. People could disagree with me as they want. I respect that.

30:18

But I think there’s wide agreement that President Abbas

30:24

was doing the bidding of Israel, facilitating Israeli concerns, Israeli interests

30:29

over that of the Palestinian people, ineffective in standing up

30:35

to the Abrams accords, which were just gutting Palestinian statehood by legitimizing

30:41

or at least turning a blind eye to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

30:46

And so on October 6th, if you were looking at Hamas,

30:52

with few exceptions, if you had just done one of those standard, you know, Western tests

30:57

where we throw a word at you and you respond, you know, Bird – Fly,

31:03

you know Tree – Green, Hamas – Terrorist. Okay.

31:09

That’s where Hamas stood in the mindset of many people. October 7th came very,

31:14

very difficult day, very difficult day. No matter how you slice it, a very difficult day,

31:20

but a day that will go down in history as changing everything

31:26

because it set in motion the events where we find ourselves today.

31:32

Hamas is still a military organization that cannot defeat Israel. It’s not designed to go into Israel,

31:37

occupy Israel, defeat the Israeli army. But it has more than accomplished its task of defending Gaza

31:46

from the Israelis, not like a conventional army does, but in the way that Hamas

31:51

was designed to do to go underground, to make the Israelis come to them, to wage

31:59

guerrilla warfare, to wage unconventional warfare, to make the Israelis die

32:04

the death of a thousand cuts. And look at Hamas. We’re almost a year into this conflict,

32:10

and they haven’t been defeated. They haven’t been defeated. When Israel withdraws

32:15

from a piece of territory that it’s completely leveled above ground, Hamas reemerges from underground.

32:22

Israelis haven’t destroyed the tunnel network. Hamas still has the ability to maneuver

32:28

the way it was designed to maneuver, to attack the Israelis and inflict

32:33

casualties on the Israelis that are becoming unbearable for Israel. Hamas has suffered casualties.

32:38

Let there be no doubt about that. But Hamas has also

32:44

won over, I think, a significant proportion of the Palestinian population,

32:50

especially those in Gaza. My understanding is that Hamas has recruited

32:56

more fighters after October 7th than they’ve lost.

33:01

So they’ve actually become stronger in terms of numbers. My understanding, too,

33:07

is that Hamas is able to receive weapons

33:14

and logistics sustainability. We can use our imagination on how that occurs.

33:20

But, you know, whatever the Israelis have tried to do to prevent, to strangle

33:25

Gaza, to strangle Hamas militarily has not succeeded. And that’s part of their planning.

33:31

So from a military standpoint, Hamas is winning because they’re not losing. Remember, the Israeli

33:37

military objective was to physically destroy Hamas as a military organization. That has not happened.

33:44

They are not, they being Israel, are not in control of Gaza. And anytime they leave a section

33:50

of Gaza, Hamas returns. That’s not the definition of destruction. Politically,

33:58

again, I don’t want to pretend to be an expert on Palestinian affairs. I’m a non Palestinian

34:05

who’s assessing this from far away. But if I were a betting man

34:11

and Las Vegas would take the odds, I would bet almost everything I have

34:17

on that if there were fair and free elections in Palestine today, Hamas would win

34:22

those elections that Hamas is more popular amongst the Palestinian people than Fatah

34:29

or the Palestinian Authority, President Abbas. Why? Because Hamas is fighting.

34:34

Hamas is fighting for the people of Palestine and the people of Palestine, I believe for the first time

34:41

have hope in their hearts about a Palestinian state. And where did that come from? From Abbas?

34:46

Nope. From the Palestinian Authority? Nope. From Fatah? No. That hope only came

34:53

from the resistance of Hamas, only came. And Israel has said

34:58

that not only did they want to destroy Hamas politically, but that they would

35:03

never negotiate with Hamas. How did the world respond to that?

35:09

Well, we saw the Russians begin a process that was culminated in China, where 14 Palestinian factions

35:15

were brought together, including Hamas, to try and bring them into a singular political entity

35:20

that would represent the Palestinian people at the negotiating table. Hamas is part of this.

35:26

Now, this won’t be called Hamas for political reasons, but the reality is Hamas

35:31

has made it impossible to ignore Hamas. Hamas is the most relevant political movement

35:37

amongst the Palestinians today, and they will play a leading role in shaping the future

35:44

of a Palestinian state. That’s a huge victory for Hamas. A huge victory.

35:50

So when people say, Has Hamas been defeated or what is… I would say no.

35:56

Hamas has won across borders. Now, the price they are paying is horrible, horrible.

36:02

And you could condemn Hamas for this because here’s my assessment.

36:08

Hamas knew that this price would be horrible. Hamas knew exactly what it was doing,

36:13

but it was the only way forward. On October 6th, nobody was talking about

36:20

a Palestinian state. On October 6th, Israel was on the cusp of normalizing relations

36:26

with Saudi Arabia. That would solidify this new geopolitical reality

36:31

that would guarantee there would never be a Palestinian state, ever. It would have been the end

36:37

of Palestine. Today, that has changed because of what Hamas did.

36:44

But the people of Palestine, the people of Gaza, are paying a horrible price. This is an analogy

36:50

that sometimes gets me in trouble, but I use it anyways because I feel that it’s, it’s an accurate analogy.

36:58

The allies in World War Two were going to land in Europe

37:03

and they picked Normandy to be the place to land, D-Day, the 6th of June.

37:09

Dwight D. Eisenhower approached Charles de Gaulle, the leader

37:14

of the Free French, and he said were going to go across Normandy.

37:19

He said, but the actions we’re going to take to liberate France are going to require us

37:25

to kill between 60 and 100,000 French civilians.

37:31

And De Gaulle said, Do it. Now, De Gaulle never went to an anniversary of D-Day

37:36

because in his heart he couldn’t bear the pain and suffering, knowing that he signed off on the deaths of 60,000

37:43

French civilians, that that was the price that had to be paid for liberty,

37:48

to liberate France from Nazi Germany. 60,000 French civilians had to be sacrificed

37:54

at the hands of the allies in order to achieve this.

37:59

If you want a Palestinian state, you’re not going to get it for free.

38:05

You’re only going to get it through the sacrifice of the civilians who are the collateral

38:14

damage done to achieve this victory over Israel. It’s a horrible thing.

38:19

It’s a horrible thing. But I think Hamas understood

38:25

that in order to defeat Israel, you had to show the world the truth about Israel.

38:33

The world ignored when Israel initiated its,

38:41

the Dahiya, I’m mispronouncing it. I’m sure the suburb of… I’m sure the suburb of… Dahiya. Dahiya. Dahiya. When Israel leveled

38:48

that just to say we’re making the civilians pay a price.

38:54

They ignored when Israel went into Gaza repeatedly, they’ve ignored this.

38:59

The crimes that had to be committed by Israel needed to be so great, so public,

39:04

so horrific that the world could not ignore them. And Hamas

39:09

gave Israel a chance to prove to the world who they are and what they are.

39:14

They’re a genocidal regime committed to a system of apartheid.

39:19

They, you know, Israel is very good at propaganda. Some of the best in the world

39:24

comes out of Israel. I was a victim of it as myself when I was a weapons inspector and I traveled to Israel in 1990s.

39:31

They put me on the helicopter. They flew me to the Golan Heights. They flew me to Masada. They flew me all around.

39:36

They showed me the glory of Israel. It was glorious. I have to be honest. Israel is a beautiful… Palestine,

39:42

whatever you want to call it. The land there is beautiful. The people that lived there were wonderful people.

39:48

The ones I saw. But I saw only one side of the story because over here were villages

39:53

that I wasn’t allowed to go to where the Palestinians lived. But I was told that they’re the problem, not the solution.

40:00

And I fell for it hook, line and sinker. I was on the side of Israel.

40:06

This conflict, October 7th, and what happened afterwards forever changed me because what I saw wasn’t

40:13

a responsible nation responding to horrific events. What I saw was a genocidal nation

40:20

doing that which it was inclined to do. The truth of Israel came out

40:25

that it is not just the secular state with superficial

40:31

attachment to the Jewish faith, but a nation that had been thoroughly infiltrated by

40:38

religious fanatics, Zionists who rely on the Talmud

40:43

to define the Hebrew faith, the Jewish faith. Amolek,

40:49

they treat the Palestinians as animals that need to be slaughtered. This truth would never have

40:54

been exposed to the world if it weren’t for October 7th. It now has been exposed. and Israel will never save

41:00

its reputation, will never save its reputation. We have seen the truth of Israel,

41:06

and you can’t unsee that. And you see the truth of Israel every day. I had I mean, again, I’m

41:11

just being honest with you. You know, I cried when when

41:18

Hind Rajab was murdered. And I’ve cried when I’ve seen the photograph,

41:24

the photographs Yeah, the photographs of the babies. My wife cries. I cry with my wife. We can’t…

41:30

I had to stop looking at them. I’m just being honest. I had to stop looking at them. They’re there.

41:36

I can’t look at them anymore because my heart is shattered into a million pieces.

41:42

But I can justify not looking at them because I know that I know

41:48

the truth about Israel. I don’t need to see these pictures to prove what Israel is.

41:54

I know what Israel is. And the world knows what Israel is. Yeah. The horror that’s taking place today

42:00

with the Palestinian people will go down in history as one of the greatest crimes committed against humanity

42:05

in modern history. And it’s why Israel not only no longer has a right to exist,

42:11

but in the future will not exist. Israel has lost the right to exist.

42:17

And it’s not me saying that. It’s the Israeli public realizing this now.

42:22

You’re starting to see, within Israel, a growing recognition

42:27

that what they have become is incompatible with modern civilization.

42:34

And I do believe in the course of the next years, you’re going to see Israelis fleeing Israel,

42:40

going back to where they came from, and this will be the end of Israel and hopefully the beginning

42:46

of not a two state solution, but a one state solution called Palestine, where Muslims, Christians

42:52

and Jews can live together in peace and harmony as a singularity, as opposed to this apartheid

42:59

Zionist entity that occupies Palestine today. Absolutely. I mean

43:04

a one state solution, which sounds crazy, right? Like a one state where all religious people

43:10

live under the banner of a true democracy and human rights.

43:15

That’s all it really that’s all that Palestinians are asking for. You know, I remember when you first mentioned that

43:22

theory to me, I guess you could call it when you said that Hamas knew that this was the price

43:28

that they would have to pay to show the world what true Israeli

43:33

crimes and what they’re capable of. You know, it doesn’t sit well I think in just

43:39

the average person stomach, it doesn’t sit well because they think, well, isn’t…

43:44

you know, don’t they have a moral compass and they don’t want to see their civilians slaughtered. But the truth is, is that,

43:50

you know, this is the face, the true face of Israel. This is the true face of its apartheid system,

43:57

of its genocidal mission to occupy and erase Palestinians.

44:03

And this has now been brought to the international forefront where even the

44:08

Western governments who are funding it, arming it, supporting it, are now being questioned

44:14

and disrupted about this. And I think just like with the fall of South

44:19

African apartheid at some point, which I do think that it’s going to be coming soon,

44:25

of course, not without a big fight from Israel, the United States is going to have to

44:30

face the truth that it’s been, you know, building and supporting

44:36

this apartheid system that is getting out of control. I mean, it’s been out of control, but now it’s really getting out of control,

44:42

and… So I just want to talk about… Just to add on to that real quick,

44:51

you know, and I, I agree with you. I mean, it’s a horrible thing to comprehend

44:56

or to even wrap your head around. Why would Hamas willingly go down this path

45:02

knowing the price that would be paid? Where is their moral compass? But

45:07

did they have anything that the point is, the implication is that life in Gaza

45:13

was tolerable. Gaza was a concentration camp.

45:18

How many generations of Palestinians have to grow up in an open air prison?

45:25

At what point in time do prisoners enough is enough?

45:30

Exactly. That continued enslavement and continued imprisonment is worse than life itself.

45:37

And if you’re a Palestinian adult with children or somebody who wants to have children,

45:43

who wants to raise their children in a prison? Who wants to raise them

45:48

as prisoners in an apartheid state? Who wants to bring new life into this? In order

45:53

to justify the continuation of Palestine, there has to be a Palestine.

46:00

And if there, if this… if you have to sacrifice for that, then the sacrifice

46:06

is justifiable. That’s easy for me to say, thousands of miles removed.

46:12

But, you know, I take solace in the knowledge that the civilians in Gaza,

46:19

I can’t speak for all of them. I can’t. And I can’t speak for the people who have lost their loved ones. They may

46:24

disagree with me. But I do think the people in Gaza are wearing

46:31

their suffering with pride

46:37

because they know what this fight is about. Yeah. They know what this struggle is about.

46:42

They know what the sacrifices are about. And when this is all said and done, I hope

46:49

that there is a giant monument built in Gaza where the names of

46:54

every martyr is carved upon the wall so that all future

46:59

generations of Palestinians come there and give thanks to the sacrifice they made

47:05

so that they can have a homeland. That’s deep and

47:11

I mean, as we know that that list of names is quite long right now. I mean, according to the Lancet Institute,

47:17

there could be up to 180,000 Palestinians dead from this this crisis right now.

47:24

On a positive note, you know, this war in Gaza has been full of surprises.

47:30

And one of biggest surprise, I think, on the international stage has been the reaction of Yemen, who

47:35

which is the poorest country in the Middle East. It’s not a poor country. It’s rich in minerals, rich in

47:41

ancient history and civilization. But because of, you know, the US war on terror,

47:47

because of the Saudi blockade, it has become the poorest country in the Middle East.

47:52

I mean, Yemen has suffered tremendously from a, you know, US Saudi backed

47:57

genocide itself. The United States and the UAE currently have

48:03

occupied the southern part of Yemen. They’ve set up sexual torture sites, etc., etc..

48:09

Obama’s famous drone wars took place in Yemen and in Afghanistan,

48:14

but the Yemenis have risen above this tide of horror that they have experienced,

48:20

and they’ve enforced this Red Sea blockade against American, Israeli

48:25

and British ships. And what’s really interesting about this, as you probably already know, is that, Scott,

48:31

is that because of this Yemeni Red Sea blockade, Yemen has actively

48:38

and successfully, Ansarullah bankrupted Israel’s Eilat port. They’ve bankrupted it.

48:44

And so what we have seen I’m just going to go down this listicle that I wrote up, but I’d like to get your reaction to this.

48:51

Because of that, we have countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Jordan

48:57

assisting Israel in circumventing that Red Sea blockade. So we have Israeli linked

49:03

cargo ships arriving in the United Arab Emirates to unload the goods.

49:08

Then trucks leave and transport these goods through the UAE

49:13

and Saudi Arabian highways to Jordan. Then they eventually reach

49:19

Israel via the Jordan River crossing. And we all know that

49:24

German shipping company, they cross the train stations here, the Hapag-Lloyd,

49:30

they’ve announced that it was working with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to create a land route, bypassing the Houthis,

49:36

which connects ports in the UAE and the Saudi port of Jeddah, facilitating cargo movement

49:42

to Israel through the Suez Canal. And right now, because of

49:48

the Abraham Accords, thanks to the Abraham Accords and thanks to the Red Sea Yemeni blockade

49:53

and its success, Egypt has dedicated five ports

49:59

to provide over $330 million worth of exports

50:05

to Israel. And we can assume that weapons are probably being provided, right,

50:10

and military equipment for the Israeli military.

50:15

And what we do also know, Scott, is that during the Arab summit in Riyadh,

50:21

the axis of assistance, which are Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Morocco and Jordan

50:27

all voted against an oil embargo against Israel and voted against limiting

50:32

US airspace for Washington to ship weapons to Israel. And I

50:38

want to mention a couple of other countries, Turkey, right now, 40% of

50:43

Israel’s energy needs runs through a pipeline from Azerbaijan

50:48

through Turkey to Israel. And Turkey could cut that oil off at any moment, but they can’t.

50:53

And of course, we know that Egypt currently has dedicated the five ports while simultaneously blocking

51:00

five miles of aid trucks lined up at the Rafah border. I mean, the Sisi government could open up that border,

51:07

but he won’t. And we’ve seen those operations on the Egyptian border, the Jordan border,

51:12

where people are now reacting and taking matters into their own hands because… which have resulted in their,

51:19

you know, their trucks blowing up and killing Israeli soldiers because they’re just so

51:24

disgusted and disturbed by the genocide in Gaza.

51:31

And the last two, I want to mention, because of the Abraham Accords,

51:36

the Saudi-backed group Affinity Partners owns a stake in the Israeli company Shlomo Group.

51:43

During the conflict in Gaza, the Shlomo Group contributed trucks and military equipment to the Israeli military’s

51:49

Shaldag and Maglan units as well as food packages to the IDF.

51:54

Saudi Arabia has notoriously used Israeli spy tech, NSO and Cellebrite, as I mentioned earlier,

52:00

on activists and journalists. And as we know, NSO spying tools were installed on Jamal Khashoggi’s phone

52:07

and were used to kill him. That was an assassination. The UAE and Saudi Arabia

52:12

have become major shareholders in Kushner’s Phoenix Holdings Company.

52:18

Of course, we all know Jared Kushner is the one who led the Abraham Accords.

52:23

So these two countries are major shareholders in Phoenix Holdings Company,

52:28

which funds Israeli settlements and military installments. Okay. The UAE also is

52:35

has opened up a subsidiary partner weapons manufacturer for Israel’s

52:41

Elbit Systems called Elbit Systems Emirates. Now, Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms

52:47

manufacturer, and the UAE and Israel occupy the Yemeni

52:53

Socotra Islands and have set up surveillance hubs there to spy on Iran and China.

52:59

And then we have Morocco, finally. Israel and Morocco have also built an intelligence base near

53:04

the border of Algeria. And then we are also seeing the building

53:10

of Elbit Systems as well in Morocco, because as we know, Elbit Systems is being

53:16

targeted in countries like the UK, where Palestine Action activists, with the help of its community,

53:22

they’re shutting down and targeting these Israeli weapons companies which have cost Elbit

53:28

Systems millions upon millions of dollars worth of contracts. And so they’re going

53:33

to Palestine’s Arab neighbors where the majority of the population,

53:38

Scott, are against the genocide in Gaza. And yet their governments, thanks to the Abraham Accords

53:44

and the US Israeli military alliances are basically pumping Israel

53:49

with more weapons, with more money. But then we also have on the brighter side,

53:55

I guess you could say, the axis of resistance with Hezbollah, with Yemen,

54:00

with Iran. So based on what I have just shared and presented to you,

54:06

what do you think about all of this? And is there going to be a point where

54:12

these axis of assistance countries are going to cave in to what their populations want?

54:20

What you’ve painted is a picture that on the face I think would depress

54:26

many people who support Palestine. And it is a depressing picture.

54:31

But what it really is, because let’s again go back to October 6th.

54:37

On October 6th 2023, Israel was on the cusp of

54:42

normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia. You know, that trucking route that you talked about where ships

54:47

land in the United Arab Emirates and then are placed on trucks that go through UAE

54:53

to Saudi Arabia, to Jordan, then on to Israel. This was supposed to be

54:58

a railroad. This was supposed to be part of something that Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu

55:04

touted as the India Middle East Economic… Middle East European Economic

55:09

Corridor, linking South Asia through the Middle East

55:15

to Europe, going from Indian ports to Dubai or Abu Dhabi,

55:21

getting on trains, transiting UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,

55:27

hooking up to Haifa, getting on container ships, going to Greece. And you have this linkage.

55:34

And this isn’t just somebody’s fantasy. Benjamin Netanyahu in last year’s

55:41

General Assembly debate in September, instead of putting up the picture of the Iranian bomb

55:46

that he likes to put up, he had a map that showed this and he said this is the future of Israel. This is the future

55:52

of everything. He was able to say that because so many people had committed to that vision.

55:59

There was a lot of political capital and economic capital committed to that vision.

56:04

What you’re seeing in what you call the axis of assistance is the death gasp

56:10

of the axis of assistance. You can’t just shut them down overnight. You

56:17

know, they have contacts, they have connectivity, they have resources. And so

56:23

they are desperately trying to construct an alternative to get around the actions

56:29

of the axis of resistance. And if we viewed it in this vacuum, it’s a difficult struggle.

56:36

One would say advantage axis of assistance. But let’s be real here.

56:42

Let’s back off and talk about another struggle that’s taking place on a broader geopolitical scale.

56:47

And that’s the struggle between the rules based international order and BRICS,

56:53

the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa Economic Forum

56:58

that’s becoming an establishment. In Kazan, in October, Russia is hosting

57:04

a BRICS summit. Last year it was hosted by South Africa. Last year, BRICS expanded. And

57:11

the expansion included Iran, United Arab Emirates,

57:16

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina. Argentina

57:22

has dropped out. Saudi Arabia was demurring, but now MBS, the Saudi crown prince,

57:28

he’s going to Kazan. Saudi Arabia is dropping

57:34

the dollar as its currency of choice for its oil. This is a direct attack

57:40

on the rules based international order. United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia has normalized relations

57:46

with Iran. Their geopolitical focus is going to be on Kazan, on BRICS,

57:51

on the global stage. That’s the strategic direction. And when you look at

57:57

it from that standpoint, the axis of assistance is such a minor slice of that.

58:02

It’s a rearguard action being carried out by people who had bought into this relationship

58:09

with Israel that’s an unsustainable relationship. The axis of assistance does not make money.

58:16

The axis of assistance loses money. It’s not good business. It’s bad business.

58:22

BRICS is about economic opportunity, and when you are trying to rationalize your economy,

58:29

you dump the poor performing aspects of your economy and the axis of assistance

58:34

is a poor performing aspect of the economy. Not only that, but you can’t

58:40

have a situation where strategically Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

58:45

are positioning themselves to be adversarial to Iran

58:50

when they all want to be part of a BRICS group that speaks of

58:55

multilateral consensus. So the strategic focus of Saudi Arabia, of UAE

59:01

is not a retrograde action back to an Israel that no longer exists,

59:08

the Israel of October 6th, but instead it’s of nations

59:13

that are moving towards a broader geopolitical cooperation and they’re being dragged,

59:19

held on to by the the the people that wanted that but can’t have it

59:24

are trying to get it and eventually it’s going to get cut. So when you look at it from that standpoint,

59:30

your axis of assistance is doomed to fail and it will fail.

59:36

And I think after October, you’re going to see dramatic changes in how these nations view

59:43

the issue of Israel and Palestine. This October?

59:48

Pardon? This coming October? What’s going to happen in Kazan

59:54

is that I guess when Oh, in the meeting. the Kazan, the summit

1:00:00

is Russia is not just talking about expanding. Remember, you talked about two things, Azerbaijani oil

1:00:07

flowing through pipelines through Turkey. Azerbaijan is now wants to be

1:00:13

a member of BRICS. Erdogan is going to Kazan because Turkey, a NATO member,

1:00:20

wants to be a member of BRICS. This is a radical sea

1:00:26

change in global perspectives that’s taking place. It will redefine how the world works.

1:00:34

In order for this to happen, institutions have to be made. Last year, South Africa oversaw

1:00:40

the expansion of BRICS. This year is about Russia codifying that,

1:00:45

turning it into institutions, creating mechanisms where ministerial meetings

1:00:51

can take place, where nations come together, to work things out throughout the year,

1:00:57

whereas problems manifest, they come together to reach a consensus driven solution to these problems.

1:01:04

One of the big problems facing the world today is Palestine – Israel – Gaza.

1:01:13

Saudi Arabia is going to be sitting at a table with major trading partners

1:01:18

that its future economic prosperity depends upon; Russia, India, China,

1:01:26

and they’re going to look to Saudi Arabia and say, what are we doing about resolving this issue?

1:01:32

What is this that you’re doing about, you know, running these covert supply chains into Israel?

1:01:38

Is that really a solution? Do we not need to think in terms of a bigger picture and then other people

1:01:43

brings it up and Saudi Arabia is going to have to basically say, yeah, you’re right, this isn’t going to work.

1:01:49

Let’s talk about what works. And they’re going to ship. UAE is going to have to do that. Iran, the pressure

1:01:55

we put on Iran, hey, you’re putting all this effort into the axis of resistance.

1:02:01

What can we do to prevent this adversarial thing? How do we get to a solution?

1:02:06

Instead of sustaining the problem, how do we get to a solution? And pressure will be put on Iran to say, okay, we need

1:02:12

we need to talk about solutions, not just sustaining problems. BRICS has huge potential

1:02:20

to be what the United Nations should’ve been except for the corruption of the United States,

1:02:25

Great Britain and France. I was just about to say that. Wow. Yeah. So I’m hopeful.

1:02:30

I’m very optimistic about BRICS. And I do believe that it will have a

1:02:36

a level of influence on this axis of assistance that you speak of that will compel them to stop

1:02:44

sustaining the problem, start looking at how to solve the problem, resolve the problem.

1:02:50

I mean, what you’ve just presented, we could with what you’ve just presented,

1:02:55

we can conclude, though, then, that the Abraham Accords mean nothing and that the US

1:03:03

moving forward is going to be quite irrelevant to what happens

1:03:08

in the Middle East. Is my understanding that correctly? Absolutely. I think my personal opinion is that the Abrams

1:03:13

Accord exists in name only. It’s a piece of paper that these desperate individuals and,

1:03:20

you know, political and economic interest groups within a variety of nations hold on to saying

1:03:25

this was our future, this was our future. It’s like me investing in a stock

1:03:30

and looking at the stock collapse and I’m looking at my share saying this was my future. Well, not anymore.

1:03:35

The company collapsed. Whatever you thought you had, you no longer have. And the concept of the United States,

1:03:41

the United States is no longer relevant. There’s not a single nation in the Middle East,

1:03:48

even Israel knows that the United States cannot be seen as an impartial broker. The United States has made

1:03:54

its decision. It is Team Israel. And so nobody will trust the United States.

1:04:01

This is this is the reality. You know, we talk about what happens on November 5th, a new president.

1:04:06

Yeah. And they keep… everybody’s sitting there saying, well, I can’t wait to see what, you know,

1:04:12

Kamala Harris policy is free of Biden or I can’t wait to see what Donald Trump says.

1:04:18

I don’t view it that way. What I say is I want to see about what the future president,

1:04:23

United States does with the reality handed to them about Gaza – Israel.

1:04:31

You see, it’s it’s the height of American narcissism, hubris

1:04:37

to believe that we are solely empowered with envisioning a solution

1:04:42

to the problems of the Middle East. The Palestinian people, you don’t understand

1:04:48

the issues of Palestine like America does. Israel, you don’t understand the problems like America does.

1:04:54

Only America has the ability to sit down with our wisdom and dictate solutions.

1:05:00

That sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But that’s what you’re really saying when you say, Well, I want to see what Kamala

1:05:06

Harris’ policy is. I want to see what Donald Trump’s policy is. Who cares? Exactly.

1:05:12

The only vote out there is the vote of the Palestinian people who’ve already shown

1:05:17

an ability to suffer 40-186,000 dead in support of their cause.

1:05:22

They are not retreating from that. Hamas will not surrender.

1:05:29

Hezbollah will not back down. The axis of resistance will not yield. The Houthi will not

1:05:35

give up the fight, no matter who the president of the United States is.

1:05:41

If your name is Donald Trump, you don’t make the lack of lethality inherent in a carrier

1:05:47

battle group go away. The United States

1:05:52

has already deployed carrier battle groups to the Red Sea, to the Gulf of Aden

1:05:58

to intimidate the Houthi who did not back down, who actually drove the American Navy out.

1:06:04

A victory. Whoever is the president can’t change this reality. This is a reality

1:06:09

that American policy is going to be compelled to adapt to, to yield to, especially because the world

1:06:16

no longer looks to America for a solution. After October, the world is going to be increasingly

1:06:21

looking to BRICS for a solution, and the BRICS solution is going to be

1:06:27

far more compelling because it’s not going to be based upon the might of the sword.

1:06:33

It’s going to be based upon economic strength, it’s going to be based

1:06:39

upon humanity. It’s going to be based upon the things that people really care about. America only knows violence.

1:06:46

We only offer violence. How do we how do we mollify Israeli concerns?

1:06:51

More arms, more ammunition, instead of saying less arms, less ammunition.

1:06:58

Let’s talk about this. Let’s resolve this peacefully. No, we give weapons.

1:07:05

We solve the problem through weapons. That’s all we do. How do we mollify Israel? I mean, Egypt, weapons.

1:07:12

BRICS isn’t going to be about distributing weapons. BRICS is going to be about

1:07:17

distributing wealth, economic stability, prosperity,

1:07:23

infrastructure development, the things that matter. And I think that’s why

1:07:29

come next year, who cares what America thinks? Because America

1:07:35

no longer matters. We are not the indispensable nation. We are the dispensable nation.

1:07:43

I mean, there’s a lot of hope in those statements. And I feel that myself.

1:07:49

There are countries that are part of BRICS, like India, which is, you know,

1:07:54

one of the strongest economies, biggest economies in the world that’s rising and rising and rising.

1:07:59

And they are one of Israel’s biggest allies as well. And then we talk you talked about Saudi Arabia joining and the UAE joining.

1:08:07

Could any of that backfire on Palestine? I know overall that

1:08:13

the goal of BRICS is to distribute wealth and reduce conflicts, but would…

1:08:18

and the weapons flows, of course, but could Israel be building alliances that could maybe backfire

1:08:25

on Palestine? It could. I mean, you know, again, in the world of international diplomacy,

1:08:31

especially with something that is so it’s so early in

1:08:37

the BRICS is to actually know what it’s going to end up looking like. The Russians have a vision that’s been coordinated

1:08:42

closely with their major partners. I will say this

1:08:48

Vladimir Putin will definitely be at Kazan. Xi Jinping is going to be at Kazan and Modi is going

1:08:53

to be at Kazan. Those are the big three. All right. They have agreed that

1:08:58

they want BRICS to succeed. And through that agreement, they’ve created a center of gravity

1:09:04

that is attracting gravitationally drawing in people who all agree on a shared vision.

1:09:12

The Russians and the Chinese are not new to the Middle East problems. China, of course, famously negotiated

1:09:18

the rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia that nobody saw coming.

1:09:24

That was a big, nice surprise. Yeah, absolutely. And China is again, nobody saw them bringing 14

1:09:31

Palestinian factions together in Beijing to come together as a singularity. Russia has been playing

1:09:36

a very quiet role behind the scenes, talking, facilitating negotiations.

1:09:42

They all have connectivity with all these nations we’ve spoken of. Connectivity that in the West we ignore.

1:09:48

When we say Saudi Arabia, we say, Oh, that’s a an American aligned country. But Saudi

1:09:54

Arabia and China have a level of connectivity that eclipses that that’s with the Americans.

1:10:00

Because it’s economic, not military, we tend to ignore it. Russia plays an important

1:10:05

role in Saudi Arabia’s, you know, global thinking. And so

1:10:11

I think when we talk about, well, can, you know, somehow these nations, their pro-Israeli

1:10:16

inclinations, be used to sabotage Palestine, I would say

1:10:22

probably not. I think

1:10:27

instead what will happen is that they will they will be pressured into

1:10:33

putting pressure on Israel. It’s not going to be Israel putting pressure on them to sabotage BRICS.

1:10:38

It’s going to be the

1:10:44

the coming together of of all this

1:10:49

political and economic and geopolitical power that’s going to draw

1:10:55

these nations this way. And they’re going to tell Israel, you either come with us

1:11:01

or we cut you off. You can’t be this impediment. We need you to find

1:11:07

a peaceful resolution to this problem. And the interesting thing about

1:11:12

because now let’s get down to brass tacks. What does that mean? Because to be honest, the only peaceful

1:11:18

resolution to the problem that would be acceptable in the international community is a two state solution.

1:11:25

And so what BRICS is going to be saying, and that’s the only thing BRICS is talking about right now, there’s nobody in BRICS talking about

1:11:30

a one state solution. It’s all a two state solution. Now, you and I both know that that’s

1:11:35

impossible to see, but let me walk you through this. Let me tell you why this is what’s going to happen

1:11:41

in my mind, because it’s the only thing the international community is willing to consider right now. So pressure will

1:11:47

be put on Israel to begin the process of manifesting a two state solution.

1:11:54

That’s Israel’s only out of its current crisis, its only escape, and eventually it will have to do so.

1:12:00

But look at what has to happen. They will have to dismantle the West Bank settlements.

1:12:07

Israel cannot survive the dismantling. That is the suicide pill. And there it is.

1:12:13

Because Israel can’t survive that, Israel won’t survive it. And when you start

1:12:19

the dismantlement of it, you’ll begin the process where people start fleeing Israel.

1:12:24

And demographically, when you get the Israeli population down to a certain level, it becomes unsustainable

1:12:29

as a Jewish homeland. And therefore, at that point in time,

1:12:35

the demographics dictate the outcome, which is a single state solution. So there’s a

1:12:40

lot of people saying, I would never support a two state solution, never support a process. I tell them,

1:12:46

support it, embrace it, because it can’t happen.

1:12:52

The processes required for it to happen are impossible for Israel

1:12:57

to achieve and Israel will destroy itself trying to make it happen,

1:13:03

but it will have no choice. And then you get the single state solution. And so that’s why

1:13:09

I think what’s happening with BRICS and everything, because some people are saying, okay, you say that, but how do we get to a Palestinian state,

1:13:15

a singularity? Well you have to go through Israel. You can’t make Israel disappear on your own.

1:13:22

Israel will have to make Israel disappear. Israel will have to lose legitimacy externally

1:13:27

and internally. And the key to that is the dismantlement of the West Bank settlements,

1:13:33

the reversal of the Abraham Accord. And Israel, I don’t believe, can survive that

1:13:39

as a Zionist entity, as a Jewish homeland.

1:13:45

And as a result, what’s left of Israel will have to

1:13:50

sit down at the table eventually and talk about a single state called Palestine.

1:13:57

Yeah. Very, very good stuff. And I think that you’ve left us

1:14:03

with some hope for the future because a lot of people are sitting around watching this genocide

1:14:08

unfold and play before our eyes on our smartphones. And, you know, everyone’s just kind of waiting

1:14:13

for something to come in and fix the situation, save the situation,

1:14:18

save the Children of Gaza. But, you know, we have a lot of different aspects to think about. Now I had a lot more

1:14:24

questions for you. I just don’t think that we have enough time. No, we’ll have to do that another time.

1:14:29

Yeah, I think we’re going to have to schedule another interview, which I hope that you will join me again. But Scott,

1:14:34

thank you so much for joining us today and yeah, I hope that we can talk to you soon. Absolutely.

1:14:39

Thank you for having me. Thank you.

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Bideoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvX0qtDxAw4

On 19 September 2024, Helen Clark addressed the UN Security Council on the situation in Palestine and the wider Middle East, calling for a new approach by the international community to tackle the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and uphold international law.

She emphasizes the urgent need for a new international approach, rooted in enforcing international law, including Security Council resolutions. Helen Clark calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, condemning both Hamas’ attacks and Israel’s disproportionate military response. She highlights the importance of implementing the recent ICJ Advisory Opinion on Israel’s occupation and outlines principles for achieving a sustainable two-state solution. Watch her full speech advocating for accountability, peace, and justice in the region.

Read the full speech: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/t…

Transkripzioa:

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@tobararbulu # mmt@tobararbulu·

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TURKEY | A Muslim Superpower?

Bideoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WKMJnpAT94

Leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Once a secular republic distancing itself from its Ottoman past, Turkey has reoriented its domestic and foreign policies to boost its influence among Muslim-majority nations. Through military interventions, humanitarian aid, and cultural diplomacy, Turkey has elevated its role within organisations like the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and garnered support on crucial issues such as Palestine, where Erdoğan has been particularly outspoken against Israel.

Despite Turkey’s increasing prominence, the video highlights the significant challenges it faces in becoming the dominant force in the Muslim world. Historical grievances, particularly from Arab states that endured Ottoman rule, and political tensions with nations like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE, complicate Turkey’s aspirations. Additionally, competition from other influential Muslim states like Indonesia, Pakistan, and Iran, as well as Turkey’s shifting alliances, raise doubts about its ability to unite the diverse Islamic community. The video concludes that while Turkey remains a highly influential actor, it is unlikely to achieve overarching leadership in the Muslim world due to these complex dynamics.

VIDEO CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction and Titles

00:44 Turkey, Islam and Leadership in World Politics

01:42 The Muslim States in World Politics

02:39 Islam and the Turks: Seljuks, Ottomans and Turkey

04:36 Islam and the Republic of Turkey

06:33 Turkey and Islam under Recep Tayyip Erdogan

08:10 Turkey, the Arab Spring, and the Palestinian Cause

09:31 The Case for Turkey’s Growing Leadership

11:00 Opposition to Turkish Leadership of the Muslim World

Transkripzioa:

Introduction and Titles

0:00

Is Turkey becoming the  leader of the Islamic world?

0:03

Having long separated itself from its  religious roots, under its current president,  

0:08

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey has sought to  reestablish its standing among the world’s  

0:13

Muslim-majority states and shape  broader opinion on critical issues.

0:18

Most recently, Erdoğan has called for  an Islamic alliance against Israel.

0:23

But while the Turkish leader certainly  sees his country as an influential actor  

0:27

that can galvanize Muslim opinion, can  it really become the dominant power?

0:33

Hello and welcome. If you’re new to the  channel, my name is James Ker-Lindsay,  

0:37

and here I take an informed look at international  relations, conflict, security, and statehood.

0:44

In international relations, we  often talk of states as leaders,  

0:48

whether regionally, globally, or  even within specific organizations.

0:53

But just what makes a country a leader?

0:56

While it can certainly be about exerting military  or economic power, it goes well beyond this.

1:02

It’s also based on political, diplomatic, or  cultural influence — so-called soft power.

1:08

Overall, being a leader means being able to  shape development by setting policies and  

1:13

positions on critical issues, building  coalitions, and shaping institutions.

1:19

One of the most interesting  questions in international  

1:22

affairs is who leads the Islamic world.

1:25

Representing a significant part of the global  population, it’s a difficult question to answer.

1:31

However, in recent years,  

1:33

Turkey has tried to establish itself  as a dominant force within the group.

1:38

But can it ever hope to become the leading power?

1:42

With an estimated 1.8 billion adherents,  Islam is the world’s second-largest religion,  

1:48

although projections suggest it’ll pass  Christianity by the end of the century altogether.

1:54

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the  body representing Muslim-majority countries,  

2:00

has 57 full members and a further five observers.

2:04

Spanning all five continents and stretching from  Indonesia in the east to Guyana in the west,  

2:10

and from Kazakhstan in the north to Mozambique  in the south, its members represent both around  

2:16

25% of the world’s population and  a quarter of the world’s landmass.

2:21

On top of that, it represents around 10% of  the global economy. However, while Islam is  

2:27

traditionally based on the idea of a single  religious community, the ummah, these countries  

2:33

have often been deeply divided politically,  culturally, ideologically, and economically.

2:39

Turkey and the Turkish people have a long  history at the heart of the Muslim faith.

2:45

Although Islam initially emerged  in Arabia in the 7th century,  

2:49

it rapidly expanded across the Middle East and  North Africa before spreading further afield,  

2:54

including into Central Asia, where Turkic tribes  converted to the faith in the 11th century.

3:00

One of these tribes, the Seljuks, began  pushing into the Middle East, and in 1055,  

3:06

they conquered Baghdad, the cultural  and political center of the Caliphate,  

3:11

as the territory then under  Muslim control was known.

3:14

From there, they continued their expansion.

3:18

In 1071, they defeated the Byzantine Empire,  

3:21

paving the way for other Muslim Turkic  tribes to settle in the Anatolian Peninsula.

3:27

It was 300 years later that one  of these groups, the Ottomans,  

3:31

began a rapid campaign of conquest that  saw them sweep away the last remnants  

3:36

of the Byzantine Empire and conquer much  of Southeast Europe and the Middle East.

3:41

Having become the most powerful  force in the Islamic world,  

3:45

the Ottoman Sultan also took the title of  Caliph, signifying his leadership of the faith.

3:52

While the Ottoman Empire would continue to expand,  

3:55

even seizing parts of the Arabian Peninsula,  by the late 19th century, it was declining.

4:01

The final blow came after the First World War.

4:05

Having sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary,  the Ottoman Empire was defeated, and as its  

4:10

remaining territories in the Middle East  were divided between Britain and France,  

4:14

preparations were also made to carve up  what remained of its Anatolian heartland.

4:20

It was at this point that Turkish  nationalist forces fought back.  

4:24

Under the leadership of General Mustafa  Kemal, as the Republic of Turkey replaced  

4:29

the Ottoman Empire, the last Sultan was forced  to abdicate, and the Caliphate was abolished.

4:36

Over the following years, Kemal, better  known as Atatürk, rid the new state of its  

4:41

old ties to Islam, as well as abolishing the  Ottoman Arabic script and replacing it with  

4:47

Latin characters. He introduced a strict  separation between religion and state.

4:52

At the same time, Turkey broke off its ties to  the Middle East and the broader Islamic world.

4:58

Its priority was its Western  and European orientation.

5:02

Having joined NATO in 1952, ten years later,  it signed an association agreement with  

5:08

the European Economic Community, the  forerunner of today’s European Union.

5:13

Meanwhile, in a move that angered  many Muslim states, Turkey became  

5:18

the first Muslim-majority  state to recognise Israel,  

5:22

eventually forging a close defence and  security alliance with the country.

5:27

However, everything began to change  at the turn of the millennium.

5:31

Although Turkey had been a secular  republic for almost 70 years,  

5:36

it was mired in economic and political turmoil.

5:39

It was against this backdrop that a new political  force emerged: the Justice and Development Party.

5:46

This was led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,  

5:49

a former mayor of Istanbul, who’d been  jailed for encouraging religious unrest.

5:54

Although the powerful military, which saw  itself as a guardian of Turkey’s secularism,  

5:59

had previously clamped down on  religious influence in politics,  

6:03

it now decided to step back and  let events take their course.

6:07

In November 2002, the AKP won a  resounding victory in national elections,  

6:13

and while Erdoğan was initially  barred from entering politics,  

6:17

this was lifted the next year,  and he became Prime Minister.

6:22

I hope you’re finding this useful. If  so, please do consider giving it a like  

6:26

and subscribing if you haven’t already. It  all really helps. Now, back to the video.

6:33

From the start, Erdoğan signaled  his intention to reorient Turkey.

6:38

Domestically, he began to roll back many  of the restrictions that had been placed  

6:43

on religion in public life, openly  highlighting his own religious faith.

6:48

He ended the long-standing ban on  headscarves in government offices.

6:52

Likewise, he reduced the power of  the military and stopped the annual  

6:56

tradition of expelling officers  who were seen as too religious.

7:00

At the same time, he steadily  reoriented the country’s foreign policy.

7:04

While maintaining close ties to NATO and  the quest to join the European Union,  

7:09

Turkey now increased its profile across the  Middle East and the broader Muslim world,  

7:14

as well as massively expanding its  diplomatic presence in many countries.

7:18

In recent years, the Directorate of Religious  

7:21

Affairs has increased its  overseas aid considerably.

7:25

This has seen it build mosques and religious  

7:27

schools, as well as promoting Islamic  cultural programs around the world.

7:32

It also distributes humanitarian assistance.

7:35

Turkey has also become more active as a military  and security actor. As well as playing a role  

7:42

in trying to reestablish order in Somalia,  it’s intervened in Libya, Syria, and Iraq.

7:48

Additionally, it’s also become  an increasingly significant  

7:52

voice in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

7:55

For example, from 2005 until 2013, the OIC  was led by a Turkish Secretary General.  

8:03

Turkey then held the chairmanship of  the organisation from 2016 until 2019.

8:10

On top of all this, Turkey  has also become increasingly  

8:14

outspoken on issues that play well  amongst many ordinary Muslims.

8:19

For example, when the Arab Spring broke  out in 2010, Erdoğan stood firmly behind  

8:24

efforts to overthrow the authoritarian  secular regimes in Egypt and Syria,  

8:29

publicly supporting Islamist opposition  groups in both countries — a move that  

8:35

fundamentally undermined Ankara’s  relationship with Cairo and Damascus.

8:39

But perhaps most significantly,  

8:41

the Turkish President became a particularly  vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause.

8:46

In 2010, Turkey’s long-standing relationship  with Israel finally collapsed after a Turkish  

8:52

aid ship to Gaza was raided by Israeli  forces, leading to several deaths.

8:58

Meanwhile, Erdoğan’s continued support  for the Palestinian cause went down well  

9:02

as more Arab states normalised  their relationship with Israel.

9:06

And while there were some  signs of rapprochement in 2022,  

9:10

the relationship has worsened again even  further since the start of the war in Gaza.

9:16

As well as publicly sympathising  with both Hamas and Hezbollah,  

9:19

Erdoğan has openly accused Israel  of genocide, and it’s against this  

9:25

backdrop that he’s now gone as far as to  call for an Islamic alliance against Israel.

9:31

All this has led many to see  Turkey as a leader within the  

9:35

Muslim world. But is this really the case?

9:39

Certainly, the headline figures  suggest that it is plausible.

9:44

For a start, Turkey is the world’s sixth  most populous Muslim-majority state,  

9:49

following Indonesia, Pakistan,  Bangladesh, Egypt, and Iran.

9:54

Likewise, with an annual gross  domestic product of $1 trillion,  

9:58

it’s the third-largest economically  after Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

10:04

Then there’s the military spending, which  sees it come second only to Saudi Arabia.

10:09

On top of this, besides its steadily  growing diplomatic, military, and aid  

10:14

presence across the Muslim world, Turkey’s  soft power influence is also increasing.

10:19

Turkish Airlines has rapidly grown  in recent years, and Istanbul has  

10:24

just become the world’s most connected  airport, serving over 300 destinations.

10:30

In addition, Turkish television programs command  a following across many Muslim countries,  

10:36

all the while alongside its active tourist market,  

10:39

which now amounts to around 45  million visitors every year.

10:44

Turkish history and culture have been  strongly promoted internationally.

10:48

Taken with Erdoğan’s outspoken  positions on many key issues, all  

10:53

this suggests that Turkey’s standing is growing  dramatically, especially in the Muslim world.

11:00

But there are also good reasons why this won’t  translate into formal political leadership.

11:06

For a start, Turkey remains deeply  distrusted in large parts of the Arab world.

11:12

Leaving aside the bitter experience of 300  years of Turkish Ottoman colonial rule in the  

11:17

Middle East, many Arab states continue to regard  Turkey and the Turkish leader with deep suspicion.

11:24

Turkey has also had deeper bilateral  tensions with many states. As well  

11:29

as Egypt and Syria, this includes Saudi  Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

11:34

Even though Turkey is now actively trying to  rebuild its broken ties to Damascus and Cairo,  

11:40

and has just attended a meeting of the  Arab League for the first time in 13 years,  

11:45

many of these countries won’t forget  its past behaviour or the way that it  

11:50

can seemingly change position  and turn on allies with ease.

11:54

Secondly, many are suspicious of how Turkey tries  to keep its feet in so many different camps.

12:01

At the same time as it courts Muslim  states, it’s in a military alliance  

12:05

with the West through NATO, and yet it’s  now also talking about joining the BRICS,  

12:10

which is trying to undermine Western dominance.

12:13

All the while, it’s trying to lead the  Turkic states but, at the same time,  

12:18

cozying up to Russia, which still  vies for supremacy in Central Asia.

12:22

While supporters argue that these  multilateral relationships strengthen  

12:27

Turkey’s global standing, critics see  this as proof of Erdoğan’s inability to  

12:32

be loyal to any group — hardly the  qualities one expects of a leader.

12:37

Finally, Turkey’s up against strong  competition in the Arab world.

12:42

Aside from Saudi Arabia, which remains  an incredibly influential state as the  

12:47

birthplace of Islam and home to  the religion’s holiest sites,  

12:51

Egypt also remains a demographic  and cultural powerhouse.

12:55

Elsewhere, Indonesia is the world’s most  populous Muslim state, followed by Pakistan.

13:01

And the Gulf states, Qatar  and the United Arab Emirates,  

13:05

have also emerged as hugely influential  actors, supported by considerable oil wealth.

13:11

For many Shia Muslims, Iran  remains the preeminent actor.

13:16

For all these reasons, while Turkey has  undoubtedly reestablished its standing  

13:20

in the Muslim world under Recep  Tayyip Erdoğan, and notwithstanding  

13:24

its strident position on Israel, it seems  unlikely to become the overarching leader.

13:30

There are just too many opposed to it and  too many alternative challengers. Instead,  

13:35

it’s better to think of Turkey  as one amongst many influential  

13:39

countries within this large and  highly diverse group of states.

13:43

I hope you found that helpful.

13:45

If so, here are some more videos  you might find interesting.

13:48

Thanks so much for watching,  and see you in the next video.

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MMT: Modern Monetary Theory