Free Republic

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front Party, vowed that if she is elected the country’s president she would ban all public displays of religious symbols and clothing, including kippot. Le Pen made the statement during an interview on Sunday with France’s BFM-TV. She is expected to seek the country’s presidency in 2017. She heads the third-largest party in France. Le Pen is seeking to broaden an existing law, called the headscarf ban, that does not allow conspicuous displays of religious symbols in public schools to include all public areas. She called the ban a struggle against...

This month marks the 43rd anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. We have been fed some false information about this war. For starters, Israel did not strike first unlike in the 1967 Six day war when Israel was forced to launch a pre-emptive strike as her enemies amassed on her borders and as the UN stood aside and allowed them to do so. The Arabs shot first  On the night of September 25, King Hussein secretly flew to Tel Aviv to warn Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir of an impending Syrian attack. Throughout September, Israel received eleven more warnings...

While Kol Nidrei—a prayer wherein we release vows—is certainly traditionally seen as one of the most important prayers of the year, there is little in Jewish literature to support this idea. The question, however, remains: why does Jewish tradition lend so much weight and solemnity to this seemingly technical prayer? There are those who have claimed that the reason goes back to the days of the Spanish Inquisition, when the conversos (Jews who chose to convert to Christianity rather than face expulsion or death, but remained faithful to Judaism at heart, and to some degree in observance too) would gather...

Mahin Atif Khan pleaded guilty on charges of inciting or inducing terrorism, financing or managing terrorism and manufacturng, possessing or selling a prohibited weapon, which may send him to jail for up to 14 years. Khan, 18, who the government said has pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh, was accused of writing e-mails to an alleged member of the Pakistan Taliban, looking for help to build explosives and plan their use.

Hillary Clinton’s closest aide, Huma Abedin, is catching heat for dismissing the American Israel Public Affairs Council as “that crowd” in a newly revealed email exchange. In a 2009 email to Bill Clinton aide Doug Band, Abedin recommended that former President Clinton turn down an invitation to speak before the pro-Israel lobbying group. “U really want to consider sending him into that crowd?” Abedin asked.

The rooms where ruddy-faced Chinese men and women once assembled to pray in Hebrew and Mandarin are silent. Signs and exhibits that celebrated centuries of Jewish life have disappeared. An ancient well, believed to be the last visible remnant of a long-demolished synagogue, was recently buried under concrete and a pile of earth.. After locking down Buddhist monasteries in Tibet and tearing down church crosses in eastern China, President Xi Jinping’s campaign against unapproved religion and foreign influence has turned to an unlikely adversary: a small group of Jews whose ancestors settled in this now faded imperial city near the...

Deputy Homeland Security Secretary paints grim picture of Jewish communities' vulnerability to terrorism, says leaders not doing enough. JTA - Painting a grim picture of Jewish vulnerability in the United States, a top U.S. security official said that the vast majority of funds earmarked to secure non-profits goes to Jewish institutions because their need is most acute. Alejandro Mayorkas, the Deputy Homeland Security Secretary, speaking Wednesday to the Orthodox Union's annual leadership mission to Washington, said rising extremism in the United States and its threat to the Jewish community keeps him awake at night. He said the threat had shifted...

A new poll shows Clinton’s favorability has recently dipped among Jewish voters in New York, although she still has an overall lead in the community and in the state. The study conducted last week by Siena College Research Institute showed Clinton’s lead sliding from 51 percent in August to 45 percent, while Trump’s support grew from 25 percent to 31 percent. Although Jews represent a small percentage of the U.S. population, according to JNS, over 90 percent of Jews will be voting—significantly higher than the 74 percent of Americans who are projected to vote. This makes the Jewish vote especially...

Many Judeo-Christian leaders speak out against abortion, but the few who advocate for abortion often are the ones who get the most media attention. On Monday in Kentucky, pro-abortion clergy held a rally at the State Capitol to advocate for abortion and other issues, the State-Journal reports. The event was called the Higher Ground Moral Day of Action, and it was held in conjunction with other rallies nation-wide. Led by clergy, the event highlighted the upcoming election and called on candidates and elected officials to uphold “the most sacred moral principles of our faith and constitutional values.” These included “the...

ADL, Israel: Social Media Companies Must Eliminate Growing Online Hate, TerrorismBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyNew York — September 7, 2016 … Christopher Wolf, Chair of the Anti-Defamation League’s Task Force on Cyberhate, addressed the U.N. Forum on Global Anti-Semitism. Wolf joined Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon and several other human rights leaders at the UN demanding that the UN and social media companies take immediate action against online racism. “My name is Christopher Wolf and I thank you for the privilege of participating today in this very important Forum on Global Anti-Semitism. I am especially pleased to be able to...

Authorities say they are investigating online threats to kill Jewish and Muslim students at a South Carolina high school. Spartanburg School District 5 said in a news release that a Byrnes High School student reported the threats Friday evening. The threats said Byrnes High would be attacked Tuesday and included pictures of a person in a gas mask and a knife with a swastika on the handle. …

(snips) “Trump is someone who’s worked with the Jewish community his entire life and has family, including his daughter (Ivanka Trump) and son-in-law (Jared Kushner), who are both observant Jews,” Greenwald said. “The smearing of Trump as anti-Semitic is just outrageous.” JewsChooseTrump.org has steadily grown with Jewish supporters of Trump from across the country signing up to express their solidarity and looking for ways to get involved. The website has had over 78,000 visitors and over 1,000 people have signed up to publish their names, Greenwald said. Out of the over 1,000 names registered on JewsChooseTrump.org, a significant portion of...

In what has to be a new low for the New York Times, the Gray Lady (or should we now say the Bearded Lady?) has published an op-ed piece titled “Is God Transgender?” by a New York rabbi named Mark Sameth. Cousin to a man who “transitioned to a woman” in the 1970s, Sameth contends that “the Hebrew Bible, when read in its original language, offers a highly elastic view of gender.” He marshals many purported examples of gender fluidity in the Hebrew scriptures, in order to argue that religion should not be put in service of “social prejudices” against...

Donald Trump said he would test would-be immigrants for anti-Semitic beliefs and that Israel would be a key ally in defeating radical Islam. Speaking Monday in Youngstown, Ohio, the Republican presidential nominee outlined national security policies that included “extreme vetting” for would-be immigrants, including for those who would reject what he described as American values of tolerance. “We should only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people,” Trump said. […] The Anti-Defamation League immediately took to Twitter to express concerns about Trump’s reiterated call to ban Muslim entry and entry from countries subject to...

We are convinced Donald Trump is the right candidate to choose in this presidential election for two reasons. Those reasons are Iran and Israel. Iran - the primary financial supporter of global terrorism - poses an existential danger to Western values, culture and life. Israel opposes that mortal threat to Jews and the West. And it is the sanctuary of the Jewish people.

The Knesset passed a controversial bill that allows local Orthodox rabbinates to bar non-Orthodox Jewish conversion ceremonies in publicly funded mikvahs. The bill, which was introduced by the haredi Orthodox United Torah Judaism party and opposed by many North American Jewish leaders, was passed Monday night in a 41-35 vote, The Jerusalem Post reported. The new law will be implemented in nine months. Under the law, the municipal rabbinates can determine who may use the mikvahs, or Jewish ritual baths, in their purview. Immersion in the mikvah is part of most conversion ceremonies. The measure aims to override an Israeli...

A Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee compared Jewish Israeli settlers to termites on Monday while speaking at an event sponsored by an anti-Israel organization that supports boycotts of the Jewish state. Rep. Hank Johnson (D., Ga.) launched into a tirade against Israel and its policies toward the Palestinians, comparing Jewish people who live in disputed territories to “termites” that destroy homes. Johnson also compared Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a remark that drew vocal agreement from those in the room. “There has been a steady [stream], almost like termites can get...

My father-in-law is not an anti-Semite. It’s that simple, really. Donald Trump is not anti-Semitic and he’s not a racist. Despite the best efforts of his political opponents and a large swath of the media to hold Donald Trump accountable for the utterances of even the most fringe of his supporters—a standard to which no other candidate is ever held—the worst that his detractors can fairly say about him is that he has been careless in retweeting imagery that can be interpreted as offensive. I read the Dana Schwartz piece that appeared on Observer.com. As always, there are thoughtful points...

The name was terrible, but the “K Disease” was not a lethal virus. It was actually the clever invention of Professor Giovanni Borromeo and a religious of the Hospital of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, to save the lives of dozens of Jews persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.When the SS entered the Fatebenefratelli hospital located on the Tiber Island in Rome, medical personnel and religious explained to the Germans that behind the doors of two special wards, there were patients suffering from this terrible K Disease, some of whom were terminally ill. The...