Free Republic

Since the New York Times and Wall Street Journal broke the news about the admission of Taliban official Sayeed Rahmatullah Hashemi to a special student program at Yale, we’ve received numerous emails from outraged Yale Alumni. One email stood out from the rest — "I won’t give Yale one red cent this year, but maybe I will give them a red fingernail instead!" She was referring to the Taliban’s policy of pulling the fingernails off of Afghani women who dared to wear fingernail polish. Some of these women even had their thumbs sliced off as punishment. To date, Mr. Rahmatullah...

SAMMENHOLD: FOR DENMARK By Michelle Malkin   ·   February 24, 2006 02:46 PM Instapundit has photos of the pro-Denmark gathering at the Danish Embassy convened by journalist Christopher Hitchens this afternoon. Looks like there was a great turnout. Lovely photo spread over at Vital Perspective. Blogger Greg Tinti was also there with camera and reports: The mood of the event was unbelievably positive and all the signs and banners were nothing but respectful. People came to express their solidarity with Denmark and support free speech and that's exactly what they did. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and met some great people too....

On Jan. 21 in Paris, a gang of Muslims intent on kidnapping Jews kidnapped 23-year-old Ilan Halimi. Reciting verses from the Koran in phone conversations demanding money from the family, they ultimately rejected the money and tortured Halimi to death. They kept him naked for weeks while they cut him up and finally poured flammable liquid over his skin and burned him alive. When Jews read this story, they see themselves as Halimi and think that such a thing could happen to them somewhere in the world today and somewhere in the world at any time in the past. If...

Abidjan - A Paris gang-leader was arrested overnight in Abidjan and has confessed to the kidnap, torture and murder of a young French Jewish man, Ivorian investigators said on Thursday, in a case that has horrified France. Youssouf Fofana, 25, could be extradited back to France by the end of the day, according to French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. Fofana is believed to have fled to Ivory Coast shortly after the dying Ilan Hamili was found on February 11 outside the French capital. "He has French nationality. He has been arrested by the Ivorian police. (French) police investigators are...

Excerpt; .....[The ceremony, which was held in the Grand Synagogue on rue de la Victoire, was seen by many in the Jewish community as the state leaders' formal declaration that anti-Semitism was to blame for the horrific kidnapping, torture and murder of the 23-year-old Parisian At 5 P.M., two hours before the ceremony's official opening, police cars surrounded the synagogue area. Police at roadblocks inspected the bag of everyone who entered the area. Hundreds of thousands of people crowded on either side of the street, waiting their turn to enter the synagogue. At the synagogue's entrance police used metal detectors...

French police launched a wide-range investigation on Tuesday after a twenty three-year-old Jewish man was kidnapped and murdered. Jewish community security services have said they suspect the crime may have been motivated by anti-Semitism. Ilan Halimi was found critically wounded, naked and hand-cuffed along a railway track in the suburb of Saint Genevieve des Bois, 30 kilometres south of Paris on Monday, three weeks after he was kidnapped by a gang in Paris. The victim, who was burnt and cut on 80 percent of his body, died of his wounds as he was taken to hospital. Series of crimes Judiciary...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that Palestinians were in a financial crisis because Israel halted tax revenue payments and the United States demanded to return its aid after a Hamas-led parliament was sworn in. "Unfortunately, the pressures have begun and the support and the aid started to decrease ... therefore we are currently in a financial crisis," he told reporters in Gaza, ahead of a planned meeting this week with Hamas leaders. Earlier Sunday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, nominated as the new Palestinian prime minister, said Israel's decision to halt the transfer of funds to the Palestinian...

United Nations objects to Israel's economic sanctions against Palestinian Authority; U.N. envoy meets with government coordinator in territories, tells him Israeli move contradicts decision made by QuartetU.N. objects to Israeli moves: Israel's decision to curb fund transfers to the Palestinians in the wake of the swearing-in of a Hamas-led parliament has been slammed by the United Nations, with U.N. Envoy Alvaro de Soto charging the move contradicts a Quartet decision on the matter. Mishlev met with representatives of international organizations at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv in order to explain to them Israel's policy vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority....

Anti-Semitism may have played a role in the torture and murder of a young Jewish man who was kidnapped and held for ransom, French authorities said Monday. Authorities found 23-year-old Ilan Halimi naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks last Monday near railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris. He died on the way to a hospital, officials said. Justice Minister Pascal Clement, speaking to reporters outside an annual meeting of France's main Jewish umbrella group, CRIF, confirmed investigators had alleged "aggravated circumstances of anti-Semitism." One 19-year-old suspect was placed under investigation - a step short of formal...

The Muhammad cartoon protest took a new direction in Pakistan this week as demonstrators took to the streets in Islamabad brandishing signs that proclaimed "God Bless Hitler." Tens of thousands of people took part in the latest round of protests, which took place throughout Pakistan - with gunfire and rioting erupting in some precincts. By midweek, three people, including an 8-year-old boy, had been killed. Pakistani intelligence officials told The Associated Press that members of outlawed Islamic militant groups had joined the protests and were inciting violence to undermine the government of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Rioting also broke out...

More than Thousand Jews marched on Sunday in the streets of Paris, demanding justice for Ilan Halimi, the 23-year-old Jewish man who was abducted, tortured and killed near Paris by an organised and dangerous gang. The spontaneous gathering failed to get support from any Jewish organization. Information on the demonstration circulated within the Jewish community through mobile phone and e-mail messages. Marchers walked down Voltaire Boulevard, past the mobile phone store where Ilan Halimi used to work and where he was approached by his killers a month ago. During the Sunday protest young demonstrators shouted “Justice for Ilan”, “revenge of...

Ilan Halimi, 23-year-old Parisian man, found tied to tree, naked, wounded, with burns covering his body; police arrest 13 suspects, say act not motivated by anti-SemitismThe French police arrested 13 people on suspicion of kidnapping, torturing and murdering Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Parisian Jew. Halimi was found on Monday tied to a tree, naked and wounded, with burns covering all parts of his body. He died on the way to the hospital. Police officials said that the abduction and murder were apparently not motivated by anti-Semitism, but added that they have not yet discovered what led the group to commit...