By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Reports from around the world identify a natural yet startling and bizarre phenomenon directly resulting from COVID-19.
Animals are taking back the cities they were banished from when cities were built!
I have seen videos and still pictures of ibex walking down the
streets of Eilat, Israel’s southerner most city, nestled between the Red
Sea and the Arava Desert on the north and beautiful mountains to the
east and west.
Malabar, an endangered animal that was thought extinct until seen
again for the first time in 1990, is photographed walking down a street
in India. A cobra jumps out of a moped’s steering wheel looking
dangerously venomous.
Dolphins are swimming in places they have not been seen in centuries.
3,000 pound bison are pictured wandering around cities, many in the
middle of the street just looking for food.
With humans and cars no longer creating a natural fence, wildlife is retaking their land.
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
For decades Palestinian leadership has blamed Israel for their dismal
conditions. They have consistently accused Israel of Blood Libel –
deliberately poisoning and murdering innocent Palestinians.
COVID-19 is just another excuse and another example of the Palestinian conspiracy theory that Israel is murdering Palestinians.
On Sunday Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shatayeh was the latest to add his voice to the conspiracy.
Shatayeh, who has a history of perpetuating this canard, said that
Israeli soldiers are spreading the virus by putting it on car door
handles of Palestinian cars. He said: "We were exposed to testimonies
that some of the (Israeli) soldiers are trying to spread the virus on
car handles."
He also said that Israel will be held accountable for their racist
actions: "This is racism and hatred of people who long for the death of
the other. We will record this in the list of crimes.” Shatayeh
demanded that Israel pay 90,000 Palestinian workers for their missed
work.
In the past Shatayeh has accused Israel of "waging war on the
Palestinian narrative" and attempting to "Judaize the history of the
Holy Land."
Thus far coronavirus numbers among the Palestinians, in Gaza and the
West Bank combined, are at 100 cases and 2 deaths. Relatively speaking,
those are low numbers for this deadly virus.
Had Palestinians been
exposed the way their prime minister claims, the numbers would have
skyrocketed.
They will never admit it, but the best thing that happened for
Palestinians was that Israel shuttered the crossings between Israel and
Palestinian areas preventing Palestinians from being infected.
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Luca is a 22 month old parrot who lives in Kiryat Shmona in the very northernmost part of Israel, bordering Lebanon.
This parrot has become a celebrity in Israel.
Like all other Israelis, her owner, Zahava Shabbat, has been
sheltered in her apartment since the arrival of COVID-19 in Israel.
Zahava took advantage of the time and taught Luca to say “It’s Corona!
Stay Inside.”
Little children have found this to be particularly fun and helpful.
Reuters News Service picked up the story. In searching I found the
video published on news websites as far away as Malaysia.
Luca is one example of so many ways in which people, around the
world, hunkered down at home, find positive ways to occupy their time.
It’s a nice alternative to playing video games, binge watching and
noshing on snacks.
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Hundreds of Israelis were startled Wednesday by an unsolicited text message.
"Hello. According to an epidemiological investigation ______ (fill
in your name). You were near someone sick with the coronavirus. You must
immediately isolate at home [14 days] to protect your relatives and the
public. ... This information will be used only for this purpose and
will be erased when no longer needed. Sincerely, Public Health
Services."
Tens of thousands of Israelis are in self isolation, many because they received this message, as they confront coronavirus.
With this text message, Prime Minister Netanyahu pushed the envelope
on violating personal liberties and freedom. He instructed Israel’s
Internal Security Services, aka the Shin Bet, to use their highly
advanced and sophisticated tools to help bring the virus under control.
These are the tools that are normally used to protect against terror.
Now they are being used to fight a virus that has the potential to
kill many more people than would be killed through acts of terror.
Cell phones identify the locations of people and are cross referenced
with the locations of people who tested positive for the virus.
It’s a Big Brother tactic – but it is a tactic that will save lives.
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
The US Surgeon General warned this morning that
this is going to be a very difficult week. The reason is obvious - the
number of Americans infected with COVID-19 is going to increase.
The Surgeon General knows what we all know, but he knows to take it
seriously. He knows and, more importantly, he accepts what many of us
have not been able to fully accept.
Many people than we know have contracted the virus. We do not know
who they are for several reasons. Some have not been tested. Some do
not show symptoms. Some have symptoms that are mild. All of these
people can possibly transmit the virus to the people around them – and
those people will get sick.
One doctor from New York sent a plea to President Trump laying out
the details of the community he treats and suggesting an early treatment
and even a prophylactic treatment.
He said that he has treated hundreds of people with the virus. Based
on his practice, this physician estimates that 60% of his community has
the virus. That alone equals 20,000 people.
Truly frightening.
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I’ve Been Thinking:
I've Been Thinking:
This is current Israeli policy:
If you violate self-quarantine you will be arrested, spend six months in prison and fined 5,000 NIS, which is about $1,800.
There are exceptions: You are permitted to go shopping for food, to an essential job, help someone in need.
There are rules:
Only 2 people are permitted in a car, prayers are permitted but only
with a maximum of 10, sports are only permitted 2 players only. You are
permitted to go outside and stand very close to your home.
This is a very stern set of laws and a major limit on citizens’
rights and freedoms. But Israeli leadership has to clamp down in order
to stop the spread of the virus. People especially older people, will
die if they contract the virus.
Many people still do not understand that they are required to
sublimate their personal, selfish, needs for the greater good by staying
inside.
Selfishness is blind in another way, too:
By venturing outside, that very person pursuing their selfish acts
may contract the virus endangering themselves and endangering their
family.
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By Micah Halpern
Friday March 20, 20I've Been Thinking:
As of 11am, which is 5pm just before Shabbat began in Israel, these are the most recent numbers of Coronavirus cases in Israel.
The numbers need to be divided into categories:
Most important is that as of Wednesday there are twenty testing labs, that’s eighteen more than Israel had until now.
Also since Wednesday, the Mossad successfully procured thousands of tests kits.
705 people have tested positive.
10 are in serious condition, 18 moderate condition, 271 light
condition and in hospitals. 149 people are being treated at home, 58 in
hotels transformed into Coronavirus facilities. 212 are awaiting
decisions as to they should be treated.
15 people have been released from the hospital and are free of the virus and totally recovered – that’s an important figure.
Israel has been extremely aggressive in their approach. They are
using the GPS on phones of people who tested positive. They
are fining and even arresting those who violate their restrictions.
The Coronavirus numbers in Israel are going up and up. The new labs
and the availability of the testing kits will automatically increase the
numbers. Many, many people have the virus and are asymptomatic.
The higher numbers should not serve as a source of alarm and panic. They are a more realistic assessment of reality.
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I've Been Thinking:
Iran is suffering from Coronavirus. That much we know.
We also know that the Iranians do not report the truth.
For two days in a row they have been reporting over 100 deaths each day.
There were113 deaths on Sunday and 129 on Monday. Total Coronavirus deaths in Iran, so far, is 853.
On Monday the Iranians said that new infections for the day hit 1,053 putting total infections in Iran at 14, 991.
There is no doubt that the numbers in Iran are far higher. How much greater is a serious unknown.
The one good thing is that Iran has been isolated for some time now,
so few people have been in and out of the country. There is one major
exception to that – and it is China. That does not bode for either of
those nations, both of them centers of the virus.
If China has topped out and is now having fewer and fewer infections –
which is the way it appears to be - it is because they closed down a
city of 23 million people. That move localized the contamination to one
region.
It was a good move by China.
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
I watched two videos on twitter that shocked me.
In both clips Israeli police were arresting people who broke their
Covid-19 isolation. In one clip, all the police were in total hazmat
garb.
It was right out of a spy movie.
Several days ago Israel announced that it was using tracking software
on the cell phones of people required to be in quarantine to insure
that they were not violating the procedures.
Isolation is not a suggestion - it is a requirement.
In both cases on the videos the violators were arrested and put into isolation.
They will have hearings and a judge will determine whether more punishment is needed.
Quarantine and isolation are in place not for the safety of the
entire community. Coming out of isolation early could endanger
thousands of other people.
Sometimes we need to put our personal needs on the side for the good of
the larger community especially because people’s lives are at stake.
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Television, radio, newspapers, internet, social
media - almost all news is news about Covid-19, aka, Corornavirus. It’s
blanket coverage relating to everything – sports, medicine, art,
entertainment, business and of course, hard news.
Broadway shows are dark. Disney, the happiest place on earth is closed for the rest of March.
March Madness is shut down.
There are important lessons to be learned. Most importantly is that
epidemics are real. Epidemics, and certainly pandemics, do not follow a
set prescription. Economic lines are crossed, international boundaries
are ignored, race and religion play no role.
The risks are great.
This is not rocket science. We, the public, must follow the advice
we are given and the guidelines that are set out. We can’t outsmart
this virus. But we can do our best to limit its destructive power and
the havoc it plays with our lives and with our health.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Finally, there is talk about the possibility of a minority government in Israel.
I have been discussing this for months, so I say, it’s about time!
Let me explain.
A minority government is not a very stable government, but neither is
a government with a majority of 61. Either way, the government can
fall at any time. The principle of a minority government is that the
ruling coalition has less than the 61 majority – but it comes with the
promise of other members of Knesset that they will not vote against the
coalition in the case of a vote of ‘no confidence’.
The life expectancy of such a government is short, but at least it can begin to function.
At this point, both large parties have the ability to create a minority government.
To do so, the Blue/White coalition will depend on 15 members of the
Joint Arab list. Several members of that list reject Israel’s right to
exist so they are not dependable. Two members of the Blue/White party
are against an agreement with the Joint Arab List. They may bolt
bringing the Blue/White number to 60.
And if they bolt, that also brings the Likud coalition to 60.
Not enough to fell a government, but enough to swear in a government.
Minority governments have successfully existed in the past in Israel.
But they had a purpose. In European parliaments they have also been
successful - in the short run. Again, with a purpose.
If the two Blue/White members leave, they will have to create their
own, new party. They cannot switch parties – if they do they will not
be able to run in the next election cycle.
If nobody switches, or if no agreement for a minority government is reached, Israel is in for a fourth election.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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Monday March 9, 2020
I've Been Thinking:
Israel is responding to Coronavirus very
aggressively. 150,000 people are in isolation - most in self isolation.
Many borders with neighboring countries, specifically Egypt, are closed.
Flights from many other countries, in Europe and Asia, are not
permitted in.
Now they are seriously considering isolating every single person who
arrives in Israel from any destination - Israelis, tourists and
business people.
All this may backfire. The virus has already arrived. As of late
Sunday 39 Israelis have tested positive. That is more than most other
counties in the world. Actually, Israel ranks 33 in the world out of 196
countries with numbers of people with coronavirus.
Israel’s response probably has a political side to it.
Netanyahu needs to be seen as a capable leader handling - and or
protecting - his country from a huge danger. No one else can do this.
But the more leadership responds and comments, the bigger the crisis
becomes. And by extension, the better a leader Netanyahu becomes.
On all levels, Netanyahu can do things and make decisions that his
counterpart, Benny Gantz, cannot do, especially because his counterpart
is embracing the Joint Arab List which is anti-Zionist and some membrane
even preach the destruction of Israel.
If the virus spins out of control Netanyahu's plan could backfire. It
could also backfire if Gantz can show that Netanyahu is causing more
damage than good.
The tourism industry, a major source of revenue in Israel, had ground to a halt.
The virus is not just a medical headache. It’s tendrils reach all segments of society and government.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
The youngest brother of the Saudi king was arrested by his nephew over the weekend in Saudi Arabia.
He was not the only person arrested - several other members of the
royal family were also arrested including a nephew of the king.
Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince, is the son of the King. Since
2017 he has been the de-facto total leader of the kingdom. And since
2017 the Crown Prince has periodically arrested high ranking members of
the royal family in an attempt to consolidate power and eliminate
challenges to authority.
He has also been clamping down on corruption and kickbacks. It is a
system rife with kickbacks - the family controls everything. Corruption
is an easy tool to apply against political rivals.
We will watch and see.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
An Arabic language newspaper published in Canada
called “Al-Meshwar” published an article on February 28th entitled “The
Abuse of Martyrs and the Manipulation of Their Bodies Are Jewish
Commandments and Israeli Directives”.
It’s a blood libel.
The article describes how Israel mutilates Palestinian prisoners and sells their organs and body parts.
The Toronto based paper fed the age old canard that still reverberates throughout the Islamic world.
This particular blood libel emanates out of the Christian society.
According to the myth, Jews murdered an innocent Christian child and
then extracted the child’s blood to bake matzah. The child represented
Jesus and the myth of killing that child is the re-enactment of Jews
killing Jesus.
There is also a history of blood libel in the Islamic world. The
Islamic blood libel does not center on the killing of Jesus. Rather, it
is about a Jewish conspiracy that centers on the abuse and disrespect
of Muslims.
In the Islamic world, even today, these stories are powerful and
incendiary. They emphasize how evil the Jew is and how Jews act to
destroy Muslim interests. Look no further than an article, published in
Toronto, on February 28th.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
There are several essential takeaways from Israel’s election.
#1: Rather than exhibiting voter fatigue during their third election
in the course of one year, Israeli were energized with more people
voting in this election than in any election since 1999.
#2: Predictions about Netanyahu being punished by voters and about
voters being unable to overlook the legal issues he is entangled with,
proved false.
#3: Labor and Gesher have truly imploaded, Israel’s founding political party is now barely breathing.
#4: The Joint Arab List leached voters from Labor and are now the
real left in Israeli politics, steadily increasing with each election
and has become, as they are about to receive 14 or 15 Parliamentary
seats, the third largest political party in Israel.
#5: Israelis have long believed that, because there are 120 seats in
the Knesset, 61 was the magic number for coalition building, yet
governments have been built and functioned with as small a coalition as
53 seats. A coalition of 61, or even of 59, is very difficult to keep
together and is not a stable government, it works for a short time, but
Israeli governments do not last.
Not a single Israeli government has ever survived its entire term.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
With Super Tuesday behind us, it seems clear that there are two leading candidates within the Democratic party.
Elizabeth Warren will most certainly drop out.
Michael Bloomberg, just pulled out despite his desire to stay in
the game and walk into the Democratic Convention with over 100 - maybe
even 200 delegates - out of the 1991 delegates needed to nominate the
candidate who will lead the Democratic ticket against President Donal
Trump.
A week ago it was unthinkable that Joe Biden would be a competitor,
let alone a leader, for that nomination. A week ago it appeared as if
Bernie Sanders was the presumptive candidate and nothing could stop him.
But the exits of Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar and the throwing of
their support behind Biden served to unify the party and bring it back
to its home.
Biden embodies the traditional, old time, Democratic party. Sanders
is not a Democrat. He is an independent and describes himself as a
Social Democrat.
The people will decide.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Azerbaijan has shut its borders to Iran. No
Iranians or Iranian products can cross the border and no one from
Azerbaijan may enter Iran – all because of coronavirus.
The tourism industry in Iran has already been decimated by US
sanctions and now, because of this virus, Iranians are taking another
economic hit.
This is the season of the Iranian New Year, called Nowruz. The Nowruz Holiday stretches over a two-week period.
Reports are that 80% of hotel reservations in Iran have been
cancelled. One media report said that in the northern holy city of
Mashad 90% of the hotels have no guests. No one is visiting the city.
These are devastating numbers.
Iran will not be having a happy New Year.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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