Free Republic

The militarization of a population, the manner by which a regime systematically destines its people for a perpetual clash with an enemy, is a prime method for dangerously prolonging a conflict, sometimes for decades. Indeed, the past couple of weeks of unrestrained provocations have reminded us of the 60- year-old war footing maintained by the North Korean government against the West. But one need not look so far eastward to find another example of a regime using its resources for waging hostilities with both its external and internal enemies. Indeed, Israelis can find a more telling example of a government...

The Palestinian Authority, despite complaining constantly that it is suffering from a severe financial crisis, is continuing to provide monthly payments to terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons, the Makor Rishon newspaper reported Friday. This is not the first time that the enormous salaries the PA pays terrorists have been exposed. According to Friday’s report, which was based on data collected by the research department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, at least 4% of the PA government’s budget is allocated for terrorists' salaries. Each month, the PA transfers about 17.5 million shekels to terrorists, the Foreign Ministry has found. While...

Five weeks after the Obama administration asserted that a United Nations vote on upgrading the Palestinian entity’s status “does not establish that Palestine is a state,” Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday ordered that all references to the Palestinian Authority be changed to the “State of Palestine.” From passports to postage stamps, diplomatic mission titles to official stationery, the name of a state that does not legally exist will replace that of the self-rule administration established under the Oslo Accords, brokered by the Clinton administration in the early 1990s. Abbas issued the decree instructing the change several days after saying during an...

Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority signed orders, Thursday, directing all PA institutions to stop using the term "Palestinian National Authority" on official documents and to replace the term with "the state of Palestine". The change went into effect immediately, and was applied to official documents, seals and medals. .....

Only 10 percent of Americans sympathize with the Palestinian Authority, according to a new Pew Center poll, which shows that the United States public is also going isolationist.In answer to the question, “In the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, which side do you sympathize with more, Israel or the Palestinians?”, 50 percent identified with Israeli and only 10 percent with the Arabs. … The overwhelming support for Israel in the poll was more prominent among Republicans and evangelical Christians. …

On November 29th, 1947, the United Nations’ General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan; the Arab leadership rejected it. Sixty-five years later, on November 29th, 2012, Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, excoriated Israel, praised Islamic terrorists, and received the overwhelming approbation of the General Assembly, which voted 138 to 9 (with 41 abstentions) to recognize Palestine as a “non-member observer state.” Abbas was perfectly clear: “The moment has arrived for the world to say clearly: Enough of aggression, settlements and occupation.” The world, then, through the...

Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison. Pete Wehner is a real gentleman. His reproofs are generally not caustic and are almost always intended to have his opponents listen to what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.” Thus, when he recently criticized Kirsten Powers, he provided a most useful sketch of the history of Arab-Israeli conflicts in recent times, at least since 1967. Wehner’s column should be required reading for anyone taking part in Mideast policy discussions. In the main, we agree with his assessment of this good woman’s errors. But in gently rebuking Kirsten Powers,...

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso has pledged support for a future Palestinian state on his first official trip to the region. Speaking alongside Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah on Sunday (8 July) he said that "through our … political and financial support, we are laying the foundations of a future democratic and viable Palestinian state—its institutions and its infrastructure." He voiced "concern" about "the continuous growth of [Irsaeli] settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem."He also "welcomed" the prospect of a unity government between the more moderate Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the militant...

The Palestinian Authority declared a Baptist Church in Bethlehem to be unlawful and said that it will no longer receive rights as a religious institution, Algemeiner reported. This decision comes a week after Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told an audience of Evangelical Protestants that his government respected the rights of its Christian minorities. “They said that our legitimacy as a church from a governmental point of view is not approved,” said an assistant pastor at the First Baptist Church. “They said they will not recognize any legal paper work from our church. That includes birth certificates, wedding certificates and death...

Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who preached in Tahrir Square 10 days ago, loathes Israel, justifies suicide bombings against its civilians. 1. Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Abdallah al-Qaradawi is a central figure affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. He was expelled from Egypt and found refuge in Qatar, operating from there throughout the Muslim world. 2. Many consider him the supreme religious and ideological authority for the Muslim Brotherhood, although he is not officially its leader. (In the past, he refused to accept the title of the Muslim Brotherhood’s General Guide). He is influential in Egypt and considered one of the most important Sunni...

The Palestinian Authority may soon fail financially and cease to exist, its prime minister warned on Thursday. Salam Fayyad warned that if Israel does not resume the transfer of tax revenues it collects for the PA, the entity will collapse economically and thus cease to exist. Already now, Fayyad claimed, the PA cannot pay salaries to its employees. Channel 10 News reported that Fayyad made the comments following a meeting with Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. According to the report, Fayyad said that the collapse of PA institutions “is advancing rapidly toward the point at which they will stop...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is to meet with Hamas leaders in Cairo Thursday to sum up a unity deal based on “resistance,” a Palestinian Authority state based on the temporary 1949 Armistice Lines and non-recognition of Israel. Abbas, head of the rival Fatah faction, formally signed a formal unity agreement with Hamas in May, but it quickly became nothing more than a ceremonial act following disagreements. The failure of the Palestinian Authority to gain admittance as a full member in the United Nations has been a game-changer. Following the American and Israel decision to cut off funds to the...

The Palestinian Authority on Saturday warned the US against using the veto to thwart its plan to seek membership for a Palestinian state in the UN next week. The PA said that a US veto would "destroy" the two-state solution. The warning came hours after PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced in a speech in Ramallah that he would ask the UN Security Council to accept membership of a Palestinian state. Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat warned that the US Administration's use of a veto to foil the PA move would destroy the two-state solution. "Anyone who supports the two-state solution...

Following are excerpts from an interview with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on June 2, 2011: Mahmoud Abbas: With regard to [Palestinian recognition] of a Jewish state, or whatever, this has never been an issue. Throughout the negotiations between the Israeli and us, from 1993 until a year ago, we never heard the words "Jewish state." Now, they have begun to talk about it, and our response was: "Go to the UN, and call yourselves whatever you want. We are not the party to address. Not only that – we refuse to recognize a Jewish...

WASHINGTON – The US sped up delivery of $150 million in direct aid to the Palestinian Authority Wednesday, citing the need to fill an urgent budget shortfall. “This figure underscores the strong determination of the American people and this administration to stand with our Palestinian friends even during difficult economic times,” declared US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in announcing the aid, which was taken from the $200 million the Obama administration plans to allocate to the PA in 2011. “We need to work with the Palestinian Authority to support their efforts to build toward a future Palestinian state that...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is playing with fire. And Israel is getting burned. Over the past week, it has been widely reported that the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government are conducting secret negotiations regarding future Israeli land surrenders to the Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem. According to the reports, the Obama administration has presented Netanyahu with a plan whereby Israel will cede its rights to eastern Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley to the Palestinians and then lease the areas from the Palestinians for a limited period. The reports on the length of the lease vary. Some claim...

Palestinian mental patients get hysterectomies Muslim law permits parents to remove uteruses of mentally ill girls to protect family from shame Ali Waked A debate held by a Palestinian radio station has revisited the issue of female mutilation, with interviewed parents saying they prefer to perform hysterectomies on mentally ill girls in order to prevent them from becoming impregnated. But the procedure is known to be performed in order to allay fears of embarrassment by a similarly ill offspring, and has been sanctioned to this end by both Sharia and the Palestinian Authority. "We can't follow the girls around 24...

Senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Nabil Shaath has announced that the PA will never accept Israel as a Jewish state. In addition, he threatened war if the PA fails to obtain its demands through negotiations, saying, “A Palestinian state will arise, either through negotiations or through armed resistance.” The Arab League voted last week to support PA Chairman Abbas' refusal to recognize Israel as Jewish. The PA has demanded that no Jewish residents remain in the territory it claims as the location of a future Arab state, including any Israelis in Judea and Samaria who would be willing to become PA...

Israel’s New Clowns by Ari Bussel Larry King asked Prime Minister Netanyahu about a recent clip of Israeli soldiers dancing in Hebron. The Prime Minister, who had more pressing matters on his mind, had not yet seen the clip. Others, throughout Europe and elsewhere, have seen the clip. A group of Israeli soldiers break formation while patrolling in a deserted street in Hebron, start dancing “Tuk Tuk” (“Wake up in the Morning”) and then regroup into their former serious military assignment. The original segment was quickly removed. But once on the Internet, footprints persist. In one that remains, a caption...

On sidelines of EU meeting, FM cites insufficient evidence in Dubai case. Talkbacks (46) Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met on Monday afternoon with Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin to discuss the implications of the reported Dubai spy case. Meeting with a number of his European colleagues on the sidelines of a conference of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Lieberman told his Irish colleague that there is no evidence indicating Israeli involvement in the assassination of Hamas terror chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month. He added that were someone to present information beyond what is in the newspapers, Israel would relate...

The Fatah-supported opposition, with help from Al Qaida-aligned elements, continues to target Hamas security forces. Palestinian sources said Fatah and Al Qaida-aligned elements were collaborating in a campaign to destabilize the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. They said Fatah was engaging Islamist fighters to attack both Hamas security forces as well as businessmen close to the Hamas regime. "The attacks have been taking place about every week," a Palestinian source said.

UK denies report MI6 was told about use of UK passports before Mabhouh's death. The British MI6 intelligence agency was tipped off by Mossad that Israeli agents were going to carry out an 'overseas operation' using fake UK passports, the Daily Mail reported Friday morning. The report came several hours after a 20-minute meeting in London between Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor and a senior British diplomat on Thursday, over the fake British passports apparently used in the assassination of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. According to the UK newspaper, a British security source quoted a Mossad agent as...

Dubai Ruler's Media Office The hit squad that killed a senior Hamas official in Dubai may have entered the country using diplomatic passports, senior officials in the Emirates said yesterday, calling on Britain and other European countries whose passports were forged to launch a full-scale inquiry. “There is still information that Dubai police will not make public for the moment, especially regarding diplomatic passports” used by some of the 11-strong hit team, who used British, Irish, German and French documents to enter the emirate last month, said Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai’s police chief. “The United Arab Emirates is...

I don’t know whether Israel did or did not assassinate the leader of the Hamas military wing, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. But assuming for argument’s sake that the Mossad made the hit, did it have the right to engage in this “extrajudicial assassination?” Not all extrajudicial killings are unlawful. Every soldier who kills an enemy combatant engages in an extrajudicial killing, as does every policeman who shoots a fleeing felon. There are several complex legal questions involved in assessing these situations. First, was the person who was killed a combatant, in relation to those killed him? If Israel killed Mabhouh, there can...

Was the Assassination of al-Mabhouh a Frame-Up? The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai poses a whole lot of riddles, as these things usually do. Al-Mabhouh was basically an arms' dealer, that is to say, in an unlovely profession. He was a senior Hamas member, that is to say, a terrorist in unlovely company. He seems to have been in Dubai on his way to conclude a deal with Iran for arms destined to be smuggled into Gaza on behalf of Hamas. That certainly gave Israel an inducement to take him out. In addition, he is accused of being responsible...

Israel's is the only government that can force the rest of the world to recognize that Abbas is not an ally. Fahmi Shabaneh is an odd candidate for dissident status. Shabaneh is a Jerusalemite who joined the Palestinian Authority’s General Intelligence Service in 1994. Working for PA head Mahmoud Abbas and GIS commander Tawfik Tirawi, Shabaneh was tasked with investigating Arab Jerusalemites suspected of selling land to Jews. Such sales are a capital offense in the PA. Since 1994 scores of Arabs have been the victims of extrajudicial executions after having been fingered by the likes of Shabaneh. A few...

Interpol has issued wanted notices for 11 suspects in the murder of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, but Dubai's police chief has asked that Interpol also call for the arrest of the head of Israel's spy agency. Dahi Khalfan Tamin told Dubai TV he had asked the international police agency to issue one of its "red notices" for the head of Mossad, "in case Mossad is believed to be behind the crime, which is likely now." A senior Israeli official who wished to remain anonymous told ABC News that if Dubai asks for the arrest of Mossad chief Meir Dagan, "They...

It’s fascinating to watch the world try to turn the Dubai assassination into a debacle for Israel — all because the team members were captured on CCTV and the British and Irish authorities are making a momentary stink about the use of forged British and Irish passports. You, the reader of this post, will be captured on CCTV a dozen times today simply going about your business. The people calling the operation “sloppy” and a “debacle” seem to actually believe that the Mossad is unaware that there are video cameras in airports and hotels today, or that the passport photos...

The brazen assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh has thrown the spotlight on one of Israel’s most powerful but shadowy figures, Meir Dagan, the current Mossad chief, who yesterday faced calls for his resignation. There is a piece of folklore often repeated about him: when he was appointed in 2002, Ariel Sharon, then the Prime Minister, ordered him to run the Israeli spy agency “with a knife between its teeth”. Eight years on, Mr Dagan appears to have followed his orders to the letter. The killing in Dubai of one of the top men in Hamas is only the most recent in...

An international arrest warrant for the head of Mossad should be issued following the assassination of a Hamas militant in Dubai, the emirate's police chief has said. Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim directly accused Israel's Mossad intelligence agency of orchestrating the hit on Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. He said Interpol should now seek out those those responsible and called for "a red notice against the head of Mossad" to be issued. He said: "Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of (Mahmoud) al-Mabhouh. It is 99 percent, if not 100 percent, that Mossad is standing behind the...

Britain will consider severing its intelligence-sharing agreement with Israel if Mossad agents are proved to have stolen the identities of British passport holders, The Daily Telegraph has learnt. Ministers are understood to be furious that an alleged hit squad which murdered a Hamas leader in Dubai last month cloned the passports of six unsuspecting Britons, who are now living in fear of reprisals. Israel, which has not denied involvement in the murder, had previously promised that Mossad, its secret intelligence service, would never use British passports to help its agents carry out covert operations.

PARIS (Reuters) - France demanded on Thursday that Israel explain how a forged French passport came to be used by assassins suspected of killing a Hamas commander in Dubai last month. The case has already caused diplomatic friction between Israel and European allies, with Britain urging Israel to cooperate with efforts to clear up the apparent use of faked British passports. "We are asking for explanations from Israel's embassy in France over the circumstances of the use of a fake French passport in the assassination of a Hamas member in Dubai," the Foreign Ministry said in an electronic news briefing....

Dubai has widened its search for the killers of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, it emerged today, with officials confirming that at least six of the Hamas commander’s assassins remain unaccounted for. Police in Dubai have issued international arrest warrants for 11 suspects in the case, but now believe the team behind the murder numbered at least 17. The six unknown killers include a second woman who was part of the final surveillance team in the lobby of al-Mabhouh’s Dubai hotel as the murder took place on the evening of January 19. The woman arrived at the hotel at 18.41 dressed as a...

Official "wanted" notices were released today for a suspected team of Israeli secret agents accused of participating in the assassination of a Palestinian militant. The faces of an 11-strong alleged hit squad appeared on the Interpol website this morning, 48 hours after authorities in the United Arab Emirates issued arrest warrants for the killing last month of the Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Their offences are listed as "crimes against life and health". The group stands accused of entering the emirate state using forged or stolen European identities, murdering the militant in his hotel and then fleeing the country on 19...

Interpol adds suspected Dubai assassins to most wanted list By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies Tags: Israel news Dubai police chief: Mossad head should be arrested if Israel behind killing of top Hamas man. Interpol added the 11 suspected assassins allegedly responsible for last month's Dubai assassination of a Hamas strongman to their most wanted list, Haaretz learned on Thursday. The individuals who were charged by Dubai police as responsible for the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh were tagged with "Red Notices," according to the Interpol's official website. The website also specifies that Interpol chose...

Interpol should help arrest the head of Mossad if Israel's spy agency was responsible for the killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai, the emirate's police chief said today. In comments to be aired on Dubai TV, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim called for Interpol to issue "a red notice against the head of Mossad ... as a killer in case Mossad is proved to be behind the crime, which is likely now".

Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said he is 99 percent sure Israel was involved in the January killing of a Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at a Dubai luxury hotel, according to a report published Thursday in an Emirati newspaper. "Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of al-Mabhouh. It is 99 percent, if not 100 percent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder," Tamim told The National newspaper. Haaretz earlier Thursday learned the identities of two Palestinians arrested in Jordan in connection with the January 20 killing at a Dubai hotel. Ahmad Hasnin, a Palestinian intelligence...

Britain's Times newspaper, citing unidentified sources, reported that al Mabhouh's body was found by staff at the luxury Al Bustan Rotana hotel. It claims a hit squad injected him with a drug that induced a heart attack, photographed all the documents in his briefcase, and left a "do not disturb" sign on the door.

The assassination could have unwanted diplomatic repercussions for Israel DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Israeli security officials said Wednesday they were convinced the Mossad was behind the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai and harshly criticized the spy agency for allegedly stealing the identities of its own citizens to carry out the hit. Names released by Dubai matched seven people living in Israel, raising questions about why the agency would endanger its own people by using their passport data as cover for a secret death squad. At the same time, some Israeli experts said the Dubai evidence pointed to...

Israel has assassinated a senior Hamas military commander(Mahmoud al-Mabhouh), an official in the Palestinian Islamist group said Friday.

Dhahi Khalfan tells AFP: "I don't exclude any possibility" in Mabhouh's assassination; Israeli officials say commander played key role in smuggling weapons from Iran to Gaza. At least seven people were involved in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai last week, according to Dubai police chief Dhahi Khalfan. "It could be Mossad, or another party... I don't exclude any possibility. I don't exclude any party that has an interest in the assassination," Khalfan told AFP. He also said that the main suspects in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh held various European passports, AFP reported. In Israel, meanwhile, officials...

We will issue a warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest if it turns out Israeli intelligence was behind last month's killing of a Hamas strongman, Army Radio quoted Dubai's police commissioner on Thursday. Dubai's police chief Dahi Halfan referred to the January 20 assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was reportedly responsible for the smuggling of Iranian arms to Gaza. ?Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will be the first to be wanted for justice as he would have been the one who signed the decision to assassinate [Mahmoud] al Mabhouh in Dubai. We will issue an arrest warrant against...

Dubai, UAE -- A shadowy figure murdered in his Dubai hotel room by a hit squad that the police say operated with European passports. It sounds like the plot of a John Le Carré spy novel, but this is reality and the hunt is on for the killers of top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh...al-Mabhouh landed at Dubai International airport on January 19. Then, a short drive to his hotel, the al Bustan Rotana, where just hours later he would be killed. Dubai police say he was not traveling under his real name, so the hotel staff would have been unaware...

The arrest of two Palestinians suspected of being involved in the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Dubai, as well as the publication of video clips depicting the assassins, has reignited the finger pointing between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas claimed Tuesday that the two arrested men, who served in the Palestinian security forces, are proof that the Palestinian Authority played a role in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 20. The PA denied the allegations. "If they want, Hamas can reveal the identity of the suspects," challenged the PA. Police in the United Arab Emirates announced Monday at...

Group of pictures published on Dubai Police yesterday for 11 people suspected of involvement in the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Mabhouh last month (a. P. B) and Dahi Khalfan Tamim, displays photographs of the suspects yesterday. Dubai Police revealed yesterday for clues in the case of the assassination of leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, Mahmoud Abdel-Raouf, Mohamed Hassan, better known as the husky-Mahmoud, said that it ends all aspects of the mystery which drew the process since the disaster, and highlighted this information nationalities of the suspects in the process The names and photographs and method of...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Dubai's police chief said Monday an 11-member hit squad with European passports was responsible for killing a Hamas commander in his hotel room last month, but he did not directly implicate Israel as the Islamic militant group has. The Gulf emirate released photos, names, nationalities and passport numbers of all 11 suspects. The details given by Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim are the most comprehensive accusations by Dubai authorities since the body of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found Jan. 20 in his luxury hotel room near Dubai's international airport. Tamim said it was possible that...

Dubai will issue arrest warrants soon for 11 Europeans suspected in the killing of senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, but its police chief said Monday that he was still not ruling out Israeli involvement. "We do not rule out Mossad, but when we arrest those suspects we will know who masterminded it. [We have not] issued arrest warrants yet, but will do soon," police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim told reporters. Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told reporters that the alleged assassination team comprised six British passport holders, three Irish and one each from France and Germany.

The Beautiful 'Assassin': 'Hit Squad With British Passports Accused Of Executing Senior Hamas Leader [Pics in URL] 15th February 2010 Claims that British and Irish passport holders are among an alleged 11-man hit squad wanted in Dubai for the apparent assassination of a Hamas commander are tonight being investigated by London and Dublin. Dubai police say the main suspect is Peter Elvinger, 49, who holds a French passport. He was the gang’s logistical co-ordinator and the one who booked room 237 in Al Bustan Rotana, down the corridor from the victim’s room – 230. The other suspects were identified as...

The Dubai police has published a video showing alledged intelligence agents operating in a Dubai hotel last January 19, 2010, and suspected of having killed Hamas high-ranking figure Mahmud al-Mabuh.

The three Irish citizens who the Dubai authorities allege helped to assassinate a Hamas official do not exist, according to Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs. The Irish government says the trio of alleged passport-holders identified on Monday in Dubai as Gail Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron do not appear in Ireland's records of legitimate passport-holders. "We are unable to identify any of those three individuals as being genuine Irish citizens. Ireland has issued no passports in those names," the department said in a statement to The Associated Press. -snip-