1st Round Of Talks Is Over

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The first round of peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians is over and now. The talks were short and painless.

There are very low expectations for these negotiations towards peace. Ironically, low expectations work to the benefit of the talks. When people think nothing will result, then something actually can emerge from the negotiations.

The most important decision to emerge from the two meetings is the decision to meet again. That meeting will, most probably, take place in two weeks. It was also agreed that, at a minimum, the talks will last nine months. And the talks will deal with all the substantive issues including borders, refugees, Jerusalem and security.

Both the Israeli and the Palestinian street is conflicted about the meetings.
Some say: what is there to lose. Others say: what a waste of time. So far, the optimists have defeated the pessimists.

The first of the two meetings included a Ramamdan Iftar (break fast) eaten after sunset. The second meeting the next day was a working meeting at the State Department.

This formula did not guarantee success - but having only two meetings protected against the potential for certain and immediate failure.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Abbas in Egypt- Supports New Gov

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

As Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams meet and dine in Washington DC, another Palestinian guest is visiting and cementing relations elsewhere in the world.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is visiting Cairo. Abbas is giving his blessing to the interim government and to the removal of Mohammed Morsi.

It is pretty simple. Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party were very close supporters of Hamas. Hamas is actually an intellectual outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood. And Hamas is the political nemesis of Abbas and the PLO.

Going to Egypt and embracing the new interim government was a slap in the face to Morsi, to the Brotherhood and to Hamas.

This visit to Egypt is intertwined with the current charges against Morsi. One of the charges against him is escaping from prison during the uprising against Mubarak. And the prison break that freed Morsi was organized and perpetrated by Hamas.

Abbas is publicly taking sides. But it is no secret that he never trusted either Morsi or the Brotherhood because of their close ties to Hamas.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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What The Muslim Brotherhood Really Thinks

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The West needs to understand exactly what the point of view of the Muslim Brotherhood is. Their rhetoric is extremely hateful and very dangerous.

Mohammed Badie is the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, he is known as the Supreme Guide. Badie is the 8th person to hold that position and has been the Supreme Guide since 2010.

And I quote: "I swear by God that what al Sisi (the head of the Egyptian army who led the campaign to oust Morsi) did in Egypt is more criminal than if he had carried an ax and demolished the holy Kaaba, stone by stone."

Badie also said: the "Zionist fingers are at play in countries of the Arab Spring, so as to fulfill the vision of the Great Israel."

He said that Sisi and the Egyptian army are: "committing massacres the likes of which we have only seen committed by the bitter Zionist enemies and their treacherous agents."

Badie called Sisi worse than Pharoah, who killed children. He said: Sisi and the army "are worse -- you kill everybody."

Badie has said that the values of the current interim government and of Sisi are inverted. In the world according to Badie the current regime in Egypt twisted the truth in such a manner that communication with
Gaza is considered a crime while communication with the "Zionist enemy" is considered an honor.
It is hard to misunderstand the way in which Badie views the world.

The worst crime anyone can commit, according to Badie, is to be allied with Israel and the West.

That is the face of the Muslim Brotherhood. That is the voice of the Muslim Brotherhood. That is the mindset of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Israel Agrees to Prisoner Release

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The Israeli cabinet approved the decision to release 104 prisoners, all of whom were convicted of acts of terrorism against Israelis.

The prisoner release is a stimulus to entice the Palestinians to come back to the table and resume peace negotiations. Of course, acts such as this one are never officially called "preconditions" because for years we have been told that there are no "preconditions" for talks.

Israel is wrenched by the decision. The families of the soon-to-be victims are divided. There is much pain in making a decision, a political decision, to release prisoners convicted of such heinous crimes as terror.

Naphtali Bennett the head of The Jewish Home Party said this about the cabinet decision:
"We once released a terrorist in exchange for a live soldier, then we released hundreds of terrorists for a live soldier, then terrorists for a dead soldiers and now 100 terrorists for a
'process'. We teach the world that everything is negotiable with us."

His comments strike a very powerful cord.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Birds Spying for Israel

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

I have written about this before.

It happened in Iran and it happened in several of the Gulf states. And now it happened in Turkey.
A bird with an Israeli tag was arrested for espionage.

The bird was thought to be a spy with cameras and microchips or even -explosives. After an investigation which included an x-ray this bird, like others, was set free to fly away.

The bird that was just arrested in Turkey had a metal ring tag on its leg which read 24311 Tel Avivunia Israel. Of course, that would frighten any reasonable person who would then frantically call the police and the secret security service. This particular bird was found and captured in the Agin district of the eastern province of Elazig.

The incident was reported in the national Turkish newspaper Hurriyet - usually a reliable source. In this case at, least, Hurriyet maintained a sense of humor and concluded their piece with the sentence:

"Following the tests, the authorities decided not to press official charges and the falsely accused bird was free to fly away."

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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PA Honors Terrorist

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

I am in favor of the renewal of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. I think that peace is
preferable to war. But I am not hopeful about these talks.

The word is that the talks will begin in Washington, DC on this coming Tuesday.

Here is one of the reasons why I am not hopeful:

Palestine Media Watch has made us aware that on their official Fatah Facebook page Palestinian leadership is teaching the masses about, and celebrating the murders of, sixty seven Israelis and they are honoring the murderer.

The Palestinian Authority is honoring Abdallah Barghoutti, a master bomb maker, who successfully created the bombs that ripped through the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, the Ben Yehudah pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, the Hebrew University cafeteria and his list goes on. Look at the list below, it comes straight from the PA Facebook page.

How on earth do Israel and the United States expect to make progress towards peace when the authorized websites of the PA broadcast this and other, similar messages? How?

The following is the full text of the official Fatah Facebook page:
"The brave prisoner, Abdallah Barghouti, who has the longest [prison] sentence in the history of the Palestinian cause"
Text on photo:
"The free prisoner Abdallah Barghouti
Personal information:
Born in Kuwait in 1972.
Married and father of one son and two daughters: Osama, Tala and Safa.
Studied electrical engineering in South Korea.
Date of arrest: March 5, 2003.

His self-sacrificing activity: Planning a series of Martyrdom-seeking operations (i.e., suicide terror attacks) during 2000-2003:
- The Sbarro restaurant operation in Jerusalem which killed 15 Zionists
- The Moment Cafe operation which killed 11 Zionists
- The Sheffield Night Club operation which killed 15 Zionists
- The Hebrew University operation which killed 9 Zionists
- The Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall operation which killed 11 Zionists
Prison sentence: 67 life sentences.
Recipient of the longest [prison] sentence in the history of the Palestinian issue."
[Official Facebook page of the Enlistment and Organization
Commission of Fatah, July 22, 2013]




Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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