Free Republic

Caesarea is the largest Roman ruin in Israel today. It was built by Herod The Great, an ambitious puppet of the Romans, who was appointed the king of Judea by Rome. This city had a huge chariot race track, a theatre, aqueducts, and an artificial harbor that's underwater today. This harbor was built by Herod in order to create for himself an international city with direct links to Rome. This virtual tour and documentary explores the history of this fascinating place, from its founding by Herod, its use as a Roman provincial capital, the harbor's role in the war between...

Rachel's Tomb, Cave of the Patriarchs now listed as Muslim sites, Israel condemned over Temple Mount 'aggression.' UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) passed a resolution Wednesday listing the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem as Muslim sites. The resolution - which passed with 26 in favor, six voted against, and 25 abstentions - condemned Israel for archaeological excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem and particularly near the Temple Mount. An initial draft of the resolution had also called for the Kotel (Western Wall) to be listed as an Islamic site...

The website of the Al Aqsa Foundation, an organization that operates legally in Israel, describes last week's visit by Economics Minister Naftali Bennett and the Bayit Yehudi faction to Hevron under the headline, "Bennett Defiles al-Ibrahimi," using the Muslim name for the Cave of Patriarchs. The report cites a group called "Youths against the Settlements" as saying that Bennett's visit, alongside "radical settlers, was "a step that expresses escalation, provocation and indifference to Muslim feelings." Arutz Sheva's Dalit Halevy reported that the Islamist organizations see visits by Jews to places that are also holy to Islam as defiling those places....

Israel’s New Clowns by Ari Bussel Larry King asked Prime Minister Netanyahu about a recent clip of Israeli soldiers dancing in Hebron. The Prime Minister, who had more pressing matters on his mind, had not yet seen the clip. Others, throughout Europe and elsewhere, have seen the clip. A group of Israeli soldiers break formation while patrolling in a deserted street in Hebron, start dancing “Tuk Tuk” (“Wake up in the Morning”) and then regroup into their former serious military assignment. The original segment was quickly removed. But once on the Internet, footprints persist. In one that remains, a caption...