Free Republic

Less than one week before the international community is set to unlock a decade of sanctions imposed on Iran, the country’s Islamic hardliners deliberately generated a crisis with the US for pure domestic consumption with the aim of ensuring the ayatollahs’s continued grip on power. Once the International Atomic Energy Agency announces on Friday as expected that Iran has fulfilled its obligations under the US-brokered nuclear accord, the billions of dollars in unfrozen accounts and the massive flow of oil exports will usher in historic changes to Iran’s long-isolated economy.

* In the video produced by the pro-ISIS Palestinian Islamic Army (PIA), Hamas leaders are denounced for aligning themselves with moderate Arab leaders in the Gulf, who are described as "criminals and enemies of Islam." * Apparently, Hamas has been too kind to Christians living in the Gaza Strip. The narrator blasts Hamas leaders for offering greetings to Christians on their holidays. * It seems that there may be valid reasons for Egypt's reluctance to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, as well as to Israel's opposition to lifting the naval blockade on Gaza -- initiated to prevent weapons...

DUBAI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier acted "provocatively and unprofessionally" for 40 minutes by carrying out manoeuvres in the Gulf after Iran arrested 10 American sailors, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Naval commander, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, said on state television on Wednesday. Separately, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said the U.S. sailors were being interrogated, according to the Tasnim news agency. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Robeert Birsel)

Following the explosive revelation on Channel 2 TV, that central Jewish and Arab leftist activists have a policy of handing over to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs who approach them and wish to sell land to Jews, leftists have been claiming that the PA does not execute such people. The denials are meant to refute claims made by the central figure in the televised investigative piece, Ta'ayush's Ezra Nawi, who boasted on hidden camera that the men he handed over to the PA were tortured and then executed. Leftist journalist Haggai Matar published an article that claimed that Nawi was...

Washington (CNN)Ten American sailors are in Iranian custody after two small U.S. naval craft apparently briefly entered Iranian territorial waters, a U.S. senior defense official said Tuesday. The official, however, expects the situation to be resolved quickly. A senior administration official said there is nothing to indicate this was anything hostile on the part of any entity in Iran, adding that the U.S. has received high-level assurances that the sailors will be released promptly. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told CNN's Jake Tapper that President Barack Obama will be in touch with members of Congress about the incident. "Certainly,...

Appearing alongside with Dr. Mohsin Jaffer, a Muslim constituent she invited as her guest to tonight's State of the Union address, DNC chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) told MSNBC it was "incumbent" upon her to stand with Muslims because as a Jew she knows what persecution is. Wasserman Schultz on MSNBC: I've been appalled as so many of my constituents have been appalled at the vitriol and the hatred and the appalling reactions of some towards Muslims and Muslim-Americans and I felt for me as a member of a minority religion myself, a religion, Judaism, that has been persecuted...

On the opening segment of Thursday night’s Kelly File with host Megyn Kelly, author and professor Alan Dershowitz took to task the political correctness culture that has pervaded American college campuses.On the heels of continuing developments from the University of Missouri — where the student Vice President today argued that the First Amendment incites a “hostile and unsafe learning environment” — Dershowitz admitted, “we’re seeing a curtain of McCarthyism descend on many college campuses.”“It was the students at universities that first started burning books… they don’t want to hear diverse views on college campuses,” Dershowitz admitted.WATCH VIDEO Dershowitz dug in, noting...

International law experts are blasting Doctors Without Borders for forcibly removing civilian patients from the aid group’s Kunduz, Afghanistan, hospital and replacing them with wounded Taliban fighters when the city fell to the rebel control in late September. Alan Dershowitz, an acclaimed Harvard constitutional lawyer and authority in international law, said that he was not surprised that the group, known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, favored Taliban fighters over civilian patients, telling The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview that he regards Doctors Without Borders as “Doctors Without Morals.” Dershowitz charged the group with having a long history of anti-Western...

Harvard professor and legal eagle Alan Dershowitz talks about political correctness and 'safe spaces' on college campuses. Dershowitz tells college students to "stay home" if they want a safe space. ... they don't want to hear opposing points of view. They know everything they need to know about race, about gender, about rape, about you name it, climate control. They don't want to hear opposing points of view... ... We have to distinguish between safe spaces for ideas, where there should be none, and physically safe places where you're not intimidated or you're not threatened. And christian speakers, pro-Israel speakers,...

Most people assume that the Sunni terrorist group ISIS is the natural and mortal enemy of Shia Iran, but this is not always the case. In fact, in at least one part of the Middle East, Iran has become a crucial, if indirect, sponsor of its supposed enemy. As the world's eyes are focused on ISIS terrorism in Europe, the Middle East, and even the U.S., the group's branch in the Sinai has become one of the most powerful, dangerous, and effective in the region. Recent reports indicate that Iran, through the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, is primarily responsible for...

In his 1980 graduate thesis at the University of Texas at Austin, John Brennan denied the existence of “absolute human rights” and argued in favor of censorship on the part of the Egyptian dictatorship. “Since the press can play such an influential role in determining the perceptions of the masses, I am in favor of some degree of government censorship,” Brennan wrote. “Inflamatory [sic] articles can provoke mass opposition and possible violence, especially in developing political systems.” Brennan serves as President Barack Obama’s national security advisor. Obama has nominated him to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.

If you're going to engage in a foreign policy capitulation, might as well do it when everyone is getting tanked and otherwise occupied. Say, New Year's Eve. Here's the story. In October, Iran test-fires a nuclear-capable ballistic missile in brazen violation of unanimous United Nations Security Council resolutions. President Barack Obama does nothing. One month later, Iran does it again. The administration makes a few gestures at the U.N. Then nothing. Then finally, on Dec. 30, the White House announces a few sanctions. They are weak, aimed mostly at individuals and designed essentially for show. Amazingly, even that proves too...

How does Iran spell relief? K E R R Y. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters at the State Department that the lifting of sanctions on Iran is just "days away." The $150 billion windfall for the terrorist state will happen "sooner rather than later," Kerry said. Meanwhile, there will be a vote in the House next week that would prevent the administration from lifting sanctions on Iranian banks and financial institutions unless the administration can certify that the companies are not financing terrorism or ballistic missiles. The Hill: According to reports, the White House has backed away from...

Even Iran's ayatollahs must be amazed at what they have gotten away with since last July's Vienna deal, which purportedly eliminated their nuclear weapons program. The mullahs now act like they call the shots on the deal and throughout the Middle East. Trashing the Saudi embassy in Tehran, “spontaneous” in appearance only, is just the latest evidence, recalling a 1979 “spontaneous” demonstration that resulted in U.S. diplomats held hostage for 444 days. Barack Obama repeatedly acquiesces in Iran's egregious behavior; President-in-waiting Hillary Clinton shows no sign of breaking with him or the Iran policies she initiated as Obama's secretary of...

At least five people have been killed in a missile strike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres medical facility in Yemen. The organization 'strongly condemns this', while adding that 10 people have been injured in the attack. 'We can confirm five dead people; we have transferred several injured to our other hospital in Sanaa, some of them are in critical condition,' MSF director of operations Raquel Ayora told RT. "The hospital is no longer functioning. It's been decreasing its services to the civilian population over the last months, only running life-saving and essential services. And right now there is no capacity...

The Navy released a video Saturday showing an Iranian military ship firing a rocket last month near U.S. and French military vessels and commercial ships in the Persian Gulf. The Dec. 26 incident appears to be the latest in a series by Iran that are raising concerns about the rogue nation, as the United States and other world powers prepare to lift crippling economic sanctions in exchange for Tehran curtailing its pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The most recent incident occurred in the Strait of Hormuz, which is the only nautical passage for oil-laden ships going to and from the...

In response to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's (Likud) announcement last Wednesday that a strategic 40 dunam compound is being officially added to the Gush Etzion region in Judea, the US lost little time in condemning the move. The land that is being added was purchased by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz and his wife, and is referred to as "Beit Bracha." Jerusalem Councilman and Israel Land Fund (ILF) Director Arieh King covertly obtained the abandoned church complex adjacent to Highway 60 three years ago according to reports, and worked to renovate the compound. On Friday, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby...

Egypt approaches Israel seeking clarifications on reconciliation talks with Turkey, expresses reservations concerning Turkey's potential role in Gaza. Egypt has approached Israel asking for clarifications regarding recent progress in its reconciliatory talks with Turkey. Senior officials in Jerusalem told Haaretz that Egypt expressed its reservations regarding granting Turkey a role in the Gaza Strip, and asked whether Israel had committed to any easing of restrictions in the closure imposed on Gaza. These officials, who asked to remain anonymous due to the delicate diplomatic nature of the issue, stated that what caused the Egyptian government’s displeasure was Israeli media reports from...

Worrying results were found in a poll published on Friday, which revealed that no fewer than 72% of Israelis say the country suffers from widespread corruption. A full 16.9% of respondents said Israel is a very corrupt country, while 55.7% classified it as rather corrupt, in a poll conducted for Channel 2 on Thursday and published the following day. ...

Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center conducted an experiment on Facebook beginning 28 Dec 2015. They created two identical accounts, one inciting violence against Jews, one inciting violence against Palestinians. The posts and videos on each account were the same except for the targets of incitement. Each new pair of posts or videos was posted at the same time. Then Shurat HaDin simultaneously reported both pages to Facebook. On that day, Facebook closed the page inciting against Palestinians. The page inciting against Jews was not closed and, according to Shurat HaDin, remains open today. See more at Shurat HaDin Facebook...