I've Been Thinking:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that he will host Israeli President Issac Herzog for an official visit to Turkey as early as next month.
Details, including the final date for the visit and its duration, were still being discussed between the two countries.
Relations between Turkey and Israel have not been good since 2010 when the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship filled with activists, attempted to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Israeli commandos boarded the ship.
Six years later, in 2016, Israel decided to pay $21 million to all the Turkish citizens killed in the Israeli raid.
Things got even worse in 2018 after riots on the Gaza border. Israel responded to the rioting and the violence. And at that point, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Israel and Israel’s ambassador was asked to leave Turkey.
More recently, when an Israeli couple was arrested for spying in Turkey, the two presidents – Erdogan and Bennett, spoke and working together, they helped free the couple.
And even more recently than that, the Turkish president called Herzog to offer condolences on the death of his mother.
The biggest bone of contention between Israel and Turkey is that Turkey has given refuge to Hamas leadership. The latest word on the street is that Erdogan has asked Hamas leadership to leave, that they have short visas and that some Hamas leaders have been detained and even deported.
Israel is not certain that all that is verifiable. They do not trust Erdogan. Regardless of what Turkey says, the Turks are still major supporters of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
Will the visit actually happen? Time will tell.
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I've Been Thinking:
South Korea paid $18 million to the United Nations. The $18 million was to cover the cost of Iran’s dues. Iran was $18 million in arrears.
Being in arrears is nothing new for Iran. They are annually delinquent in paying their membership dues.
Sanctions that have been placed on Iran make it very difficult for them to meet their international commitments. To accommodate, the United States relaxed restrictions and permitted the release of $7 billion dollars from Iranian accounts that were in South Korean banks. The money was released specifically in order for Iran to pay debts - like the dues owed to the UN.
The South Korean Ministry of Finance confirmed the payment to the UN in Iran’s name. The statement from South Korea read: “Iran’s right to vote at the General Assembly is expected to be restored immediately with the payment”.
It’s all part of a game called international diplomacy.
Iran really needed their status restored in the UN.
Iran really wants to be a world leader and you cannot be a world leader if you are locked out of the United Nations.
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I've Been Thinking:
ISIS is having a resurgence.
There was a prison break in Northeast Syria.
100 ISIS terrorist in heavily equipped vehicles blew up the gates of Gweiran Prison in the city of Hasakeh. The prison housed 1,000 ISIS prisoners, many of them leaders of the ISIS movement.
This prison break was not just about freeing ISIS leaders. Its purpose was to let it be known and clearly understood that ISIS is still around.
As a result of the break, a massive battle ensued. Numbers are unclear but there were many dead and many left wounded. The ISIS claim is that 800 prisoners escaped.
This prison is one of about 10 prisons that the United States runs together with the Syrian Kurdish forces known as the Syrian Defense Forces (SDF).
ISIS is making a real play for power. This is just step one. Stay tuned for step two.
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I've Been Thinking:
Israeli experts say that Iran is only weeks away from having nuclear weapons.
The Institute for National Security Studies of Israel prepares an annual survey to be delivered to Israel’s president and prime minister. It is a survey of events from the past year and a set of predictions for the future.
The most important take away from this year’s report is that Iran has reached the status of having the ability to put a nuclear bomb together in just two weeks.
The report also draws attention to Iran’s proxies on Israel’s borders. Iran is sponsoring Hezbollah in Lebanon and Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Gaza, increasing tensions on Israel’s borders.
Finally, the survey predicted that as Palestinians get more and more frustrated by the lack of movement in the conflict between Israelis and the Palestinians, there will be increased anger and terror directed at Israelis by Palestinians.
The report speaks of a stalemate in the peace process. That stalemate might even challenge the democratic nature of Israel.
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I've Been Thinking:
Islamic Jihad organized a rally in Gaza. It was a combination pro-Iran rally and anti-Saudi Arabia protest.
Protesters shouted “Death to the House of Saud!” They carried posters with pictures of the head of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the group that is fighting against the Yemeni establishment supported by the Saudis.
Hamas controls Gaza, but this time they neither participated nor did they prevent this protest and rally from taking place.
Hamas is worried.
They want Saudi support to help build Gaza’s infrastructure. They need Saudi Arabia to contribute to Gaza.
Hamas made a mistake.
The rally in support of the Houthis was plastered all over the press. It was covered in Arabic media and English-language media throughout the Middle East and Europe. Gaza was portrayed as supporting the Houthis and condemning Saudi Arabia.
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I've Been Thinking:
Russia wants to be the leader of the world. And part of the Russian plan is to be power broker to the Middle East.
The Russians want to outplay the United States and the West in every way – most particularly, when it comes to Iran.
So how does Russia plan on executing their plan?
The Russians proposed an interim agreement with Iran.
According to their agreement, sanctions relief will be instituted in exchange for the reimposition of some restrictions on the Iranian nuke program.
Both Russia and Iran have been mum on the exact details of the agreement. US officials are either totally in the dark or not divulging any knowledge of the details.
Truthfully, I can’t imagine that this interim proposal is any different from the proposals that the P5+1 have already proposed.
The one difference is that this proposal came from Russia and not from the West.
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I've Been Thinking:
Turkey and Israel have had a very cold relationship over the past few years.
Lately, however, that relationship is beginning to slowly thaw.
But how do you judge how well the relationship is progressing?
Foreign ministers spoke for the first time in years.
Trade is picking up.
And – and this is very interesting, Turkish President Erdogan has hired an Israeli doctor to treat him.
Professor Itzhak Shapira, a cardiologist and the deputy general of Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv was hired by the Turkish president. In addition to President Erdogan, Shapira also advises other world leaders.
When media outlets got the news that Erdogan had hired an Israeli doctor, his PR spin doctors sent the Turkish president out to the basketball court as a whole team of journalists watched him shoot hoops.
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I've Been Thinking:
Israel has changed their policy on COVID and schooling.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that students who come in contact with confirmed COVID positive patients, will NOT need to isolate.
He also said that every student must test twice a week. And the government will send antigen tests to the families of every school age child.
The message Bennet was sending is that parents need to be responsible and not send sick students to school.
The prime minister said that school children must stay in school.
Studies clearly say that children who are double vaccinated are, depending in the study, either two or four times more protected than unvaccinated youth. One study reported that children vaccinated within the past two months are better protected against the Omicron variant than unvaccinated children or children who received the shot more than two months ago.
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I've Been Thinking:
Wednesday January 19, 2022
I’ve Been Thinking:
I pay attention to the travel plans of world leaders.
And it was very telling to learn that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was visiting Moscow and meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Iran and Russia are working together in several areas - the most obvious of all is Syria.
Both Russia and Iran have propped up Syrian President Assad. They have secured his political position and they are helping him retake most of the country.
But - and this is a serious “but” - Russia is not happy with some of what Iran is doing in Syria and the Russians want to reel Iran in.
You can be certain that Raisi and Putin also spoke about the nuke talks in Vienna and the development of Iran’s nuke plan.
They also spoke about Israel.
Putin spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Bennett only a few days before meeting with Raisi. Putin, without a doubt, updated Raisi on Israel’s position on Iran and gave him his thoughts on whether Israel is truly prepared to attack Iran and how powerful that strike would be.
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I've Been Thinking:
A drone attack by the Houthi, Yemen’s rebels, in Abu Dhabi - the heart of the UAE, might be the shot heard round the world in 2022.
For years there has been a move to build bridges in the Middle East. This drone attack, which killed three people, hit fuel trucks near the Aby Dhabi airport and caused multiple explosions, has everyone in the Middle East talking and asking questions.
In order to get from Yemen to the UAE, the drone had to lift off from Yemen, enter the Gulf of Aden and then the Arabian Sea. At this point the drone needed to turn in to the Gulf of Oman, round the corner and enter the Persian Gulf, pass Dubai and then, finally, arrive at Abu Dhabi.
This was a very well-planned attack with a very sophisticated weapon.
In response to the drone attack, the UAE and Saudi Arabia sent a counterattack against Sana’a the capital of Yemen. That attack killed at least 12 people. It was the deadliest bombardment in the city since 2019.
The Houthis have promised to continue to attack with their drones.
The back story in this whole episode is that the Houthis are sponsored by - Iran.
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I've Been Thinking:
For the second year in a row Iran, was unable to pay their dues at the United Nations.
That means that, once again, Iran will not be able to participate in any of the votes on UN committees or in the General Assembly.
The minimum Iran needs to pay the UN is $18 million.
US sanctions have made it difficult - if not impossible, for Iran to get the money they need. Although the United States did free up $7 billion for Iran from a South Korean bank, it was too late.
Under the UN charter, if a member country’s arrears are equal to or exceed the amount of dues it should have paid over the preceding two years, that country’s voting rights are suspended until payment is made.
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I've Been Thinking:
Muslims in America have started to respond to the Muslim who took four Jews hostage in their synagogue in Texas.
The most significant of the responses came from a Muslim professor who teaches at the Divinity School at Duke University in North Carolina.
Abdullah T. Antepli said the time has come for Muslims to stand up and realize that this culture of hatred must be addressed. He saw this act of terror as a “moral call for action for the soul of Islam and Muslim” to address senseless, blind, hatred towards Jews.
For too long there has been a deafening silence after the many acts of violence against Jews in the United States and around the world.
The time has come for Muslim leadership to step up and condemn the evil of these acts.
Thank you Professor Antepli for taking the leadership helm.
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I've Been Thinking:
David Bateman, a major Republican donor form Utah, claimed that Pope Francis was a secret Jewish agent. Bateman qualified his statement saying the Pope has “love for the Jewish people.”
That wasn’t all he had to say about Jews.
On Instagram, David Bateman wrote: "heart breaks for [the Jews'] multi-millennial plight wherein they were driven from country to country. Robbed. Beaten. Denied voting rights, and exterminated over and over again."
He continued: "My beef is with the Khabbalist [sic] central banking, secret society Jews. Not the amazing, humble, and industrious Jewish people."
The qualification to his statements just makes Bateman’s comments worse. According to his statements, he has a problem with Jewish bankers, meaning wealthy secret society Jews. But no problem with humble working - class Jews.
I find that hard to believe.
Either way - Shame on you David Bateman.
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