Free Republic

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned the world Jerusalem “belongs” to Turkey, harking back to the Ottoman Empire’s control over the city for hundreds of years up until it was ejected in 1917. Erdogan made his public claim Thursday as he addressed Turkish lawmakers during a major policy speech in Ankara. He said: "In this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So Jerusalem is our city, a city from us. Our first qibla [direction of prayer in Islam] al-Aqsa and...

Minister Gantz to Journalists from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE: “We have the strategic tools to face Iran. We are stronger than them. Our collaborations give us new strategies and options, and the Iranians understand that too; The best strategy for regional stability is peace" In a teleconference earlier this evening organized by the Arab Council for Regional Integration, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz joined journalists from outlets in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, including Al-Roeya, Al-Ayam, Alarabiya, amongst others, for a first-ever conversation between an Israeli defense minister and journalists from the Gulf states. Asked about the basis...

Today's top stories 02.10.20; 1) Israel and Lebanon have formulated a framework agreement to launch direct-negotiations on "maritime and land boundary demarcation between the two countries."2) The European Union concluded a two-day summit, today -- the first day of which focused primarily on EU relations with Turkey and tensions surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean.3) The Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem expressed regret over Armenia's decision to recall its ambassador for consultations.

Leftist operatives are trying to break through police roadblocks in the area of Habima Square and are holding a procession while blocking traffic arteries. "Beyond the fact that the procession is not approved and constitutes a violation of public order, the violators of the order are marching in violation of emergency regulations: Failure to maintain distance from each other, number of participants above what is defined in the regulations and more. This action is contrary to regulations and constitutes a violation of public safety," the police say. At least 10 protesters were arrested and dozens of tickets were issued ...

Defense Secretary Mark Esper met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune today in the first visit of a Pentagon chief to the North African country since 2006. It was also the highest-level US diplomatic meeting with the new Algerian president since longtime ruler Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted amid popular protests last year. The meeting came a day after Esper signed a 10-year road map for defense cooperation agreement with Tunisia's defense minister and one day before an expected stop in Morocco. The trip is the latest sign that the United States sees strategic opportunity in bolstering its partnerships in North Africa...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has rebuffed requests to meet with New York’s prominent Jewish leaders. The heads of both the Jewish Community Relations Council and the New York Board of Rabbis said they’ve sought sit-downs with the first-term “Democratic socialist” congresswoman — to no avail. “I requested a meeting with her and it has not come to fruition,” JCRC executive director Michael Miller told The Post. “A meeting has been requested on more than one occasion. It hasn’t happened. I’m still interested in meeting with her.”

<p>JERUSALEM, Israel – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Jerusalem belongs to his country during an address to Turkish lawmakers in Ankara on Thursday, The Times of Israel reported.</p> <p>“In this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So, Jerusalem is our city, a city from us,” he said. “Our first qibla [Islamic direction of prayer] al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem are the symbolic mosques of our faith. In addition, this city is home to the holy places of Christianity and Judaism.”</p>

The ‘unindicted co-conspirators’ of the Holy Land Foundation trials continue to spread terror. It has been over a decade since the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) federal terrorism financing trials ended, but many remnants from the trials still linger. Two of the remnants, labeled as ‘unindicted co-conspirators’ during the trials – the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) and its current Chairman Gaddor Saidi – continue to spread terror. NAIT continues to maintain its ownership of radical mosques, and Saidi uses his social media to promote such sinister entities as Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and Adolf Hitler. What will it take to...

If a visitor from Mars observed press coverage of President Donald Trump Middle East peace negotiations, he would have heard an amazing tale about Donald Trump’s incompetence and futility of his efforts. The most experienced negotiator, John Kerry, declared in 2016 "There will be no separate peace between Israel and the Arab world…. No. No, no, and no." In April 2016 Harvard Business Review wrote, “The Donald Trump approach to negotiation would be not only ineffective but also disastrous.” In October 2019 The Atlantic posted an article “Trump’s Middle East Policy Is a Fraud.” Infamous for its foresight, especially when...

The Republican Jewish Coalition on Thursday announced a $3.5 million TV ad campaign targeting Jewish voters in the key swing state of Florida. The commercials will run in the Miami, Broward and Palm Beach counties in south Florida, where roughly half a million Jews live. “The three most important battleground states are Florida, Florida and Florida,” RJC executive director Matt Brooks told The Times of Israel. “As we saw with the victory by [Florida] Governor Ron DeSantis, an increase in the Jewish vote can have a significant impact in Republicans winning,” he said. Desantis edged out his Democratic challenger in...

Signs of peace in the UAE... By Roy Kaise Mohamed al-Hammadi, editor of the United Arab Emirates' Al-Roeya newspaper, said in a conversation that "the image that many Arabs have in mind is that Israelis are killing Palestinians." He said he and other journalists wanted to change that image, which Al-Jazeera had nurtured for years.  http://kan.org.il/item/?itemid=77622

The dark side of the BDS intersectionality agenda. Led by the virulent anti-Israel, often anti-Semitic group Students for Justice in Palestine, the student government at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently passed a resolution calling on the university to oppose anti-black racism and also to divest from Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Company, Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd., firms, the activists allege, that are “involved in human-rights violations and violations of international law, including the confiscation and destruction of Palestinian lands, criminalization of immigrants and communities of color, and other human rights violations,” offenses that would “make UIUC complicit...

Today's top stories 29.09.20 Rival Palestinian factions reach an agreement that will see parliamentary and presidential elections held within six-months -- as part of a collective Palestinian effort to resist Israel's normalization with Arab and Muslim states.Damascus is reportedly seeking to revive direct-negotiations with Jerusalem.French president Emmanuel Macron accuses Hezbollah and its allies for the failure to attain much sought-after political breakthrough for Lebanon.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) compared President Trump's America to the rise of fascism and anti-Semitism in 1930s Germany in a new ad targeting Jewish voters in swing states. The 30-second ad released Tuesday includes images and video footage from Nazi Germany in a split-screen with images and photos of Trump rallies in addition to examples of anti-Semitism and white supremacy in the U.S. since Trump took office. The ad will target Jewish voters in states including Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to the JDCA. Trump won all three states in 2016, but recent polls have shown the...

In apparent retaliation for the execution of the reportedly innocent Iranian champion wrestler Navid Afkari, assailants on Sunday fire bombed the entrance of the revolutionary court in the city of Shiraz that sentenced him to death. Video footage of the reported explosion was posted on social media on Sunday. The Iranian regime-controlled news outlet IRNA confirmed the attack on Sunday. “According to a report received by IRNA on Monday, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Shiraz announced the firing of incendiary materials in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Shiraz. The complex is in good health and...

I’m a second generation Jewish-American, and I don’t just like President Donald J. Trump. I LOVE President Trump. The self-proclaimed “Hitler-epithet-gatekeeper” MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch has taken to the TV airways and declared of American Jews supporting President Trump, “How dare you? How dare you, with what our people have gone through in history, and you see a man who is a dictator. And once you give a man absolute power, he is possible of anything. And if you are a Jew in this country and you are supporting Donald Trump, you are not looking back at our history. And you...

Heavy fighting has erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, with both civilians and combatants killed. Accusing Azerbaijan of air and artillery attacks, Armenia reported downing helicopters and destroying tanks, and declared martial law. Azerbaijan said it had begun a counter-offensive in response to shelling. The region is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Democratic congresswoman pulls participation from Americans For Peace Now commemoration for assassinated Israeli premier, after pro-Palestinian activists call move ‘disgusting’ Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday withdrew her participation from an event commemorating former prime minster Yitzhak Rabin on the 25th anniversary of his assassination. The decision, which came after backlash from pro-Palestinian activists, was confirmed to The Times of Israel by a spokeswoman for the congresswoman, a rising star in the progressive wing of the Democratic party. The about-face came a day after Americans for Peace Now announced that Ocasio-Cortez would be joining the October 20 virtual event emceed...

Six people were killed Saturday, after they fell into a cesspool in the Hebron area, the Palestinian Authority’s security department reported. The remains of five people, all members of the same family, were pulled out of a cesspool in the village of Deir al-Asal, west of Hebron in the Judea area, PA police spokesperson Loai Irzeiqat said Saturday. A sixth person was pulled from the cesspool alive but in critical condition. The sixth victim was evacuated to an Israeli hospital, but was later declared dead. Palestinian Authority officials said that the immediate circumstances of the deaths were not clear, adding...

The Supreme Court Thursday rejected the petition by scientists and academics against the COVID-19 lockdown. The judges ruled that “the petition’s underlying factual and legal infrastructure is no longer relevant," referring to the petition’s claims of inflated morbidity and mortality data, biases, and lack of transparency. The judges ruled the points were moot, as the government has already tightened measures and imposed full lockdown based on the same data. The Court said it cannot examine the substantive arguments presented by the petitioners, and therefore defers to the "competent bodies". Attorney Batya Sachs, who prepared the petition, responded to the ruling,...