Free Republic

Two members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' official security forces were arrested in conjunction with this past weekend's bloody massacre in which five family members were brutally stabbed to death inside their home in the Jewish village of Itamar, WND has learned. 'snip' Two cousins are now in Israeli custody and are suspected in the slayings. Ahmed Awad is an officer in Abbas' Preventative Security Services in the northern West Bank city of Nablis. Iyad Awad is an officer in Abbas' General Intelligence services in Ramallah. Both the Preventative and General Intelligence services of Fatah are armed, trained and...

Up until now, the Egyptian revolution generally, and the Brotherhood in particular, has lacked a charismatic thinker, someone who could really mobilize the masses. Qaradawi is that man. Friday, February 18 may be a turning point in Egyptian history. On that day Yusuf al-Qaradawi spoke to a giant cheering crowd in Tahrir Square. He praised the army – to ward off it’s repression and to encourage it to support a transformation of the country. He preached caution and patience, working with the army. And he also lavished praise on the pro-Islamist chairman of the committee to write the new constitution,...

Over the past week, Israel has been criticized for being insufficiently supportive of democratic change in Egypt. While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been careful to praise the cause of democracy while warning against the dangers of an Islamic takeover of the most populous Arab state, many Israelis have not been so diplomatic. To understand why, it is necessary to take a little tour of the Arab world. In the midst of Tunisia’s revolution last month, the Jewish Agency mobilized to evacuate any members of the country’s Jewish community who wished to leave. Until the end of French colonial rule...

Egypt's leader has gambled that he can ride out the protests and hold on. It's a pretty good gamble. 'snip' Like everyone else, you've been "listening" to Egyptians marching through the streets and telling you it's time to go. That's an opinion they'll likely revise after a few more neighborhoods in Cairo and Alexandria are ransacked, looted and torched by gangs of hooligans. But you haven't just been listening to the demonstrators. You've also been watching them—the way they dress, the way they shave. On Sunday, in Tahrir Square, you could tell right away that most were from the Muslim...

TUNIS — Arsonists set fire to a synagogue in the southern Gabes region of Tunisia, a leader of the local Jewish community said Tuesday. "Someone set fire to the synagogue on Monday night and the Torah scrolls were burned," Trabelsi Perez told AFP, criticising the lack of action by the security services to stop the attack. "What astonished me was that there were police not far from the synagogue...

Former US Secretary of State who served under Ronald Reagan joins list of senior security officials calling for Pollard's release. Former US secretary of state George Shultz has joined a long list of former senior American and Israeli security officials calling upon US President Barack Obama to release Jonathan Pollard. In a letter obtained by The Jerusalem Post Tuesday night, Shultz wrote that he was impressed that the people who are best informed about the classified material Pollard passed to Israel now favor his release. He cited former CIA director James Woolsey, former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dennis...

The Knesset House Committee on Monday approved a request by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to split from the Labor party and form a new faction called 'Independence' (Atzmaut). The split was approved with a majority of 11 MKs voting in favor. Shortly after the announcement, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made a request to begin coalition negotiations the newly-formed faction. Representatives from Netanyahu's office are expected to meet with Labor breakaway representatives MK Einat Wilf and Agricultural Minister Shalom Simhon. Speaking at a press conference at the Knesset after he and four other Labor MKs submitted the request, Barak said that...

On Sunday, the southern Sudanese began voting on a referendum to secede from the Republic of Sudan and establish their own sovereign nation. By all accounts, they will soon secede from the Arab, Islamic country and form an independent African, Christian and animist state. The consequences of their actions will reverberate around the world. This week’s referendum takes place in accordance with the US-brokered Comprehensive Peace Treaty between the Khartoum government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed on January 9, 2005. The CPT officially ended the second Sudanese Civil War that began in 1983. The South Sudanese referendum will...

It's healthy, even natural, for Americans to feel populist resentment against elites that base their status on inherited wealth and family connections. But it's toxic, misguided and profoundly stupid to focus public hostility on leaders who achieved their positions through education, diligence and ability. Recent sniping between Sarah Palin and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Charles Krauthammer highlights the crucial distinction between rebellious attitudes that attack unfairly arrogated power and privilege and a trendy neo-populism that attacks brains. When Krauthammer dared to suggest that the former Alaska governor looked less than "presidential" while shooting caribou with Kate Gosselin on her hit TLC...

Since my funds are limited, here are my criteria: 1) Good shot at winning, though not a sure thing, and 2) Critical race either because the Democrat candidate is particularly evil, or has seniority and an important committee position, or symbolically important ie: Ted Kennedy seat I intend to donate to five races Thanks for your help

Why hasn't Israel bombed Iran yet? It's a question I often get from people who suppose I have a telepathic hotline to Benjamin Netanyahu's brain. 'snip' Here are four theories in ascending order of significance and plausibility. 'snip' Finally, Israeli leaders are mindful of history. Put aside the routine comparisons between a prospective military strike on Iran with Israel's quick and effective destruction of Iraq's Osirak reactor in 1981. As I'm reminded by Michael Doran, a Middle East scholar at NYU, Israel's leaders are probably no less alert to the lessons of the Suez War in 1956. Back then, a...

The National Rifle Association slipped into a Beltway backroom this week to cut a deal with Democrats on their new campaign-finance legislation. Conservatives are ripping the gun-rights group for selling out free speech, and fair enough. But don't underestimate the political sellout. The NRA has potentially armed unions and Democrats for the midterm elections. 'snip' America, meet the DISCLOSE act. The bill restricts corporate political participation for companies that contract with the government or have some foreign ownership. But its real aim is to use "transparency" as a weapon. CEOs would have to appear in ads to "approve" messages. Business...

THIS SUNDAY, JOIN THOUSANDS FOR AN HISTORIC GATHERING TO PROCLAIM THAT WE NEVER AGAIN WILL BE SILENT. JOIN US TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH ISRAEL’S RIGHT TO BUILD AND LIVE IN ITS OWN COUNTRY. EMERGENCY RALLY FOR A UNITED JERUSALEM UNDER ISRAELI SOVEREIGNTY. PROTEST THE ADMINISTRATION’S DISGRACEFUL SCAPEGOATING AND UNDERMINING OF ISRAEL. Sunday, April 25, 2010 — 1 PM , Israeli Consulate, 2nd Ave between 42nd and 43rd St, NYC RAIN OR SHINE, WE WILL BE THERE. _____ A CALL TO ACTION: LEADERS, STEP FORWARD NOW By Beth Gilinsky and Rabbi Aryeh Spero We have been receiving numerous communications from...

Tonight, the eve of Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, we remember our brothers and sisters who were murdered in the death camps, in the forests and in the killing fields. We listen to the voices of the survivors who serve as the voice of the millions who died. Before their deaths, many of the murdered begged, “Do not forget us. Tell our story – tell the world, tell the following generations – how great our suffering was, how terrible the horror was, how great our sacrifice was.” We owe the survivors a tremendous debt for their courage to return...

Eighteen states are challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health law. Their challenge focuses on whether the federal government can require everyone to buy coverage. They gloss over an issue more consequential to our health and longevity: Can the federal government dictate how doctors treat their patients? During the last half century, the Supreme Court has established a zone of privacy protected by the Constitution. It includes a couple's choice to use contraception recommended by their physician (Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965) and a woman's choice to have an abortion provided by her physician (Roe v. Wade, 1973). How can freedom...

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill were more than an hour and a half late to dinner at the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night. There was speculation that the tardiness may have been related to an announcement today that Israel would advance housing construction in East Jerusalem, a move Biden strongly condemned in a written statement earlier in the evening.

Oguz Celikkol, Turkey's ambassador to Israel, reportedly told Arab MK Taleb a-Sanaa (UAL) Tuesday evening he will be traveling to Ankara for consultations in reaction to what the Turks termed the shameful treatment he was given by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon during a meeting the two held on Monday evening, and that he may not return to Israel. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon. Photo: AP [file] SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report. Earlier Tuesday, the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv issued a warning saying that "if Israel did not issue a...

Here's one from the Department of We Are The World: Hugo Chávez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will address the U.N.'s climate summit in Copenhagen. Say what you will about these two gentlemen—the support for terrorists, the Holocaust denial, the suppression of civil liberties—at least nobody can accuse them of being global warming "deniers." On the contrary, the two leaders, who met in Caracas last month for at least the 11th time, have been nothing if not cooperative when it comes to environmentally friendly and carbon-neutral technologies. Bicycles, for instance: In 2005, Chávez directed his government to "follow seriously the project of...

If this wasn't a red flag, what would be? See Slide #43, Slide # 49 and #50

Hasan is a U.S.-born Muslim of Palestinian descent whose parents came to the United States from the West Bank. He joined the military after high school and earned medical degrees as he rose through the ranks, family members said. 'snip' Hasan attended the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring and was "very devout," according to Faizul Khan, a former imam at the center. Khan said Hasan attended prayers at least once a day, seven days a week, often in his Army fatigues.