Sunday, April 29, 2012

Anniversary of Bin Laden

By Micah Halpern
Monday April 30, 2012

I've Been Thinking:

Wednesday is the anniversary of the assassination of Osama bin Laden.

On May 2, 2011 the United States embarked upon a spectacular mission that resulted in the killing of the world's #1 terrorist leader.

And now, one year later, the West should be on high alert.

The terrorist world is highly aware of anniversaries. Terrorists preach, talk and write about anniversaries - about the events and the players. And they sermonize about exacting revenge against their enemy.

Over the past month al Qaeda has let loose a non-stop program of propaganda about exacting revenge against America and the West and anyone who could be blamed for killing Osama bin Laden.

There is no actionable intel offering details or targets - but there is no doubt that there are groups working to strike out at us this week. Even more problematic that the group effort is the lone wolf -and there are certainly line wolves who are planning attacks, too.

Americans, Westerners, be wary, be alert, stay smart.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Saudis & GCC to Confront Iran

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The GCC, the Gulf Cooperation Council, composed of six Gulf states, is starting to organize a significant front to protect itself from two threats on the horizon.

The first threat is Iran and Iranian nuclear aspiration.

The second threat is the Arab Spring.

The Saudi deputy foreign minister outlined their strategy saying that the GCC must coordinate defense and intelligence resources.

The GCC, composed of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Oman, is the most organized subgroup within the Arab world. They are Western allied and feel a great threat from Iran and Islamists movements. They view the Arab Spring as an Islamist cast off of Western influence. And they understand that the obsession the United States has with liberalizing the Arab world and calling for Arab elections is catastrophic to their own point of view and positions of power.

The GCC sees all Iranian moves, including the desire for nuclear technology, as a power grab and an attempt to inject Shiite control over the region.

The GCC seems to have a very well defined and informed strategy and may be one of the only groups with a workable plan to repel the Iranian threat.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Necrophilia in Eygpt and Islam

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The Egyptian parliament is debating the "Farewell Intercourse Law."

This is a law that will, if passed, permit men to practice necrophilia. According to the Farewell Intercourse Law a man will be permitted to man have sex with his dead wife within six hours of her death.

I couldn't make this up.

The legal precedent is brought forth by an Iman from Morocco named Azamazi. Last year this Imam explained that the death of a spouse does not end the marriage, that in Islam, husband and wife are married in the afterlife. If they are married in the afterlife they will have sex there - so when one is alive and one is dead, that is just a transition status.

The expression Azamazi used was that necrophilia is "halal." In Arabic and in Islamic law halal is kosher. It means that it is acceptable in Islamic law.

Imam Azamazi also taught women can do the same with their husbands -which is highly unlikely. The Imam concluded his fatwa, his religious ruling, by saying that this behavior, even if permissible, is not advisable.

The parliamentary debate revolved around whether the world will look askance if Egypt passes this law - and if the Egyptians should care about what the world thinks.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Friday, April 27, 2012

Egypt Pres Election is Hot

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The Egyptian election for president is taking place next month. As of now 13 candidates have been approved to run.

Yesterday a panel of Islamic leaders endorsed Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate. The reason the committee formed and then issued an endorsement is that Abdel Moneim Abolfotoh recently split from the Muslim Brotherhood and is mounting a more practical and more realistic Islamic campaign.

The two candidates are certain to split the Muslim Brotherhood vote.

This announcement and the meeting that preceding it were meant to undercut Abolfotoh's campaign.

The campaign is not liberal by any means - but it is more practical. That might just speak to Egyptian Islamic voters. And if it does, then the Muslim Brotherhood will watch the presidency slip through their fingers

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Girls Revolt in Saudi Arabia

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

There has been a minor revolution in Saudi Arabia - and it may have major results. No one in the West is talking about it, but I'll tell you what happened.

A school for girls in Saudi Arabia officially erected a set of basketball hoops and is permitting the girls to play during their spare time. It is the first state run school officially permitting sports for girls, the first school to say that sports is a proper use of student time.

This is no small event in Saudi education. It means that the old school attitude towards girls and modern physical activity is being chipped away. Female sports means placing an emphasis on things which have until this very moment been taboo in Islamic culture.

There will most certainly be a backlash. I expect some violence and serious rhetorical attacks against Saudi leadership, against the parents and against the girls themselves.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

New Cyber Attack Against Iran

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Iran was hit by another computer virus. This is a Viper virus. Once it opens it propagates and continues to grow in every file that is opened.

The Viper targeted oil production and oil transfer components of Iran. It also struck the Oil Ministry. On

Sunday the ministry shut down and took numerous computers offline to protect its programs.
The official response from Iran is that no data was lost.
That is a ridiculous assertion - the Viper and viruses like the Stuxnet and DUQU which previously struck Iran are not about data.

The purpose of these viruses is to corrupt the command system. The viruses literally have minds of their own. When you want A, you get Z instead.

This virus, the Viper, is a very bold strike against the very soft belly of Iran. Until now the cyber war was against nuclear facilities and research - annoying and a setback to "the cause."

This attack strikes at the heart of the Iran's financial sources and livelihood. Fifty of the country's most gifted techi's were summoned to the Oil Ministry on Tuesday to put their heads together to solve the crisis and make certain that the oil industry is safe.

I am curious to see if they will succeed.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
 
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Turkey Isolates Israel in NATO

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

NATO is having a summit in Chicago on May 20-21.

It seems that that Turkey is making it clear that Israel should be banned from the summit.
Behind closed doors Turkey is saying that Israel has not apologized for the flotilla.

Officials of NATO have said that the purpose of the organization is inclusive - and Israel is part of a subgroup of regional committees within NATO.

Officially, Turkey is saying that they have not made any appeal to NATO on the subject. The reality is that Turkey is continuing a campaign to isolate Israel. They are doing their best to try to coordinate condemnation of Israel.

It appears that, this time at least, NATO is not biting at the bait.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Monday, April 23, 2012

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Wednesday is the anniversary of the assassination of Osama bin Laden.

On May 2, 2011 the United States embarked upon a spectacular mission that resulted in the killing of the world's #1 terrorist leader.

And now, one year later, the West should be on high alert.

The terrorist world is highly aware of anniversaries. Terrorists preach, talk and write about anniversaries - about the events and the players. And they sermonize about exacting revenge against their enemy.

Over the past month al Qaeda has let loose a non-stop program of propaganda about exacting revenge against America and the West and anyone who could be blamed for killing Osama bin Laden.

There is no actionable intel offering details or targets - but there is no doubt that there are groups working to strike out at us this week. Even more problematic that the group effort is the lone wolf -and there are certainly line wolves who are planning attacks, too.

Americans, Westerners, be wary, be alert, stay smart.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Egypt Stops Israeli Gas

By Micah Halpern 
I've Been Thinking:

Of course, things could be worse but - the relationship between Israel and Egypt has reached a thirty year low. Egypt has officially cancelled their natural gas deal with Israel. The new policy went into effect on Thursday and was not made public until Sunday.

Thirty three years ago Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty and part of the treaty was that Egypt would provide natural gas for a predetermined price.

Since the ousting of Mubarak the pipeline has been attacked fourteen times. And since the ousting there has been massive public rejection of the special relationship and treaty that Egypt has with Israel.

So they shut the pipeline down.

This will have a huge impact on Egypt. It will set them back economically and will send the wrong message to corporations and countries thinking of doing business with them. The Egyptians are sending out a message saying that they are not reliable. The only country that may view this as a good thing is Iran - and Egypt is unlikely to accept investment from their arch enemy Iran even if they are starving.

The occasion was used as a platform for the candidates running for president in the Egyptian election. They each weighed in on the topic and, not surprisingly, praised the decision.

Consider this typical of current decision making in Egypt. We can look forward to more of the same.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Church Bombing in Sudan

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Last night a church was fire bombed in Khartoum, Sudan.

Tensions in Khartoum, a very valuable oil city and important region, are fierce. There is no doubt that the reason for the conflict is oil - but the reason for targeting a church is religious.

The church is a symbol of outsiders, of non-Muslims. The tension emerges because both Muslims and Christians in Khartoum are locals.

We are not talking about Western missionaries, but still, the Christians of Khartoum are being labeled as interlopers and told that they do not belong.

So the church was targeted and it was bombed.

Once again I ask: Where is the Christian world, where is the Western world, how can this clearly targeted attack pass without no comment let alone outcry from Westerners around the world?

As with the persecution of Christians in Egypt, I feel as if I am a lonely voice howling in the wind.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Palestinians Say They Struck Oil

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

There have been several reports over the past few days that the Palestinian Authority has begun oil exploration in Ramallah.

I have not been able to verify these reports.

I can say that it sounds farfetched.

Even if someone has set up what appears to be a drill site it is highly unlikely that there is any oil in Ramallah - other, of course, than olive oil. World class geologists have combed the region and found no oil.
More importantly, Ramallah is on a mountain range. And oil exploration is extremely risky and very expensive.

I do not see any serious oil groups taking that risk in a location that is such an obvious non-starter.

There is a back story and a motivation for the announcements. The Palestinians want to make it appear as if they found something --- something very valuable--- something the Israelis could not find and - this is the most important part - that the oil belongs to the them, the Palestinians, and not to the Israelis.
But it is all still highly unlikely.

Micah@MicahHaleprn.com 

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Friday, April 20, 2012

Games Continue w/ Iran

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The game continues.

As I reminder: Several days ago I wrote that Iran was outsmarting the EU by making the first move and cutting off oil sales and forcing them to scramble to find new suppliers before Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain were going to cut themselves off from Iranian oil.

In essence, Iran was cutting the European Union off before the EU total boycott went into effect and cut them off.

Then yesterday the Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghassemi denied reports claiming that Iran stopped supplying oil to Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain. He said that Iran sells to all of Europe except France and England.

All this is a smoke screen. Iran needs Europe to know that their oil flow starts and stops as easily as the turning of a spigot.

Iran's game is to clearly say that they have actually made money since the embargo. They claim to have earned $14 billion more than in this period last year. How could that be the case with the embargo in full swing?

There are two reasons: Reason one is that the price of oil has increased, so even if they are selling less oil, they can still be making more money. Reason two is that China and India are picking up every barrel of slack. Every barrel that Iran produces has a buyer. And China and India do not care about the international embargo.

Just yesterday China announced that they disagree with the United States policy of punishing people who do business with Iran.

Here you have it, the game of international diplomacy.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Unusual Guests at the Temple Mt


By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

On Wednesday the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem received two very special guests.

The guests traveled together and prayed together, one of them actually led the prayers.

Who were these guests? They were Ali Gomma, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and Ghazi bin Muhammad, Prince of Jordan. The prince is the first cousin of King Abdullah II.

An aide to the Grand Mufti said that he did not enter Israel or get a visa from either the border authority or the Interior Ministry. That means he came in with the prince on his private helicopter.

Last week another prince visited Al Aqsa. That time it was the son of Abdullah II.

There are several reasons for these sudden visits to the Mosque. Most importantly, Jordan is exerting its religious authority over the Temple Mount which was in their control until 1967. The Jordanians still have a major say in its operation - Israel prefers Jordanian control to Palestinian control over this very holy site.

There are also ugly rumors circulating that Israel is causing damage to the Temple Mount, especially at the Mugabri Gate. The rumors are untrue and unfounded and the revered guests are able to report back about the situation.

The Temple Mount is an extremely sensitive site. Anger over the site could instigate a war in the Islamic world. It is in the best interest of everyone to make certain that, despite rumors and propaganda, all is well cared for and in order.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

England to Expell Imam

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

It looks like it is finally happening. Abu Qatada, an Imam in England, may finally be deported to Jordan.

Jordan has convicted Qatada of terror attacks. Court papers in Spain and England have submitted that he is a major al Qaeda figure. There is no doubt that he certainly preaches the message of al Qaeda.

Until now Qatada avoided extradition, but the momentum of the courts is now in full swing - they seem to have all their papers in order and are confident that this terror spewing Imam will be deported.

Abu Qatada is a perfect example of an Al Qaeda leader. He teaches and preaches hatred and violence in the name of Islam. When he gets back to Jordan he will be retried for previous acts of terror.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Iran is Courting Egypt

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:


Iran is attempting to mend bridges with Egypt.

There has never been any love lost between the two countries, primarily because they have diametrically opposed stands on Islam.

And then after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the spilt became impossible to breach.

Iran actually named a square after the Sadat assassin and proclaimed him a hero.
But yesterday the Egyptian press was the guests of the Islamic Republic in Teheran. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salehi met with the Egyptian media and talked about nuclear issues.
The Iranian FM promised that Iran would provide nuclear technology and expertise to Egypt - but under supervision.

This is actually Iran's ultimate goal. Iran wants to provide nuclear technology to any and every country that asks for it throughout the world.

Iran wants to remove the United States from the global picture.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
 
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Monday, April 16, 2012

Sinai Heating Up

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Security personnel along the Egyptian border were on extra high alert on Saturday and Sunday.

Why? Because last week the natural gas pipeline leading to Jordan and Israel was blown up for the 14th time.

And indeed, on both Saturday and Sunday the security fence sensors were set off.

Also on Sunday armed bands attacked and killed two Egyptian policemen in the Sinai Desert.

There is great worry that the rockets and the smuggling in the dessert will lead Israel to strike at terror targets in Sinai. That is what Omar Suleiman, the former Mubarak spy chief and currently disqualified presidential candidate, recently said.

Suleiman told the Egyptians that if they do not control Sinai, Israel will attack.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Candidates Dissed in Egypt

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The committee supervising the Presidential elections in Egypt disqualified 10 candidates yesterday evening.

Threats of violence are in the air.

The disqualified included the Muslim Brotherhood candidate who is by far the most popular in the field. He was disqualified because of two criminal convictions. Also disqualified was the Salafist candidate about whom it is said that his mother held a US passport.

He was disqualified even though a court ruled on Thursday that he was eligible.

Another popular and disqualified candidate is the former spy chief and deputy PM who was only appointed deputy PM a few days before Mubarak's resignation. He is said to be too close to the former regime.

The disqualified candidates have 48 hours to appeal. Everyone thinks that they will appeal.

If these decisions stand they could change the nature of the presidential election. We must watch closely and see how this plays out.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Saturday, April 14, 2012

German Distribute 25 Mill Korans

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

An Islamic leader in Germany is in the middle of a plan to distribute 25 million Korans to the people of Germany.

The Imam is a dynamic leader from Cologne. He is a Salafist. The Salafists are a very conservative element of Islam - even more conservative than the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thus far 300,000 Korans have been distributed.

The cleric wants to save the non-believers from hell. Others are up in arms over the Koran blitz. Opponents are saying that it is a personal violation of freedom of speech and a platform for extremist ideology and even terror.

The national security agencies responsible for watching extremist groups in Germany are monitoring this situation very closely.

In reality there is no real threat. My only caveat to that is there are about 80 million people in Germany. That would mean that there will be a Koran for every three people, or, more than one per family.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Friday, April 13, 2012

Egypt Surges Troops in Sinai


By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Egypt has bolstered its army presence in the Sinai desert. They have just added significant numbers of troops along the border.

The new troop surge is there for three reasons. First, the Egyptians need to fight the illegal smuggling that takes place there. Second, the Egyptians are making an effort to clamp down on the rockets that are shot from Sinai into Israel. Third, Egypt is trying to prevent the blowing up of the gas lines that run through the area.

In other words, bringing more troops to the Sinai desert is an effort to bring law and order to the Sinai desert.

The single largest business in the area is smuggling. Consequently, stopping smuggling is not very popular with local Egyptians and the army has not been very successful in stopping the smuggling industry.
The important thing is that Egyptian leadership, aka the Egyptian army is taking a stand. And it is a law and order stand and that, hopefully, will have an impact on the Egyptian elections slated to take place in June.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Bibi Drops Demand - Jewish State

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Next week Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to meet face to face with Palestinian Authority President Abbas. They each have an agenda.

Netanyahu wants to continue face to face talks and is willing to drop his demand that the PA first recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Abbas has a list of demands that he wants Israel to comply with without any negotiating. One of those demands is a total halt to all settlement activity.

A huge problem may emerge.

Israel already embarked on a 10 month settlement stoppage - and no progress emerged. The only thing that did come out of that stoppage was the desire on the side of the PA to extend the stoppage.

Stopping settlements seems to be the objective of the PA, not peace.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Iran Outsmarts EU

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Yesterday Iran cut its export of oil to Greece and to Spain. They also threatened to cut their exports to Italy and Germany.

Why would they do that? Don't they need markets for their oil?

Aren't they suffering from sanctions already?

They are and they do. But ... Great force and pressure has been laid on nations around the world by the United States and her Western allies to stop importing oil from Iran. As a result, as of July 1, the EU is supposed to discontinue all Iranian imported oil. So the Iranians are making the first move - they are stopping first.

Iran is one upping the EU ante. They are forcing thU to scramble for much needed oil resources. As opposed to Iran hurting economically, Iran is causing economic pain to those countries that were about to strike out against them.

Only one nation in the EU, Norway, produces enough oil to sustain itself.

Once again, the Iranians are outsmarting everyone.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Iran Can Survive Sanctions


By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced yesterday while on a visit to the Hormuzgan Province that Iran can easily survive oil sanctions for at least 2 years - even if they do not sell any oil.
"They (Western powers) want to impose sanctions on our oil and we must say to them that we have that much saved that even if we didn't sell oil for two to three years, the country would manage easily."
True, Iran has become energy independent. But what Ahmadinejad neglected to say is that the vast majority of Iran's GNP is oil.

What Ahmadinejad is really saying is that the sale of oil to those who do not care about the boycott against can keep them afloat.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Monday, April 9, 2012

Iran's Inflation

by Micah Halpern
I’ve Been Thinking:
I saw a picture in an Iranian newspaper the other day in which Ahmadinejad was holding up a T-shirt with pictures of the Iranian nuclear scientist who were assassinated. Since 2010 four high level Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed.

Ahmadinejad was saying that you cannot assassinate or intimidate us into stopping our nuclear development. He called the scientists martyrs.

But there was some very bad news in the same newspaper. The inflation figure for 2011 was released and Iran claims that inflation rose 21.5% and the cost of goods rose 14.1%.

These figures are official government numbers. That means that they are probably grossly understated.

The real figures for inflation are probably 35-40% and the costs of goods have probably increased by 30%.

All the news that’s fit to print, Iranian style.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
 
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Sunday, April 8, 2012

Egypt's Election Heats Up

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The Presidential election in Egypt has taken some interesting turns.

The former spy chief has thrown his hat in to the ring. That puts an interesting spin on the election. The image of the past will be front and center.

In addition, the former head of the Arab League and trusted right hand of Mubarak, Amr Moussa is a strong candidate. But rumors have emerged that Moussa is a Jew.

Websites are proclaiming that his half brother actually lives in Israel and that his mother is of partial Jewish decent.

Of course this is not true. Moussa's half brother is Pierre and he
lives in Paris.

In the meantime the Muslim Brotherhood candidate has proclaimed that the objective will be that all future legislation will be in line with Islamic law, Sha'ariyah.

If this were a movie script, no one would believe it.






Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Saturday, April 7, 2012

Iran Nixes Turkey to Host Nuke Talks

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Word has it that Iran has it nixed Turkey as the site for the next nuclear talks with the West. The talks are scheduled to take place next week on April 13.

Until now it was assumed that Turkey would be acting as host.

But yesterday and today comments are coming out of Iran by people involved in the process saying that they will not go to Turkey.

Turkey has already hosted these meetings in the past. Turkey had proved itself an ally of Iran by voting against sanctions when they sat on the Security Council. But that was then.

Now Turkey seems to want to get back into the good graces of the US and the rest of the West and so the Turks have spiked their critique of Iran.

The Iranian response is to nixing them from the position of host.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Friday, April 6, 2012

Arab League Boycotts Adidas

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The Arab Youth and Sports Council of Ministers, chaired by a Saudi prince, has announced that the Arab Council will be boycotting Adidas.

Why? Because several weeks ago Adidas sponsored the Jerusalem Marathon.

"All companies that have sponsored the marathon of Jerusalem, including Adidas, will be boycotted." This is quote from Saudi Prince Nawaf bin Faisal, chairman of the Arab youth and sports council of ministers, which met yesterday in Jeddah.

It was their 35th meeting. The group is an official committee of the Arab League composed of ministers of sport from all Arab League members. They try to coordinate Arab international sports events and activities and resolve issues about sports between Arab countries.

I thought we were beyond the Israel boycott. Certainly Adidas thought so.

This puts the Arab League in violation of US law.

I know that Congress will be fuming - I wonder how or when the White House will respond.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Thursday, April 5, 2012

No Passover Seder in Egypt

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

There will be no Passover seder in the Israeli Embassy in Cairo this year. The entire staff, including the ambassador, will be at home with their families in Israel.

This is the first time since the 1979 peace accords between Israel and Egypt were signed that the Embassy will not be hosting a seder in Egypt.

The significance should not be lost on the excuses about technicalities that are being made.

Since the sacking of the Israeli embassy in Cairo several months ago the Israeli diplomatic presence in Egypt has been in flux and at times, it has even been in question.

As of now, the Egyptians are refusing to sell or even rent property to the Israelis. Conventional wisdom has it that the Israeli ambassador and his staff function out of a hotel room.
Oh, the irony.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Malta De-lists Iran Tanker

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Malta delisted a merchant ship for violating international sanctions. That means that they removed the ship from their registry and are no longer allowing the ship to sail under the flag of Malta.

This is a huge success. The flag the ship was using is referred to as a "Flag of Convenience." Malta and Liberia are the largest of the countries that shield companies and other countries by allowing them use of their flag.
Malta delisted a freighter owned by MT Tour which is owned by ISIM Tour Ltd. MT Tour and ISIM Tour Ltd. are Iranian companies that were using the flag of Malta in order to break the sanctions.

The ship was picking up crude oil in Syria and shipping it to China. Syria could not find any other way to ship the 120,000 tons of crude worth $84 million. So Iran, at great risk, sent a cargo tanker ship to pick the freight up at the port of Tartus.

After seeing the evidence, Malta pulled the flag. Now everyone knows that the ship is from Iran - otherwise, with the flag of Malta flying on it, no one would have a clue where the ship was from and no one would have access to the paperwork to even investigate.

This is a small chink in the Syrian Iranian link. But If Malta continues to delist ships it may have a huge impact on the national products of both Iran and Syria.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

PA Crushes Freedoms

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The Palestinian Authority arrested a woman today and is charging her with insulting President Mahmoud Abbas.

She did not say a word and not a word was put in print.

Ismat Abdul Khaleq is a lecturer at a university in the West Bank. On her Facebook page she posted that Abbas was a traitor and she demanded that he resign.

Ismat Abdul Khaleq is being charged for sedition in cyberspace. Prosecutors said that this goes beyond the pale and that Palestinians may not insult Abbas in any media.

This is not the first Palestinian crackdown on freedom of expression and writing on air and on line. A journalist named Yossef Al Shayeb was arrested for insulting members of the Abbas government. Two other journalists were arrested, interrogated and recently released.

One was interrogated about a Facebook entry while the second was interrogated about a story he was prepping and researching.

Do not be misled. The liberal Palestinian Authority is not what is appears to be.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Monday, April 2, 2012

New Iran Policy- Wait

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

US policy toward Iran is taking shape. Given the rhetoric during the presidential campaign, it is not what one would have imagined.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a very long conversation with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Erdogan had just returned from a prolonged and detailed trip to Iran during which the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei explained that the Iranian nuclear program is about technology and energy and not about weapons of mass destruction.

Clinton responded by saying that those were ideals not policies statements. She said it is a good sign, but what is needed are real policy moves to prove what the Supreme Leader was saying and that those moves includes international inspections.

The AP quoted Clinton saying:
"They were told that the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) viewed weapons of mass destruction as religiously prohibited, as against Islam" ... "We are meeting with the Iranians to discuss how to translate what is a stated belief into a plan of actio" ... "It is not an abstract belief, but a government policy. That government policy can be demonstrated in a number of ways ... The international community now wants to see actions associated with that statement of belief."

As we all know, actions speak louder than words.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Sunday, April 1, 2012

Egypt's Growing Pains

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The Egyptians are going through serious growth pains.

For example: The Muslim Brotherhood had been adamant in saying that they would not stand a candidate for president. Now they have announced that Khairat el Shater will represent the party in the presidential election.

He is a shoe in. With Khairat el Shater in power, the Muslim Brotherhood will have almost total control of Egypt. The only vestige of power outside their realm would be in the military - and it is precisely because of the military's current grip on power that the Brotherhood changed their mind and entered someone in the presidential race.

Another example: The Arabic paper Sharq al Awsat, published out of London, has reported that Israel is unable to get space for an embassy in Cairo. Egypt is refusing to rent or sell the Israelis property. There is, however, an Israeli ambassador in Egypt.

According to the account in the paper, he works out of his hotel room.

That's the New Egypt.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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