Pro Israel Saudi Blogger

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Remember Mohammed Saud, the Saudi Blogger who speaks Hebrew, loves Israel and visited in July?
Saud has a following of hundreds of thousands of Muslims. And in honor of Rosh HaShanna he tweeted a New Year’s message in Hebrew.

On Friday Saud sang a beautiful sang called Achila Le’ayl, a prayer from the High Holiday services and addressed the prayer to his Ashkenazi brothers. He also tweeted a blessing to his Sephardi brothers.

When Mohammed Saud visited the Temple Mount back in July, some of the Muslim worshippers threw plastic chairs and plastic bottles at him. He is a lightning rod for and against him.

It should not surprise anyone that there is a negative response to a Muslim who loves Israel.

What is a surprise is that despite his love for Israel, Mohammed Saud has such a large and positive following. His popularity is growing daily.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Abbas @ the UN

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the United Nations General Assembly yesterday.
He took advantage of the opportunity to lambast the United States and Israel.

Abbas used the term “aggressive” numerous times. That is in and of itself telling.

Of the subject of US and President Trump this is what Abbas said: "The United States has taken illegal and aggressive measures.”

No surprise there. Abbas is very upset that the Trump administration has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and has recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Speaking about Israel Abbas used the same term “aggression” but this time around he a very different tone and said: “The international community must put an end to Israeli aggression and arrogance."

“Aggression and arrogance”. Abbas is not even dealing with the legal aspect of aggression, but with arrogance -- the attitude. In this speech Abbas invoked the arrogant and aggressive stereotype of the Jew. It is a classic anti-Semitic canard. The Jew is pushy. The Jew is demanding. The Jew is haughty.
The Jews is out of his place.

The speech delivered by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations General Assembly was vitriolic and anti-Semitic. Not surprisingly when Abbas spoke the words “Israeli aggression and arrogance,” he was met with great applause.

Welcome to the United Nations GA, circa 2019.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Accidental Mtgs @ UN

By Micah Halpern

 

I've Been Thinking:

Many very positive and often unpublicized developments take place during the annual UN General Assembly in NYC.

The GA is the perfect place for world leaders to unofficially meet or even plan to “accidently meet”.
It is the place where aides meet and lay the ground work for future quiet dialogue. These meetings can be extremely successful and helpful, far away from the judgmental eyes of the public and the media.

It’s happening already. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz had an unofficial meeting late last night with his Russia counterpart Sergey Lavrov. They obviously discussed Syria and Iran.

And now the official statement of the Israeli Foreign Ministry mentions that Katz invited Lavrov to visit Israel.

This is a classic Jewish initiative – it is also very effective. Hospitality works. Seeing Israel and the issues facing Israelis first hand is a very useful way of convincing Russia that Israel’s concerns about Iran are very real and justified.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 


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Iran Says Israel Helps ISIS

By Micah Halpern

Wednesday September 25, 2019

I've Been Thinking:


Just watched the Chris Wallace interview on Fox News with Iranian President Rouhani.

Rouhani said that Israel supports ISIS. He said that Iran actually destroyed ISIS.

He said that Trump destroyed the mutual trust by pulling out of the nuclear deal.

WOW -- talk about spin!!!!

A senior Iranian foreign ministry source added:
"We will never renegotiate a deal that took us years to reach ... Iran's leadership supports diplomacy but if Americans want to ease tension, they should lift sanctions and end pressure on Tehran."

These comments from the Rouhani and from the Iranian source show the true stance of Iran. Iran seems to see things only through their eyes.

Rouhani says that they support those who are defending themselves and that Israel is the greatest terrorist in the world. Iran helps protect people against that Israel's terror. He asserted that Iran gives aid to help those oppressed and that they help defend the defenseless against Israeli aggression.

They certainly live in a different world.

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Iran is Hurting

By Micah Halpern

 

I've Been Thinking:

US is acting against Iran. This is a direct response to Iran’s attacks on Saudi oil facilities. US has concluded that Iran perpetrated the attacks on September 14.
England, France and Germany have also concluded that Iran attacked the Saudi oil fields and refineries.

So, the US is tightening sanctions on Iran. Brian Hook the US Special Envoy for Iran says that the US must move "prudently". The US does not want to move too quickly or to make a drastic mistake by attacking or acting too aggressively.

Hook spoke at the Asia Society in NYC he said: "It is that Iran has crossed the line by this attack on another country's sovereignty."

This kind of calculated, slow response to Iran is very unlikely to intimidate Iran.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Iran's Game

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Iran is waiting for an American response to their attack on Saudi oilfields and refineries. The Iranian strike resulted in collapsing Saudi oil production by 50% and reducing world oil by 5%.

A combination of 30 drones and cruise missiles launched from Iran into Saudi Arabia was the cause. It was an Iranian response to the west’s sanctions. Now Iran is awaiting the counter by the US and Saudi Arabia.

The verbal US response was not very intimidating. Both the US President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo both spoke strongly but then couched and trimmed their anger. This tamed response will not be interpreted as a threat by Iran – actually the opposite.

If sanctions are all that the US is intending to enact against Iran – then the Supreme Leader will undoubtedly release another military strike. He is playing a game by pushing the envelope. That is exactly what he did by downing the US drone earlier this summer. The lack of response or a limited response by simply imposing more sanctions led the Supreme Leader to consider and then embark on this attack on Saudi oil infrastructure. The Supreme Leader loves these games and he gets a perverse pleasure out of making the US squirm.

He will continue to play until he is put in his place. He knows that the Saudis cannot do it alone, so he is challenging the US. It seems that he believes that US President Trump cannot or does not have the personal strength to take to blowback from Iran and the rest of the world. The US is taking the easy way out through sanctions.

But know, Iran is going to continue to push the envelope. They will once again strike at a US ally. Maybe they will strike another Saudi refinery or maybe one in the UAE instead.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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China Invests in Iran

By Micah Halpern

I’ve Been Thinking:

Things got much more complicated between the US, Iran and Saudi Arabia.


China just entered the scene in a gargantuan way. They recently signed a $400 billion deal with Iran. It is an investment in the form of a capital investment into the Iranian economy.

China is doing exactly the opposite of what the US is asking countries to do. China is providing the badly needed US dollars Iran needs in order to provide for basic necessities for the economy.

Now the US must confront China but will they.

If they do not it will signal to everyone else including Iran that the US has no bite behind their roar.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Iran's Judo Champ

By Micah Halpern

Thursday September 19, 2019

I've Been Thinking:

Saeid Mollaei the Iranian Judoka who followed country's leaders’ orders and threw a match so as not to compete against an Israeli has been in hiding in Germany for fear of his life since the end of the competition.

He cannot contact his family in Iran for fear that they will be punished for his actions.

The fly in the ointment is that he really wants to compete in the upcoming Olympics in Japan but certainly cannot and will not compete for Iran. He now has no country.

Now there is a solution for Mollaei and others. The International Olympic Committee has created a special team for refugees for this very purpose.

But there is another problem --- an athlete of the level of Mollaei needs to practice and needs to internationally. That draws attention. He will not be able to stay underground for long.

Mollaei is in Germany under a sports visa he did not request asylum.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Israeli Election Results

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Israel just finished their second election in 5 months and the results are important. Very important.

It does not matter who got more votes. What matters is -- who can carve out a coalition of 61 of the 120 members of Knesset to govern.

Many pundits are saying the best bet is a broad-based coalition of the two largest parties Likud and Blue and White. This is doubtful. A broad based coalition may not be stable.

There is a very important point to be made. The Joint Arab List will not and
cannot join any Israeli government coalition Blue and White or any other one.

So counting them as part of the center left block is dishonest and wrong.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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More Oil Disruptions By Iran

By Micah Halpern

 

I've Been Thinking:

Iran has made it clear. There will be no meeting between US President Trump and Iranian President Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at the end of September.
President Trump is saying the same thing. In speaking about “fake news” which, he says, is claiming that he wants to meet with Iran without conditions: “That is an incorrect statement as usual.”

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi called the possibility of a Trump/Rouhani meeting “speculation” and said “this meeting will not happen.”

Those statements come as a major relief for Israel. Hearing that Trump is not running to Iran means that Israel and the United States are still on the same page regarding Iran.

Iran is expanding plans to destabilize the West. Their attack on Saudi Arabia oil which reduced world output by 5% was intended as a crippling blow to the West.

Expect to see more of these disruptions.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Israel's Elections

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

It is the eve of elections in Israel and we need to go over some ground rules.

Do not trust polls.

Elections in Israel - as in the United States, are not easy for pollsters to predict.

When polling results are as close as they now are, polls cannot be a good indicator. Yes, there are two larger parties and yes, there are several moderate size parties and yes, there are many smaller parties that are just on the cusp of getting Parlimentary seats. But does anyone needs polls for that information?

The real strength in Israel's elections is not with the party that wins the most seats. The real strength - and the power, sits with the party that joins the ruling coalition and holds out and gets what it wants.

The follow-up to the election is where the action is.

That is where we will, once again, witness the trading and the negotiating and the manipulation. And eventually, hopefully, we will see a government emerge.

If that doesn't happen - and I'm not sure it will, prepare for another election come January or February.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Egypt Arrests Hamas Helpers

By Micah Halpern

 

I've Been Thinking:
Egypt sentenced 11 Muslim Brotherhood members to life imprisonment for helping Hamas.

There are two essential points here.

First, Egypt has made the Muslim Brotherhood illegal. In Egypt, Hamas is also an illegal organization. Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, is viewed as a terror organization by Egypt.

Second, Hamas is at war with Israel, with the United States and with Egypt. Egypt often tries to reach out to Hamas – to negotiate, to run interference, to deliver messages from Israel and the US, but that does not mean that they are allies. Egypt and Hamas are enemies – enemies who share a border and still talk with one another. But enemies none the less.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Bolton Fired or Quit

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

It does not matter whether John Bolton was fired or whether Bolton resigned.

The question is what kind of impact his departure will have on policy.

Bolton was a hawk on issues like North Korea and Iran. He did not believe that the US should run towards dialogue.

On the issue of Israel there is no doubt that the Netanyahu administration has lost a very close friend in the White House. Bolton was an unconditional ally and friend of Israel.

The difference between Bolton and the US president were obvious to everyone who monitored the White House. There is an important role for advisors who disagree with the president. But the National Security Advisor and the President need to step in tandem.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Shiite Holy Day

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
Today is the Shiite holy day of Ashura. Ahsura means 10 in Arabic. Ashurah is the 10th day of the first month in the Muslim calendar, the month of Muharram.

It commemorates the battle of Karbala when the Husein ibn Ali the grandson of Mohammed was killed in 1060.

Shiites which means most Iranians and Hezbollah mourn on this day.

Speaking to all Shiites, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said he and his allies, including Iran, were in the middle of a "major campaign." He used military terminology to invoke a connection to the Battle of Karbala.

"We are in the midst of a major campaign, (and) the United States and Israel are trying to outflank us," he says in a speech to mark the Muslim holiday of Ashura.

"The leader of this camp is (Iranian Supreme Leader Ali) Khamenei and its center is Iran," he said.
He added that "tonight and tomorrow we will tell (Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Donald) Trump that we are a people not affected by blockades, sanctions, poverty and hunger."

We will wait and see. It looks like they have a plan.

 Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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MOre Rockets from Gaza

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

It’s been a weekend full of rockets in Israel.

On Sunday night sirens blared in the region that abuts the Gaza Strip. More rockets were being fired at Israel from Gaza.

One of the rockets fell short and it actually landed in Gaza. Several others, we don’t know exactly how many, landed in the Israel.

The situation has reached such a pitch that Egypt dispatched an emergency team of military and diplomatic advisers to Gaza. They will shuttle between Egypt, Gaza and Israel. The Egyptians want to become major players in the area. Keeping peace between Israel and Gaza would serve both to position them as influencers and to keep their own country safe.

To risk stating the obvious, this is a dangerous situation and could easily spiral into a larger and larger conflict. The situation needs to be controlled. It needs to be contained.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Food Wars in The Middle East

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
 
Another battle is being waged in the Middle East. The intensity keeps rising. This battle - is over food.

For years, Arabs have accused Israel of appropriating their food and making it "Israeli". They claim that falafel is not Israeli food, it is Arab food. They claim that humus is not Israeli, it is Arab food. The assertion is that just about any of the foods created by Israeli chefs, is in fact a rip off of Arab food.

Now labeneh, or laben, a goat cheese yogurt is on the proverbial chopping block.

Enemies of Israel say that Zionists should create their own culture, not expropriate it from the Arab culture that surrounds them. They are claiming that appropriating their foods is another example of Israeli occupation. Israelis, they say, are not only stealing Arab land and Arab culture, Israeli is stealing Arab - or Palestinian, food too.

Israeli chefs and Israel's culinary creativity have become world famous. And while many of the dishes borrow from the region, to suggest that Israeli Jews stole the culture is preposterous.
These attackers want Israel to be seen by the world as interlopers, replanted into the Middle East from Europe. But in reality, most Israelis are descendants of Jews from Arab lands - not from Europe.

Part of Israel's culture comes from Europe, but much more of Israeli culture, including food, originates in the Arab world.

Blending those traditions is what makes Israel so interesting and so very Israeli.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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