While Palestine bleeds under Israeli siege, the Arab monarchies welcome Trump with honors and sign multi-million dollar deals. The alliances between authoritarian tycoons deliberately ignore the suffering of the Palestinian people. No Trump, no kings, no occupation! The Middle East needs Socialist Revolution.
By Ruben Tzanoff
Hamas has released another hostage
Following talks between Hamas and US government representatives, on May 12 Hamas released 21-year-old Edan Alexander, who was handed over to the Red Cross, in an operation coordinated between Hamas, the US, Egypt and Qatar. The release of the Israeli-American soldier has been interpreted as a gesture by the fundamentalist leadership to the new administration and as part of efforts to “achieve a ceasefire, open the border crossings and introduce humanitarian aid and assistance” into the Gaza Strip, which is blockaded by Israel.
Politics and private business
On May 13, Donald Trump, accompanied by billionaire businessmen, began a tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that will end on May 16. After participating in the Pope’s funeral, it constitutes his first official trip abroad since he took office for the second term in January 2025.
The U.S. president has been criticized for the relations established between the official agenda and family businesses. For example, he has announced through his social networks that he will receive as a “gift” from the Qatari government a Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which will become the new Air Force One, which he will keep for his personal use at the end of his term, and that in Saudi Arabia his family has six pending agreements with a real estate company in which the Saudi crown is a majority shareholder. It should be recalled that after the first term Trump’s companies were revalued by at least $2.4 billion.
Multi-million dollar business
The meetings held and the agreements reached confirmed the speculation about the scope and objectives of the tour.
In Riyadh, Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed a historic $600 billion economic and military partnership agreement. The pact includes: the sale of armaments to the Saudis for $142 billion, the commitment of the US companies Google and Oracle to invest $80 billion in joint projects and of the Saudi company DataVolt to invest $20 billion in data centers in the US, the finalization of the sale of Boeing and Boeing aircraft to the Saudis for $142 billion, the commitment of the US companies Google and Oracle to invest $80 billion in joint projects and of the Saudi company DataVolt to invest $20 billion in data centers in the US. The sale of Boeing aircraft for US$4.8 billion and the construction of an industrial plant for US$5.8 billion in Michigan.
With Ahmed al Shara
As a complement, in Riyadh, Trump met with Ahmed al Shara, president of Syria (Organization for the Liberation of the Levant (HTS). According to a White House statement, he “urged” the Syrian leader to sign the Abraham Accords with Israel, to deport foreign and Palestinian terrorists, to collaborate with the US against the resurgent Islamic State and to release some political prisoners. It would be part of the price to be paid for lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria, which Trump said last Tuesday he has already decided. Indicative of the regional interests at stake, Prince Mohammed bin Salman and, via telephone, Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan, protector of the Syrian Islamist regime, took part in the meeting.
A contrast as insulting as it is outrageous
A contrast as insulting as it is outrageousThe reactionary monarchy received Trump with a lavish ceremony and lavender-colored carpet1, at the beginning of a tour that will take place among palaces and luxuries, while destruction, horror and misery rage in the region. In the capitals of Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi, the far-right-wing president will be received with “red carpets” by the Arab monarchies, with whom he shares a taste for authoritarianism and businesses that generate huge profits. And only a couple of thousand kilometers away is Palestine, where the State of Israel is carrying out a genocide, and nearby are Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, attacked by Zionism. And Iran, with whose fundamentalist regime imperialism began talks last Saturday in Oman, with the aim of trying to annul, or at least limit, its nuclear program.
Imperialists and colonialists out!
We reject the presence of Trump and the American interference that constitutes the main support of the State of Israel! Colonialists and imperialists out of the Middle East! We reject the reception of imperialist leaders as partners and friends, while the Palestinian people are massacred and other Arab peoples are attacked! Stop the genocide in Gaza and the aggression against Lebanon and other countries! Mobilization and organization are the key to confront the oppressors of the West and the Middle East, on the road to the only strategic way out to achieve lasting, just peace and social and democratic rights in the Middle East: Socialist Revolution.
1- Since 2021, Saudi Arabia has adopted the color lavender for its ceremonial carpets, symbolizing the cultural identity of the kingdom and the tones of the flowers that cover its deserts in springtime.
