Free Republic

Our Israeli correspondent MC returns with an essay about the current media manipulations that have given us both the “refugee” crisis and the demonization of Israel. I get very bored when people tell me (which is often) that “Israel murders Palestinians”. Whilst it is true that Palestinians get murdered in Israel, what this statement fails to comprehend is that Israelis get gaoled for murdering anybody, including Palestinians, as in any civilized Western country, but unlike most Middle Eastern countries including the Palestinian Authority (PA). The difference here is the relentless propaganda to demonise Israel. Jews have been demonised down through...

Perception is everything. Wars are often won or lost based on how the actors perceive one another’s strengths and weaknesses, not so much how strong or weak they are in reality. So it goes with any agenda item. When people sense a shift in public opinion on an issue, a fair number will shift right along with what they perceive. Thus, power elites can shape behaviors and attitudes by applying various techniques of crowd psychology, focused on propaganda and silencing dissent. ... Effective propaganda also keeps you in the dark about the fact that you are being manipulated. You Can’t...

A Russian air force jet has been shot down by Turkish forces after it strayed into the country's airspace, according to unconfirmed reports. Eyewitnesses reported a large explosion in Huraytan, northern Syria, as three fighter jets were sighted flying overhead, the Express said. A Turkish-based journalist tweeted that three Turkish planes were responding after radar locked on to some "mysterious" MiG-29 jets, which are a similiar model to those used by Russian forces. The news comes after Turkey scrambled F-16 fighter jets last weekend after a Russian MiG-29 crossed into Turkish territory near the town of Yayladagi, in Hatay province,...

Via Politico, skip to 12:00 of the clip below for the key bit. Oh, it’s on. Or is it? Normally, a candidate for president claiming that he’s going to peel away his opponents’ supporters and win the nomination would be so banal that it wouldn’t qualify as news. It’s the ultimate “dog bites man” story. Of course Cruz believes this. If he didn’t, why would he be running? But these aren’t normal circumstances. Cruz is the only Republican in the field who has yet to utter a critical or discouraging syllable about Trump, part of his talk-radio-ish strategy not...

It’s been a tough week for terrorists in Syria. Over seven days Russia delivered over a hundred airstrikes at various jihadist facilities across the country, reportedly igniting panic among some groups. Trends Russian anti-terror op in Syria Russia launched its air campaign in Syria on September 30, making 120 combat sorties that hit 110 targets in just over a week, according to the Defense Ministry. Among the objects destroyed are: •71 armored vehicles •30 other vehicles •19 command facilities •2 communication centers •23 depots with fuel and ammunition •6 plants used to make IEDs, including car bombs •several artillery pieces...

In his book Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power, the German Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper wrote the following: “That the existential realm of man could be taken over by pseudorealities whose fictitious nature threatens to become indiscernible is truly a depressing thought. And yet, the Platonic nightmare, I hold, possesses an alarming contemporary relevance. For the general public is being reduced to a state where people are not only unable to find out about the truth but also become unable even to search for the truth because they are satisfied with deception and trickery that have determined their convictions, satisfied...

Russian combat aircraft have carried out over 60 sorties bombing 50 facilities of the Islamic State terrorist organisation in Syria, Col Gen Andrey Kartapolov of the General Staff told reporters on Saturday. "The aircraft have been taking off from the Hmeimim air base, targeting the whole Syria," Gen Kartapolov said at the National Defence Control Centre. "In the past three days we have managed to disrupt the terrorists’ infrastructure and to substantially degrade their combat capabilities." "Intelligence reports say that militants are leaving the areas under their control," he said. "There is panic and desertion among their ranks," the general...

The prevailing narrative on the U.S. economy has downshifted, as three consecutive months of disappointing job growth raise concerns about a serious slowdown. There’s some good news to offset the bad, however: household incomes have finally shown a sharp gain, which means the typical family’s purchasing power is bouncing back. And the pace of car sales is accelerating toward record levels, with consumers more than willing to commit to costly long-term purchases. Meanwhile, several other indicators that don’t get as much attention as the monthly jobs report show sustained improvement in key parts of the economy. The monthly employment report...

<p>Warplanes have carried out air strikes in Hama, Homs and Latakia in what Russia's powerful Orthodox Church has termed a "holy battle".</p> <p>“Russian and Syrian airplanes carried out numerous strikes today against terrorist positions in Hama, Homs and Latakia provinces,” according to a Syrian security source.</p>

Syrians living in rebel-held areas of Homs province have seen a lot of destruction in four years of war, but say the Russian air force unleashed a whole new level of devastation in air strikes on their towns on Wednesday. Jets flying at higher altitudes than the Syrian air force emitted no noise to alert the people below to raids reported to have killed at least 33 civilians, including children. "We have been exposed to a wide range of weapons over the last five years, but what happened today was absolutely the most violent and ferocious, and the most comprehensive...

Tehran continues to claim support for victims of police violence, and some families of victims say they want to attend Iran has invited African-Americans affected by police violence to a conference on discrimination in Tehran, the Telegraph reported Sunday. A large group of black Americans, including victims of police brutality and black activists, are due to arrive in Iran for the conference,” an organizer told the Islamic republic’s Shargh newspaper, according to the Telegraph.

Sophie Cruz's encounter with the pope during a parade in Washington this week looked to be one of those spontaneous, once-in-a-lifetime-moments Francis has become known for. But for 5-year-old Sophie, the chance to wrap her arm around the pope's neck as he offered a hug, kiss and a blessing unfolded as perfectly as it was scripted by members of a coalition of Los Angeles-based immigration rights groups. For nearly a year the group had been preparing the young girl from suburban Los Angeles to make a dash for the popemobile to deliver a message about the plight of immigrant parents...

PUTIN (THROUGH INTERPRETER): Your excellency Mr. President, your excellency Mr. Secretary General, distinguished heads of state and government, ladies and gentlemen, the 70th anniversary of the United Nations is a good occasion to both take stock of history and talk about our common future. In 1945, the countries that defeated Nazism joined their efforts to lay solid foundations for the postwar world order. But I remind you that the key decisions on the principles guiding the cooperation among states, as well as on the establishment of the United Nations, were made in our country, in Yalta, at the meeting of...

There's apparently less than meets the eye at an OWS occupation in London -- vacant tents masquerading as demonstration participants. The UK Daily Mail headlines: The thermal images that prove 90% of tents in the Occupy camp in London are left EMPTY overnight Here is one of their images:

This morning on the White House lawn, Pope Francis introduced himself as the child of an immigrant – a position many young children in America can relate to. Later on during the papal parade, a young girl – Sophie Cruz – bypassed police blockades and just as she was being escorted back to her family, the Pope allowed her to come to the vehicle. His security detail lifted the 5-year-old to the Pope, where she received a hug and left the Pope with a gift – a letter pleading with Pope Francis to do something about immigration reform in the...

I suppose that headline is a bit optimistic -- the media is very good about suppressing stories that expose them as frauds; see the Gosnell coverage. But we're coming to a point where the media's continue refusal to acknowledge the obvious is going to become very embarrassing to them. IBD states the obvious. (I can't quote it because it's short, but it dispels so much of the previous myth-making here; do read it.) Suggesting, to me, that we're about to hit the moment of Peak Media Embarrassment is the fact that the tech community is now openly referring to this...

Sophie Cruz's brief encounter with Pope Francis during his parade in Washington this week appeared to be the kind of spontaneous moment that is so endearing about this pope: an initially hesitant young child wrapping an arm around his neck as he offers a kiss and a blessing. But for 5-year-old Sophie, the moment unfolded as perfectly as it was scripted by members of a coalition of Los Angeles-based immigration rights groups. They had been preparing for nearly a year for the young girl from suburban Los Angeles to make a dash for the popemobile to deliver a message about...

Anti-Israel Propaganda – Now, in US Elementary School The trickle-down effect: Palestinian with terror links speaks to third graders in Ithaca, NY about ‘Israeli oppression.’ " Infamous Palestinian Arab “activist” Bassem Tamimi spoke at an Ithaca, NY elementary school on Friday to present to third-graders a presentation on the “suffering” of Palestinian Arab children in Israel. Tamimi’s visit to Beverly J. Martin Elementary was arranged via anti-Israel activist Ariel Gold, the current head of the North American branch of Sabeel International – an anti-Israel Christian organization actively working to skew Christian dominations toward divestment resolutions against the Jewish state....

When Iranian crowds chant “Death to America” during rallies in Tehran, Americans shouldn’t take it personally, according to Iran's president Hassan Rouhani. Speaking in an interview with 60 Minutes due to be broadcast on Sunday, Rouhani explained that the famous Friday ritual is a reaction to previous Washington policy decisions that hurt Iran. […] “This slogan that is chanted is not a slogan against the American people. Our people respect the American people,” he insisted, according to AFP. “The Iranian people are not looking for war with any country,” continued Rouhani. […] Rouhani, despite his comments, has personally presided over...

Earlier this month Townhall reported that on a number of colleges campuses throughout the U.S., hundreds of freshmen are taking a course about 9/11—one that happens to be taught from the perspective of the terrorists. “The Literature of 9/11,” which teaches students that that the US was to blame for the attacks and the jihadists who killed nearly 3,000 people that day were in fact freedom fighters, has students reading books like “Poems from Guantanamo: Detainees Speak.” Thanks to uproar from the College Republicans at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which is among the schools where the course is being taught,...