Free Republic

The president of the United States, supposedly the most powerful man on Earth, goes, hat in hand, to our “friends” in Saudi Arabia asking them to increase oil production in order to bring a measure of relief to rising energy prices. Our “friends” tell him no. The president is in no position to bargain, or even threaten. What’s he going to do? Cut off financial aid? The Saudis have more money than Allah. End any military or intelligence support that keeps Islamic radicals from making the House of Saud their next target? As hard as it might be to deal...

Chief Palestinian negotiator strongly condemns Israeli plans to build hundreds of homes in the West Bank and disputed east Jerusalem, says appealed to US to pressure Israeli into halting the projects Associated Press Published: 03.09.08, 23:08 / Israel News Israeli plans to build hundreds of homes in the West Bank and disputed east Jerusalem drew harsh Palestinian condemnation Sunday, just days before a visit by a US general to monitor the troubled peace process. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he had appealed to the Bush Administration to pressure Israel to halt the projects. "Why do they insist on doing...

You Should Be Humiliated by Fred Taub Using the "humiliation" claim to avoid the truth. One recurring theme among Palestinians complaining about Israel is the phrase, "You are humiliating me," which has been used as a justification for terrorist murder. The claim is largely laughed at by non-Muslims because of its blatant absurdity. Yet, that very claim was recently used on Fox News by Hizbullah supporter Imam Husham Al-Husainy, the Dearborn, Michigan imam who delivered an invocation at the Democratic National Committee Winter Meeting of 2007. At the time, he called for the end of "oppression and occupation," presumably referring...

Peace activists claim soldiers behaved ‘shamefully’ during security check of clothing donations for Palestinian children. ‘The soldiers made us empty bags of clothing on the ground,’ activist says Ali Waked Published: 08.11.07, 23:26 / Israel News Peace activists claimed they were humiliated by IDF soldiers during a security check Friday, when they arrived at a checkpoint near Nablus with bags of clothing for Palestinian children. Windows, a joint organization of Jews and Palestinians from both sides of the Green Line, occasionally sends aide packages to Palestinians, mainly donated clothing. Israeli members of the organization arrived at an IDF checkpoint Friday,...

Rania Jubran, first Israeli Arab Foreign Ministry cadet and daughter of Supreme Court Justice Salem Jubran, treated as 'high security risk' by security guards at Ben Gurion Airport Nurit Felter Published: 03.01.07, 10:09 / Israel News A Foreign Ministry cadet and the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Salem Jubran, Rania, was recently subjected to humiliating security inspections at the Ben Gurion and Barcelona Airports. Jubran, 26, the first Israeli Arab ever to complete a Foreign Ministry cadet training course, was asked by security personnel at the airports to prove that her Ministry employee documents were authentic and that her father...

Daily humiliation on roads will lead to another Palestinian uprising Yehuda Litani Published: 12.29.06, 09:39 In the last days of 2006, an Arab friend who is an Israeli citizen offered that I join him on a drive from Jerusalem to Ramallah and back. "I want to drive one of my employees who lives in Ramallah to her home – come with us so you can see with your own eyes what happens on those roads," the friend said. After all, most Israelis are unaware of what's happening there. We passed through the neighborhoods of Shuafat and Beit Hanina quickly, yet...

Police duties at West Bank checkpoints made IDF weaker The moment the second Lebanon war ended, and in fact even before that, a difficult and grim question emerged: What happened to our great, mighty army? Why is it that 40 years ago it managed to beat the armies of three states in a matter of days, while this time around it failed to defeat a small military force despite getting plenty of time to accomplish the mission? Various answers have been presented. One of them has to do with personalities: The prime minister is brash, the defense minister is a...

Details emerged yesterday about the seven interrogation techniques the CIA is seeking to be allowed to apply to terror suspects. Newsweek magazine reported that a New York lawyer, Scott Horton, who has acted as an adviser to the US senate on interrogation methods, had acquired a list of the techniques. The details were corroborated by information obtained by the charity Human Rights Watch. The techniques sought by the CIA are: induced hypothermia; forcing suspects to stand for prolonged periods; sleep deprivation; a technique called "the attention grab" where a suspect's shirt is forcefully seized; the "attention slap" or open hand...

Lifeguard on Tiberias beach uses loudspeaker to tell off homosexual couple making out in water ; young man to receive NIS 5,000 in compensation from municipality What is the value of a hug? Quite a lot, if you live in Tiberias. A resident of the northern city, who was making out with his male partner on the beach and was told off in public by a lifeguard with a loudspeaker, will receive a compensation of NIS 5,000 (about USD 1,117) from the municipality and its economic company. At first, the young man filed a lawsuit against the municipality, but the...

Thousands of Israeli Arabs suffer humiliating security checks at the airport on their way abroad or back into Israel; hoping to improve situation, Airports Authority establishes joint team with Arab sector representatives The Israeli Airports Authority has established a joint project with representatives from the Israeli Arab community with the aim of improving the experience of Arab citizens when they travel abroad. Renowned Arab author and journalist Salem Jubran spoke to Ynet about the initiative, saying he hoped it would improve the current “journey of tortures” facing Arab travelers. “When a plane lands at the Ben Gurion Airport, everyone claps...

March 8, 2006 — Thursday, March 9, is the first national "Get Over It" day, dedicated to helping those of us who have suffered past humiliations to move on and let it go.

News That is ….Different ! Nairobi: A Kenyan woman,angered because of a persistent local famine,placed a “powerful tribal curse on God” before going to bed. Something may have gone awry: she died in her sleep. Leavenworth,Kansas : Police were intrigued to learn a man suspected of drug dealing was handing out business cards; and made it their business to obtain one. The card bore an image of a boxing glove striking a clock, with the legend: “For a quick hit on time, call The Boss !” A handy telephone number was furnished : something the police made good use of....

BERLIN (AFP) - British author Salman Rushdie said the West had failed to grasp the extent to which Islamic extremism was rooted in men's fear of women's sexuality. Rushdie told German weekly magazine Stern that his latest novel, "Shalimar the Clown", dealt with the deep anxiety felt among many Islamic men about female sexual freedom and lost honor. When asked if the book drew a link between "Islamic terror and damaged male honor", Rushdie said he saw it as a crucial, and often overlooked, point. "The Western-Christian world view deals with the issues of guilt and salvation, a concept that...

KUALA TERENGGANU: A mob of about 30 people went on a rampage, torching structures and smashing vehicles and house windows within Ayah Pin's Sky Kingdom commune in Jerteh at 5am today. The mob also set fire to Ayah Pin's Pajero and smashed four other vehicles parked inside the area. The sect leader Ariffin Mohamad, 65, better known as Ayah Pin, left the commune last night. According to witnesses members of the mob were armed with parangs, sticks and plastic bags believed to contain petrol. "They smashed our house windows but the people were not harmed. "They told us not to...

The nationalists want to make a deal with the Americans, while al Qaeda wants to fight on, the UN official told Tavernise. When the bad guys are shooting each other, it's hard to say the insurgency is worsening, but Democrats are escalating their rhetoric: Iraq is "a seemingly intractable quagmire," said Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass) at a contentious hearing Thursday. Disaster in Iraq "is a real possibility," said Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del) after announcing his intention to run for president. "There is rising concern that everything seems to be going the wrong way," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D-Cal). People who've...

Sect leader will not resist action BY K. SUTHAKAR JERTEH: The leader of the “Sky Kingdom” deviationist religious sect said he would not stop the authorities from demolishing the giant structures, including a teapot, on its commune near here.  Ariffin: ‘Structures created to promote universal unity’ “But the action will seriously tarnish the image of the Government internationally,” said Ariffin Mohamad, 65, better known as Ayah Pin.  Besides the teapot, the other giant structures on the sect’s commune on land bordering rubber trees and an orchard at Kampung Batu 13 near here, included a vase, umbrella, concrete boat and a...

The demand by the US Congress to divert $50 million of President George W. Bush's $200-million pledge of aid to the Palestinian Authority for Israeli checkpoints is something like requiring the Vatican to contribute air-conditioners to abortion clinics or divorce lawyers' fees as part of its policy of easing the plight of Catholic women. The new motto of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is very simple and direct: "From the American People." Recent conditions tacked onto a planned US grant from the American people is adding insult to Palestinian injury. Diverting to Israel millions from monies promised to...

OFFICIALS had to separate the US and Spanish coaches when an argument erupted at the end of the game as the United States beat Spain 102-94 in the Olympic men's basketball quarter-finals overnight. "It was like having an argument with my son. I tried to explain but he just wouldn't listen," said U.S. head coach Larry Brown, who had asked for a stoppage with 23 seconds to go. "I called the time out and then saw the clock and tried to cancel it, but (the officials) wouldn't let me. I tried to explain this to (the Spanish coach), that I...

Wed Jul 21, 6:48 PM ET An area designated for organized protests appears enclosed by mesh and chain link fencing near the site of the upcoming Democratic National Convention, in Boston, Wednesday, July 21, 2004. A new federal lawsuit has been filed against the city over the fenced-in protest area that has been called a 'demonstration zone,' and a 'free speech zone.' (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

May 06, 2004, 8:34 a.m.Not UnfamiliarImages of sexual abuse and humiliation in Abu Ghraib. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/hughes200405060834.aspBy Donna M. HughesThe photographs of sexual abuse and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison are shocking and disgusting. They are also familiar. I have seen images like these before in other places and contexts.The Taguba Report on the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison found that "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees." Credible evidence was found that Iraqi detainees had been subjected to acts such as: Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees; Forcibly arranging...

IDF soldiers will be forbidden to confiscate documents and car keys or to humiliate Palestinians passing through roadblocks in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The roadblocks will also be renamed checkpoints in an attempt to provide them with a more positive connotation. Soldiers will also be forbidden to use force as a means of punishment. The new behavior code will eventually become an integral part of soldiers' basic training. Meanwhile, the changes will be implemented at seven permanent roadblocks in the West Bank, and will be gradually enforced at other checkpoints and crossings located along the security fence....

I'd been meaning to write a piece responding to Tom Friedman's November 9 column, "The Humiliation Factor," and now that Saddam Hussein's been captured I have a peg. My difference with Friedman is this: He focuses on the downside of humiliation. I focus on the upside. Here's Friedman: "Why have the US forces never gotten the ovation they expected for liberating Iraq from Saddam's tyranny? In part, it is because many Iraqis feel humiliated that they didn't liberate themselves, and America's presence, even its aid, reminds them of that. Add the daily slights and miscommunications that come with any occupation,...

Saddam Hussein's former translator has said the US will not allow the ex-Iraqi president to be tried in public because of potentially damaging revelations. In his first interview with Middle Eastern media after Saddam was captured, Dr Saman Abd al-Majid told Aljazeera.net that Saddam could implicate the US and Britain in his crimes. Dr Saman was referring to international complicity in building up Saddam's war machine which was then used devastatingly against the Iranians and his own people. "I do not believe that he would be tried publicly. He has nothing to lose and he would say everything if he...

NEW YORK- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has strongly protested President Bush's erroneous allegation that Israel is guilty of "the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people." Webster's Dictionary defines "humiliate" as: "To reduce to a lower position in one's eyes, or in the eyes of others." The ZOA points out that checking travelers for bombs at security checkpoints does not "reduce them to a lower position" any more than U.S. airline security personnel checking airplane passengers for bombs before they board a plane. ZOA National President Morton A. Klein, Chairman of the Board Dr. Alan Mazurek, and Dr. Michael...

Arabs Shocked, Relieved at Baghdad's Fall Wed Apr 9, 3:54 PM ET By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The fall of Baghdad provoked shock and disbelief Wednesday among Arabs, who expressed hope that other oppressive regimes would crumble but also disappointment that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) did not put up a better fight against America. "Why did he fall that way? Why so fast?" said Yemeni homemaker Umm Ahmed, tears streaming down her face. "He's a coward. Now I feel sorry for his people." Arabs clustered at TV sets in shop windows, coffee shops,...

Our correspondent meets a Baghdad camera shop owner who sold a roll of film to a British journalist and paid for it with his freedom RAFAT Abdulmajeed Muhammad is a slightly built man of 45 with a distant stare and a scarred body. He lives alone in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq, and owns nothing but the clothes he stands in. He spends his days trying to forget the past 14 years, which he spent in the darkness of Saddam Hussein’s most infamous political prison. Mr Muhammad’s only crime was to sell a British journalist a roll of film, but his treatment...

<p>I should have known better than to grumble about the cursory security examination my wheelchair and I received the last time I flew out of Honolulu Airport.</p> <p>Inspectors were all over the baggage. My checked suitcase was singled out for special attention, and a screener tore into my messily packed bag and spread my most personal belongings on a table for all to see.</p>

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- It's a measure of the rage spreading across the Middle East that even in this dusty capital, almost at the edge of the world, several hundred thousand people have marched through the streets denouncing Israel and America -- and in some cases cheering Osama bin Laden. Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands of Moroccans have taken to the streets to demonstrate, in their country's biggest protest ever. And four people have been killed in the huge protests that are shaking Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia and other countries. This frenzy in the Arab world is fascinating, because while the...