Free Republic

Seattle Mayor Invites Businesses to Post 'Gun-Free Zone' Signs in Their Stores August 19, 2013 - 3:18 PM By Penny Starr (CNSNews.com) – Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, a Democrat, is inviting local merchants to voluntarily post “Gun Free Zone” signs in their businesses, letting customers who have guns know they should shop elsewhere. “We are here to support businesses that do not wish to have guns on their premises” McGinn said in a press release issued by Washington CeaseFire, which is partnering with the mayor for the campaign. “The police department regularly enforces trespass laws when a visitor to a...

<p>UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations secretary-general wants all sides in Syria’s violent conflict to stop fighting during the holy month of Ramadan.</p> <p>Ban Ki-moon says in a statement that “I am calling for … every person holding a gun, to stop fighting and offer this month of peace as a collective present to their people.”</p>

Last week’s “under-the-radar” rocket attack on Ashkelon, Israel was the inevitable outcome of cumulative, distressing circumstances, foremost of which was the recent joint call by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal for a “peaceful Intifada.” Their promotion of a “popular resistance” manifested, initially, in mass protests in the West Bank, ostensibly against the detention of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israel, but quickly devolved into a series of clashes between IDF soldiers and Molotov cocktail- and rock-throwing Palestinians. This “non-violence” intensified significantly after Arafat Jaradat, a Palestinian arrested during one of the demonstrations, died in Israeli custody....

The failed paradigm that has been followed for 44 years in the United States has been to attempt, unsuccessfully, to prevent crime by not allowing prohibited groups from buying firearms. Obviously, this approach has not worked. It is a failed paradigm because its focus is on the 99 percent of people who do not need to be controlled, instead of the 1 percent who do. The 1 percent can always find a way to obtain firearms illegally. The Supreme court has ruled that in the United States, you have a right to a loaded, unlocked handgun that is in common...

A violent face-off developed Thursday afternoon between IDF soldiers and Arabs in Hevron. In the wake of the face-off, a major Arab riot developed, with Arabs throwing stones and bricks at IDF soldiers. Israeli forces used anti-riot tactics to break up the fracas. IDF officials said they considered the incident “serious,” and that an investigation had been opened. Officials said that the level of Arab rioting in Judea and Samaria had climbed significantly since Operation Pillar of Defense ended, and that there were more reports of rock throwing and other terror incidents. Officials said that they had also been prepared...

The day after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire with Israel, the terrorist group's TV station aired this "Death to Israel!" music video on its station: "Destroy the throne of Zion, the house of absolute evil," the song goes. "Raise the banner of victory. Be like the fire of a volcano. Repeat in the name of your Jihad: Death to Israel! With blood and fire, resist until freedom. Defeat the soldiers of aggression the enemies of humanity." The tune is illustrated with video of rockets being launched from Gaza, presumably, into Israel, the Zionist state, as well as other war scenes....

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of the founders of the Hamas terrorist organization and author of the book “Son of Hamas,” said on Friday that Israel made a mistake by agreeing to a ceasefire with Gaza’s terrorist rulers. Yousef has spent a number of years abroad following a decade in which he risked his life working undercover as an agent for the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet). His code name during that time was 'The Green Prince.' "What is important is that at the moment there is a ceasefire, and I think we need to look at things...

The ceasefire agreement that Israel accepted Wednesday night to end the current round of Palestinian rocket and missile attacks is not a good deal for Israel by any stretch of the imagination. At best, Israel and Hamas are placed on the same moral plane. The ceasefire erases the distinction between Israel, a peace-seeking liberal democracy that wants simply to defend its citizens from molestation, and Hamas, a genocidal jihadist terrorist outfit that seeks the eradication of the Jewish people and the destruction of Israel. Under international law, Israel is not just within its rights to defend itself from Hamas. It...

About 100 activists from MK Michael Ben-Ari’s newly-formed “Power to Israel” party demonstrated on Thursday evening near the Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, against the failure of Operation Pillar of Defense. Ben-Ari was among the protesters. The demonstrators yelled “Bibi is a coward” and called to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza in order to restore the quiet to southern Israel. MK Ben-Ari said during the demonstration that “an enemy is fought with an iron fist and not an iron dome. ....

Israel decided to refrain from a ground invasion of Gaza after it was warned that such a move could spell the end of the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, Channel 2 reported Thursday. According to the report, Mossad Head Tamir Pardo, who went to Cairo as Israel's representative in the contacts that preceded the ceasefire, was told in messages from Cairo and from Washington that the peaceful relations between Israel, Jordan and Egypt were at risk.

Gaza’s terrorist rulers marked the ceasefire that went into effect on Wednesday evening by continuing to fire rockets at southern Israel. According to Kol Yisrael radio’s midnight newscast, 20 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel since the ceasefire went into effect at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday evening. There were no reports of physical injuries or damages. Before the ceasefire went into effect, terrorists fired a barrage of 40 rockets at the area, targeting Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Be’er Sheva among other cities. In Be’er Sheva, a rocket directly hit a home, causing no physical injuries. Four rockets fired at Ashdod...

אני יודע שישנם אזרחים שמצפים לפעולה צבאית חריפה עוד יותר, וייתכן מאוד שנידרש לה, אבל בעת הזאת, הדבר הנכון למדינת ישראל הוא למצות את ההזדמנות הזאת להשיג הפסקת אש מתמשכת. כראש ממשלה מוטלת עליי האחריות – והיא אחריות עליונה – לעשות את הצעדים הנכונים לשמור על ביטחוננו. כך נהגתי, כך אמשיך לנהוג. I realize that there are citizens who expect a harsher military action and we may very well need to do that. But at present, the right thing for the State of Israel is to exhaust this possibility of reaching a long-term cease-fire. As Prime Minister, I have...

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal announced in a press conference Wednesday evening that Israel "has failed in all its goals" in Operation Defensive Pillar, following the cease fire announcement. "After eight days, God stayed their hand from the people of Gaza, and they were compelled to submit to the conditions of the resistance," Mashaal said. "Israel has failed in all its goals," he told reporters in a Cairo hotel. Mashaal also thanked ceasefire mediator Egypt, as well as Iran, which he said "had a role in arming" Hamas during the conflict. Arabs in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate the...

President Barack Obama praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday for agreeing to an Egypt-crafted cease-fire with Palestinian militants in Gaza. Obama, speaking to Netanyahu by telephone, also underlined America's unwavering support for Israel's security and said he hoped to "intensify" U.S. assistance. "The president commended the prime minister for agreeing to the Egyptian cease-fire proposal—which the president recommended the prime minister do—while reiterating that Israel maintains the right to defend itself," the White House said in a summary of the conversation.

Egypt announced a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas effective Wednesday evening local time, the Associated Press reported. In details of the agreement obtained by the news agency, Israel will cease all military activity against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip at 9 p.m. local time (11 a.m. PST) and Palestinian militants will cease rocket attacks into Israel. After 24 hours of quiet, Gaza's border crossings with Israel will be opened further to allow freer movement of goods and people. The announcement by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton followed talks in Cairo between Clinton...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that will go into effect Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time. “This is a critical moment for the region,” Clinton said during a news conference with Egypt’s foreign minister in Cairo. “The people of this region deserve the chance to live free from fear and violence.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the cease-fire deal and said in a statement Israel would “give a chance” to the Egyptian-brokered deal.

A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza could go into effect “within several hours”, according to a Monday night report by the Al-Arabiya network. The report said that the forum of nine senior Israeli ministers was expected to approve an initial outline for a ceasefire with Hamas. According to the outline offered by Egypt and described in the report, Israel will stop the air strikes on Gaza and stop the targeted killings of senior members of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza, in exchange for a complete cessation of the rocket fire into Israel.

A former employee of the CeaseFire violence prevention program was fatally shot today in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side, officials said. ----------------------------cut-------------------------- "Marlon had a past, a lot of guys we work with and we hire do have a past," said Hardiman. "He got out of the life style and tried to turn his life around."

Works about as well as gun control… Paying tribute to thugs to ‘prevent’ crime nets us this gem… (GunNews) – Ceasefire Illinois got a million dollars from the City of Chicago earlier this summer to hire ex-convicts to “mediate” disputes between violent criminals and to “prevent” crime. It’s true. This isn’t April Fool’s and sadly, it’s not a joke: Chicago (Sun-Times) – Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday he’s proceeding with caution in forging a city partnership with CeaseFire Illinois ­ and not writing a “blank check” ­ to make certain ex-offenders hired by the group are “preventing crime, not committing...

Hamas’ military wing said on Wednesday that it had agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel, AFP reported. “In response to the Egyptian efforts to try and stop the aggression on our people, we at Al-Qassam Brigades and all resistance factions declare our commitment to stop this round of confrontation, as long as (Israel) commits to stopping its crimes,” said a statement from Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. The statement noted that terrorists had fired 96 rockets and nine mortars at Israel during the recent wave of violence. “Our confrontation with the enemy in this round was at the minimal level of...