Full transcript: Tarek Naemo on London Real
3:48 Brian Rose: This is London Real. I am Brian Rose. My guest today is Tarek Naemo, the American British Syrian entrepreneur, geopolitical adviser, and international public figure. You serve as co-founder of the American Syrian Chamber of Commerce, the board director of the Syrian-American Alliance for Peace and Prosperity, and managing partner of Richmond Hill Capital, a cross-border wealth and real estate firm operating across the US, UK, and Middle East. With a background in counterterrorism and geopolitical risk, you’ve advised hedge funds and policymakers on strategic capital deployment and post-conflict recovery.
4:25 Recently, you led the first post-war economic delegation to Syria, helping influence the lifting of US sanctions and opening the path towards stabilization, reconstruction, and reintegration with global markets. You believe that now is a turning point, a historic opportunity to rebuild the country, support its people, and reintegrate Syria into the global economy through trade, infrastructure, and dialogue. TK, welcome to London Real.
4:53 Tarek Naemo: Thank you very much for having me today.
4:56 It’s a great honor for me.
4:58 Brian Rose: I’m so excited to dive into this topic. And so, let’s just jump right in. What is happening right now in Syria and why does it matter to the world?
5:09 Tarek Naemo: It matters a lot.
5:10 We are on a turning point of a great opportunity for the entire world. Having a stable Middle East means a lot for the whole world after a decade of conflicts and endless wars. We’ve seen a major shift in American policy from the 1980s, Bush era, to today’s, our President Donald Trump, where we’re looking only to have peace through strength. Syria plays a vital role in today’s time because it’s it’s located in the middle, in the heart of the Middle East.
5:45 It’s connected between all the neighboring countries. So Syria, we look at Syria as a swing state. If we’re able to flip Syria from the Russian and the Iranian camp into the Western camp, it will be a tremendous success, and it will be great for our American national security interests. So Syria is going to play a vital role in today’s world.
6:08 Brian Rose: It’s fascinating, because if you look at Syria on the map, you know, geopolitically, it’s in such an important place.
6:16 It’s on the Mediterranean on one side. It borders Iraq and Turkey, and it’s really in the middle. And yet, for the past, I don’t know, 20, 30, 40, 50 years, it’s been under this al-Assad regime, Bashar, who was the last ruler, and then his father before that. And to most of the world, quite frankly, it’s just looked like a big mess, you know, constant bloodshed, constant civil war, and people look at it and they don’t even know what to make of it. 6 months ago, you know, there was this overthrow of that president.
6:50 Now we’ve got this new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and this looks like a whole new rebirth. And every day, TK, I see a new announcement coming out of Washington or out of London, where they’re being recognized. Sanctions are being lifted. You took Congressman there with you for a visit. It’s all happening so fast.
7:10 And yet, I think a lot of people don’t understand what’s happening and don’t understand the possibilities. I love how you said swing state. That’s a great way of looking at this, because if this can, for the first time in 50 years, become, you know, a prosperous place and a pro-Western place, it changes the whole dynamic of the Middle East, doesn’t it?
7:33 Tarek Naemo: You’ve said it perfectly. It’s a new birth for Syria.
7:36 So, the whole world witnessed in December the fallen of facade. Syria, it’s the oldest civilization in the world. It’s the old Damascus is the oldest city in the world. In the world, right? 3,000 plus years of crazy history, right?
7:48 Such a diverse culture where all religions and culture lives together side by side, but unfortunately have suffered a brutal dictatorship for the past 54 years. Um, a lot of people paid their lives. They paid, you know, uh they paid their life. They paid life of their families. They had to migrate.
8:10 9 million people migrated to other countries. So 15 the past 15 years have been absolutely astonishing for all the Syrians. But today, in December, a new Syria has been born. Um, unfortunately, through the dictatorship time Syria was a very complex country for all the neighbors as well. Um, it served temporarily as a proxy for Iran, and we were looking at multiple ways on how to end the era of Assad.
8:43 As you know, Syrian descent, Syrian origin, I wanted to look at how could we help the whole world by turning this, by turning the country into a prosperous country. We have a lot of Syrian figures. Steve Jobs, you know, he’s of Syrian descent. Um, we have many other people, successful, very famous, successful people came from Syria. So, we’re looking to restore the theme, the original, the original theme of Syria.
9:13 And, you know, with the help from President Trump, he looked at it, and after multiple conversations with his administration, they decided said it will be in the best interest for American national security interests to find ways how we can collaborate with the current interim government, which they have been doing the right steps, and we’ve been very happy with all the steps that they’ve been taking. Uh, so far they’ve been in charge since December, about six, seven months, and um all the outcomes have been very positive, a lot of engagement with the current administration. Uh, President al-Sharaa, he’s looking to, he opened up actually the country.
9:54 He said we want to collaborate, we want to work with the American, we want to work with the West. Uh, we want to find ways how we can build the nation again. You know, we suffered all these wars and civil wars. We’re looking on how not only rebuilding the country. We want to rebuild the public of Syria.
10:12 We want to rebuild the people in Syria. Uh, they’ve been heavily sanctioned, a brutal war, and, you know, the Assad was creating a lot of violence in Syria. So, it’s going to take a little bit of time, but I’m very happy to deploy the first American flag on Damascus terminal after 17 years, uh, being away from Syria.
10:35 Brian Rose: And why, you, you were born there and you spent time in London, you spent time in America, in Florida, you know, tell me about, you know, your experience of Syria.
10:47 You know, what’s it like to grow up there, to be there? Why does this mean so much to you? And why are you the guy to make this happen?
10:57 Tarek Naemo: Well, I left Syria in 2007. I decided to run away from that dictatorship.
11:03 But looking into the Syrian people, I learned a lot from the Syrians. They’re very resilient community, uh, diverse. But unfortunately, the environment that the dictator has created in Syria wouldn’t allow any entrepreneur or any successful mind, you know, to, there is no healthy environment there. So I decided to leave to London, and I moved in 2007. When I came to London, I realized how the global mind works, and that was really fascinating for me.
11:38 I learned how to turn challenges into opportunities. Um, then I decided to move after quite some time in London. I decided to move to, uh, the States. Got married with my wife. We have kids, and I established my first business.
11:54 With time I learned that economy and diplomacy are the same face, you know, two faces for the same coin. And that gives you a lot of perspective on how you’re going to achieve legacy in this world. So why Syria? Syria, you know, my roots came from Syria, and still have a great place in my heart. Looking at the Syrian people, you know, they suffered a lot.
12:19 It’s time to step in. It’s time to do something right. Uh, it’s time to fight all the false media, all the hidden agenda against, you know, what’s happening in the Middle East. And one of the greatest things that encouraged me to move forward and start, you know, see, explore other ways to help the Syrian people in Syria and collaborate with our administration in the States, is having the right administration. Our current administration is completely different than the previous one.
12:49 The previous one was built on supply more weapons, stop more conflict, stop more wars. With the current government, they’re trying, with the current administration, President Trump, he wants to stop war. He wants peace. He doesn’t want conflict. He is a businessman.
13:07 When you understand economy, economy is all about creating opportunities. We don’t like conflict. We avoid it in business. I mean, you’re a business person. So that encouraged me to say, you know what, we have to step in now and even ending the conflict in Syria, it’s a huge advantage for American interests without moving any boots on the ground, without shooting any bullet.
13:31 Diplomacy, economy. We flipped it to our camp very easily. So it’s very achievable and I’m very happy about, you know, what we’re facing today. It’s history in the making.
13:44 Brian Rose: You know, clearly there’s a lot of people that are interested in that area.
13:49 And so we’ve seen, you know, Russia had a lot of bases there. They were projecting a lot of power, even helping, you know, Assad keep his power with a lot of air strikes and things we saw happening. Obviously, Iran was projecting power there in many different ways. And so there’s still people that they don’t want it probably going into, you know, allegiance with the West because it’s such a strategically located place. And so I’m sure there’s people right now that kind of want to keep the West out.
14:19 And so there’s a lot of conflicting interests because it’s just an incredible place. It’s got 25 million people. I believe it’s got natural resources like gas. It strategically, and honestly, just an incredible place where, you know, probably what happens in Syria would bleed out to everything else in that Middle East. It’s also a historic opportunity, and this has already been talked about, um, for, uh, potentially signing these Abraham Accords with Israel.
14:48 Um, and many nations have already signed that, famously the UAE did and Jordan and all these other places. And when something like that happens with such a major player in the Middle East, you could see that causing all the other major players along with that, which would just establish more and more peace in that region. Um, but there’s still a lot of hurdles, because a lot of people want to project power on that country. Must be frustrating to come from a place where everyone’s trying to control it.
15:16 Tarek Naemo: Correct. Absolutely correct. But it’s a bit too late. Time has run out for them. One of the major things I try to shine a light on, look at the Iranians and the Russians try to control Syria, Yemen and Lebanon.
15:33 Look what’s happening in these three countries, and look at the GCC countries. Look at Qatar. Look at UAE. Look at Saudi Arabia in the American camp. Do you see the differences?
15:44 Do you see the differences between even its own people? I think the Syrians today, more than ever, are awake, and they realize they missed on too many opportunities. That’s why they want to correct it today. And this is why I’ve always been great to feel American and British. Um, there is a lot of changes in the Middle East.
16:04 It’s going to happen, especially precisely for Syria. Syria is going to be the new hub for innovation, for technology, for education. So the Syrian people are really excited about the new chance and the new opportunity. I mean, if you go to Syria, you’ll see American flags everywhere. You see President Trump, uh, everywhere.
16:26 Uh, everyone was happy about how the diplomacy and how the communication and how the relationship, it’s opening up with the West. Now, I was surprised being in Damascus engaging with the public on the street and talking to them. They’re so excited and happy. And that makes me happy, too. I mean, all the Russian and the Iranian air strikes and all these years of fighting and killing and violence, we came in without any fights, without any troops.
16:55 I didn’t have to carry a gun with me to go to Syria. I mean, even the congressman, we went there, we were, you know, hosted by the people. Everyone was happy. So that gives you a perspective on how things, you know, like anyone on his right mind, he can see the difference. Look at GCC.
17:12 We love Dubai. We look at Abu Dhabi. We look at Doha. I mean, the world is changing, and it’s time for the people to change their thinking and and look at the neighbors, even the neighboring country um, like Israel. I have a lot of Jewish friends in the States.
17:30 I have a lot of Israeli friends. I mean, we are the new generation. We’re looking for peace. We want to end these old conflicts and hates. We don’t want to.
17:38 We don’t want it. We don’t want it to exist even around us. And we’re very blessed today that we have two administrations, one in Syria and one in the States, that are agreeing on the same thing. Time to end hate, time to end wars. We need a prosperous world.
17:54 We need a peaceful world. We need our new generation to be innovators. I mean, we are witnessing the AI, the technology, the whole thing is changing. The world is changing in a fast way that the human mind cannot even comprehend how fast it’s going. We can’t live in the past anymore.
18:13 So we’re all excited for the new changes.
18:15 Brian Rose: You know, when I, I listen to you talk about this, TK, it almost is like when we fast forward 50 years, we’ll look back on this time and we’ll see war as an anachronism. You know, some outdated concept that doesn’t suit us anymore. And unfortunately you get these wars and sometimes these holy wars that seem to be rooted a thousand years ago. But then when you look at a Dubai or an Abu Dhabi or, you look at, like you said, a Saudi Arabia or Qatar or Bahrain, and you think, look at these places, incredibly prosperous citizens, lively, raising their families with all this hope of the future, and you think, wait a second, why can’t we be like them?
18:54 And you said, Brian, you know, Damascus is Dubai 30 years ago. You said that to me. Look at the potential. We’ve already seen the examples in the region, or you can be a place that’s just dominated by these war efforts. And where would you rather be?
19:07 Yemen, and do that? And the crazy thing, TK, about economic prosperity is that it awakens people, doesn’t it? And when they see that, they’re like, “Wow, these are possibilities. I can be independent. I can take care of my family.
19:22 I can choose peace.” Without that, you know, you’re kind of at this low level of energy where, okay, let’s have conflict. Let’s fight with the other. And it feels like this is an incredible time to be like, “Okay, now it’s time for Syria to come into its own and all the stars are aligned.”
19:37 Tarek Naemo: Absolutely.
19:38 Economic prosperity will end ideologies. Ideologies that build on manipulating religions and using it as a weapon to gain power. That’s the enemy of the people. And unfortunately, we’ve seen many areas that have been hijacked by certain extremists. And we need to end that.
19:57 And that’s what we’re trying to work on. We’re trying to change the narrative for the new generation. We’re trying to awaken their conscious. Tell them you have to realize the danger of these ideology. But how would we do that?
20:13 Through making the generation realize that they have to be, they are on a mission daily to build, reconstruct, innovate, rather than sit down and start in all these scary and very dangerous ideology. So that’s our mission today. Our mission is to invest in youth. Our mission is to invest in the new generation. I think that will change the entire structure of the Middle East, and it will be a great example.
20:43 Just what you said. I mean, whoever cannot see the without question. GCC countries and Yemen, he’ll be blind. I mean, he will be out of his mind. Uh, but again, we’re very excited about what’s going to take place.
21:46 Brian Rose: Some big moments have happened over the past few months. I think one of the biggest ones was when President Trump was on his visit to Saudi Arabia, and he was spending some time with MBS. Um, he was introduced to the new president of Syria, and I don’t know if that was scheduled, but they shook hands, they took a picture. At the time, there were sanctions on Syria, and all of that hadn’t changed, and then they have a great picture, uh, with President al-Sharaa, and then all of a sudden just things started moving, and things started happening, and you know, now every couple days I see a brand new announcement.
22:20 Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, is inviting, you know, foreign ministers of Syria to come to Washington DC. Um, you see all these, uh, British, two days ago, you know, now has normal relations with Syria. It’s all moving really fast, and it seems to really be congruent with what the Trump administration wants for the Middle East and for the world. Like you said, economic prosperity, and the wars, everybody wins.
22:48 Tarek Naemo: I mean, one of the best things that makes America great is the way for the public to engage with their elected official.
22:56 And that’s what paved the way for the visit for President Trump with President al-Sharaa. It wasn’t scheduled, but while he was in Saudi Arabia, he said, “Yes, I would like to meet with him.” So he flew same time to Riyadh, and they met together. But prior to that, there were a few steps that happened down the line that kind of paved the way or created the road map to arrive to this event. Um, so February, I was in, um, I was in Washington DC.
23:25 Tarek Naemo: I was contacted by one of our Syrian community, Dr. TK Tle, from the SAP organization, Syrian American Alliance, and he explained to me, he said, “Look, it’s a great opportunity now. It’s time to act.” And I agreed with him, after being away from, you know, the Syrian community and being focused on the business. And he said, “How can we, how can we pave the way? How can we help the Syrian today?”
23:51 So coming from a business background, I’ve always learned, you know, in my business, in in, in our Richmond Hill Capital company, we learned how to acquire a distressed project and, you know, revitalize these assets to create opportunities while people see it, you know, they don’t agree on it or they think, no, it’s not going to work. So we learned how to create opportunities, how, how we turn conflicts into an opportunity. So we sat down, we built a strategy, how to contact our elected official, and one of them was Congressman Cory Mills, uh, for state of Florida.
24:32 So I contacted him, and we met together. We had great relationship before, and he’s very informed about Middle East policy. He used to be in Iraq. He’s an ex-veteran. He fought in Iraq.
24:45 He knows most of the leaders. He knows about the politics, all the foreign affairs politics about the Middle East. So it was a great timing when I asked him. I said, “What do you think of Syria?” So he gave me a lot of insight, and I told him, “Would you please come with me to Syria?
25:02 Let’s go on a fact-finding mission.” And I was shocked when he looked at me. He said, “I will do it, TK.” I mean, your elected official will turn at your face and tell you, “Yes, I will go to this danger zone country.” You know, people are afraid to go to.
25:17 He said, “I’ll do it.” And when I looked at him, I said, “Are you sure?” He said, “Yes, I will go to you to Syria. It’s part of our duty. It’s a, it’s our American national security interest.
25:30 I want to see what’s happening in Syria and make sure, you know, we’re not being a victim of the false media.” And I said, “Okay, great.” I left that day and I called my wife, and I said, “Do you think he was really honest with me to go to Syria?” She said, “Of course, I’ve always been honest with you. Why wouldn’t he be?”
25:48 So, a few days later, I contacted members of the SAP organization, and I said, “Congressman Cory Mills invited us to go to Congress and he gave us a great tour around, sat down with us, gave us a lot of insight about what was happening in the Middle East, even things that I wasn’t aware of, even that I’m Syrian.” So a few days later, we decided to contact him and say, let’s go ahead and schedule uh, a delegation, an official delegation to Syria. He agreed, and luckily we had Congressman Marlin Stutzman as well.
26:20 We contacted him, and he said, I would be happy to go to Syria. He’s a very religious guy. He said I would like to see the churches. I would like to engage with all the Baptists in Syria, because we have a lot of false information being published in the media. All this information was false.
26:38 So we said okay, we organized the time, and we said we’re going to take off. We met Speaker Johnson the day before. He was aware that they were like, a trip is going to go to Syria, and the reason why we did that is because he was going to go on the news, and President Trump is going to read about it. Right. One of the things I learned about the president, that every morning he has to get a briefing on the news.
27:01 He watches the channels, what’s what type of propaganda being broadcasted today. Right. So, um, we decided to take off. We took off from DC. We headed to Damascus.
27:14 The second I landed in Damascus, I had tears in my eyes. And I am a person who’s quite difficult to have tears in the eyes. I looked around. I said, “Now is the time when I can go back finally to Syria and help Syrians, and dictatorship Assad cannot even go back.” So we got off the plane.
27:38 I mean, it was so emotional for me. Even the two congressmen, they were looking at me and they talked about it. They, I mean, they saw how emotional. So we jumped on the car. I was honored to deploy the first American flag.
27:52 It was one of my dreams. Just to give the people perspective on where you can be. I have a large audience following from, you know, from Syria. They always watch how successful in business, and, you know, that I have my family and my kids. That’s what they want.
28:09 But unfortunately, the civil war prevented all these goals for them. So that was a new gate, new Damascus gate for the Syrians to look at, where we could be if we go to the Western camp. So we had a great time. We went, you know, we went on a tour. We looked at how cities were destroyed.
28:32 And how, you know, I remember my wife, she was going into one of the buildings, and apparently it was a school, and she pulled the test exam for one of the students that was under all the rocks. She pulled it out and I still have picture of it. She looked at it, and it was all written in Arabic. And one of the questions was, “What does the police forces do for you?” And her answer was protection, when there were no protection whatsoever for them.
29:02 I mean, it was either you agreed to with this president, Assad, or you’re dead, and not only you, you and your family and everybody. Can you, can you, how can you operate in such an environment? So, um, we after that we headed back, and we had a meeting with President al-Sharaa in the presidential palace. Great meeting, and the conversation was very inspiring. To see your congressman sitting with the president of the country where you came from.
29:34 It was, it was. I looked at it. It was very emotional for me. I mean, how you know, the best nation in the world, America, having their elected official go and check what’s, you know, what’s happening on the ground. Prior to the visit with President Assad, we went to all the churches.
29:53 We went to two churches in Syria. We engaged with, you know, the top Christian leaders, and we were surprised by what he said. He said, “We’re very happy. We’re secure. We don’t have any issue here.
30:05 The interim government, we can tell they’re trying to do what they can to protect our churches, to protect the public. Um.”
30:14 Brian Rose: “Cuz there’s lots of religions in Syria, right?”
30:17 Tarek Naemo: “It’s a very diverse country. You know, we have Druze, Shia, Muslims, um, Christians.
30:23 I mean, it’s very diverse, and all these people, they live side by side. I mean, you can go to a building, you can see Muslim, Christian, Druze, Alawi, all types of religion. They’re all in the same building. They live together. They’re like family, and that’s what makes Syria very unique culture, and we want to restore this culture.
30:42 Unfortunately, Assad, dictator Assad, was manipulating these minorities and manipulating the religious people and make them fight each other. You know, that’s how you control them.”
30:53 Brian Rose: “That’s how he could divide and conquer. So that’s, this is why he lost it that long. This is why he lost it, 15 years after the civil war.”
31:02 Tarek Naemo: Um, but luckily he’s out of it now. People are more excited to be back together. I mean, they’re flying from all over the world. If you want to go fly to Syria, probably is one of the most expensive airline tickets right now.
31:15 Brian Rose: “All the airlines are full.
31:16 All the planes are full. I mean, they have coming from Europe, Turkey, GCC countries, and hopefully they will open a lot more as well.” “And so that was your visit. Anything else that you want to talk about with the congressman surprised?”
31:31 Tarek Naemo: “Well, the congressman was surprised about a lot of things, especially listening to President al-Sharaa, given the fact that he had a tough history and people were talking about it all the time.”
31:43 So we went to the palace. We sat with the president. He was very pragmatic guy. Sat down, and one of the things that the congressman told him, he said, “I would like to have this conversation. I want to take the presidency away.
31:57 I want to take my, you know, my US official away. We want to talk here to see how we can collaborate, how we can make sure the Syrians are going to thrive today. It’s the rarest chance they’re going to have is today. How we can collaborate.” And we were very amazed by what President al-Sharaa said.
32:17 He was very open to the American and Western camp. He said, “We want to collaborate. We want to build the Syrians. We just, we don’t just want to build Syria. We had enough wars.
32:29 We want to sit down and see how we can strategize to strengthen our ties.” And that was, you know, amazing when we heard it. One of the other things, you know, we talked about was um, the relationship with the neighbor countries, and Abraham Accords and the peace agreement. And I heard President al-Sharaa, he was telling Congressman Cory, he said, “We want Syria to be a safe place. It will never be a country that will create any danger to any neighbor country.”
33:04 And I’ve always sent a signal that I’m ready to shake hands. The Syrians are ready to shake hands and create peace. We don’t want conflict. He was very direct, and you can tell he was very honest about it, and we’ve seen a lot of steps today that have been taking place towards these things. I mean, he ended the Iranian presence, which was the vital role in creating all these wars, and October 7th, horrific, and he ended any presence for Hezbollah in Syria.
33:38 If you go to Syria now, you will not find any of these people existing in Damascus or in Syria. Two months ago, they were heavily present in Syria. So you see a lot of differences happening. He stopped all the weapon supplies that are coming from Iran to Lebanon to fight Israel. He stopped that too.
33:58 So we’ve seen major steps that have been taken by him. It gives us the right signal, say, okay, he’s doing what we need to do. He’s truly working to create a better Syria, a better country for the Syrians, allowing the Syrians to have their chance, rather than tell them I want to go establish, I want to create another war. So we sense that he’s a man turning into economy, into prosperity, into an ecosystem that allows the Syrians to thrive again. He doesn’t want Syrians to be in survival mode.
34:32 He wants them to be in a thriving mode. And that was, you know, very optimistic for us. We were very happy. One of the things I looked at when I was in the palace, the presidential palace, is built on a hill, and you can kind of see Damascus from that hill. So looking through the window, I mean, I couldn’t believe, the previous Assad, I wouldn’t call him even president, the dictator Assad, used to stand at the window looking at the city being bombarded and killing his own people, and he was okay with it.
35:08 But today is a major change. Today we’re seeing optimistic things. Today we’re seeing the Syrians, you know, the fall of Assad. We, you know, we were all nervous. We thought it’s going to turn into a vacuum.
35:23 We said, “Oh my god, what’s going to happen?” But this guy came in and he truly united everybody, and he tried to minimize as much as possible any unlikely event to happen in Syria. And that’s what we were happy about. And that’s where you see the Trump administration saying, “Okay, he’s been doing these steps. We’ve got to work with him.
35:45 We don’t want to create another Iraq. We don’t want to create another Libya.” So, we’re taking the right steps here. And that’s what makes us very optimistic.
35:54 Brian Rose: Yeah.
35:54 Brian Rose: President. You know, al-Sharaa is a fascinating person, and I’ve watched a few interviews with him, and, you know, he’s clearly got a very important job to do, and a very difficult job to do, because so many people would love chaos in Syria right now. And I’m not pointing fingers, but I’m sure the Iranians and the Russians and a bunch of people with interests there would love chaos, because then they can control it again, like they did for 30, 40, 50 years.
36:22 And here’s a guy who clearly loves his country, because he fought as a rebel trying to overthrow this government for, you know, the last 10, 15 years. And now he’s there. He’s trying to walk that thin line and trying to make sure you can maintain order with a bunch of people in that country with different interests. And historically, if you look at the map, there were lots of different groups with different interests in that country. And obviously he’s trying to steer it forward, keep the peace, and build the prosperity.
36:53 Tarek Naemo: Correct. And again, you know, he’s got also an incredible history. And again, if you dive into that history, you can focus on certain points. You know, when he was a young man, he said, “Look, you know, I was a young man who wanted to go ahead and make right in the world.” And when he saw the American invasion of Iraq, he said, “I’m going to go fight this, because it doesn’t seem right.”
37:12 Brian Rose: I think he learned a lot there as part of al-Qaeda, and he went to prison, and I think he learned a lot about what he thought was right and what he thought was wrong, and I think he ended up disagreeing with a lot of the mentality at the time in al-Qaeda, and he spent time there. Um, and it’s fascinating to have these people, like Congressman Cory, who used to be on the opposite side from him, that can now sit in a room and say, “Okay, how do we take this forward?” And I think people can play up parts of his past to try to, again, create that chaos.
37:44 But what I see is a man who clearly wants a new future for Syria. And in fact, if you look deeply at him, maybe all of these experiences he had are not liabilities. Maybe they’re assets, because here’s a guy who’s been there and seen there and done that. He understands the mentalities of what went wrong in the Middle East, and he’s the kind of guy that can say, “Okay, I don’t want that to happen.” Um, what do you make of all that?
38:13 Because it’s an easy thing for people to grab on to.
38:17 Tarek Naemo: Here is why I look at it from that perspective. You’re having the biggest assets today. Person like President al-Sharaa, who actually was on that side. He understood the mentality, and without any pressure, he realized that this is wrong.
38:33 This is not the right one. At the time, everyone wanted to fight Assad. People would go with the devil just to fight Assad, because he was worse than the devil. But for someone like President al-Sharaa to realize, go on that side and realize this is wrong, this is not right. And someone smart like him to realize it’s wrong.
38:55 It’s a major signal. Then he actually was fighting him afterward. Even before Assad and before the American or anything, he realized he’s wrong, and he said this is not right. Today we learned, based on what Congressman Cory said, we learned that we need to utilize these assets. That’s your weapon.
39:17 You know, we went to Iraq. We fought for years. We didn’t achieve anything. And we thought, okay, we all, we want to fight them all. We don’t care whether, you know, we can utilize them or not.
39:29 We want to fight them. We want to fight all of them. That was wrong. Look, look where Iraq is today. So, utilizing, actually working with President al-Sharaa to end these radicalisms is the best thing America and the Western camp can do today.
39:44 And that’s how we have to look at this, not from an emotional perspective. Emotional is weakness. You have to look at it from a factual perspective. How can we utilize someone who’s been there? He understood the mentality.
39:58 He realized it was wrong. That’s the best thing we can use today to end all the ideology and radicalism in the Middle East or even around the world. So that’s how I look at it from my own personal perspective. This is how I analyze things. I’m not an emotional guy.
40:16 I try to look at these from a factual point, and the facts and the logic say this is your biggest asset. You shouldn’t fight. You should actually collaborate on how to end things in there.
40:30 Brian Rose: So, uh, how does he unite a country filled with people with, you know, diverse interests? Because we know there’s people in there that say, “Whoa, you’re meeting with Americans.”
40:43 I mean, and we don’t like America. America’s always been the worst thing for the Middle East. Wait, you’re thinking about talking with Israel? Oh my gosh, that’s our arch enemy in the Middle East. You know, what happened to what we used to fight for?
40:55 You know, and so you’ve seen we had a bombing a couple weeks ago, I think in a Greek Orthodox church, and the media kind of grabbed on to this narrative to show that, okay, there’s still out of control there. And he’s got to try to keep a lot of people happy in a nation that’s been tumultuous for, you know, decades. How does he do that?
41:55 Tarek Naemo: Well, he has a very tough job to do. And actually, if you look at it, he’s surrounded, you know, with all these people that are trying to use anything against him to divide the country.
42:27 And his ultimate goal is keeping unity. His focus is on keeping Syria united. But one of the things that President al-Sharaa focuses on is how we can turn all the Syrians into, he wants to give them the mentality today that there is a chance to prosper. We don’t want to go in the past. And actually, the Syrian people are more than happy today to shake hands, even with Israel.
43:03 You’ve seen the post in the middle of Tel Aviv having all these presidents and saying new Middle East. So I posted this on my social media, and I said, what do you think? I knew I have a large following from the Syrian community in Syria who lives in Damascus. So I posted that. I had close to 1,900 messages.
43:25 When I filtered this through AI, just to see, 90% were so happy. We wish this to happen. I still have the data. We wish this to happen. We can’t wait for it.
43:36 This is the best thing. You know, we are the new generation. Let’s end the conflict. You know, we’ve been 54 years fighting for the cause, and 80% of the Syrian budget for the past 54 years was going to the army. 80% was funding the army, and every time someone asked, either he disappears or they give an answer, we’re fighting for the cause, and the first cause was fighting Syrians.
44:01 I mean, the first tank went to fight the Syrians. So Syrian people don’t want that. They’re diverse, and they said today, we want to create peace. We want to prosper. Give us this chance.
44:13 And we were so happy. We’ve seen the first Syrian Jewish community in 54 years having a special delegation twice going to Syria, being welcomed. One of my friends, uh, Rabbi Ash, he traveled to Syria. He was so happy. He left the delegation.
44:31 He took a taxi by himself, and he stopped going around the city, and he saw the people welcoming him. I mean, when you talk to him, it’s so fascinating for me to see this today. I mean, when we put the American flag everywhere, people were so happy. They, you know, they’re welcoming the idea. They woke up.
44:52 Their conscious is awake today. And this is where I see a major opportunity. Now is the time to act. Now is the time. This is why President Trump said, “Now is the time to give them a chance.”
45:05 And so don’t believe everything you read online and in the newspapers, because when you’re on the ground, you get a completely different feel for what it’s like. But when you go and read everything, they’re going to tell you this is this, or this conflict is happening. But when you’re there on the ground, you see a people that welcome people in, that welcome all these new allies, and that want to build the future. Very soon you’ll see a major business delegation from, you know, the Western camp, English, American.
45:33 They’ll be heading to Syria and they will start investing in Syria, investing in the Syrian people. There’s a lot of talent wasted in Syria. This could be a great potential for the entire world. I mean, Syria is a rock country right now. This is what I heard from foreign minister, uh, Shaibani.
45:52 He said Syria is a rock country. It’s the best environment to rebuild and restructure. So we need to take the opportunity. We need to take this opportunity, and today we’re going to see a lot of major events. It’s going to happen where it’s transforming the country, and that will be an example for the entire world of how we can prosper.
46:14 Brian Rose: So this is a modernization effort that can come from players all in the region, from the Emirates, from America, from Britain, and you can rebuild all this potential, incredible infrastructure in energy and banking and telecommunications. I mean, this is what really Syria needs. It’s an incredible opportunity, right, for the people and for governments around the world and to give it the prosperity that the people want, and then that gets stability, right?
46:39 Tarek Naemo: Absolutely. I mean, Saudi Arabia and the crown prince have contributed a lot. They have helped a lot. I don’t know if you’ve seen when President Trump was in Riyadh with a major audience, and he said we decided to lift sanctions on Syria, and we decided to give them a head start, a new head start. Everyone stood up, and everyone was in tears, and, you know, Crown Prince did this sign saying thank you.
47:07 And the following day, you see half of the Syrians making it like a trend. Everyone started taking a picture and saying thank you. I mean, they appreciate the chance they’re taking, and this is what I see. President al-Sharaa, within 6 months, has achieved more steps than any other president who would fulfill this position. It’s incredible.
47:29 Brian Rose: How did the rest of the players in the region feel about it? Qatar, and, uh, the Emirates, and etc. Is this something that really interests them as well?
47:39 Tarek Naemo: Absolutely, without doubt. That’s their biggest interest, having Syria stable, having Syria out of the Iranian camp, out of these proxy wars.
47:49 They’re so happy. They’re investing in it. They’re coming, saying Syria are our brothers. We need to help them today. They suffered for too long.
47:57 They tried in the past. I mean, Assad was shooting, any, any striking, any chance for the Syrians to thrive. So they’re very excited. There’s a lot of collaboration coming soon. Saudi Arabia has invested a lot.
48:12 They facilitated a lot. I mean, even if you look at Saudi Arabia or Qatar or UAE, you see a large Syrian community that has achieved tremendous success. So they’re happy about it. When they traveled to other countries, or they migrated to other countries, they have done a lot of great success, great technology. That’s why the leaders of these countries want to invest further, because they know there’s a lot of wasted talent in Syria right now.
48:40 And one of the great initiatives being created by some of my friends and colleagues is called the Sink, where they’re going to recruit a lot of Syrians in Syria, Damascus, and other cities, to start doing a lot of innovative work and jobs remotely for other companies worldwide. We’re going to create a lot of initiatives. You’re going to see a major transformation happening very soon, and we’re acting at lightning speed here. We’re all optimistic, and we’re all excited.
49:14 Brian Rose: If everything goes as well as you expect it to go for the second half of this year, what would you say are some of the major milestones that you hope get accomplished? I guess I’m saying 6 months, maybe even a year, or maybe even two years, but what would you like to see happen for this just to continue? Because you need momentum at this point. Every piece is a win, and every piece and every success is insurance that it doesn’t go back to the old way, which is still always a possibility.
49:46 That’s why it’s so important what you’re doing right now.
49:49 Tarek Naemo: Absolutely. Number one, I would like to see is Abra we joining the Abraham Accords. Now, this was mentioned specifically today in a meeting at Washington. Sorry, yesterday.
49:58 Brian Rose: I watched it today. You had Huckabee there, who’s the ambassador to Israel. You had Trump in the room. You had Netanyahu, and literally this came up, and of course, these days, everything I hear about Syria, I pay attention to, after meeting you, and they’re literally saying, you know, we would love for these Abraham Accords to be signed by Syria. That would be a huge milestone.
50:21 Brian Rose: You think that’s actually possible?
50:23 Tarek Naemo: I think, I think we’re going, absolutely. I think we’re going to see it before the end of the year. I’m very optimistic for it, and I’m very excited and happy that we have an administration like President Trump. I mean, if you look at his closest, uh, uh, elected, his closest officials are, uh, Steve Witkoff and Tom Barrack.
50:46 They understand the concept. They know business. They want people to thrive. I mean, Steve Witkoff has been working tremendously. He got too many hostages back.
50:59 They’re almost done with the peace agreement, even with regard to Gaza and Palestine. The steps that they took, it’s major steps. Imagine if we were still stuck with the old administration, where they just supply weapons, say okay, go ahead, start another war. I mean, I can’t believe the people when they look at these news, they’re, you know, okay with it. I mean, it is something that ignites all my senses when I see it.
51:26 People will live in dignity. People will live happily. We’re restoring, we’re restoring the American values. That’s the true American values to me. I mean, my kids are all American.
51:36 This is something I would put my daughter in front of, and open the TV and tell her, look what’s happening. This is how we’re changing the world. This is how we’re shaping the new world. I mean, it’s going to be incredible. As you said in the beginning, Syrian, British, American, the multiculture that I experienced shaped who I am today.
51:59 And that’s what we need to see. We need to see a world with less border, more bridges. And that’s what we need to do in the Middle East. We’re building more bridges. We are building vehicles.
52:10 We’re building hubs to connect both nations. That’s what we need. The Middle East, it’s important, uh, a place to have in our camp. And you know, as I said, we’re going to see a lot of good things and good news, and we’re going to be, I think we’re going to see it before the end of the year. We’re going to join the Abraham Accords.
52:32 Brian Rose: All right. So, that would be a big milestone. Other things, just big investment partners, uh, more people from the American government visiting. What are some of those other things that you really want to see?
52:45 Tarek Naemo: I want to see Syria to be a major hub for AI, for technology.
52:49 I know, you know, I’ve dealt with a lot of Syrians. They’re very high-tech, uh, very well educated, and I see Syria as going to be a major hub for AI. Uh, given the fact that the country is still transforming today, I think it will be a good environment, even a feasible environment, to start any venture in AI. So, we’re going to see a lot of companies, high-tech companies, they’re going to relocate, uh, digital banking, digital assets. Um, um, and when I mean digital assets, today in a digital world, we’re creating data centers.
53:29 These data centers have to operate in certain ways and have to have certain engineers. So, this is what I like to see. I like to see Syria as a hub for AI, for the AI world.
53:41 Brian Rose: What do you think the biggest challenge is, the one thing you’re most concerned about in the next 12 months when it comes to Syria?
53:51 Tarek Naemo: We do have challenges, as you mentioned, that some people or some, uh, evil entities, you know, are still around, lingering, trying to see how can we start a chaos, how can we start, how we can sabotage these efforts?
54:06 And we’ve seen this happen in many, many places. We’ve seen it happening with our President Trump, to try, you know, to assassinate the president. I mean, this is a crazy thing. So, we have to start with ourselves. We have to be immune to it.
54:20 We have to be cautious and very aware of what’s happening, because you can be deceived. Any of these manipulations or chaos, uh, uh, projects they’re trying to throw, whether in Syria or any other country, the public has to be fully aware and cautious on how to deal with it and how to understand it, otherwise they will fall into that trap. So I think this is one of the biggest challenges we’re going to face today.
54:47 Brian Rose: Yeah, it’s really a communication challenge too.
54:50 Um, I, I keep reading about some of these things they’re discovering in Syria, and you know, these mass graves and some of these prisons, and we read these horror stories, which I guess shouldn’t surprise us, because we knew this regime was really bad before and dangerous. But I’m always thinking, like, how do you process, you know, the trauma of everybody that’s been in Syria for the past decades and go to this new level? Is that ever something you think about?
55:17 Because you hear these things in the news, and you think, “Wow, you know, this is hard. This is hard to learn about.” And I’m just wondering, you know, do you ever think about that, and the population, and how we make this transition? Obviously, all the things you’re talking about are one of the great ways to process this, but it seems like there’s still a lot that’s going to have to be dealt with by the population over the next decade.
55:41 Tarek Naemo: It is a huge challenge, but you’ve got to look at the history.
55:44 I mean, we’ve seen other nations, other communities face the same thing. One of them is the Jewish community. They had the Holocaust, and look at them today. They’re thriving. They’re creating the best AI hub.
55:55 The best labs in the world are existing in Israel. So I think we can overcome this challenge and the trauma issues that were created back in the days. I think that will ignite. The Syrian people are very well educated, and that will ignite them and give them a push to say, you know what, we want to make it happen. We want to rebuild again.
56:18 We want to prove to the world who we are, what we are capable of. I think they will use that as fuel to prove to the world what they can achieve.
56:28 Brian Rose: Yeah.
56:29 Tarek Naemo: And that’s what they’ve done. I mean, in other countries, all these migrant, uh, Syrians that went to other countries created, I mean, huge things.
56:39 I can sit down and tell you about a lot of things they created, that they will use all these horrific incidents and violence as fuel to re-prove themselves again and create a better environment and world and country for their next generation. And I think that’s what I’m working on too.
56:58 Brian Rose: So, it’s actually true. Sometimes that trauma can create the best results. You know, if you look at some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, a lot of times they’re there because they had to deal with traumas.
57:13 And so, this, in a weird way, could be one of the greatest gifts. And in 20 years, you might look back and say, “Wow, they took all of this, and they reminded themselves of where they used to be, and they took that and built this incredible future. With the vow, we’re never going to go back to this. We’re never going to go back to the chaos. We’re never going to go back to the war.
57:32 We’re going to build something.
57:34 Tarek Naemo: I mean, look at it. 54 years, Assad was trying to spread fear amongst all Syrians. They overcame it. They did not.
57:43 They didn’t fall for it. They said, “You know what? We’re going to overcome this fear.” And they realized that fear does not prevent death. It only kills life.
57:51 And they don’t want to lose life. So, where we arrived today was a major achievement by the Syrians, say, you know what? We’re going to stand up to this brutal dictator. We’re going to fight it. And they did, and they won.
58:03 And I think they will win over all this trauma, and they will prove to the world what they can achieve today. Um, so, you know, the world is going to watch, and we’re going to see a lot of exciting things happening.
58:16 Brian Rose: So you’re going to show me Damascus?
58:18 Tarek Naemo: Oh yes, absolutely. You’re going to love it.
58:21 Tarek Naemo: Yeah, we’re going to visit all the holy sites. Incredible holy sites. We have a city called Maaloula, with one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s under the cave when you go in. I mean, I don’t want to tell you more about it.
58:39 I want you to experience it when you walk in. Uh, other areas where you see, I mean, we have many places where you see a church right next to a mosque. I mean, this is how incredible the community and the society are. I think it will just fascinate you when you look around and say, “Wow, this is incredible. I never heard about it.
59:03 I was just watching the news, conflict, murders, violence.” But you can see a lot of different things on the ground. So, you’ll be looking forward to it.
59:13 Brian Rose: You know, it’s one thing I’ve learned, Eric, being in the media business the last 14 years, is that, you know, nothing compares to direct experience. And that goes to a place, and that goes to a person.
59:26 So many times I’ve had guests on this show where I’ve made up my mind about them because of what I’ve read about them and heard about them. Oh, he’s this, she’s this, they’re this. And when I sit down and have a two-hour conversation with them, I realize, wait a second, that’s not true. It’s much more nuanced than this. And I realize, you know, they’re a human being trying to live their life according to the values that they understand.
59:49 And I understand that. And I’m very curious to see what it’s like to go to Damascus, you know, and it’s, like you said, considered the heart of the Middle East. I keep thinking of that line from Lawrence of Arabia, Damascus, Damascus. The road through Damascus. They all knew that was the key.
1:00:05 That was the place to be. Like I said, the oldest city in the world, and to see what it’s really like, um, as opposed to everybody’s narrative and the things you read about on the news and the videos, just to see what’s really happening there and what the conversations are like, what the people say. And like you said, when you take a walk on your own, what does it feel like? And I experienced the same thing in the Middle East. People said, “Oh, Dubai is this, it’s that.
1:00:31 It’s a fake place. It’s like Vegas in the Middle East.” I go there, it’s one of the most wonderful places I’ve ever been. The local Emiratis are incredible people with compassion and vision, and it’s super inspiring, a place I love, but if I listen to the news, I would have never gone. And my parents in America think it’s a dangerous place, and it couldn’t be more different than that.
1:00:52 And so I’m looking forward to experiencing Damascus, to see what’s really going on. And like you said, there’s so much potential. You know, 25 million people, this incredible geography, incredible resources. you in the investment club.
1:01:52 Tarek Naemo: It’s very interesting that you said the road through Damascus.
1:02:08 The road to Damascus. One of the first things that Congressman Cory Mills told me when I told him let’s go to Syria. He said, of course, I read the book. It says the road goes through Damascus. We have to go to Damascus.
1:02:20 So it’s interesting how you said the same thing as you said about Dubai. When you tell some people, hey, I’m going to Dubai, oh, where is that, UAE? Oh, do they speak English there? I mean, that’s the type of questions I receive, but when you go to Damascus, to Syria, you’ll see people are very welcoming. They, you know, they treat hospitality as unbelievable there, and you see how they welcome you no matter where you came from.
1:02:51 You’re going to be really impressed by your community. You’re going to say, “Oh my god, I’ve been watching these news and listening to all of that.” But this is the true Syrian. I mean, it’s going to be a wonderful trip. You’re going to do a lot more.
1:03:02 Both congressmen, I mean, as soon as they left, they said, “We want to be back here again as soon as possible.” I mean, we like the community. We like the people. You know, you will go through all the markets, the old markets, local markets. It’s just fascinating.
1:03:19 Brian Rose: Sounds like an incredible experience we’re about to have. Um, and I’m looking forward to really seeing what it feels like on the ground. Um, I’ve been learning a lot about what’s happening. And again, I’ve been watching the president, and he really just seems like an incredible guy. Very stoic.
1:03:34 Seems like he has a real vision of this country, and, um, really there’s just so much potential. And, uh, just curious, any final thoughts, um, you know, about what you would tell the world to be watching for, you know, and what would you tell the world to focus on when it comes to Syria for the next 3 to 6 months?
1:03:58 Tarek Naemo: I will tell the world, avoid fake media. Avoid any fake media that will feed into your subconscious and make you skip a lot of opportunities today.
1:04:09 This is number one. Number two, with regard to Syria, Syria is on a major transformation today. I think one of the rarest nations or countries that is going to have a huge transformation at lightning speed, and I would encourage everybody to pay more attention to it. Go to Syria, contact, if you have any Syrian friends. It’s going to be a major change, and I would love to see people be part of that change.
1:04:38 It’s a history in the making, honestly. So, I encourage everyone to look more, avoid fake news, engage more with your, you know, any Syrian community or any Syrian individual, you know, make a trip. A lot of Americans have gone there. I mean, I look at the statistics, I’ve seen a lot of tourists who start actually going around and watching the city and going from city to city. It’s relatively, right now, it’s safe.
1:05:09 You won’t feel, I mean, I went, I was driving around. I went around. I haven’t had any feeling of threat. I probably would be walking in Manhattan, and I’ll be more cautious, looking around, saying, oh, anyone around me here? Um, but the society in Syria is very welcoming.
1:05:29 I mean, you’ll feel like you’re more, even if there is, they speak the language, but even if you hear a different accent, you still feel the bonding with them. They make you feel welcome, home, and that’s what’s unique about Syria, that’s what’s unique about the Syrian people. So, um, I encourage everyone to pay more attention to Syria, pay more attention to what’s going on, and, uh, hopefully we’ll have a lot of new great things happening in Syria.
1:05:56 Brian Rose: If people want to get in contact with you and they want to learn more, if they want to be a part of this, what’s the best way to do it?
1:06:04 Tarek Naemo: I, I, you know, we’re working through creating, um, actually a chamber of commerce right now. We welcome everybody to reach out. We’ll have a base in Miami. We’ll have a base in DC. We’ll have a base in Syria.
1:06:16 Even the other way around. I mean, we welcome all the Syrians to come to us and tell us, tell us more about American values. Tell us what we need to learn. What are we missing? And that’s what we need to spread awareness.
1:06:29 We want people to encourage them to say, “Come here. This is the Syrian-American Chamber of Commerce. We’ll have one for England, too. Um, come to us. Any questions, anything on your mind, any initiative you want to create, any idea?”
1:06:43 And actually, Brian, I was surprised, the minute we just talked about the idea, I was surprised by the amount of people that were so excited about it. Say, “We love the idea. Just tell us more. We want to know more. We want to be part of this transformation.
1:06:58 We want to be part of this history.” So, I honestly encourage anyone to reach out on the Chamber of Commerce, even reach out on my social media platform. Sometimes, you know, my team reviews all the messages. Uh, we want to, we want to engage, and we want to communicate with anyone who has interest.
1:07:16 Brian Rose: Absolutely.
1:07:17 Brian Rose: Well, I think I’m a, I’m a victim of that. That I met you 10 days ago at a conference, and we just started talking about this, and I don’t know, maybe it’s your passion, maybe it’s because something deep inside of me could see this is a historic opportunity, maybe it was my fascination with the region, but I mean, you had me hooked, and this whole concept seems really interesting to me. I don’t know why. It’s not like I’ve ever been to Syria before. It’s not like I have a background in Middle Eastern studies, you know, um, but I mean, I’m aware of what happens in the world, and obviously I’ve spent some time in the UAE, but, um, that’s the reason we’re talking today, is because I find this really fascinating, and the more I listen to you, the more I can see this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, maybe once in a millennium opportunity to literally change the course of history and to take the world in a place that doesn’t revolve around conflict.
1:08:13 It revolves around prosperity and peace. And I think this is a chance to make a shift in human paradigm, where, you know, we don’t have to fight each other anymore. We can all win and provide for our families and create this amazing future. We literally could be on the precipice of this. And strangely enough, the focal point really could be a place like Damascus.
1:08:35 Tarek Naemo: And this is important. The greatest thing happening today is our administration, the American administration, are taking the right stand, which encouraged people like me to go ahead and ignite the greatness in every individual human being. When we met, all that I’ve done, I’ve just told you, I tried to ignite the greatness within your core, and said, you know what, this makes sense. We are creating history. You went back to London.
1:09:04 You probably, you know, did your homework. You looked at the news. You researched everything and said, “Wow, how are we missing on this?” So, it all starts from how our American government is today taking actions, taking steps, encouraging people to connect, encouraging people to brainstorm together, how can we collaborate, how can we avoid danger, how can we avoid radicalism without creating wars and fights? And this is one of the best chances we are witnessing today.
1:09:35 This is why I’m encouraged. That’s why many people are encouraged, saying, you know what? Let’s be part of this history. Let’s avoid the chaos. Let’s avoid the fake media.
1:09:44 Let’s avoid all these wrong feeds trying to feed everybody and creating hate amongst people. So, we’re very fortunate to witness what’s happening today. And I’m, I was very happy to meet with you in in Nice as well, um, and talk about it. And I saw your passion right away, and I’ve seen how you were excited about it. You said, “Tell me more about it.
1:10:06 I, you know, I probably don’t know much about the Middle East. I know about Dubai. I’ve been to Dubai. But I can, I can read it in your eyes. I can read it, that you, you know, and many people are like that, which is great to see.”
1:10:19 Brian Rose: Yeah. It’s really encouraging, isn’t it, that so many people are interested in this.
1:10:23 Tarek Naemo: Absolutely.
1:10:24 Brian Rose: And, uh, look, I wanted to have you on to talk about the story, to be continued. Uh, I think the next step is I will visit Syria with you in Damascus and really give that report from the ground.
1:10:34 I think a lot of people will be fascinated with that. I’m pretty interested in what I see, and there’s nothing like actually being there on the ground, cuz you see and feel everything, and I can’t wait to report back and just, you know, tell the world what’s happening there, and talk about this opportunity, and talk about the challenges, and see if we can go forward. I’m so happy with this new administration. I’m so happy you even get to be empowered of going there alone and taking those Congress people with you, and yeah, man, it’s just great.
1:11:03 It’s almost this beautiful thing of freedom happening. So, uh, look, man, looking forward to this adventure. Um, congratulations for all the hard work. I know this has been something you’ve been working on for decades, you know, so I know that this isn’t something that just happened with you a couple years ago. I know this is something that’s been in your heart for a long time.
1:11:23 And, uh, so again, man, uh, congrats on all the hard work.
1:11:27 Tarek Naemo: Thank you very much, Brian. I think, I think I’ve been prepared enough all these years, and it, you know, it just happened. I, you know, I had goals. I had vision.
1:11:38 I wanted to build my family. I want, you know, to create a better future for my kids. And I think while I was working on this, it just by default prepared who I am today. Say, you know what, we have to leave a legacy. I mean, success is not only in business and money.
1:11:55 It’s truly to leave a legacy behind you, to change the future for the next generation. So that’s what we need to work on today. And Syria will be very lucky to have you. I mean, having you is a big asset to go and witness these changes, you know, document these changes. It will be great, great things to change the narrative and tell the world, look what we could do today.
1:12:18 And that’s what President Trump is trying to do, actually. He’s trying to tell the world this is what we can achieve today. Let’s work together. So, uh, we’re all excited. We’re excited for your trip to Syria as well.
1:12:30 Um, you’ll have a lot of good food. The food is amazing there.
1:12:34 Brian Rose: Can’t wait.
1:12:35 Tarek Naemo: Yeah, the food, the food is amazing there. And we’ll visit too many, you know, holy sites, and too many touristy, and Syria has like a long history.
1:12:44 I mean, you will witness. We’ll take you to Palmyra. I mean, if you heard about Palmyra, a beautiful place, I mean, has a lot of history, and you’ll be able to read about it. You’ll be able to understand the concept of the civilization. Syria, it’s quite unique and different than any other countries around, just because of the diverse culture.
1:13:06 Uh, Syria and Lebanon, I, you know, I see them, it’s like one country. Um, Lebanon is the Lebanon is the same thing as well, but I see them just like one country.
1:13:15 Brian Rose: I visited Lebanon in 2005, and at the time my friend from the United States said, “What are you doing there?” because of all the history and all, again, all the media bias, but he ended up flying in with me. And we experienced it, and it was incredible. We really had an amazing time there.
1:13:31 So I’ve dipped my toe in once, and we’ll see how it feels.
1:13:35 Tarek Naemo: Lebanese are great people, actually. You know, they, they have, they, anything they touch, they put love into it. It’s always created out of love, even in food, in service, in anything they’re doing, no matter how small it is, they always like to pour love into it. So, it’s a great culture.
1:13:53 Lebanese, I mean, I still see them as one country. Lebanon, in Syria, I see them just like one nation or one people. And uh, hopefully we’re going to have more unity in the Middle East, and we can have a new, beautiful, peaceful, and prosperous Middle East. Very happy to witness that.
1:14:11 Brian Rose: Next stop, Damascus.
1:14:12 Thank you, T. Appreciate it. Looking forward to it.
1:14:14 Tarek Naemo: Thank you for having me, Brian.
1:14:16 Brian Rose: All right.
1:14:16 Thanks a lot.
