« July 2021 | Main | September 2021 »
Monday August 23, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Ayelet Shaked co-leads the Yamina party with Israel’s Prime Minster Naftali Bennett.
Shaked said that she will bolt from the coalition and bring down the government if they even begin discussions about a Palestinians state.
Bennett is a rotating prime minister. He will leave office after serving as prime minister for two year and Yair Lapid will step in.
It is no secret that Lapid is in favor of a two-state solution. It is assumed that there will be discussion of the subject during the first two years of this government - while Bennett holds the position of prime minister.
That would probably be a wise move.
The Arab party in the coalition – an integral part of the coalition - also threatened to bolt if Bennett responds to the increased cross border fire balloons, fire kites and rockets coming from Gaza.
Bennett is in a bind. Another typical day as prime minister.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Sunday August 22, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Palestinians police in the West Bank, under the direction of the Palestinian Authority, are clamping down on protests.
Palestinian police arrested 24 people protesting the death of a prominent political activist while in the custody of Palestinian security forces.
The demonstrators had planned to call for accountability in the death of Nizar Banat, an outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority who died while in custody on June 24, shortly after he was arrested. Instead police prevented the protest and arrested the two dozen activists.
PA police spokesman Louay Arzeigat issued a statement that the demonstrators had not received a permit and "refused to sign the conditions for the gathering." The statement did not elaborate further.
Banat's family has said that he was beaten as he was taken out of his home and they have accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to cover up the death.
Palestinian officials have said the matter is under investigation.
The protesting group’s major complaint - aside from regular human rights abuses, is that the PA was elected for four years back in 2005 – and that same government is still in control in 2021.
Abbas has faced mounting pressure for calling off parliamentary elections whenever it appears that his Fatah party would suffer crushing defeat at the hands of their rival, the Hamas militant group.
Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization, condemned the security services for blocking this demonstration and making the arrests.
It accused the government of "attacking the rights and freedoms guaranteed by law" and called for the immediate release of those who were arrested.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Saturday August 21, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
An appellate court in Poland rejected a lower court’s decision forcing two Holocaust scholars to apologize for defaming the uncle of a Polish woman who, they said, collaborated with the Nazis.
The case against these two Holocaust scholars has been closely watched around the world. It was expected to serve as a precedent for research into the highly sensitive area of Polish behavior toward Jews during World War II.
Poland is governed by a nationalist conservative party that has sought to promote remembrance of Polish heroism and suffering during the wartime German occupation of the country. The party also believes that discussions of Polish wrongdoing distort the historical picture and are unfair to Poles.
In explaining its decision, the Appellate Court of Warsaw argued that it did not believe that it was the responsibility of the courts to judge scholarly research.
The ruling was welcomed by the two researchers, Jan Grabowski and Barbara Engelking, who declared it a "great victory" in a Facebook post.
They wrote: "We greet the verdict with great joy and satisfaction all the more, that this decision has a direct impact on all Polish scholars, and especially on historians of the Holocaust.”
The ruling comes half a year after a lower court ordered the two researchers to apologize to a woman who claimed that her deceased uncle had been defamed in a historical work they edited and partially wrote, entitled: "Night Without End: The Fate of Jews in Selected Counties of Occupied Poland."
Lawyers for the niece, 81-year-old Filomena Leszczynska, argued that her uncle was a Polish hero who had saved Jews, and that the scholars had harmed her good name and that of her family by suggesting the uncle was also involved in the killing of Jews.
Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II and its Jewish population was subjected to mass murder and slave labor. During the more than five years of occupation there were both Poles who helped the Germans and took part in the killing, and Poles who risked their lives to save Jews.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Friday August 20, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Superfoods are considered to be extremely nutritious and healthful. They are in big demand in the market.
Avocado is a superfood. Israel grows many avocados and wants to grow even more to take advantage of the growing market.
And so, Israel’s largest grower and exporter of citrus — Mehadrin — announced that for the first time it will begin growing avocados in Morocco as it attempts to meet the constantly rising demand for the superfood.
Following the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, during which Morocco was the last of four Muslim majority and Arab countries to join, there has been a gradual deepening of ties between the Jewish state and the North African Kingdom.
Mehadrin is also looking to expand production to Africa and Latin America in a bid to produce the fruit year-round and also, to lower costs.
“Planting the avocados in Morocco is part of a larger plan to be able to supply our European customers more easily than from Israel in terms of geography and in terms of more competitive costs,” Mehadrin CEO Shaul Shelach told the news site The Algemeiner.
Shelach added that demand for avocados is currently outstripping supply, which he assesses will be a thing of the past when the superfood is grown more widely in both hemispheres of the globe. The current Israeli growing season extends only from October to March or April.
Shelach hopes to start planting the avocados as soon as he gets land from the Moroccan government. Mehadrin will have fruit in three years and full production in five.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Thursday August 19, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
The Israeli government approved the COVID vaccine for everyone over 40.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has already received his third dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
Bennett urged everyone in his age group to get their booster shots. "If you get vaccinated, we will be able to avoid a fourth lockdown," he said.
The United States is now offering third doses of the vaccine now to people who are immunocompromised.
The figures coming out of Israel for those over 60 who received a third dose several weeks ago indicate that very few people of that age group have gotten sick from COVID.
It seems clear that the third dose boosts protection against the Delta variant.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Wednesday August 18, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Almost every high school student in Israel travels to Poland during their tenure in high school. And now Poland is rethinking that practice. Poland is rethinking permitting Israeli youth trips to enter their country.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński said that the Poland is reexamining educational trips by Israeli youth because, he asserts, the trips teach hatred of Poland.
This re-examination of a long held tradition comes in the context of a huge diplomatic feud between Israel and Poland over the passing of a Holocaust restitution law.
According to the Polish foreign minister: "Educational trips from Israel to Poland do not take place in a proper manner [and are conducted] in a way that hatred of Poland sometimes seeps into the minds of young people. We will examine the issue in depth because it is clear that the way these tours take place is not the right way.”
He has accused Israel of fostering "anti-Polonism" which is prejudice against Poles as an ethnic group and the state of Poland and its culture.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the signing of the property restitution law “a shameful decision and disgraceful contempt for the memory of the Holocaust” and said that “Poland has chosen to continue harming those who have lost everything.”
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Tuesday August 17, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, has announced that Iran is producing uranium that can be used to build a nuclear bomb.
This discovery by the IAEA is a major obstacle to renewing talks between the P-5+1 and Iran. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that his inspector now found that Iran had produced 200 grams at 20% enrichment. Just a few months ago Iran had produced only 3.6 grams at uranium at 20% enrichment.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the move by Iran was “unconstructive and inconsistent with a return to mutual compliance.”
He said: “Iran has no credible need to produce uranium metal, which has direct relevance to nuclear weapons development ... Such escalations will not provide Iran negotiating leverage in any renewed talks on a mutual return to JCPOA compliance and will only lead to Iran’s further isolation.”
He further said that “Iran’s nuclear advances have a bearing on our view of returning to the JCPOA,” and suggested that the U.S. was slowly running out of patience.
Price said: “We are not imposing a deadline for negotiations, but this window will not remain open indefinitely.”
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Monday August 16, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Three Israel universities made it into the list of Top 100 Universities in the World. Three!
Hebrew University took the 90th position. The Weizmann Institute grabbed the 92nd spot. The Technion was awarded 94th place.
These Israeli universities are in very good company.
Harvard was given first place for the 19th year in a row. Stanford was in 2nd place and Cambridge in 3rd place.
This is a huge honor and special recognition for Israel. To understand just how big an honor this is and to put it in perspective, there are 5,300 colleges and universities in the United States alone. And there are over 17,000 colleges and universities in the world.
Being in the top 100 universities in the world is a distinction worthy of pride.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Sunday August 15, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Israel recalled their top diplomat in Poland as a result of the new law just passed in
Poland, which sets a 30-year limit on the ability to reclaim property.
The law, in essence, prevents any Jewish claim to property stolen from Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
There is no doubt that this law is anti-Jewish. It nullifies any chance of families or of victims themselves from getting any satisfaction on claims they make for their stolen property – many of which have been dragging through the Polish court system for decades.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is outraged. The Israeli prime minister described this new Polish law as: "a shameful decision and disgraceful contempt for the memory of the Holocaust … Poland has chosen to continue harming those who have lost everything.”
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid instructed Israel's top diplomat in Warsaw, the charge d'affaires, to return home immediately for an indefinite period. And the new Israeli ambassador to Poland, who was scheduled to leave for Warsaw, will remain in Israel.
Upon hearing of the passage of this law Lapid said: "Poland today approved - not for the first time - an immoral, antisemitic law."
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Saturday August 14, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
History is made in many ways.
The first Israeli child to be born in Dubai is history.
Ilan Sztulman, the head of Israel’s diplomatic mission in Dubai, and his wife Jackie are the proud parents of a newborn baby girl, born in Dubai.
The baby, named Maya, was born in Dubai’s Mediclinic Hospital, is their fifth child.
Giving the birth another reason to be entered into history books is that baby Maya was born on the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE.
Proud Papa Sztulman marked the occasion saying: "Maya is the first Israeli citizen to be born on Dubai soil. We are especially delighted by the symbolic timing of her birth.”
He continued: "There are many new Israeli owned businesses here and now we have an Israeli baby, born to a diplomat. When we issue her passport here in Dubai, we will be doubly excited because it will be the first Israeli passport issued here.”
Many locals came to congratulate Sztulman. Even the chief of police came to say Mazel Tov.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid sent his congratulations over Twitter tweeting: "Maya is the first Israeli baby born in Dubai! Congratulations to Ilan Sztulman, head of mission and his wife Jackie. The entire ministry is raising our glasses in a toast".
L’Chaim! And Mazal Tov!
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Friday August 13, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is being urged to address the new Israeli government – and address it in a serious way.
Both the United States and England have pointed out that if Abbas has any hope (or any real desire) or moving toward Palestinian statehood and normalcy, he must engage with Israel’s new leaders.
These messages from the United States and England have not simply been sent floating out there for Abbas to receive, they have been personally hand delivered.
Richard Moore, head of Britain’s MI-6, which is their equivalent of the CIA, went to Ramallah to meet with Abbas. That visit was followed by a visit from William Burns who also travelled to Ramallah. The CIA director paid his visit to Abbas while he was in Israel for talks about the region.
Topics under discussion with Abbas included Iran and their influence in the region.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Thursday August 12, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Human Rights Watch announced that during the recent war between Israel and Hamas, Gazans committed war crimes.
The group was referring to the deadly rockets fired into Israel by Palestinians, rockets that led to the deaths of 12 Israeli and injury to tens of others.
The human rights group also pointed out that rockets that misfired or that fell short of their intended targets within Israel, also killed or wounded "an undetermined number of Palestinians in Gaza". At least seven Palestinian civilians were reported killed by their rockets.
This is newsworthy.
Traditionally Human Rights Watch has been extremely critical of Israel and extremely wary of saying anything negative against Palestinians.
Because they were so biased, their credibility was in serious question.
Have they finally seen the light of truthful reporting – it is way too soon to tell.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Wednesday August 11, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Bees are not just our source of honey. Bees are, more importantly, an essential part of the ecosystem, and the bee population is becoming rare. Without bees, the ecosystem will break down.
Bees are now at risk because of very aggressive farming methods and because they are being poisoned by pesticides.
An Israeli startup named Beewise is helping save the bees and save the world.
They are using a robot. The robot makes hives, stacks the honeycombs using robot arms and inspects the honeycombs for disease and pesticides. It also issues real time reports on anything determined to be threatening to the bee colonies.
This robot can house 24 colonies – that’s about 2 million bees. It is about the size of cargo container.
The developers od Beewise hope to have 100 of these systems operating in the United States and Israel.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Tuesday August 10, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Every tourist to Israel and every person living in Israel dreams of finding a valuable piece of history while walking or digging through the country’s many excavation sites.
Of course, the likelihood of discovering a major find is next to nil. Bones and burnt wood and broken shards of pottery are often unearthed, but actually finding something significant in a site that has already been excavated and is open to tourists is practically unheard of.
But sometimes, dreams do come true.
The Yizhaki family was playing a game in the excavated mikvah in the Karazim National Park in Israel when one of the girls spotted a coin on the ground. As everyone is instructed to do, she handed the coin over to the park staff.
It was bronze and it is 1500 years old.
According to Dekel Segev, director of the Korazim National Park, this ancient bronze coin is estimated to date to the Talmudic period between the fourth and fifth centuries which is, he explains, “ … the peak period of the Jewish village in Korazim”.
Korazim, which is mentioned in the Christian Bible, is located in the Galilee between Safed and Tiberias. It is home to several impressive remains including a beautiful synagogue and a mikvah, both constructed with stunning pillars.
The coin is a natural treasure and it would have been illegal to keep the coin. It is a national treasure. In all probability, the family will be awarded a public honor for finding this remnant of archaeological history.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Monday August 9, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Israel has mandated that people over 60 get a third booster against the corona virus.
The Health Ministry reported that 295,585 Israelis over the age of 60 received COVID booster vaccines in the first five days of the program. That accounts for nearly 20% of that age group.
There is no scientific evidence that the third dose will help. It certainly will not hurt.
Interestingly, however, the World Health Organization has asked for a moratorium on the third dose. Their rationale is that the entire world should get a first dose of vaccine before some get a third.
This is not a humanitarian gesture. It is a clear attack against Israel. Israel is the only country in the world that has begun administering a third dose of the COVID vaccine.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Sunday August 8, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Greece and Turkey are confronting raging, out of control, fires.
Israel has a great deal of experience fighting fires. Israelis use computers and models to fight and plot and fight fires. They offered to help Turkey and Greece.
Turkey rejected their help. Greece accepted.
A delegation of 16 Israeli firefighters will travel to Greece to assist in the fight against the severe wildfires ravaging the country.
Thousands of people fled their homes on the outskirts of Athens. Hundreds were evacuated by boat from the nearby island of Evia.
The wildfires are fueled by strong winds and searing temperatures.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Saturday August 7, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
There has been an increase in tension between the Iran and the West.
Iran attacked an Israeli-leased and managed ship sitting off the coast of Oman and two people were killed. One was British. One was Romanian. The ship, named Mercer Street, is registered in Liberia and the company that runs the ship is registered in England. The actual ship is owned by Japan.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz unveiled the identity of an Iranian commander responsible for the deadly strike on the tanker.
Briefing the ambassadors of countries on the UN Security Council, Gantz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid named Saeed Ara Jani — the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) UAV Command — and claimed that he was directly involved in the attack on the Mercer Street tanker that killed the two crewmen.
Gantz said: "The person directly responsible for these actions is Saeed Ara Jani, whose name I am revealing for the first time. Ara Jani is the main operator of the Revolutionary Guards' UAV apparatus which attacked the Mercer Street. He provides the equipment, training, programs and is responsible for many terrorist acts in the region."
Revealing the identity of the commander lets Iran know that there is a target on their back.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Friday August 6, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Banks in the Palestinian Authority have decided not to be the conduit for the agreement that allows for to Qatari money to be distributed to Gaza. The banks fear that their cooperation would expose them to legal actions on the grounds of supporting and funding terrorism.
International laws are very strict about banking and the support of terror.
According to “the Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Palestine through the Ministry of Social Development and the Qatari Foreign Ministry through the Gaza Rehabilitation Committee,” the PA has agreed to transfer Qatari funds through banks subject to the supervision of the Palestinian Monetary Fund according to a list of names compiled by the Qatari side.
The transfers will take place using ATM cards bearing the bank’s logo and will include assistance to 100,000 beneficiaries from poor families as well as 27,695 other beneficiaries, most of whom are Hamas officials.
After the funds are transferred to the Palestinian banks, the PA will issue magnetic cards that will be recharged each month with $100 and these will be handed over to the poor families in the Gaza Strip.
All this will happen only after banks that agree to participate in the plan are found. Right now, there is a serious fear of an international backlash against Palestinian banks.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Thursday August 5, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
One of the results of the new Israeli government is that the Israeli Arab community now sits in the government. And that means that they have power -- economic power.
And so, the new budget has an allocation of 29.5 billion shekel directed toward Israeli minorities. 29.5 billion shekel is equivalent to about $9.18 billion.
21.5 billion is part of a 5 year plan for the Arab sector. 3 billion NIS will be directed to Druze and Circassian minorities. The Bedouin population will receive 5 billion NIS.
This is a major step toward equalization. Equalization that is long overdue.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Wednesday August 4, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Horrific fires are burning through the southern coastal region of Turkey.
According to the Israeli Embassy in Ankara, Israel offered to help fight the fires -- but Turkish officials refused their offer.
According to Turkish officials, the "situation is under control".
The Israeli embassy has indicated that their offer of assistance still stands.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government seem poorly prepared to fight these fires. Their poor response to the horrific fires decimating a wide swath of their country is inexplicable.
There has been a great deal of tension between Turkey and Israel. Israel puts all bygones aside to help save lives - but Turkey still does not want their help.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Tuesday August 3, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Israel’s COVID infection rate continues to climb. The government is being forced to make difficult decisions.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told the public that if daily coronavirus infection rates do not drop, they should prepare for another lockdown. This lockdown, Israel’s fourth, should it happen, would be enforced next month, during the Jewish High Holidays.
Gantz explained his prediction to the coronavirus cabinet. He explained that a lockdown during the High Holidays would cause less economic hardship to Israelis than previous lockdowns because so little happens economically during this time of year.
Israel is aggressively pushing more vaccinations and has begun to administer a third booster to everyone over 60 years of age.
Israel does not stand alone in this uptick of Covid numbers, they are just very open about it. The Delta variant is wreaking havoc on the world.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Monday August 2, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Even today “spoils of war” are a reality. Looting is as wrong today as it has been for centuries - especially when national treasures are the stolen loot.
During the Colonial Period the British were notorious looters. The British Museum is filled with the stolen artifacts. The head of a sculpture, for example, is on display in the museum while the rest of the statue’s body stands in situ.
In 2003, during the US operation in Iraq to oust Sadaam Hussein, tens of thousands of archeological artifacts were looted.
The United States is now gathering those Iraqi national treasures and will return more than 17,000 ancient artifacts looted and smuggled out of Iraq.
The most valuable of all the items is a 3,500-year-old clay tablet bearing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is the Babylonia creation story, it is their equivalent of the biblical story of Genesis.
Countless national treasures of Iraq, archeological finds and artifacts, were poached or – more often, destroyed by ISIS. Thrown to the ground and smashed into pieces. They destroyed more than the United States took. ISIS controlled a third of Iraq between the years 2014 and 2017, before they were defeated by Iraqi and international forces.
U.S. authorities are working diligently to recover the artifacts. They are literally seizing them from dealers and museums in the United States. And Iraq is grateful.
As Iraqi Culture Minister Hassan Nadhim told Reuters: "The U.S. government seized some of the artifacts and sent them to the (Iraqi) embassy. The Gilgamesh tablet, the important one, will be returned to Iraq in the next month after legal procedures are finalized".
It is never too late to right a wrong.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Sunday August 1, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Israel loves sports and Israelis love the Olympics. They also love to win and to get medals. What country doesn’t?
Hearing the Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, being played while an Israeli stands on the winner podium makes every Israeli’s chest swell with pride.
It almost makes it feel as if all the bad press Israel is bombarded with is worth it.
Especially when Israel has just won a gold.
Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in artistic gymnastics, the floor exercise. The win was impressive. Artem was impressive.
Israel’s president called Israel’s star athlete and congratulated him. President Herzog said: "We are all very excited and I congratulate you. We are all looking forward to seeing you in Jerusalem soon. You are a source of pride to many children who will surely follow in your footsteps.”
Dolgopyat told Herzog that he did it all "for the people of Israel" and expressed his happiness that "all of our nation watched me [during the final]."
In his call to Artem after the win, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said: "You made history here. We stopped the cabinet meeting in the middle to congratulate you for bringing us this great news".
“On behalf of the government of Israel and on behalf of the citizens of Israel - we are all proud of you and look forward to your return to Israel for the celebrations”.
Bennett and the members of his cabinet had interrupted their weekly Sunday morning cabinet meeting to watch the floor performance.
This is the second gold medal for Israel in the history of their participation in the Olympic Games.
In Israel, people disagree over politics but they are united in their national pride.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Saturday July 31, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
Israel is beginning a third round of vaccinations for people over 60. The decision to vaccinate was made in order to avoid a fourth country-wide lockdown.
In a televised press conference Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Israelis :
“Our goal is to keep the State of Israel open … But we must understand that there is a race between the vaccine campaign and the pandemic. We must make sure the vaccinations rate beats the pandemic's spread. We all have the shared obligation to protect one another. Go get vaccinated!"
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, who turns 61 in September, was the first Israeli to receive the booster shot as part of the campaign.
Bennett said that he will accompany his 78-year-old mother Myrna when she gets her jab.
The prime minister explained the efficacy of the third dose saying: "Within a few days of receiving the third dose, [the vaccine] comes into effect and provides protection. I urge seniors who have been vaccinated with the second dose — go get vaccinated with the third dose. It will protect you from serious illness and death."
The essential point he was making is that you may get sick, but with the vaccine you are not going to die. And that is what is important.
If the campaign works as Israel is hoping, the country will not need to shut down. And that means the economy can continue to rebuild itself.
To answer the most asked question, tourism will not spring back up. Open borders are not immediately on the agenda.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Friday July 30, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
An oil tanker flying a Liberian flag that was a part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s maritime group named Zodiac was attacked just north of the Omani island of Masirah. That puts it 185 miles from Muscat, the capital of Oman.
The ship is actually Japanese owned, leased by Zodiac and registered in Liberia.
Although owned by Ofer, an Israeli, Zodiac is a British based and registered company.
Two crewmembers were killed in the attack - one British and one Romanian.
This attack has international implications. It was perpetrated by a drone strike and Israel asserts, with absolute certainty, that the attacker was Iran.
In an official statement, the management of Zodiac Maritimecalled the attack piracy.
The statement read: “At the time of the incident the vessel was in the northern
Indian Ocean, traveling from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah with no cargo onboard.” In other words, the ship was making its way from a port in Tanzania to a port in the United Arab Emirates.
Israel will certainly respond to this attack. Because there were deaths and one of the crew members killed was British, England may join Israel in the response.
We will watch and see.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Thursday July 29, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
We need a new policy toward Iran.
The West world, especially the United States and Israel, need to change their attitude and realize what Iran is really doing.
Historically, radical regimes like Iran have perceived reality differently than the West. And because of that perception, they invest in their country very differently than does the West.
In Iran’s case, despite terrible economic and internal crisis after crisis, Iranian leadership is channeling huge amounts of money not into their own country, but into aggressive actions in Syria. They’re doing this in an effort to strike at Israel and the US.
It is counterintuitive when it comes to Western logic, but to Iran it makes sense.
Iranian leadership is trying to deflect attention from internal crises and place blame on the United States and Israel for their problems. Iran is solving problems internally by attacking what they perceive to be the root causes - the United States and Israel, which are on the outside.
The US and Israel needs to focus and push back hard against Iran. The entire region and Iran will be better off when internal issues are addressed.
Iran needs to be forced back and to face inward.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com
Wednesday July 28, 2021
I've Been Thinking:
We do not dedicate enough time to good news – especially good news about the great contributions Israel has made to the world.
Here is a one example. Israeli technology is being used in the Dominican Republic to diagnose early stages of cervical cancer. This test will save the lives of many of the women who are diagnosed early.
The name of the Israeli company that developed this technology is MobileODT and they launched a nationwide program testing 50,000 women.
The Artificial Intelligence-based kit allows non-specialists to diagnose abnormal cervical findings in their early stages using an ordinary smartphone. The patient is then matched with adequate preventive treatment.
The test is checked through the phone. 18,000 of those women who were tested were of very modest means and early detection would both save their lives and cut the cost of treatment exponentially.
Danny Biran, Israel’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic, noted that "Israeli technology can reach anywhere in the world, make essential health services accessible to everyone and present fast results and above all — save lives.”
He said, "We will continue to work on a variety of issues in the field of groundbreaking and life-changing Israeli technologies together with Israel's great friend, the Dominican Republic."
The world could use more good news of this sort.
Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
To reprint my essays contact sales (at) www.featurewell.com