NYC Fining Non Maskers

 By Micah Halpern

Wednesday September 29, 2020

I've Been Thinking:

NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced that the city will start fining people who are not wearing masks.

The mayor is particularly targeting Hareidi communities, but other communities and neighborhoods are also being inspected.

Until now many Hareidi neighborhoods have been totally non-compliant - to the point that they believed that COVID was over and that they had herd immunity.

But things are changing. People have begun to wear masks.

The fines can be up to $1000.

Over the past few weeks NYC is testing at 3% positive of all tests. That is a huge increase after months during which the positive rate was way below 1%.

Hopefully, the fines and the threat of fines and the presence of inspectors will jolt more and more people back into wearing masks.

It’s all about compliance – that’s how we save lives.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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What Does Sudan Want?

 By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Observers of the Middle East have speculated that Sudan will be the next country to normalize with Israel.

It is a good bet. Behind the scenes, however, there are some stumbling blocks.

According to the US, Sudan is still a state sponsor of terrorism. But the United States is dangling the carrot in front of Sudan by promising to remove Sudan from their terrorist list if the country moves forward with plans for normalization with Israel.

Sudan was put on the list because of its previous dictator, Omar al Bashir, who was in power for 30 years, from 1989 - 2019. Al Bashir gained power as a general in a coup. The list of his human rights atrocities inside Sudan and acts of terror outside his borders are too many to list here.

It would make sense for the United States to drop Sudan from their list. Except that, on Saturday, Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said that he does not want that link.

That probably means that he wants something bigger and better.
Dropping them from the list would allow foreign aid to a country in need. What could be better? We will probably find out soon.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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UAE Signs Israeli Soccer Player

 By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The Middle East is changing so quickly and in so many ways.
Dubai has signed Dia Saba, an Israeli soccer player, to a three year contact at $3 million. He will play for the UAE club Al Nasr SC.

Dia Saba currently plays for the Chinese club Guangzhou R&F. He has played for them for three and a half years. He still plays for the Israeli national team in international competition.

Before signing with China, Dia Saba played for the Israeli team Hapoel Beersheba.
The significance of this soccer deal is that sports is the ultimate equalizer.

In the Middle East soccer is almost more popular than God. This move shows just how easy it is to normalize relations.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Another Arab Country to Normalize w Israel

 By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Yesterday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft told al Arabiyah, the largest international Arab cable television network, that she expects that at least one additional Arab country will join the UAE and Bahrain in normalizing relations with Israel.

There is little doubt that it will be either Oman or Sudan.

Unlike many other Arab networks, al Arabiyah has no agenda and can be trusted. I was a commentator for them for several years.

On Wednesday, the leaders of Sudan finished a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Abu Dhabi. It was reported – not by al Arabiyah, that no agreement was concluded. That report may or may not prove to be true.
Oman is also waiting to announce their agreement.

The Palestinians are up in arms, unable and unwilling to recognize this dramatic shift in the Arab world.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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PA Resigns Chair of Arab League

 By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The Palestinians were scheduled to chair the Arab League meetings for the next 6 months.

They resigned the chairmanship.

The Palestinians failed to convince the Arab League to condemn the UAE and Bahrain for committing to peace treaties with Israel.

They said that the treaties were an abandonment of the long-held agreement among Arab countries not to recognize Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah that they were resigning the chairmanship. He said: “Palestine has decided to concede its right to chair the League’s council (of foreign ministers) at its current session. There is no honor in seeing Arabs rush towards normalization during its presidency.”

Maliki then read from a letter he sent to Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit informing him of the Palestinian move and criticizing the UAE and Bahrain, both Gulf Arab nations.

He said that peace deals with Israel "created a deep crisis in the Arab League."

This is a typical Palestinian response. They are hurting themselves in the hope that by hurting themselves, people will take notice.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Another Huge Explosion in Lebanon

 By Micah Halpern

Tuesday September 22, 2020

I've Been Thinking:

Another huge explosion in Lebanon.

This time, seven weeks after the first Beirut blast, the explosion was in an arms storage depot in the village of Ain Qana, just north of the port city of Sidon.

Two unauthorized sources say that the explosion, which was heard by other villages miles away, was triggered by a mishap.

Video shows a huge plume of black smoke.

The unauthorized sources also report that this very large weapons depot was located in the residential area of the village. The weapons belonged to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is a Shiite terror group that is sponsored by Iran. Hezbollah fights in Syria on Iran’s behalf and has wrested near total control of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s religious leadership and membership is motivated by an oath all members gladly make to destroy Israel.

So yes, it could have been a mishap. It could have been sabotage. It could have been a mission carried out by the Israeli Mossad.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Honduras To Open Emb in Jerusalem

 By Micah Halpern

Monday September 21, 2020

I've Been Thinking:

Honduras announced that they will be opening an embassy in Jerusalem by the end of the year.

The announcement came on the twitter account of the Honduran president.
President Hernandez wrote: "To strengthen our strategic alliance, we spoke to arrange the opening of the embassies in Tegucigalpa and Jerusalem, respectively." He continued: "We hope to take this historic step before the end of the year, as long as the pandemic allows it."

This announcement follows last week’s announcements by both Serbia and Kosovo about their hope to open their embassies in Jerusalem.

A good number of other countries have announced their intention to move their embassies to Jerusalem. They include, Brazil, Hungary, Moldova and Romania.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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