Free Republic

Human rights groups have denounced attempts by the Israeli government to shutter Al-Jazeera’s operations in the country. Israeli officials have accused the Qatari-owned broadcaster of “supporting terrorism.” Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has criticized the Israeli government for attempting to shut down the Al-Jazeera bureau in Jerusalem. “This is a brazen attack on media freedom in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The move sends a chilling message that the Israeli authorities will not tolerate critical coverage,” Amnesty said in a statement on Monday. On Sunday, Israeli Communications Minister Ayoob Kara announced the government’s intention to shutter the Qatari-owned broadcaster’s...

Turkey’s dictatorial president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent efforts to mediate between the Saudis, their Arab Gulf allies and Egypt on one side versus his Qatari ally (both are staunch supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood) on the other, have failed to materialize.  At the same time, his war of words with Germany, and the European Union’s cold shoulder, has left the arrogant Erdogan with one avenue to make headlines - incite Muslims against Israel.  His crude anti-Semitic incitement has gone hand-in-hand with his posturing as the leader of the Sunni-Muslim world.  Erdogan has called on Muslims to show solidarity with the...

How a young university student in California became a leading mouthpiece of campus anti-Semitism. Anti-Semites are a dime a dozen on American university campuses nowadays. But Saleem Shehadeh, who graduated from the University of California at Davis in 2015, is a special case unto himself. During his undergraduate years, Shehadeh was heavily involved in the Boycott, Divestment, & Sanctions (BDS) movement, a Hamas-inspired initiative that aims to use public protest and economic pressure to advance the Hamas agenda of permanently discrediting and destroying Israel as a Jewish state. Toward that end, BDS strives to create the false impression that Israel is a habitual human-rights violator guilty...

The shift to the left by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York demonstrates the power of a party base that is abandoning the Jewish state. Both were once rock-solid supporters of Israel. But both have other priorities these days — they are thinking about running for president in 2020. Their problem is that no one who plans to compete in future Democratic primaries can ignore the growing power of their party’s left wing, which has grown increasingly hostile to Israel. The influence of the far left is the only thing that might explain...

Dozens of Turkish nationalist-Islamists affiliated with the “Alperen Hearths” (Alperen Ocakları) recently attacked Istanbul’s Neve Şalom Synagogue, where Jews were exposed to three terrorist attacks at the hands of Islamic groups – in 1986 (by Abu Nidal Organization), in 1992 (by Turkish Hizballah) and in 2003 (by Al-Qaeda).On July 20, the demonstrators threw rocks at the synagogue, whose Hebrew name means “the Oasis of Peace,” kicked its doors and tried to break in.Kürşat Mican, the head of the Istanbul branch of the Alperen movement linked to the religious nationalist Great Union Party (BBP), delivered a speech, saying in part:“For long...

By now most discerning political followers have identified the ideological source of the attacks against HR McMaster.  A widely diverse community of domestic America-Second interests that have come together, in common ideological purpose, to attack President Trump’s National Security Advisor. Sadly these interests often use the divisive label of antisemitism to attack people behind policies they disagree with.  It is an unfortunate, albeit historically predictable, approach.  Specifically because of the agenda behind these attacks,

Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick wrote Wednesday evening that National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster is purging pro-Israel staff from the National Security Council (NSC), turning the administration against President Donald Trump’s policies. In a Facebook post, Glick noted that “all of these people” whom McMaster has fired this week — Rich Higgins, Derek Harvey, and Ezra Cohen-Watnick — “are pro-Israel and oppose the Iran nuclear deal, positions that Trump holds.” She noted that the firings were the latest evidence that NSA McMaster is “deeply hostile to Israel and to Trump”: According to senior officials aware of his behavior, he constantly refers to Israel as the...

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini participated in the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. This will be 68-year-old Rouhani’s second term as president. […] In his speech to Iran’s parliament, Rouhani said his country will not be the first to violate the nuclear deal, but will also not stand by the deal if other countries violate it. […] In a pre-ceremony meeting with Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari said the EU must remain alert to Trump’s efforts to “undermine the deal and blame Iran.” In her response, Mogherini promised that the EU...

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was schedule to present a paper on radical Islamic terror at the National Security Counsel before being blocked by H.R. McMaster and his recently appointed Senior Director of Counter-Terrorism, Mustafa Javed Ali. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who was in town to present her work to the Senate, was also prohibited from visiting the President during her White House visit, where she was allowed to meet with select members of the NSC in an informal setting. ... McMaster has refused to call out radical Islamic terrorism in the past, and tried to stop President Donald Trump from visiting the...

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff Ari Harow on Friday signed a state’s witness deal with the Israel Police.Harow is expected to provide information to the police regarding cases 1000 (“the gifts affair”) and 2000 (“the Israel Hayom affair”).

JNS.org – When presidential adviser Jared Kushner said in a recent private discussion that “there may be no solution” to the conflict between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel, he was just stating the obvious. For nearly a century, self-appointed wise men have been claiming to have the solution — but every such proposal has proved to be a mirage. The British thought that they had the solution in 1922, when they sectioned off the eastern part of Mandatory Palestine — 78 percent of the original mandate territory — and set up an Arab kingdom there, which came to be known...

Drama about death of anti-Israel activist Rachel Corrie ‘promotes futile hatred’ A leading theatre’s planned staging of a controversial anti-Israel play has angered Jewish organisations, with one group saying it would support protests against the production. My Name is Rachel Corrie, based on the emails and diary entries of a pro-Palestinian activist in Gaza, will be performed at the Young Vic in London from September 29 — the night of Kol Nidrei. Communal leaders have called the play “unapologetically anti-Israel” and described it as a polemic, with one questioning why an organisation receiving public funding was not offering a balanced...

Sara Carter at Axios broke the story that McMaster, the NCS's master of disaster, had written a letter protecting Susan Rice's access to classified information ... Why does Susan Rice, who is alleged to have participated in the Obama eavesdropping on Trump people, need access to classified information? What national security purpose is served by it? The answer given in Carter's article is that it's an effort to provide cover for Susan Rice over the unmasking allegations. In a June tweet, Trump called the revelation that Rice and other Obama senior officials were unmasking members of his team the “big...

Dozens of right-wing demonstrators associated with the Lehava anti-assimilation organization gathered in the capital Thursday to protest the Jerusalem gay parade now underway. The demonstration was led Lehava chief Bentzi Gopstein, attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Hevron activist and 2015 Yahad candidate Baruch Marzel. “You have no reason to [march] here,” Gopstein told parade participants. “You cannot have a [gay] pride march in the Land of Israel. If you have a problem, we will help you; we will treat you. This is not pride; it is an abomination.” Gopstein claimed the parade offended residents, and said the marchers would not have...

The island country of Cape Verde announced on Wednesday that it will no longer be voting against Israel in the United Nations. The decision came following a meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Cape Verde’s President Jorge Carlos Fonseca, who then instructed his envoy at the UN that the island in West Africa would no longer be voting against Israel. Netanyahu welcomed the decision on Wednesday evening. …

Israel reflects on history and weighs its options. In the weeks preceding the Six-Day War, Israel was faced with ever increasing existential challenges which warranted resolute action. Israel’s generals correctly argued to the political echelon that with each passing day, Israel’s strategic position became more compromised. The situation was particularly acute on Israel’s southern border with Egypt where the Egyptian army deployed seven divisions including three armored divisions. Official Arab government pronouncements, with ever increasing shrill and belligerence, made clear that the intention was to wipe Israel off the map. On June 5th 1967, Israel launched a preemptive strike aimed...

"Enacting a death penalty for terrorists, along with other measures, could restore deterrence and help stop terror in Israel." Some 70 percent of Israelis favor giving the death penalty to Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israelis, according to the monthly Peace Index that was released by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University Wednesday. The poll found that 69.8% of Israelis would support giving death sentences after a trial to Palestinians who murdered Israeli citizens for nationalistic reasons. The percentage saying they would oppose the death penalty was 25.3%, and 4.9% said they did not know or declined to respond....

This scourge is not new. Or secret. But it is, remarkably, unremarked upon Too often, when my daughters were little, we had to run a gauntlet of haters to enter the JCC in downtown Toronto. For a weekend swim. Family fun. Several blocks away, on one of the busiest streets in central Toronto – home to a community of approximately 200,000 Jews – is the office of the Israeli Consulate. Every Friday afternoon, a diehard gaggle of anti-Israel protesters assembles at the building entrance, often wearing black, in symbolic mourning, handing out leaflets rife with historical lies to passersby, and,...

Researchers spoke face-to-face with 1,200 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and held telephone conversations with 900 Israelis, including settlers and Israeli-Arab citizens. Israelis and Palestinians by a small margin still support a two-state solution but most do not think it can happen in the next five years, according to an opinion poll published on Tuesday. Some 53% of Israelis and 52% of Palestinians support a two-state solution. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page. That is a drop from the 71% of Israelis and 57% of the Palestinians who supported the idea in 2010. A...

The Jerusalem Post - Israel News Arab man says he murdered Jewish girlfriend to ‘free Palestinian prisoners’ DANIEL K. EISENBUD Body of pregnant Michal Halimi, 29, of Binyamin found bludgeoned in Holon after having gone missing for a week. The body of a missing Jewish woman from the Binyamin District of the West Bank was found by police last week after her Arab boyfriend confessed to strangling her and bashing her head with rocks in Holon to “release Palestinian prisoners.” Police first received a report that Michal Halimi, 29, who was pregnant and married to another man, was missing at...