Let me make something absolutely clear. I am not a Zionist - not in any way, shape, or form. I am an Arab. My roots are in Bahrain, I was born in Saudi Arabia, and I live in the UAE. My family spans generations across all three countries. On top of that, I am also a British citizen - a nationality I hold with honor, especially given my years working alongside UK security forces. It was a privilege, and an eye-opening chapter of my life. So no, I don’t carry any Zionist affiliation. But let me now ask the question I rarely hear answered honestly: Why should I support groups like Hamas, the PFLP, or other Palestinian factions that have long embraced terrorism - even when their targets have been us, the Gulf Arabs? Let’s look at reality: •Israel has never fired a single bullet at any GCC country — not at Saudi Arabia, not at Bahrain, not at Kuwait, not at the UAE, not even at Qatar or Oman. Not even a BB gun. •Meanwhile, Palestinian terrorist groups have assassinated our diplomats, hijacked our planes, bombed our embassies, and worked hand-in-hand with our enemies — even as we offered them political, financial, and moral support for decades. •And now? Hamas and its allies have fully aligned with the Ayatollahs of Iran, our true existential enemy - the same regime that has plotted coups in Bahrain, that has flooded the region with missiles and militias, and that has openly declared its intent to topple our governments and destroy our societies. Let’s remember - it wasn’t Israel that launched thousands of drones and ballistic missiles on Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It was Iran. Through the Houthis. With Hezbollah operatives. With Hamas blessings. And with Iranian weapons. So why should I betray my own people, my own security, my own dignity - to support a group that would see us fall, just to serve Tehran’s ambitions? No, I am not a Zionist. But the Zionists are NOT my enemy. My enemies are in Tehran, in Beirut, in Sana’a, and - yes - among those Palestinian factions who turned against the very hands that once fed them. This is not about being trendy or emotional. This is about loyalty, logic, and survival. In the thread below, I’ve listed decades’ worth of attacks Palestinian terrorists have carried out against the Gulf nations - despite all we gave them. Read it. And maybe then you’ll understand why many of us have stopped pretending.

Turkish migrants in Germany, marching in German streets, shouting “we don’t want refugees in Turkey”!! Referring to Syrians seeking shelter in Turkey!! Does the word “irony” exist in the Turkish language?🧐🤨

A Tale of Two Palestinian Cities. Some were outraged when I stated earlier that we, as Gulf Arabs, no longer wish to destroy our nations and futures for a cause that, for 70 years, has brought us nothing but terrorism, accusations, betrayal, and alliances with our enemies. The moment we say: “We want to live,” we are branded Zionists. By who? By people sitting comfortably in Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, the West - sipping lattes and tweeting from safe homes - demanding we fight and die for their version of solidarity. So let me show you two realities. The first video is from Gaza, April 2025 - 18 months into a war that never needed to happen. There was no prior Israeli provocation, no bombing campaign, no invasion leading up to October 7. Things were improving. Israel was issuing 22,000 daily work permits for Gazans, and negotiations were underway - with Saudi mediation - for improving Gaza’s conditions in exchange for moderation. Then Hamas, acting on behalf of Iran, blew it all up. October 7 wasn’t resistance. It was sabotage. A completely unnecessary massacre - not for Palestinian liberation, but to derail Saudi-Israeli normalization and regional peace. It was Tehran’s agenda, paid in Palestinian blood. The second video is from the Palestinian capital, Ramallah, also April 2025 - the ICON Mall grand opening. Music. Dancing. Luxury stores. BMWs pulling in. Palestinians celebrating as if Gaza were on another continent. No outrage. No mourning. Just luxury shopping and selfies. If they, the fellow Palestinians, aren’t standing in the rubble, why are we told we must? Let’s also get this straight: Gaza has been “free” since 2005. The siege? It started in 2007, after Hamas took power by killing 300 fellow Palestinians (PA Police) and throwing them off rooftops. Since then, Israel still gave out work permits. Egypt, on the other hand, kept the Rafah border completely sealed. Even during the war’s worst days, Egypt wouldn’t open it - barely for aid, not for refugees. Not one work permit. Nothing. If Gaza was truly a prison, why didn’t Hamas break out through Egypt? Why always toward Israel? Because Egypt would shoot - not negotiate. But you won’t see the usual online “activists” blaming Cairo. No. It’s always easier to guilt-trip the Gulf Countries. So no - we will not join your death cult. We will not die for the cause while Ramallah dances and Cairo locks the gate. And to all the comfortable, self-righteous voices screaming “solidarity”: shut the fuck up and go die in Gaza yourselves if you care that much. Don’t lecture us from safety. Don’t demand sacrifice from others while you live off hashtags. If the people of Ramallah aren’t bothered - if their own fellow Palestinians can dance on the same day others die - why the hell should we? Spare us the pious performative grief. We’ve seen through it. The cause was hijacked long ago by ye Ayatollahs of Tehran - and we are done dying for other people’s delusions.

Al-Jazeera TV was asking this poor wounded old Palestinian man to give his eyewitness testimony; he said: what’s happening is criminal! Why is the resistance (Hamas) hiding among us? Why don’t they go to hell and hide there? They are not resistance!! The journalist cut him off!

Whoever made this deserves top award 🥇🏆🎖️

BREAKING 🚨🚨 President Raisi’s turban was found safe and unharmed! 🙏🏻

Now, now, Owen. Breathe. Before you fling the label “disinformation peddler” around like it’s confetti at one of your student union rallies, how about - just once - you actually refute the information instead of writing a lazy, dismissive sentence and pretending you’ve scored a point? Let’s talk qualifications, shall we? See, unlike you, I’ve had real jobs - plural. Jobs with stakes. In intelligence, in security, in global finance. For nine years, I headed the Financial Intelligence Unit of a global bank. That’s right: I dealt with threats that actually mattered, not imaginary ones drawn on the back of a Guardian opinion page. You? You’ve spent your adult life in a journalistic safe space echo chamber, armed with an MA in U.S. history, a region you don’t even write about. And let’s be honest: if history and geography were boxing gloves, you’d still manage to punch yourself in the face. You’ve never held elected office. You’ve never worked in banking, finance, diplomacy, security, or anything remotely requiring accountability or expertise. You don’t speak a word of Arabic. You can’t name three Yemeni tribes, let alone explain the tribal dynamics behind a conflict you comment on with stunning confidence and stunning ignorance. You opposed the Saudi-led war in Yemen, a war that, in retrospect, was a strategic necessity against Iranian expansionism and a Houthi militia now proven to be a regional and a global threat. But of course, nuance isn’t your strong suit. You framed it as a “crime against humanity” while totally ignoring the actual crimes by the Houthis, according to the majority of Yemenis and Arab states. And then there’s your economic wisdom. You once called for the nationalization of all banks. All of them. As if Monopoly money and Marxist pamphlets are interchangeable. You’re a walking manifesto for why no one should let infantile socialists anywhere near macroeconomics. Let me make one thing clear, Owen: I don’t do disinformation. I can’t. Because unlike you, I answer to people who don’t tolerate fantasy. Global funds, sovereign wealth funds, global banks, commodity traders, airlines, energy companies and heck, even governments - they don’t pay me for ideology. They pay me for cold, hard, verified intelligence and solid forecasts. And if I were wrong - consistently wrong, like you? I’d be out of business in a heartbeat. These people are not kind when it comes to failure. To give them wrong forecast is to cost them money, so I must seek - and tell - only the cold hard truths, and their implications. This isn’t The Guardian; there’s no editor to hide behind, no trendy moral outrage to mask incompetence. You survive on emotionalism and mob applause. I survive on precision. On getting it right. So no, Owen, don’t project your failures onto me. Don’t confuse your echo chamber for authority. You’re a one-note, one-language, one-track ideologue who’s never held a real job, never risked a real decision, and never had to face the consequences of being catastrophically wrong. You deal in slogans. I deal in facts. You write for applause. I deliver for clients. You thrive on fiction. I don’t have that luxury. So next time you feel tempted to call someone a “disinformation peddler,” look in the mirror, and have a long, honest chat with the reflection of a man who’s done precisely nothing with his life but shout from the sidelines.

How it started. How it ended🍖

Hezbollah is basically ISIS with better PR and a clueless herd of leftist apologists.

🚨 Insanely Crazy Idea Alert 🚨 Israel and Syria pull off history’s first population-and-real-estate swap: Druze from Suwayda move to Gaza’s prime Mediterranean coast; Palestinians from Gaza head to Suwayda’s fertile mountains on the Jordanian border. Druze trade isolation for coastal region. Palestinians swap a blockaded strip for open highlands. Israel gets a stable, non-hostile Gaza. Syria gains a loyal, pro Damascus population in a strategic location. Just a loud “out of box” thinking!🧐

I will tell my children that Gaza was a lesson. That when an apocalyptic, fanatical zealot hands you a knife and tells you to take it to a gunfight - while he watches from afar, films your slaughter, and uses it for his propaganda and recruitment - your only duty is to walk away. Never let someone use your blood to build his myth. Never be a pawn in someone else’s sick game, for someone else’s sick gain.

The dirty little secret no one wants to say out loud: Hamas needs this war to continue. Not for Gaza’s survival - but for the delusions of their masters in Tehran. Because once the war ends, Hamas knows its fate is sealed. Not by Israel. By Gaza. A permanent ceasefire means one of two things: either the people of Gaza kill Hamas, or Hamas kills Gaza. No coexistence. Just a reckoning. There’s a seething fury inside Gaza - building, boiling, waiting. Families, factions, survivors all know the truth: they were dragged into a suicidal mission that brought no liberation, no state, no future. Just endless death. All so Hamas could serve the ideological fever dreams of a regime hundreds of miles away in Tehran, not the people under their control. And to the naïve protestors in New York, London, Berlin: wait till the smoke clears. You’ll see what happens when Gazans are finally left alone with those who “defended” them. You’ll witness the rage, the score-settling, the reckoning. How do I know this? Simple. Unlike most of you on this platform, I can read Arabic - and more importantly, I can read between the lines in Arabic. If you catch my drift.

Oh come on now, Owen, are you seriously feeling sorry for al-Qaeda too? First Hamas, now this? All because I was recruited? You ask what kind of recruit I was? Glad you did. Eight years undercover. A dozen terror cells smashed. Millions in jihadist funds seized. Multiple high-level plots thwarted. Countless lives saved. It was a brilliant partnership. I learned more from the security services than you’ll ever learn screaming into your Guardian column. I’m deeply grateful for their training, their trust, and proud of the record we built together. And what about you, Owen? Anything you’re proud of? Besides parroting whatever the Ayatollahs happen to fax over that morning?

On October 7, 2023, Hamas, an authoritarian, Iranian-backed militia that has ruled Gaza for 17 years, launched a carefully planned massacre. It killed 1,200 civilians, and took 250 hostages. It did so with full knowledge that such a move would trigger devastating retaliation. And it did. A brutal, urban war erupted. Tens of thousands have since died, many of them civilians, many of them militants. The war was horrific, tragic, and yes, entirely avoidable. And yet, within days, hundreds of thousands marched across Western cities, not to denounce the massacre that sparked it all, nor to condemn the authoritarian militia responsible for using civilians as human shields, but to demand an end to what they instantly branded genocide. By mid-May 2025, London had seen at least 27 mass marches in solidarity with Gaza. One of them numbered over a million people. In contrast, during the darkest years of the Syrian civil war, when Assad used chemical weapons, barrel bombs, siege warfare, and starvation to subdue his population, London’s largest Syria-related protest peaked at 900 people. Most saw a few dozen. That contrast tells us something deeply uncomfortable. It’s not just about numbers. It’s about selectivity, and what it reveals. Syria: •650,000 dead •14 million displaced •100,000 executed in Sadnaya prison •150,000 missing •Genocide by starvation, siege, and sarin gas And yet, no mass marches. No relentless protests. No weekly hashtags. No demands that the UN or the ICC act “now or else.” Why? Because this isn’t about genocide. If it were, Syria alone would have moved the Earth. This is about something else. What we are seeing is not solidarity - but a displaced moral fixation. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a symbolic canvas onto which all manner of disillusionment, guilt, and anger are projected. It is less about the facts on the ground and more about what the conflict represents. To the radical left, Israel is a proxy for everything they despise: Western power, capitalism, nationalism, military strength, and in many cases, Jews themselves. To the Islamists, it is the embodiment of a theological rupture, a state they believe should not exist. To the bored and chronically online, it is a cause that offers identity, belonging, and purpose. The result is an emotional obsession with Israel and its perceived sins. Not a principled stand against human suffering, but a ritualized spectacle where moral outrage is directed surgically at a single actor, regardless of the broader context. And this obsession demands casualties - not for empathy, but for affirmation. The dead become evidence that the world is unjust, that the system must be torn down, that the protestor is on the side of the righteous. Thus, death becomes currency, and only some deaths are accepted at full value. Syrian deaths are geopolitically inconvenient. Uyghur deaths are economically awkward. Rohingya deaths are logistically distant. But Palestinian deaths - so long as Israel can be blamed - are perfect. It is why Egypt, which has sealed its border with Gaza and refused to accept refugees, is barely mentioned. It is why Assad, praised openly by Hamas leaders like Yahya Sinwar, is never held to account in these circles. It is why Iran, the primary funder and arms supplier of both Assad and Hamas, remains a shadowy afterthought. We are not witnessing solidarity with Palestinians. We are witnessing a hijacking of their tragedy to service a very different political agenda - one that is less interested in peace or justice, and more interested in purging the West of its sins, real or imagined. It’s not that these protestors don’t care. It’s that they’ve been trained - by ideology, by social media, by tribalism - to care in highly specific, narrowly sanctioned ways. Care that flatters their identity. Care that tells them they are good - because they are angry. And in that economy of virtue, Gaza is profitable. Syria is not.

Tragically today, the latest Gaza ceasefire amendment - generously crafted by Qatar, of all people, and accepted by Israel - was rejected by Hamas. This war could have ended by day 21. Now we’re in month 21 - because Hamas selfishly held on to two things: power and hostages. Had they admitted their strategic catastrophe, apologized to the people of Gaza for leading them into ruin, accepted safe passage abroad, and released the hostages, it could have been over. But no. They chose to prolong the suffering, just to stay in control.

The United States made a grave error in 2001 when it refused to support the restoration of the Afghan monarchy, represented by the exiled King Zahir Shah. I hope they don’t repeat the same mistake by not supporting the restoration of Prince Reza Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran👑

The Two-Way Nakba – The Population Transfer That Never Was People talk about 1948 like it was a one-way tragedy. It wasn’t. Here’s what most never get taught: •750,000 Palestinians were displaced during the war of 1948. Many fled or were expelled to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt. •At the same time, over 850,000 Jews were forced out of Arab countries - Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Morocco, and others. •The Palestinians became stateless refugees, many still in camps - not absorbed, not given citizenship, used as political pawns. •The Jews expelled from Arab lands? Absorbed by Israel, became full citizens. Today, over half of Israelis are from these communities. •India and Pakistan in 1947 saw 12 million people displaced. It was brutal - but it ended. Both sides resettled their people. •The Arab-Israeli displacement? Never resolved. One side absorbed. The other side froze the trauma. •The real tragedy? Two refugee crises. Only one remained a weapon.

From day one, I said it: October 7 wasn’t just a massacre - it was a calculated suicide mission by Hamas, executed on behalf of the Ayatollahs of Iran. The goal? Derail normalization between Israel and the Arab world. Burn the region to stop economic integration. Iran didn’t want peace. So it outsourced sabotage. Now, after 22 months, 80,000+ dead, and Gaza reduced to rubble, some self-righteous “student leader” in the comfort of the U.S. still insists it was “necessary.” Necessary for what? To halt regional peace? To ensure Israel remains isolated? To doom 2 million Gazans in a war they did not start? That’s not resistance. That’s proxy warfare with civilian lives as cannon fodder. The arrogance of moral detachment is staggering: pushing ideological fantasy while others - children, families, entire cities - pay the price in blood. Spending 80,000 lives for the sake of sabotage isn’t resistance. It’s psychopathy masquerading as activism.

To President Ahmed al-Sharra, Interior Minister Anas Khattab, and Defense Minister Marhaf Abu Ghasra: If you want the world to see Syria as a serious, sovereign nation-state, then teach your army to act like one. Shaving the beard and mustache of an elderly Druze man of faith - humiliating him like that - is not the act of a civilized state. It’s disgraceful. You want global respect? Start by respecting your own people. Especially your minority elders. Especially your minority religious figures. For God’s sake, act like the civilized nation you claim to be. We want to see the perpetrators in this shameful video arrested and made an example of!

This morning I woke up to a beautiful surprise: J.K. Rowling followed me. And I felt something I never expected - closure. A full circle, quietly completed. As I mention in “Nine Lives”, Back in the first week of 1999 - my third week working with the British intelligence services - my handler, an Arabist, handed me a book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. He said, “Knowing you, your love of fantasy, Star Wars, Arab folklore… and knowing you want to improve your English, I think you’ll enjoy this. My niece did. It’s catching fire.” He was right. I opened it on the tube ride home and got so lost in the first chapter I missed my station. It was the first chapter not just of that book - but of a very long journey. A necessary one. During eight long years of undercover work, Harry Potter was my escape, my safe retreat, my secret companion. With each new release, one of my handlers in the intelligence services would hand me the next book as a gift - from Chamber of Secrets all the way to Half-Blood Prince. Book seven? By then I was in the banking sector. I queued up like everyone else. But it was worth the wait. J.K., your world gave me more than just better English. It gave me comfort, imagination, light in some dark places. And just in case you didn’t know: every single person I worked with in the intelligence services - without exception - was a fan. Real-life Aurors reading about their fictional counterparts. So thank you - for the stories, for the magic, and now, for the follow. My 8-year-old daughter, often called “Harry Potter’s twin sister” because of her glasses, wants you to know she’s more Hermione - as if Harry and Hermione had a daughter and it was her. Thank you, @jk_rowling … From both of us.

📜 Chronological List of Palestinian Terror Attacks Against GCC Interests •1973 – Mohammed al-Fayez (Kuwaiti diplomat): Assassinated in Paris by the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). •1973 – Kuwait Airways Flight 404: Hijacked by Black September operatives; forced to fly to multiple destinations demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners. •1974 – Saudi Embassy in Paris: Stormed and diplomats taken hostage by Carlos the Jackal, acting on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). •1977 – Lufthansa Flight 181 (Landshut): Hijacked by PFLP operatives, some Gulf nationals were among passengers; plane landed briefly in Dubai before stormed by GSG 9 in Mogadishu. •1983 – Bombing of UAE Embassy in Beirut: Attributed to the PFLP-GC (General Command); UAE ambassador was injured. •1984 – Saeed Mohammad Al Ghafli (UAE Ambassador to France): Assassinated by Palestinian gunmen (ANO) in Paris, shot while leaving his residence. •1984 – Jassim al-Qattan (Kuwaiti embassy staff): Assassinated in Madrid by Abu Nidal operatives. •1984 – Saudi diplomatic convoy in Beirut: Ambushed by ANO gunmen; two killed, ambassador survived. •1984 – Kuwait Airways Flight 221: Hijacked en route from Kuwait to Pakistan; passengers were held hostage for 6 days by Hezbollah-linked Palestinian terrorists. •1985 – Hassan Ahmad Al Dossari (UAE Minister Plenipotentiary in Beirut): Killed in a car bombing attributed to PFLP-GC operatives. •1985 – Issa al-Bishr (Kuwaiti diplomat): Assassinated in New Delhi by Abu Nidal gunmen. •1985 – Khalid al-Fayez (Kuwaiti diplomat): Assassinated in Athens by Palestinian gunmen linked to Abu Nidal. •1985 – Kuwaiti Embassy in Rome: Bombed by Palestinian groups in coordination with Abu Nidal operatives. •1986 – Saudi Embassy in Tehran: Attacked by Palestinian-aligned mobs during an Iran-backed “Palestinian solidarity” demonstration; several staff injured. •1988 – Kuwait Airways Flight 422: Hijacked for 16 days (one of the longest in history) by terrorists linked to Abu Nidal and Hezbollah; two Kuwaiti hostages were executed. •1988 – UAE and Qatari diplomats in Karachi: Targeted in an intercepted plot attributed to Abu Nidal Organization; attacks were foiled in time. •1988 – Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s security team (Kuwait): Targeted in Pakistan by PFLP-GC bombs; the Emir was not present but his security entourage was injured. •1990 – Betrayal by Palestinian residents in Kuwait: Following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, many Palestinians living in Kuwait openly sided with Iraqi occupation forces, celebrated the fall of the country, and collaborated with the regime - despite having been hosted, employed, and supported by Kuwait for decades.

The “Expanding Universe”

Not all so called “grievances” are legitimate! When UK Islamists keep preaching about how Western foreign policy is holding back Muslims, what they mean is (We want to start a Jihad to unify, by force, all Muslim countries into a unified Taliban style empire, no ifs, no buts)🤷🏻‍♂️

“What else was Hamas supposed to do on October 7?” I don’t know, Owen. Maybe not pick apocalyptic martyrdom over the Saudi-led peace track? They had two options: 1.Normalise with Israel along with the Saudi-led peace initiative. 2.Burn Gaza to the ground for the Ayatollahs’ messianic delusions. They chose door #2 - even after launching 1,550 rockets into Israel in 2023 before October 7. This wasn’t resistance. It was a fanatical death spiral dressed up as liberation

Usually, I don’t waste my time replying to people who’ve never opened a history book, let alone lived the consequences of the policies they smugly critique from the comfort of a Western suburb. But today, let me educate you - just once. In 1948, five Arab armies went to war - not because we hated Jews, but because we believed Palestinians deserved dignity, land, and a future. We lost. Not because our soldiers were cowards - they fought bravely and many died - but because we were divided, disorganized, and underestimated what we were up against. And then, in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, 850,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries - Jews who had lived with us for centuries. We paid that price. We thought we were helping. Instead, they helped Israel build one of the most formidable societies and militaries in the region. Half of Israeli society today is made of people we expelled. We kept going. We supported Jordan and Egypt. We held Al-Aqsa, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. But then Arab nationalism reared its head. Nasser made promises he couldn’t keep, mobilized his army thinking the UN or the Soviets would bail him out. The result? The catastrophe of 1967. We lost everything - not because we didn’t care, but because we cared too much, and planned too little. In 1973, we tried again. Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack to recover lost land. And the rest of us? We waged the largest oil embargo in modern history, sending shockwaves through the global economy - all for the sake of Palestine. Our economies paid the price. And what did we get in return? Terrorism. Hijacked planes. Bombed embassies. Our diplomats killed. Our airlines targeted. All by factions claiming to represent the Palestinian cause. The PLO tried to take over Jordan - sparked a bloody civil war. Then they did the same in Lebanon. Two countries pushed into chaos because we gave sanctuary to Palestinian leaders who repaid it by trying to overthrow their hosts. And even after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 - Palestinians living in Kuwait, over 400,000 of them - many sided with the invader. Helped him hunt Kuwaiti officers. Betrayed the nation that fed and housed them for decades. Still, billions flowed from our treasuries. Billions. From the Gulf to the PLO, to Hamas, to UNRWA. We propped up their governments, funded their schools, paid for their hospitals - while watching their leaders grow fat on corruption. And despite everything - we backed Arafat at Oslo. We supported the peace process. We extended a hand again and again, only to be bitten by Hamas and its backers in Tehran who saw peace as an existential threat. Even in the final hours before October 7, 2023, we were still trying. Saudi Arabia was in confidential talks with Hamas - trying to bring them into a normalization framework, to offer them a path to legitimacy, to peace, to a better life for their people. And what did Hamas do? They unleashed one of the most barbaric attacks in modern Middle Eastern history. Not resistance. Not liberation. Just savagery. And they did it knowing it would burn Gaza to the ground. So forgive us if we’re done. Forgive us if we no longer wish to subsidize fanaticism. Forgive us if we now prioritize our children’s futures over your slogans. We tried. For 75 years we tried. We gave blood, treasure, diplomacy, and shelter. And in return, we got chaos, betrayal, and ingratitude. So if you think we “did nothing,” then maybe - just maybe - you’re the one who should be reading a history book, instead of pretending you have moral clarity while parroting someone else’s victimhood. We’re done being dragged into hell by people who refuse to leave it.

Let’s be clear: I posted your exact question - “What was Hamas supposed to do?” - and answered it. Whether it was out of context or not, you asked it. As for who’s a terrorist - I turned against them in 1998 and have been fighting them ever since. You, on the other hand, are still serving them: their mouthpiece, their enabler, their useful idiot. You’ll learn, just like the leftists in 1979 Iran. Too late.

This is the extremist mullah Yasir Al Habib, in London, in a public park, practicing a barbaric self harm ritual, openly carrying and using long sharp objects!!! Will the MetPolice please investigate?!

Oh please. Another white socialist who doesn’t speak a word of Arabic claiming Israel created Hamas, so cheering for Hamas makes you a Mossad fanboy? Brilliant. The Middle East has enough idiots. We don’t need to import more. Stay in your lane, Dumbo.

The Druze militias of narco-warlord Hikmat al-Hijri appear to be collapsing under the weight of 50,000–70,000 tribal fighters. No Israeli support - because there’s no clear target. The tribes are all infantry, using ordinary cars and pickups indistinguishable from militia vehicles. Now word is: his son, who leads the militia, is captured. If confirmed, it’s over by morning. Let’s pray the bloodshed ends here - and that the Bedouin forces show the magnanimity their tribal code demands. Israel said: Don’t mess with the Druze. Syria replied: Don’t mess with the Bedouins.

Two immediate issues arise with your argument. First, post-1880, tens of thousands of Jewish people migrated to Ottoman Palestine and settled on land they legally purchased. By the 1930s - over a span of 50 years - roughly 6.6% of the land in the historical province had been bought, often from Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, or Turkish landlords, many of them absentee owners. If there’s blame to be assigned, it lies primarily with the Ottoman and later British authorities for permitting and recording those sales. To insist now that every current resident whose ancestry can’t be traced there before 1880 is “illegal” ignores the reality that their forebears acquired the land in accordance with the law of the time. Should the descendants of those sellers be stripped of any moral or historical agency in this discussion? Second, what about the 800,000 Mizrahi Jews expelled from Arab lands after 1948? Their homes, businesses, and assets - in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Egypt, and across North Africa - were confiscated. At the time, the general understanding was that these expulsions mirrored the 750,000 Palestinians displaced from within Israel’s 1948 borders: each population’s loss offset by the other’s. This was not unlike the India–Pakistan partition, where millions moved in both directions, forfeiting property claims on the other side. Your position also sets a dangerous precedent: if every citizen must prove ancestry back to 1880 to claim legitimacy, that logic could be turned on millions worldwide. By that standard, recent migrants to Europe from Asia or Africa - people who have lived, worked, and integrated for decades - could be told to “go back.” Even you might find your own right to residence in Europe challenged under such a test. History is complicated. Land ownership, migration, and displacement rarely lend themselves to neat moral arithmetic. The moment you strip away historical context and legal precedent, you invite the same uncompromising standards to be used against you.

By most credible estimates, Iran possesses between 2,000 and 4,000 ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel. But with hundreds likely destroyed in preemptive strikes and over 500 already launched in five waves overnight, it’s clear Iran cannot sustain this barrage for more than a week. Once their stockpile is depleted, so too is their deterrence, if we can even call it that. At that point, Iran becomes a sitting duck. In my humble armchair-general assessment, Israel appears to be pursuing a strategy of intense short-term pain for long-term gain. The objective? A defanged and declawed Iran, militarily incapacitated and incapable of threatening its neighbors. Or, more optimistically, an inflection point inside Iran itself: a public awakening against a leadership too incompetent to defend or deliver, paving the way for real political change. What we witnessed last night wasn’t a fearsome counterattack. It was a wounded paper tiger lashing out, desperate, disoriented, and bleeding credibility with every paper cut it tried to inflict.

Just stop this low IQ nonsense!

If Israel ceases to exist, where exactly do you propose to resettle the 3 million Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews - descendants of the 650,000 expelled from Arab lands after 1948? Back to Iraq? Yemen? Libya? Iran? Syria? Morocco? No thanks. Keep them. They’re home now.😜

My condolences to both of you losers on the fall of your idol, Assad! 😏

If someone sues me over a clip of their own unedited words, they’re essentially arguing: “Yes, I said that… but you made me look bad by letting people hear it.” Courts generally have little patience for that - unless the clip is clearly misleading or maliciously framed. This one wasn’t. Not even close. The clip I posted wasn’t doctored. It wasn’t manipulated. It started on a full sentence, ended on a rhetorical question, and contained exactly what you said, in your own words. All I did was give it oxygen. I didn’t comment on your beliefs, or your position, or speculate about your motivations. I simply answered the rhetorical question you yourself posed: “What was Hamas supposed to do?” That’s it. You threw that question out to the public - on live TV. As if asking us to do an intellectual exercise. So I did. I answered it. Without implication, without malice, without claiming you supported one side or another. Just a direct reply to a direct, public question. You may not like the answer, but that doesn’t make it defamatory. It makes it uncomfortable. That’s not the same thing. And now, apparently, you’re threatening legal action? Please. By all means. Add my name to your fantasy lawsuit. No one would be more delighted than me. Because what better way to expose just how intellectually hollow this tantrum is? You’ll be telling the court that someone quoting you accurately has somehow hurt your reputation. That you asked a rhetorical question, and someone dared to respond. As the saying goes: when you’re in a hole, stop digging. I left you alone out of sheer mercy - out of pity, even. But clearly, like Hamas, you don’t know when you’re beaten. You mistake a tactical silence for a sign of weakness. So go ahead, Owen. File your lawsuit. Drag your ego into the spotlight once more. We’ll see very quickly who actually knows what they’re talking about, and who just knows how to sulk on social media when challenged.

🧵No, It Didn’t Start on October 7. It Started in 1987. Let’s clear something up. If you’re one of those people who chants “From the river to the sea” and dreams of abolishing Israel altogether - scattering its people to the wind - then I’ll save you some time: this post isn’t for you. You’re not interested in peace. You’re not interested in history. You’re interested in fantasy. So block me. Mute me. Move along. But if you’re still here, let me walk you through a bit of actual history. Because I’m tired of the shallow takes that say “It didn’t start on October 7.” Yes. We know. But guess what? It also didn’t start in 1967. Or in 1948. Or 1929. Or 1882. We can keep going, all the way back to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD if you really want. But that’s not a productive exercise. It’s a trap — a game of historical one-upmanship no one ever wins. Let’s stick to modern, actionable history. Because if you’re really asking when this phase of the conflict began, the answer is 1987 - the year Hamas was born. 1987: The Real Turning Point That’s when this went from a difficult national conflict to a proxy war fueled by forces far beyond Palestine. Hamas was not established as a national liberation movement for the Palestinians. No. It was created as a spoiler. A saboteur. And yes, it deliberately modeled itself on its slightly older sibling - Hezbollah in Lebanon - which had formally announced itself just two years earlier, in 1985. At first, Hezbollah wasn’t even called Hezbollah. Its name? Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya fi Lubnan - the Islamic Resistance Movement in Lebanon. Then came Hamas in Gaza - using the exact same name: Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya. Just dropping the “Lebanon” bit. Coincidence? Not at all. Hezbollah was birthed and bred by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Hamas emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood, yes - but the branch of the Brotherhood that had cozied up to Iran and the Ayatollahs since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. So, while one was Shia and the other Sunni, they shared something far more important: a common purpose - to destroy any chance of peace between Palestinians and Israelis. 1993: Peace Threatens the Project Fast forward a few years. 1993 – Oslo Accords. Yasser Arafat and the PLO accepted the existence of Israel and launched a peace process, starting in Madrid (1991) and culminating in Oslo. But peace was a threat - not to Palestinians, but to the Iranian project. So what did Hamas do? It unleashed a campaign of suicide bombings and terror attacks, all designed to torpedo the peace process. At the same time, Hamas leaders - Ahmad Yassin, al-Rantisi, al-Zahar, Khaled Meshaal - went on visits to Tehran. They met Khamenei, praised Khomeini, and declared him the “spiritual father” of their movement. There’s video. Look it up. They weren’t subtle. Because this was never just about resisting Israeli occupation. It was about resisting any resolution that didn’t come through endless war - war that Iran could weaponise.

Before lamenting the likely terrorism designation of Palestine Action, allow me to offer a dose of real-world context, something the communist journalist in question seems to lack entirely when it comes to understanding how the world of national security operates. I spent a decade working within the UK’s security and intelligence services, and another decade and a half alongside colleagues from those same institutions in the strategic security and geopolitical field. So, let me break this down plainly. In the UK, protest movements - from BLM-UK to Just Stop Oil to Extinction Rebellion - are tolerated within a certain bandwidth. You can storm art galleries, block roads, disrupt university lectures, even egg the occasional minister. Annoying? Yes. Criminal? Often. Terrorist? Not quite. But there are red lines. The UK armed forces, intelligence agencies (MI5, MI6, GCHQ), and security installations are not in the same category. These are not symbolic targets for radical theatrics, they are sovereign infrastructure. Step one foot on a military base, attempt sabotage (even symbolic), and you’re no longer seen as a protester. You’re viewed as someone testing national defense readiness, someone who may have just published a blueprint that other actors with far deadlier intentions might exploit. Palestine Action didn’t just throw paint. They breached a military site. They gave out manuals. They demonstrated vulnerability. The state isn’t reacting to a protest, it’s reacting to a national security threat that others may now mimic, with explosives instead of spray cans. Crossing into those domains changes the equation entirely. So, yes, break into Barclays or Elbit Systems offices, expect arrest. Break into a military installation, expect a terrorism file to be opened. That’s how it works. And if you don’t understand that, then you’re not ready for this conversation.

$6.4B in deals. 47 major projects. A 120-member Saudi delegation, one of the largest ever in the region’s history. Message received: Riyadh isn’t abandoning Syria. Not now. Not again. And they’re not alone. •Dubai Ports World is investing $800M to operate Tartus Port. •The UAE is in advanced talks to fund Damascus’s metro system, hundreds of millions in infrastructure. •And in 2 weeks, the Kuwaiti Investment Authority (KIA) - yes, the trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund - is dispatching its own investment delegation to Damascus. All of this, mind you, with the full awareness and green light from President Trump himself. Considering the timing. So if you’re still crying “but, but Joulani is a terrorist,” then you’re effectively accusing President Trump, the US administration, the British, French, and German governments of aiding terrorism. Choose your words carefully. The era of isolation is over. The Gulf Countries are rebuilding Syria. Period.

If you think that the blow is better for Iran, the region and the world than the above, then congratulations, you’re officially a political retard.

🚨 Today, the Israeli Air Force struck not just the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus, but the Presidential Palace itself. A direct attempt on President Ahmad Al-Shar’a’s life. This isn’t posturing. This is war. And it’s madness. Total, reckless madness. Let me be absolutely clear: Syria had nothing to do with October 7. Not a single Israeli was killed by a Syrian bullet. There was no imminent threat. No Syrian attack. No Syrian provocation. And still, Israel bombed the seat of government in the capital of a sovereign state. Why? Because of some invented narrative of “Druze blood brothers”? A minority within a minority whose self-proclaimed leader is rejected by two other senior Druze leaders and widely known to be erratic, armed, and criminally involved in smuggling and gang violence? No one outside of Israel believes this. Not one serious government. Not one serious analyst. And certainly not the Arab world, where Israel is already skating on diplomatic thin ice after the carnage in Gaza. October 7 earned you some global sympathy. This just evaporated it. Entirely. You didn’t just strike a building. You undermined seven months of Arab-led progress to rehabilitate Syria, to de-radicalize it, to bring it back from 14 years of civil war and jihadism. And all this, for what? President Ahmad Al-Shar’a was the only Syrian leader who explicitly and repeatedly gave security guarantees to Israel. To President Trump. To President Aliyev. To President MBZ. In Baku. In Abu Dhabi. He made it clear: no war with Israel; restoration of order in Suwayda; integration of Syria into a post-conflict regional framework. Instead of supporting that path, you tried to assassinate him. You have now left him with no option but to declare general mobilization. You’ve turned a potential partner into a wartime president. And worse, you’ve opened the gates to what may become a transnational jihadist resurgence. You said you didn’t want a jihadi army on your border. You just created the perfect conditions for one. And this time, it won’t be the fractured, chaotic militias of 2013. It will be seasoned, enraged, and united by your own strategic illiteracy. Make no mistake: •This is an act of war, unprovoked. •This is a colossal strategic miscalculation. •And this is how regional wars begin. The presidential palace in a sovereign Arab capital has been bombed. And not by Iran. Not by Hezbollah. By you. Even your allies and potential allies - Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Amman - are now shocked and outraged. And once again: There. Was. No. Syrian. October 7. Stop now. Cease fire. While there is still anything left to salvage. Though tragically, I fear it is already too late.

First of all, brother, Ironically I read your reply just as I was leaving the mosque, and yet, here I am taking the time to respond, because this matters. Let me be absolutely clear: in my view, the greatest threat to Islam and to Muslims in our region today is not Israel. Israel, for all its past/current faults and policies, is a rational state. One we can, at some point, reach a lasting peace with. That’s not wishful thinking, it’s a recognition of realpolitik and long-term strategy. The true threat is the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Ayatollahs. And I will take my time to explain why. I was born in Saudi Arabia. I am originally Bahraini. My mother is Lebanese. I know what it means to live in places touched - no, scarred - by the dark fingerprints of the Ayatollah regime. It was Iran that armed and directed its Yemeni proxies to launch more than a thousand ballistic missiles at Saudi cities and civilians. It was Iran that repeatedly tried to destabilize and overthrow the royal family in Bahrain - my country of origin - backed by decades of subversion and terrorism going back to the 1980s. All of this, in the name of a five-year-old child who allegedly vanished 1,200 years ago and whose return they await like a messianic lottery ticket. A myth used to justify violence, sectarian hatred, and the destruction of Muslim societies. Let’s get something straight: it wasn’t Israel that asserted its hegemony over four Arab capitals - Beirut, Baghdad, Damascus, and Sana’a. It wasn’t Israel that propped up a genocidal monster like Assad and enabled him to butcher a million Sunni Muslims in Syria and displace 14 million more. It wasn’t Israel that fueled a decade of famine and misery in Yemen, isolating it from its own neighbors. That was Iran. That was always Iran. So don’t lecture me about Muslims hating Muslims. The real hatred comes from those who hijack Islam, turn it into a death cult of grievance and mythology, and then kill fellow Muslims in the name of that distorted religion and its fairytale Mahdi. And if, in some twist of fate, divine justice is being served upon the Ayatollahs through the very same geopolitical forces they thought they could manipulate, then so be it. I’m not cheering for bloodshed, but I will not mourn the downfall of a regime that has brought nothing but ruin to our region and most importantly to their own people. And let’s not forget October 7. Who pushed Hamas into that suicidal madness? Who sabotaged the potential for a historic peace deal that could have brought the Palestinians closer than ever to a viable state? It wasn’t Israel. It was Hamas, at the behest of their Ayatollahs patrons in Tehran. The Saudis were ready to negotiate, to advance peace for the Palestinians. But Iran and Hamas wanted only endless war, a war that no one wins. So please, brother, don’t come for me. Go question those who hide behind a fake religion and fake promised Mahdi while burning down Muslim lands. I will not apologize for seeing things clearly. And I will never stop calling it as I see it.

This is not satire. Through Al-Jazeera, the Druze narco-warlord Hikmat al-Hijri is now publicly begging President Ahmad al-Shar’a to send a protection force to Suwayda - to stop the tribal assault. In doing so, he has completely and utterly destroyed his own narrative that the Syrian army was planning to massacre the Druze. Why beg for protection from the very man you claimed wanted to annihilate your people - unless you knew all along it was a lie? It was propaganda. And now, thanks to his own mouth, it’s dead. Let that sink in.

One tired whataboutery I keep getting: “But Gaza was under total blockade! No flights, no airport, no port!” Dear reader - let me spell it out. Gaza wasn’t some dystopian “open-air prison” before Oct 7. Go on YouTube. Malls. Beaches. Fancy cafés. Weddings. Luxury homes. It looked more like a third-tier Mediterranean resort than a war zone. There are parts of Detroit that look worse. But here’s the inconvenient truth: since 2007, Gaza’s been ruled by Hamas, a globally designated terrorist group. Not a government. Not even close. A militia that, alongside PIJ, carried out 116 suicide bombings between 1994–2005, killing 735 civilians and injuring over 4,500. That’s not “resistance.” That’s terrorism, textbook edition. Now pay attention: In my autobiography, I detail how Hamas operatives were being trained by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan as early as 1992. By 1999, they took back with them the TATP mass-production method (a notoriously powerful explosive), and from 2000–2004, turned Gaza into a suicide bomb factory. The carnage? Predictable. And deliberate. Still want to talk airports and seaports? Let’s be serious. IATA won’t authorize flights into a terrorist-run territory. IMO won’t touch its ports. Insurers won’t underwrite jack. No government, no regulation, no safety, no logistics. And yes, even if Israel said “sure, open up”, nobody sane would fly or sail there. And this was all with a blockade in place. Imagine the arms smuggling, the Iranian shipments, the chemical precursors, the heavy weapons, all flowing freely if there wasn’t a blockade. Hamas was already digging up EU-funded water pipes and turning them into rocket launchers. With a shipping lane and airstrip? You think they’d open up a Zara and a Starbucks? If Hamas really cared, they could’ve renounced terrorism like others did, look Syria’s new leadership. Renounce violence and terror and all doors will be open! Israel left Gaza in 2005. No one wanted to stay. But as always, the Palestinians - bless them - never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. They chose tunnels over infrastructure. Rockets over schools. Martyrdom over medicine. So, no. The blockade wasn’t some arbitrary cruelty. It was global consequence. Because when you act like terrorists, the world treats you like terrorists. Simple.

I wasn’t shocked by the events in Ireland last night. In fact I was expecting this powder keg to explode at some point. I spent few years in Ireland, in fact my daughter’s first two years spent there! I visited almost every county in the Island, and lived mostly in the south coast (heaven😍) Few observations: The Irish are super friendly, straight forward, straight talking and fair in their dealings. They are welcoming, as long as you add value and “respect” their laws, customs and traditions. Children and childhood are sacred in Ireland, very sacred indeed. It took me a while to understand why random Irish people were extremely friendly to my baby daughter, with our neighbours buying her gifts on occasions. It’s the most child friendly European country I encountered (along with Italy and Norway) When I read that children were stabbed in Ireland at the hands of a possibly mentally disturbed Algerian migrant, I immediately knew that a bottled up public anger will explode. A crucial part of integrating any new arrivals to any country is to teach them, verse and chapter, the laws, customs, and traditions of the host nation. And to clearly set the legal and cultural boundaries and manage the “expectations” of the new arrivals, and most importantly enforcing the laws to protect both migrants and host nation. The recent victory of an anti immigration party in the Netherlands is but a taste of things to come if migrant communities (especially Muslim ones) in Europe keep insisting on host nations to respect their rights while neglecting their own duties to their host nations. Europe is NOT the new world (The Americas and Oceania), it is the old world with long established ethnic nation states that opened their doors to migrants! The sooner we grasp this reality the better the outcome for everyone would be! I’m not asking migrants that “when in Rome do what the Romans do”, I’m simply asking them that “when in Rome, don’t tell the Romans what to do” Enough with the defiant attitude, it will get us nowhere, and it will keep feeding a confrontational narrative! Adopt a cooperative attitude instead!

The Return of Captagon: How Misguided Sympathy for Suwayda Has Fueled a Narcotics Revival When the Assad regime began to crumble and the Captagon empire of Maher al-Assad started collapsing with it, many in the region breathed a sigh of relief. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey had long suffered the corrosive impact of this synthetic poison flooding their streets. It seemed, at last, that the region was turning the page on one of the most insidious narco-industries in modern history. But recent intelligence from Saudi and Iraqi counter-narcotics units - two agencies that rarely agree on anything - has shattered that brief hope. The source of the resurgence? Suwayda province. The very place hailed in the West and in Israel as a noble stronghold of a noble, persecuted Druze minority. The narrative of Suwayda as a helpless, oppressed enclave has long shielded it from scrutiny. Western policymakers, journalists, and Israeli strategists alike fell for the image of a besieged, vulnerable minority needing protection from the “brutality” of Damascus. In doing so, they enabled a new Captagon crisis to rise from the ashes of the old one. Suwayda is no monolith. It’s ruled not by one leadership, but by at least 16 armed factions, many of them led by former regime loyalists who have now rebranded as community defenders. These factions, while playing the minority card to perfection, have established de facto control over the province and turned it into a safe haven for narcotics manufacturing. Captagon labs are once again active, protected by these warlord militias who profit from the trade while international actors naïvely continue to treat them as victims. This misguided protection has stripped the Damascus government of any effective authority in Suwayda. In the resulting lawlessness, what has emerged is not a democratic enclave or a peace-loving minority bastion, but something more akin to a narco-statelet, closer to cartel-run territories in Mexico than any imagined Druze utopia. And the consequences are already crossing borders. Captagon pills from Suwayda are finding their way to Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf, and yes, soon, to Israel itself. By shielding these rogue Druze factions from state intervention under the guise of human rights and minority protection, the very nations hoping to contain the spread of narcotics have inadvertently facilitated its revival. Congratulations. In trying to protect a romanticized vision of the Druze minority, you’ve empowered a network of armed drug traffickers. The road to hell, as always, is paved with the best - and in this case, most idiotic - intentions.

The Persian Cat Is Out of the American Bag. Now, let me preface this with the obvious: I’m not American. I don’t get a vote, and I don’t get to tell Americans what to think or how to run their backyard BBQs or foreign policy. That said, as someone who’s spent two decades tracking Iran’s shadowy networks - Hezbollah financiers, Houthi middlemen, IRGC smuggling routes - I do have a slightly more informed perspective when I say this: Iran is not just a “there” problem. It’s a right-here-at-home problem. We now know (thanks to multiple credible sources) that Iran’s Supreme Banana Sandwich Ayatollah Khamenei sent a direct threat to Donald Trump - yes, the Donald - just hours before the recent decapitation strike on Iran’s nuclear program. The message? Touch our nuclear sites, and we will activate our sleeper cells inside the United States. Let that sink in. These aren’t just urban legends whispered in basements in Langley. These are real networks. I’ve been tracking them since 2004. Back when TikTok was a sound a clock made. These cells aren’t new. They’re not reactionary. They’re strategic, patient, and deeply embedded. We’re talking Dearborn, Michigan. Los Angeles. The West Coast of Canada. Bogotá. São Paulo. Caracas. Panama City. The Tri-Border Area. Yes, Hezbollah loves South American jungle humidity almost as much as they love car bomb tutorials. They’ve been nesting in your hemisphere like it’s spring in Tehran. And no, they’re not selling Persian carpets. Most of them are Lebanese, Iraqi, Iranian - Shia - and fiercely loyal to the man with the turban and the apocalyptic ambitions. So to all the “America First” crowd who shout “Why are we involved? Iran isn’t our problem!” - I say this: How do you sleep so peacefully knowing Khamenei’s playbook literally includes your zip code? This isn’t about nukes. This isn’t even about Israel. This is about a regime whose enmity toward America predates Trump, Twitter, and TikTok combined. It’s theological. It’s ideological. It’s logistical. It’s been 46 years of “Death to America” - and now you’re surprised they meant it? If I found sleeper cells in the UK, and my colleagues found them in France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands - even Romania, for crying out loud - why is it so hard to believe they’ve been planning for you too? The Persian cat is out of the bag, and it’s not purring. It’s wired, well-funded, and potentially wearing a vest. So smell the Brazilian coffee, take your head out of the sand, and face the fact: The threat is real. The Iranian regime is the root. And it doesn’t go away with kumbaya and conference calls. Deal with it.

Why the ICC never issued an arrest warrant against this genocidal tyrant?

To all those who ask; how did Israel with its security and intelligence agencies fail to detect Hamas plans to carry out a daring invasion of Israel?! Partial Answer: Huawei! Yes, for past 30+ months Hamas leaders and militants used Huawei’s phones, tablets and laptops!

Nothing will piss off al-Hijri and his militia cult faster than a presidential decree appointing Laith al-Bal’ous as Minister of State for Minority Affairs in the Syrian Arab Republic.

My wife, bless her eternal patience, usually only reads my tweets when she’s run out of shampoo labels and cereal boxes. But this morning, she walked in with that look - you know the one - and said: “Aimen!! Twitter says you’re being paid by everyone: the Zionist lobby, Israel, MBZ, MBS, the Illuminati, and possibly the Free Masons. So… where is the money?” I blinked. She continued: “Where’s my Rolex? Where’s my new car? Where is anything that suggests this alleged global payroll actually hits our bank account?” I tried explaining: “Love, when people can’t refute your argument, they usually accuse you of being paid. It’s not personal - it’s just a last resort for the intellectually bankrupt.” She stared. Silent. Then she said - deadpan - “I’d rather it was true,” turned around, and walked away like I had somehow failed to successfully sell my soul properly. And you know what? I get it. If I am being accused of being everyone’s paid agent, the least I could do is get her that Rolex. You can’t win them all. Especially not at home.

🚨Current Situation Update: “Lost in Translation – Tehran Edition” The Geneva talks just flopped harder than a Persian cat in a swimming pool. Iran showed up, arms crossed, repeating the same tired lines: •“Enrichment? Red line. Not negotiable.” •“Ballistic missiles? Off the table.” •“Proxies? What proxies? Mind your own business.” Translation: We’re not budging an inch. Meanwhile, the U.S. has quietly (loudly) assembled the largest regional firepower since 2003: •3 Carrier Groups, 400+ combat aircraft, •6 Navy vessels armed with 570 Tomahawks, •B-52s already in play, B-2s incoming, •30+ aerial refueling tankers on standby. That’s not posturing. That’s a blinking neon sign saying: “We’re serious.” But the Ayatollahs still think it’s a bluff. Maybe they think Washington is playing poker. In reality, D.C. is holding a sledgehammer, not a deck of cards. The problem? Chronic misreading. Call it strategic illiteracy or willful diplomatic deafness, but Tehran keeps translating “stop enrichment, stop missiles, stop terror proxies” as “let’s talk enrichment, keep the missiles, and expand the proxies.” Someone, please send them: •A decoder ring, •A subscription to “Geopolitics for Dummies”, or •Better yet, my advisory services, free of charge. Because clearly, they don’t speak the new Hybrid Power Diplomacy dialect coming out of the White House. And if this is a bluff, it’s the most expensive one in modern history. Spoiler alert: It’s probably not a bluff. Conclusion: Iran isn’t negotiating. They’re reciting slogans. And once again, they’re misreading the room, this time, a room full of very real, very armed American steel.

If you don’t understand the Shia religious concept of Taqiyya - and how Iran’s Ayatollahs use it as a strategic and political tool when dealing with the West - then you have no business commenting on Iranian affairs. You don’t understand Iran’s foreign policy. At all.

October 7 wasn’t just an attack - it was the biggest shock to Israel’s system since 1973. And it didn’t happen in a vacuum. (Hamas took 250 Israelis, and the whole of Gaza as hostages) I said it within two hours of 7 October: “Iran will fight Israel to the last Palestinian.” Why? Because for weeks, the signs were there, Iran wanted to derail the peace train in the region. And derail it they did. What followed was a hostage crisis wrapped inside a war, wrapped inside five layers of madness. Israel had two goals: 1.Destroy Hamas. 2.Bring the hostages home. But here’s the problem: you weren’t negotiating with one Hamas. You were negotiating with five. And the one in charge of the hostages? Yahya Sinwar - psychopathic, paranoid, possibly high on eschatological delusions, and hiding in a tunnel with a radio that got messages days late. Israel’s offer was brutally simple: •Hand over the hostages - dead or alive. •Disarm. •Leave Gaza. •Safe passage to Egypt, and from there, go to hell: Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, wherever. Hamas refused. Why? Because their survival in Gaza mattered more than Palestinian lives. Because Ayatollah publicly said no. Because Nasrallah publicly said no. Because the delusion of “resistance” mattered more than reality. There was never a scenario where Israel - or any sane government - would accept Hamas staying in power post-Oct 7. The war could’ve ended in 21 weeks. It has now drag for 21 months. And then there’s Egypt. Cairo’s refusal to temporarily host 400–700k civilians in Sinai - to relieve pressure and save lives - was catastrophic. One Arab government estimated 40,000 lives could’ve been saved. But no. Old Egyptian generals, old thinking, old fears. So now, we have: •Dysfunctional Hamas factions. •Foreign interference. •Delayed communications. •Intransigence in Cairo. •Israeli fury. •American frustration. •And 56,000+ dead. This isn’t 3D chess. This is 5D schizophrenic tunnel chess 1 with five different players in one head. No one - Trump, Biden, Netanyahu, no one - could have negotiated cleanly through this madness. This is what happens when ideology trumps reality, and when hostage diplomacy collides with regional paranoia. Welcome to the clusterfuck that is the modern Middle East. More like the Miserable East.

It’s now clear that Israeli opinion severely underestimates how popular President Ahmad al-Shar’a is - among Syria’s 20 million Sunnis and across the Arab world. This isn’t Gaza, and al-Shar’a isn’t Sinwar. Some in Israel view him as a terrorist. But in the eyes of 80% of Syrians, Riyadh, and many regional capitals, he’s seen as the liberator who ended Assad’s rule and is now fighting to preserve Syria’s unity. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the region’s key power broker - as I noted yesterday - backs him without reservation. Blame for this crisis, in the eyes of Saudi officials I’ve spoken with, lies squarely with Hikmat al-Hijri. Denying these regional realities only harms Israel’s outreach and diplomacy.

For the sake of peace, Hikmat Al-Hijri - unstable, unhinged, and power-drunk - needs to be in a retirement home in exile right now. Not today. Not yesterday. Not last week. He should’ve boarded that helicopter seven months ago. Every day he stays, more people bleed.

A Trillion-Dollar Delusion: The Strategic Suicide of Iran’s Clerical Regime Back in 2005, Iran’s economy was almost twice the size of Saudi Arabia’s. That was the year the Islamic Republic made the fateful choice to embark on its uranium enrichment journey, knowing full well the cost would be decades of sanctions and global isolation. Twenty years later, the bill has arrived. Iran has spent between $150 to $200 billion building its nuclear program. To shield that program from external pressure, it poured another $250 billion into a vast regional web of militant proxies: the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Iraqi militias, and foreign Shia fighters deployed in Syria to keep Assad in power. This was the defense perimeter for the nuclear dream. Then there are the indirect costs: $600 billion in lost oil revenues and broader economic damage caused by sanctions. Total cost? Over one trillion dollars. And for what? Today, Iran’s GDP has shrunk to under $400 billion. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - once trailing far behind - have surged ahead into trillion-dollar economies. Saudi Arabia’s GDP is now more than 2.5 times that of Iran. What began as a gamble for regional supremacy has ended in strategic and economic suicide. All of it - the nuclear program, the missile stockpiles, the militias - could now be dismantled in a matter of 20 hours, by a nation a fraction of Iran’s size and population. A trillion dollars and two decades reduced to rubble and ashes in under a day. This is not just failure. It is monumental, generational incompetence. And when the dust settles, the youth of Iran will see it clearly: a trillion reasons to rise up. To cast off the mullahs and the ayatollahs who hijacked their future. To reclaim a nation that should have been thriving, not chasing messianic fantasies fueled by eschatological narcotics and the mythology of a “Hidden Imam.” Because in the end, nothing was hidden - except the sheer magnitude of their stupidity. It wasn’t the Hidden Imam who emerged. It was the visible, undeniable truth: that Iran’s clerical leadership has dragged the country through 20 years of ruin, only to reveal, at the very end, their own utter, catastrophic incompetence.

A Tale of Two Druze Leaders - and One Perplexing Israeli Policy This is not about the clash between Druze and Bedouin militias in Syria, or the broader friction between Suwayda and Damascus. That story has been repeatedly distorted by oversimplifications, one side painted as jihadi devils, the other as Druze angels. The reality is bloodier and murkier. Atrocities were committed by both sides, and no one credible disputes that. Instead, this is about the civil war within the Druze community itself, a conflict between two vastly different visions for Suwayda’s future, represented by two vastly different leaders. Hikmat al-Hijri: The Unhinged Warlord On one side stands Hikmat al-Hijri - erratic, power-hungry, and unhinged. Once an Assad loyalist cleric, now an unpredictable warlord with links to former regime remnants, organized crime, and narcotics trafficking. His leadership has been marked by mental instability, shifting demands, and reckless ambition. During seven months of negotiations with Damascus - talks that could have delivered near-autonomy for Suwayda. - al-Hijri sabotaged every step. He rejected constitutional reforms, demanded territorial expansion of the province to the outskirts of Damascus, and blocked meaningful compromise. His behavior was so irrational that even some from within his own community began to question whether his defiance served the Druze - or merely his ego. Laith al-Bal’us: The Nationalist Reformist Then there is Laith al-Bal’us, young and charismatic, heir to the legacy of his assassinated father, Sheikh Wahid al-Bal’us, and leader of the Men of Dignity movement. A reformist, nationalist, and unifier, Laith championed a peaceful vision: a Druze community fully integrated into a post-Assad Syria, but with dignity, rights, and self-governance. He extracted real concessions from Damascus - promises of a Druze-led police force, judiciary, and civil service. He maintained open channels with other opposition groups and was willing to play a constructive role in a unified Syrian future. And crucially, when clashes erupted, it was al-Bal’us, not al-Hijri, who sided with de-escalation, unity, and dialogue. So Why Did Israel Choose the Worst Option? Given these two paths - unity or fragmentation, reform or warlordism - it’s baffling that Israel has thrown its support behind al-Hijri, the unstable separatist. This choice has not gone unnoticed in Arab and regional capitals. From Riyadh to Abu Dhabi, from Amman to Ankara, senior diplomats and officials are asking the same question: Why is Israel backing a man who is dragging Suwayda into chaos, risking sectarian conflict, and torpedoing any hope of national reconciliation? Why ignore the leader who offered peaceful integration into the Syrian state? This isn’t just strategic blindness - it’s hypocrisy. Netanyahu’s government repeatedly claims to support the Druze. But it turns out, it only supports the right kind of Druze: the kind that makes trouble, not the kind that makes peace. A Hypocrisy Too Obvious to Ignore When I speak to diplomats in the region - in private forums - there’s a growing consensus: this is not just strategic confusion from Israel. It’s something worse. It suggests that Tel Aviv’s real goal is not protecting minorities, but breaking Syria apart. Some in Israel believe Balkanizing Syria serves their security, but this is dangerously shortsighted. Fourteen years of war have produced hardened fighters who were beginning to deradicalise - reigniting Syria’s conflict risks regional blowback in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar are pouring billions into stabilizing a unified Syria. If Israel undermines that, normalisation will be just on paper, and Israeli-GCC economic integration will remain a fantasy. Syria uniquely unites Arabs and Turks - destabilising it only unites them against whoever’s holding the match. Well done, Netanyahu.

🟥 The Myth of Greater Israel vs. the Reality of the Expanding Ayatollah’s Empire Let’s put an end to one of the laziest, loudest lies circulating in certain circles - particularly among those with low information and even lower IQ. Every time I criticize the Iranian regime and its exploitation of the Palestinian cause for its own regional ambitions, someone parrots the tired line: “Israel will invade you next! You Gulfies are next! Greater Israel is coming!” Really? Let’s talk facts, not fantasies. 🧱 The “Greater Israel” Myth: A Misused Scripture and a Geopolitical Impossibility This so-called map of Greater Israel - stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, from Cairo to Baghdad and Damascus to the Hijaz - is often shown by propagandists as “evidence” of Israeli expansionism. They cite an ancient verse from the Torah, in which God promises Abraham’s offspring land between the two rivers. But that’s not a map of a future Israeli state - it’s a theological metaphor about the descendants of Abraham, who include both the Jews (sons of Isaac) and Arabs (sons of Ishmael). Hence the Abrahamic Accords. If anything, that land is already inhabited by both lineages - prophecy fulfilled. Case closed. 🛡️ Now Let’s Get Real: Israel’s Actual Capabilities Let’s talk logistics. Israel has around 6–7 million Jews. Its military is robust, yes - but even with its advanced weaponry, it doesn’t have the manpower to invade, hold, and govern countries like: •Egypt (120 million people) •Iraq (45 million) •Syria (30 million) •Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait… The very idea is militarily absurd - a fantasy only believed by the historically and strategically illiterate. Even when Israel did occupy territory - like the Sinai - it gave it back in exchange for peace, as President Sadat of Egypt discovered in 1979. Israel returned a territory three times the size of pre-1967 Israel because they wanted stability, not imperial overreach. ☠️ The Real Expansionist Empire: The Islamic Republic of Iran Now contrast this with the reality on the ground: Tehran, not Tel Aviv, has built a real-world empire over the past 20 years - one that controlled or influenced: •Baghdad 🇮🇶 •Damascus 🇸🇾 •Beirut 🇱🇧 •Sanaa 🇾🇪 Iran spent $250 billion propping up terrorist militias and proxy regimes - not to spread peace, but to export the revolution of the “hidden Imam”, a messianic theocracy led by unelected clerics. And the price? •2 million deaths in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen •25 million displaced •A shattered Lebanon, a butcher in Damascus, and a civil war that just recently ended. Iran didn’t just expand ideologically. It did so with guns, bombs, drones, and propaganda - all while weaponizing sectarianism and exploiting groups like Hamas, turning Palestinians into martyrs for Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. 🐴 Who Carried This Empire on Their Backs? It wasn’t just the IRGC and Hezbollah. They had plenty of help: •Low-education, low-awareness Shia populations, easy to radicalize •Sunni Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood, who willingly played the role of Tehran’s mules, carrying the Ayatollah’s agenda into Arab capitals ❌ Final Word to the “Gulfies are Next” Crowd Enough with this nonsense. Israel is not coming to invade Riyadh, Doha, Abu Dhabi, or Kuwait. Not because of some great benevolence - but because they can’t, and more importantly, they don’t need to. The greater threat has always been Tehran’s empire - the Greater Islamic Republic - not some ancient myth about Greater Israel on a coin or a meme. So next time you want to sound clever, try not repeating 40-year-old propaganda from Qom. The fire in the region didn’t start from Tel Aviv. It started - and still burns - from Tehran.

Since these two Kings left this world, both Iraq 🇮🇶 and Iran 🇮🇷 went from one catastrophe to another! King Faisal II of Iraq (1958) Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1979)

It’s like downgrading from 📱 to ☎️ Iran deserves better🙌🏻

Let me repeat this for the thousandth time: being a minority does not entitle you to form an armed militia neck-deep in organized crime, narcotics, and smuggling - and then cry “genocide!” the moment the state tries to reassert basic authority. That’s not how legitimacy works. You don’t get to operate outside the law just because you’re a minority - and then summon foreign intervention the minute your privileges are challenged. Enough with the weaponized victimhood. And to the Israelis: pick a lane. You can’t demand that Hezbollah in Lebanon be disarmed and brought under full state control - while simultaneously lobbying to preserve a narco-militia in Syria simply because its members happen to be Druze. That’s not policy. That’s hypocrisy. And no one will take your outrage seriously until you start applying your standards consistently.

In a telling flurry of tweets, UAE security advisor and former Dubai police chief General Dahi Khalfan came out swinging - backing the Syrian state just as Hikmat al-Hijri’s narco-warlord militias shattered the ceasefire again, even mid-prisoner exchange. Khalfan doesn’t freelance regional policy - his tweets align with UAE positions, public or private. And this one? It reads like a signal: enough is enough. Behind closed doors, even Jordanian diplomats admit al-Hijri is impossible to mediate with as he displays “erratic, unhinged, irrational” behaviour on phone/video calls. The consensus across regional capitals - minus Israel - is shifting: al-Hijri is the problem. The longer the conflict drags, the more indefensible it becomes to support him.

في الأيام الأخيرة، شاهدنا موجة من الهجوم العنيف من بعض الإخوة السوريين على قناة «العربية» وأحياناً على «سكاي نيوز عربية»، بل وحتى على بعض المذيعين والمذيعات مثل ريم بوقمرة، بسبب ما نُشر أو قيل على الهواء. وأنا هنا أقولها بصراحة: نعم، ما فعلته ريم بوقمرة كان غير مهني وفيه قدر من الاستفزاز، وأنا شخصياً لا أجد مبرراً لمثل هذا الأسلوب، وربما لا أقبل الظهور معها على الهواء تجنباً لأي لبس أو إساءة لاحقة. لكن ما يحصل الآن من هستيريا سورية جماعية، ومحاولة تصوير الأمر وكأن مذيعاً أو مذيعة في محطة تلفزيونية خاصة يعبّر حرفياً عن سياسة دولة كاملة، هو وهم كبير. خذوها مني، وأنا الذي خبرت أروقة السياسة والاستخبارات كما خبرت أروقة الإعلام: من يظن أن السياسة الخارجية للمملكة العربية السعودية تُصاغ وفق أهواء مذيعة تونسية، فهو يستخف بالمملكة وبقيادتها وبشعبها الكريم. ومن يعتقد أن «سكاي نيوز العربية» تمثل بحذافيرها سياسة أبوظبي أو الإمارات، فهو ببساطة لا يعرف كيف تعمل المنظومة الإعلامية في الخليج. الخليج ليس كسوريا، ولا كالمشهد الإعلامي المصري أو الليبي أو التونسي في الماضي. في الجزيرة العربية، وفي العراق، وحتى في الأردن إلى حد ما، هناك هامش أوسع بكثير من حرية الحركة في الإعلام. وفي الكواليس، هناك شد وجذب دائم بين المؤسسات الإعلامية ومراكز القرار، والإعلاميون يسعون دوماً لانتزاع مزيد من حرية التعبير، مدفوعين أيضاً بالمنافسة المحتدمة بين السعودية والإمارات لاستضافة المؤسسات الإعلامية العالمية والمحلية. اليوم، تستضيف دبي وأبوظبي والرياض مكاتب لقنوات كبرى مثل بلومبرغ و«سي إن إن» وغيرها، إلى جانب شبكات عربية ضخمة مثل مجموعة MBC. هذه المنافسة فرضت واقعاً جديداً: هامش أوسع من الحرية، تعددية في الآراء، وحتى أصوات قد لا تعجبك أو تتفق معها. إذن، رجاءً، لا تتعاملوا مع كل ما يقوله مذيع أو مقدم برامج على أنه «النص الرسمي» الصادر عن البلاط أو الديوان. لسنا في كوريا الشمالية، ولا في إعلام البعث أيام زمان، حيث كانت النشرة تُكتب حرفياً في مكتب الحزب. وإذا كان لدى البعض حساسية خاصة من ريم بوقمرة، فهي تونسية لا علاقة لها بصياغة سياسة المملكة لا من قريب ولا من بعيد، تماماً كما أن كثيراً من السوريين العاملين في قنوات مختلفة لا يمثلون الموقف الرسمي لدولهم. وأذكّركم أن في محيطكم الإعلامي شخصيات مثيرة للجدل أيضاً، مثل وزير الإعلام التابع لعزمي بشارة وتاريخه مقيت في الاسائة للمملكة. وكذلك مستشار الرئيس أحمد موفق زيدان، الذي عرفته شخصياً حين كان قريباً من دوائر القاعدة في بيشاور وباكستان، ورغم احترامي له كشخص، فإن ماضيه لم يُفصل بوضوح عن حاضره بما يكفي لطمأنة الجميع. الخلاصة: هدّئوا من انفعالاتكم. نعم، واجهوا في الإعلام كما واجهتم في الميدان، لكن واجهوه بعقل، وبحرفية، وبلا أوهام أن كل كلمة على الشاشة هي قرار دولة أو خطة سياسة خارجية.

Lebanese Hezbollah published few days ago a threatening video message to Israel showcasing impressive underground missile depots and bases! How did Israel respond? By blowing these facilities sky high!

Only in Lebanon!! 😕

🚨 Trump: “Hamas didn’t want a deal, I think they are going to be 'hunted down'” Hamas; Just Leave - For Gaza’s Sake Twenty days ago, I warned that Hamas would resist any deal, not because of strategy, but out of fear. Fear that the moment the fighting pauses, Gazans themselves will rise up against the very people who dragged them into this disaster. Hamas, under Iranian guidance and cheered on by every malign actor in the region, chose a suicide mission. But this wasn’t just self-destruction, it was mass murder by proxy. Like a man strapping on explosives, climbing into a car with his family, and detonating it anyway. And for what? For Tehran’s agenda. For the illusion of resistance. For a war they cannot win. There’s no shame in surrender. There is shame in watching your people starve, suffocate, and die while you cling to power that only serves the dead. Release the hostages. Take your commanders. Leave Gaza - go to Houthi Yemen, to Iran, wherever this all began. But let Gaza live. Let responsible regional powers step in to rebuild. Let the children breathe without drones overhead. Let a future exist, one not poisoned by your toxic ideology. This war should never have gone past twenty-one days. It has now lasted twenty-one months. Enough. Just leave.

Debunking the “We Evacuated Everything” Narrative: As expected, following the strikes, the Iranian propaganda machine has kicked into gear, claiming - rather predictably - that the targeted nuclear facilities, such as Fordow and Natanz, had been emptied in advance. Let’s address that. 1. Real-Time Monitoring by the IAEA: Both Fordow and Natanz are under partial surveillance by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). While Iran has restricted access in recent years, many of the monitoring systems - especially CCTV cameras - were active in the past and still provided some insight until at least early 2023. In several cases, the IAEA retained knowledge of infrastructure layouts and could remotely detect large-scale activity, especially if dismantling or evacuation were attempted. 2. The Myth of Rapid Evacuation: This isn’t a warehouse full of sacks of potatoes. We’re talking about highly specialized, sensitive equipment, thousands of IR-1 and advanced IR-2m and IR-6 centrifuges. For context: •Natanz had an estimated 15,000–20,000 centrifuges at peak capacity. Even after the JCPOA, thousands remained in use or storage. •Fordow, while smaller, housed over 1,000 advanced centrifuges, some enriching uranium up to 60% purity in recent years. These are not items that can be boxed up and trucked out overnight. Dismantling a single cascade (a chain of 164 centrifuges) safely requires days of work, if not longer. Multiply that by hundreds of cascades, and you quickly realize this isn’t a quick getaway. Additionally, centrifuges are connected to high-pressure uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6) lines. Improper disassembly can lead to contamination, equipment damage, or worse, leaks of radioactive gas. Such evacuations would require weeks of preparation under controlled conditions. 3. Eyes in the Sky and on the Ground: Let’s not forget that the U.S. and Israel have had persistent, layered surveillance over these sites for years, satellites, high-altitude drones, SIGINT, HUMINT. Every inch of ground around Fordow and Natanz has been watched for telltale signs of activity. The idea that Iran stealthily evacuated multiple facilities without being detected is simply ludicrous. 4. Propaganda to Salvage Prestige: This entire narrative is damage control, plain and simple. The regime knows its core scientific and strategic assets were hit. They can’t admit it, so they spin: “We were too smart for them. Nothing of value was lost.” But it’s hollow bravado, masking what is in reality a colossal strategic failure - yet another one - in a long line of catastrophic blunders by a leadership that has brought nothing but ruin to a once-proud civilization.

Many in Israel seem deluded about Ahmed Al Shara’s ability to stop the tribal mobilizations. Let me be clear: he can’t. Not because he doesn’t want to - but because he physically can’t. Tell tribal fighters to go home? They’ll go, alright - to his home, to depose and crucify him. The rage among Syria’s Bedouin tribes is real, visceral, and tribal vengeance doesn’t take orders from Damascus.

Why Israel Is Isolated Over the Syrian Druze Issue What has become glaringly obvious on this platform is the extent to which many Israeli users seem trapped in an echo chamber - completely detached from the regional realities. That disconnect is largely the result of relentless disinformation and lobbying, especially by the powerful Druze establishment in Israel, led by Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif. But let’s get something straight: when it comes to the situation in southern Syria - President Ahmad al-Shara’a actions and now the tribal mobilisation - Israel is utterly, comprehensively alone. Not even the United States supports its position anymore, as confirmed by its abstention at the UN Security Council vote yesterday, where the entire world rejected Israel’s stance. And yes, Israelis may cry out, “We are protecting minorities!” But that’s precisely why you are isolated - and here’s why: 1. You’re Already on Thin Ice Post-Gaza The world is still reeling from the staggering civilian toll in Gaza - tens of thousands dead, many of them children. No matter how justified you believe your response to October 7 was, global perception is not with you. To now claim moral authority as protectors of human rights - on behalf of a minority that doesn’t even share your religion or ethnicity - is seen as cynical at best, laughable at worst. 2. Being a Minority Doesn’t Justify Forming a Narco-Militia Let’s be clear: the hardline Druze leader Hikmat al Hijari in Suwayda refused seven months of peaceful integration offers. Instead, he built a parallel armed structure, a narco-militia involving ex-regime criminals and drug traffickers, all while launching attacks on Bedouin neighbors. Their “minority” status doesn’t grant them impunity. 3. Attacking the Syrian Seat of Power Crossed a Red Line Israel could have limited its strikes to the localised area of military operations. Instead, it chose to bomb the presidential palace and the ministry of defence, the very institutions trying to keep the situation under control. You struck at a recognized head of state who hadn’t lifted a finger against you. That has never happened in 75 years of Arab-Israeli conflict - and it was broadcast with smugness by your own defense minister. That was the moment you lost even your remaining allies. Even those who detest the new government in Syria think Israel went too far this time. 4. The “Impending Genocide” Narrative Just Collapsed Hikmat al-Hijri, the same militia leader who shouted “genocide” days ago - is now begging President al-Shara’a for protection from the tribal forces. Yes, the very president he accused of plotting the genocidal extermination of the Druze. That alone discredits the entire Israeli justification for intervention. 5. No One Trusts Your Government Anymore Even if individual Israelis have good intentions, no one in the region - not a single government - trusts the Israeli state anymore. And your recent actions have pushed the region back 20 years. The Saudis were already hesitant after Gaza. Now, normalization is on life support. Why? Because Syria, ironically, is under the informal protection of both Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom personally lobbied for its rehabilitation. Then you struck at its capital live on TV for everyone to see. That was not just an escalation - it was a geopolitical suicide. 1/2

The universe is full of pathways .. See the universe map according to science and the Quran verse:

The $35 Billion Gas Deal That Sealed a Grand Regional Bargain The new $35 billion, 15-year natural gas deal between Israel and Egypt is far more than an energy contract - it’s the centrepiece of a grand regional bargain that reshapes Gaza’s future and undercuts Iran’s ambitions. For nine months, Egypt and three heavyweight GCC states - almost certainly the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar - were deadlocked over who would run post-Hamas Gaza. The GCC bloc, backed by Jordan, wanted control over both civil governance and security, tying it to a massive reconstruction plan. Egypt wanted a leading role and a bigger payoff. The gas deal broke the impasse. Israel secures its largest export contract in history, underwritten almost entirely by the GCC. Egypt locks in 15 years of energy security - vital for a country where over 80% of power plants run on gas, and industry and households depend on it. In return, Egypt agrees to: •Cooperate fully in cutting Hamas, PIJ, and allied factions out of Gaza’s future. •Accept a joint Arab administration - UAE, Saudi, Qatar, and Jordan - to run Gaza under U.S./EU oversight. •Permit controlled, temporary relocation of Palestinians into Sinai during reconstruction, contingent on Israeli withdrawal. The plan’s timeline matches the gas deal: 15 years for rebuilding Gaza and rehabilitating its population. The biggest losers? Hamas - and Iran. Tehran’s goal was to stop Arab–Israeli economic integration. Instead, the deal cements it for a generation. Hamas, acting as Iran’s proxy, waged a suicidal war that killed over 60,000, flattened Gaza, and ended right back where things stood on October 6, 2023 - except with the Arab–Israeli economic axis stronger, Iran more isolated, and Hamas exiled to irrelevance.

Honest people do not support terror organisations like Hamas and push their propaganda. Honest people do not be come mouthpieces for the Houthis.

To the young, unwise, and often foul-mouthed uneducated Muslims attacking the Gulf states - or people like me - for not supporting Hamas, or for criticizing it, and for daring to suggest that their actions may be misguided: Let me make something clear. Islam began in our beloved Arabian Peninsula. We were its first custodians. We learned it not through hashtags or social media influencers, but through heritage, scholarship, and lived history. So forgive us if we don’t take lectures on Islam from Western-based teenage Muslims - or from keyboard warriors in Pakistan or Bangladesh - who speak as if Palestine were the sixth pillar of Islam. Having a different political perspective does not negate one’s faith. And here’s why: 🕌 Theological Foundations 1. No Obligation to Support Folly Yes, Islam obliges us to support the oppressed, but not to support actions that lead to greater destruction and oppression, or that are driven by recklessness. God says: “And do not throw yourselves into destruction with your own hands.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:195) Fighting a nuclear-armed state with glorified RPGs is not bravery, it’s strategic suicide and irresponsible leadership. 2. Shari’a Prioritizes Maslaha (Public Interest) Great scholars like Al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah emphasized that public welfare and harm prevention (dar’ al-mafasid) are among the highest priorities in Islamic governance. If supporting a militarized cause will lead to nuclear retaliation, regional collapse, and mass civilian death, then withholding support is not betrayal - it’s mandated prudence. 3. Wala’ and Bara’ (loyalty/solidarity) ≠ Unquestioning Loyalty Loyalty in Islam does not mean blindly supporting Muslims who act in defiance of Shura, reason, or wise counsel. If a group chooses a path that endangers the entire Muslim world, we are not religiously bound to march alongside them into ruin. 4. The Prophet ﷺ Accepted Peace. Even When It Seemed Unjust At Hudaybiyyah, the Prophet ﷺ signed a treaty many companions saw as humiliating. That was strategic wisdom - not performative resistance. 🌍 Geopolitical Reality: We Warned, They Ignored 1. We Warned Hamas, They Embraced Iran Gulf states urged moderation, unity with the Palestinian Authority, and a path to peace. Instead, Hamas: •Took power by force in 2007 •Executed fellow Palestinians •Aligned itself with Iran and Hezbollah •Rejected every Arab peace initiative Now they want us to pay the price for their decisions? 2. Palestinian Leadership Fragmentation Is Self-inflicted Why should our sons die when the Palestinians themselves cannot even unify their leadership? The Qur’an teaches that every community is accountable for its own choices. Chaos is not a cause, it is a failure of leadership. 🧠 Reason Over Emotion Being Muslim ≠ Supporting Every Conflict Gulf states contribute billions in humanitarian aid, reconstruction, and diplomatic support. That’s real solidarity. Not hashtags. Not slogans. Not tweeting “Free Palestine” from the comfort of Europe while calling others traitors. If war is so righteous, go fight it yourself - but do not recruit our children to die for your failed strategy. We support justice. We support the oppressed. But we do not support madness, especially when it drags the entire region into the fire.

For 6 years on the Conflicted podcast, I’ve said it clearly: I support Gulf monarchies not out of blind loyalty, but because the nation-state is the only force in this region that brings security, stability, and dignity. I walked away from extremism when I realised - after 6 years in 4 war zones - that transnational ideologies destroy nations, not build them. “Ummah” is real in worship, not in politics. There’s no one Muslim culture. And frankly, not all Muslim cultures are equal. Some gave us order, others gave us militias. If solidarity is real, then why cherry-pick? Why Gaza but not Syria? Why ignore Uyghurs? Why China is your champion against India despite worst treatment of Muslims in any nation on earth? Why cheer Iran, which killed way more Muslims than Israel ever did? Just ask Syria 🇸🇾 You can’t scream “Zionist!” at me while hugging China and whitewashing Tehran’s proxies. My solidarity is with my nation - not with fanatics and lawless militias. Not with Hamas. Not with Houthis. Not with Hezbollah. Not with Shabab. The nation-state is the last wall between us and theocratic hellscapes. That wall must hold. I come from a state (🇧🇭) that made peace. I live in a state (🇦🇪) that made peace. And I grew up in a state (🇸🇦) that may soon make peace. Why? Because we’ve all learned one thing: war isn’t always the answer. And those who keep choosing it will eventually burn in its flames, just ask Hamas and its patron Tehran.

The reason Israel held back last night? It’s not just military calculus - it’s political math. Yes, Druze serve in the IDF. But so do Bedouins. Fewer in uniform, but nearly double the voting power: ~180k Bedouin voters vs. ~80k Druze. Both communities live inside Israel. Attacking Bedouin tribal forces in Suwayda to defend the Druze risks igniting inter-communal tensions inside Israel itself. So Israel froze. Short-sighted policy 101. Better stick to calling Uncle Sam next time you need something done in Syria.

Away to peace, and away from Iran’s Ayatollahs - not that difficult. They could’ve done it two decades ago when Israel left Gaza!

Iran surrendered in 12 days to save its own skin - military, leadership, everything. But Hamas, pushed by Iran into the Oct 7 massacre, has fought for 21 months, refusing ceasefires, holding hostages, for Iran’s sake. And when Iran begged for a ceasefire, it didn’t even ask for Gaza to be part of the deal. No conditions. No mention. No loyalty. The expendables were never meant to be saved. Just used. And abandoned.

Remember that elderly Druze man who was humiliated on video? I was among the first to publish it. Yesterday, the story spread like wildfire: he died of a heart attack from the shame, allegedly confirmed by his “granddaughter.” Turns out? He’s alive. And fine. This isn’t just a correction, this is a lesson. Disinformation is a war of its own. Lies are planted deliberately to manipulate global opinion and justify agendas. Just like Saddam’s WMDs. Lies are now the fuel of the war machine in this region. How many more will you fall for?

I’m sick and tired of Westerners who keep telling me, in a derogatory manner, that Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were built by oil money! At least they used their own natural resources, unlike London and Paris! Their glory is built on imperial colonialism, slavery and exploitation!

Remember when everyone swore the Suwayda Hospital massacre was by government forces? I said it was al-Hijri’s men - and I said I’d delete my account if I was wrong. Turns out I wasn’t. Truth stood tall. Account stays. That’s it.

Whether the clip was taken out of context or not is irrelevant. There was a clear, audible question - you asked, “What was Hamas supposed to do?” I responded to that sentence. Nothing more. Full stop.

I warned that a miscalculation by Hezbollah would lead to an unforgiving war by Israel! Just in the last hour such awful miscalculation happened. Hezbollah, ironically, fired a missile at the Arab village of Migdal Shams in Israel, killing 14 kids! If you can, get out of 🇱🇧 now!

Some here are lost in cartographical daydreams, sketching fantasy maps with zero grasp of strategy. A real plan has 4 stages: concept → planning → funding → execution. This? Barely a concept—and an unworkable one at that. The so-called “Alawite state”? Urban Sunnis are ~45% of the coast. Alawites barely crack 55%. No functional state with that math. “Rojava”? Arabs make up 65%+, Kurds just ~30%. The major tribes - Aqidat, Baggara, Shaitat - have already mobilized against the Druze, and the SDF knows it can’t afford a tribal war. Add Turkish and Syrian state intervention, and you have carnage. “Druze-Israeli corridor”? 80% Sunni Arab. Neither Druze nor Israel can rule a hostile Sunni majority. No one - not a single serious capital - wants this map to happen. Except two ironic exceptions: Israel and Iran!!

The Ayatollahs of Iran strongly suspect that Israel’s strategic aim was to end the Gaza conflict so it could shift its full focus to delivering a crushing blow to Iran itself. To delay that, Iran did everything in its power to prevent any agreement - any ceasefire - between Hamas and Israel that might end the war in Gaza. Khalil al-Hayya, the man Khamenei handpicked to lead Hamas after Haniyeh’s death, did exactly what Tehran wanted, at the expense of Gaza’s people. He actively sabotaged negotiations, sometimes with more determination than any in Israel would have expected. The Ayatollah of Iran doesn’t see the people of Gaza as anything more than kindling. Fuel to burn. Their suffering is just a way to buy time. And that’s what many in Gaza have come to realize: Every person killed by Israel in this war, every heartbreaking tragedy, and every avoidable death yet to come - Tehran holds a share of the blame. The Ayatollah of Iran is not just complicit. He is a key reason the war continues.

1 - CIA report into #JamalKhashoggi murder is released! It’s an assessment and not an indictment! Jamal was no saint and MBS is not the devil! Jamal was no journalist, he was an asset of Saudi intelligence for over 20 years, and then switched sides to Qatar and Turkey!

I’ve noticed a disturbing and frankly psychopathic trend among supporters of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the various Iraqi militias. Every time Iran launches a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel, these people gleefully mock Israeli civilians for running to bomb shelters, calling them cowards. But let’s pause and consider this: at least the Israeli government built bomb shelters for its people. What has the Iranian regime done for its citizens? What have Hamas or Hezbollah done for theirs? Did they build any shelters for civilians in Gaza or southern Lebanon? No. Instead, they dug tunnels, not for the safety of the public, but for their fighters to hide underground while leaving civilians exposed above. These so-called “resistance” movements have invested heavily in hiding places for their militants, not protective infrastructure for their people. And yet, they call others cowards for using shelters built to save lives. If you’re a responsible parent and a siren goes off, of course you’re going to take your children to safety. That’s not cowardice, that’s what valuing human life looks like. In the end, this is the stark difference between two societies: one that builds to protect its people, and another that exploits its own as human shields. One values life. The other confuses recklessness with bravery.

Only Riyadh Can Call Off the Storm It is understood that Israel has issued a 48-hour ultimatum: stop the violence in Suwayda, or face overwhelming strikes on Damascus. But this threat is dangerously misguided. The tribal fighters flooding Suwayda - now over 120,000 strong - do not answer to Damascus. President Ahmad al-Shar’a commands his army and police, not the tribes. Israel’s own airstrikes have made any state intervention impossible by enforcing a de facto demilitarization of the south. And now it expects that same state to control what no state in the Levant ever could. These tribes mobilise outside of state control only in the most exceptional circumstances. The last two times were to fight al-Qaeda and ISIS. Today, they see Hikmat al-Hijri’s Druze militias - rightly or wrongly- as another incarnation of the same threat. Bombing Damascus won’t stop them. It will enrage them. For every building hit in the capital, more homes will burn in Suwayda. There are no neat targets, just human waves. And striking them risks backlash from Israel’s own Bedouin population, who view these tribes as kin. There is only one man whose word could halt this: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. His authority - regal, tribal, religious, and moral - is unmatched. A call from the pulpits of Mecca and Medina could compel the tribes to stand down. But Riyadh will not intervene uninvited. The initiative must come from Israel - or through Washington. If President Trump wants to avoid a bloodbath, he should pick up the phone and ask the Crown Prince to speak. This is no longer a military crisis. It’s a tribal reckoning. And only Saudi Arabia holds the key to stopping it.

The Tribal Truth vs. the OSINT Clowns It’s honestly laughable how deep the ignorance runs across this platform, especially from self-declared OSINT experts and their fan clubs. And most astonishingly, it often comes from Israelis who should know the region better. Yet, here they are - equating the Arab tribes with ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Let me offer a history lesson, free of charge. 1. The Tribes That Crushed Al-Qaeda The tribal awakening in Iraq - specifically in Anbar and Mosul - did more to dismantle Al-Qaeda than any external force. Why? Because Al-Qaeda sent suicide bombers into the majlis - the sacred gathering places of tribal elders. That was a red line. The result? •Over 80,000 tribal fighters rose up in arms. •Between 2007 and 2009, they killed an estimated 6,000 Al-Qaeda members. •They shattered Zarqawi’s legacy and broke the back of AQI. So no, the tribes weren’t “harboring” jihadists. They were burying them. 2. ISIS Avoided the Tribes - Until They Didn’t When ISIS reemerged due to Assad’s butchery in Syria, they remembered what happened in Iraq. From 2011 onward, they actively avoided conflict with the tribes. They knew exactly what would happen. Until 2014. That year, over oil fields, they massacred 700 members of the Shaitat tribe in Deir ez-Zor. What followed was not just revenge - it was obliteration. •The Shaitat, alongside allied tribes like Al-Aqedat, Al-Baghara, and Dulaim, formed another tribal coalition - 70,000 strong. •By 2019, the Shaitat alone had reportedly killed over 1,500 ISIS members. •In total, tribal forces are estimated to have killed 7,000 ISIS fighters and captured 3,000 more, handing them over to the SDF or Iraqi government. These weren’t jihadist safe havens. These were jihadist graveyards. 3. President al-Shar’a: From Jihadist to Jihadism’s Undoing Then there’s the favorite bogeyman of the OSINT crowd: Joulani, now President Ahmad al-Shar’a of Syria. Yes, he was once aligned with Al-Qaeda - but facts matter: •In 2013, he broke with ISIS and actively weakened them. •He then aligned with Turkey, passed critical intel to the international coalition, and helped facilitate airstrikes against ISIS leadership. •By 2016, he formally severed ties with Al-Qaeda. •After that, drone strikes started raining down on AQ-linked operatives from Afghanistan. Many suspect al-Shar’a himself helped expose them. So call him what you want - but know this: ISIS fears him, and Al-Qaeda loathes him. 4. Sunni Self-Determination ≠ Global Jihadism What we’re seeing now isn’t the rise of global jihad - it’s tribal Sunni self-defense. It’s local insurgency, born of a power vacuum and fueled by years of marginalization, not some global caliphate fantasy. But of course, that doesn’t stop Western analysts and their pro-Israel echo chambers from labeling every Sunni fighter a “jihadist.” As if Sunni Muslims aren’t allowed to have any rules of war, any cause, or any legitimate grievance without being called terrorists. Here’s a thought: jihad is part of Islam. Get over it. You may not like it, but it’s the religious-legal default in wartime for practicing Muslims. That doesn’t make every fighter an ISIS sympathizer. 5. A Final Word for the Willfully Ignorant So to all the keyboard commandos, OSINT influencers, and pseudo-analysts who think labeling every Sunni tribal fighter “ISIS” makes you sound smart, pick a wall. Any wall. Preferably the thickest one in your house. Then, as we say in Arabic, bang your head against it until some history knocks its way in. Because the reality is simple: The tribes you’re watching now did not join ISIS. They destroyed ISIS. They hunted Al-Qaeda, and they crushed it. They are not global jihadists. They are the nightmares of jihadists - and any rogue militias that threaten them Deal with it.

How it started How it’s going

Totally agree!

And what makes her ignorance and naivety more apparent is when she said that the maritime blockade by Houthis is only “delaying Amazon packages” to rich westerners!!! She doesn’t have any grasp of how global trade/supply chains affect poor and ordinary people .. cost of Fuel shipments to Asian countries (including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines) is up by staggering 184% because of Houthis actions! Does she understand how devastating this rise would be for 2.5 billion people in these countries, most of whom are struggling with inflation and cost of living!!

Yes, within the confines of a modern nation state (Malaysia, Indonesia, Oman, UAE etc)

We are entering the most dangerous 72 hours in the post 9/11 Middle East! I don’t state this lightly! The events of October 7th were not just about Gaza! This will become clear pretty soon!

Anyone who spent the past 20 Years observing the long term grand strategic chess game in the Middle East, could clearly conclude that Iran sent Hamas - along with the people of Gaza - on a suicide mission, primarily to strengthen Iran’s strategic dominance in the region! Iran’s end game here - apart from some eschatological messianic insanity - is to dominate the Middle East and to intimidate both 🇺🇸🇮🇱 into accepting that an Iranian dominance in the Middle East is as inevitable as its soon to be achieved status as a nuclear armed nation. While Hamas is being dealt with in Gaza, other more prized Iranian proxies (Shia ones as opposed to the disposable Sunni Hamas) are busy deploying across the Middle East, asserting such dominance and intimidating moderate Gulf monarchies, Jordan and Egypt, into abandoning all plans for economic, industrial, technological and social modernisation. Instead of a Middle East that is more moderate, Iran wants the region to accept a Middle East that is dominated by turban wearing, finger wagging, lung screaming mad eyed evil masterminds, who’s dark turbans sit atop dark minds and their dark robes conceal yet darker hearts and souls. This is isn’t about Gaza or Israel! This is a much bigger conflict between those who want to live in stable, peaceful, prosperous, advanced and moderate nation states, and those who want to enslave people into a borderless theocratic messianic insane tyranny dominating a Middle East in a state of perpetual war! Hamas and Gaza were just pawns, easily manipulated pawns, just like those politically naive people marching on the streets of Europe and the US, blind to what this war is really about in the first place! And once they really find out the truth, I’m afraid it might be too late by then!

Lebanon is having its own “chemotherapy” .. Painful, but necessary.

The news about the newly declared Emirate of Hebron by tribal sheikhs in Hebron and its surroundings only confirms what I’ve long argued: In the Middle East, tribes, when united, naturally form monarchies, Sheikhdoms or emirates - as happened in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait. Warlords and bureaucrats cannot rule a tribal society in this region, never. They cannot bring peace to it. It’s time to go back to the roots. This could be a breakthrough - a credible model for peace and coexistence in the Holy Land. Tribes don’t care about ideology. They don’t follow mullahs in Tehran or Brotherhood ideologues in London. They care about security, prosperity, and dignity for their own people. Dismiss the tribes at your own peril. Warlords and bureaucrats are the problem. Tribal alliances - emirates, Sheikhdoms - might just be the solution.

This pathetic grifter spent the past 13 years defending the Syrian tyrant Assad’s relentless campaign against his own people! She had no problem with Iran and Putin using their military might against Syrian civilians to keep him in power! 1 million dead and 11 million displaced!

To all those Muslim protesters living comfortably in the west (🇺🇸🇬🇧🇪🇺🇦🇺🇨🇦) and calling on armies of (🇸🇦🇹🇷🇪🇬🇦🇪) to invade 🇮🇱 and liberate 🇵🇸! No problem, we will gladly do it, if you could solve the teeny tiny problem of 🇮🇱 nuclear 🚀🚀🚀 There are 200+ of them!! There are 5 🇮🇱 submarines with 100+ nuclear missiles aiming at 100+ Arab cities, roaming the seas, ready to fire their missiles in the event of Israel falling to invading Arab armies! It’s called the “Samson Option” Hooray 🎉🥳 .. We finally liberated Jerusalem by incinerating our own cities! What a bargain?! 🤑 I wish big pharmaceuticals could invest in doses of reality! The Muslim/leftist masses are in desperate need of it! 🤦🏻‍♂️

Again, the Iranian leadership is misreading the situation, badly. They still believe this is an old-fashioned tit-for-tat conflict with Israel. It’s not. There’s no tit. There’s no tat. This is strategic waterboarding. Trump plays the “good cop.” Netanyahu plays the “bad cop.” Iran is the suspect with its head forced into the tank. “Want to surrender? Ready to deal?” No? Trump nods. Netanyahu shoves the head back under. And the world watches. This isn’t war as usual. This is psychological siege warfare, calculated pressure applied in waves, just enough to keep Iran alive but broken, until they beg for a deal … or collapse trying to resist one. By the time the Iranian leadership realizes this isn’t a traditional escalation cycle but a full-spectrum suffocation campaign, it’ll be too late to recalibrate. That’s the cost of strategic delusion.

Of course I condemn settler violence, inter-communal violence is sadly a fact of life in the West Bank, and even inside 1948 Israel. Welcome to the Middle East. That’s the reality. And yes, violations by the IDF have occurred. Even they admit it. War is never clean - no army, including Israel’s, escapes that truth. But let’s be honest: the smarter move was never armed resistance. It was renouncing violence and going full Mandela. Just drop the weapons and say: we’re done fighting, now we negotiate. That would have disarmed Israel morally and politically. Civil resistance works. It worked for Mandela, for Gandhi, in Ireland, in Spain. But the Palestinians? Cursed with awful leadership. Arafat was a clownish showman. Hamas are bloodthirsty fanatical warlords. Billions in aid were siphoned away while the people suffered. And no, Israelis shouldn’t be held to Western standards in my opinion. They’re a Middle Eastern tribe - like every other tribe in the region. You kill one of them, they’ll kill ten of you. Same logic applies in Arab tribal culture. So don’t provoke what you can’t defeat. You want peace? Change the strategy. If you’re outgunned, don’t fight harder - fight smarter. Marry the daughter, don’t fight the father. Palestinians could’ve had peace many times. They blew it. And they’re still blowing it.