Free Republic

Iran surges cyber-enabled influence operations in support of Hamas. 02/07/2024 Iran surges cyber-enabled influence operations in support of Hamas Introduction As the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7, 2023, Iran immediately surged support to Hamas with its now well-honed technique of combining targeted hacks with influence operations amplified on social media, what we refer to as cyber-enabled influence operations.1 Iran’s operations were initially reactionary and opportunistic. By late October, nearly all of Iran’s influence and major cyber actors focused on Israel in an increasingly targeted, coordinated, and destructive manner, making for a seemingly boundless “all-hands-on-deck” campaign against Israel. Unlike...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed... ...Overnight, flight-tracking data showed a U.S. military plane taking off for Qatar, home to the U.S. military Central Command's forward headquarters. A British military cargo plane also was flying to Kabul after taking off from Dubai. Other military aircraft remained in the air in the region. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, now operating from the airport, urged Americans to register online for evacuations but not come to the airport before being...

CBS2’s Greg Mills reports that mosques in our area have gone on high alert. This is an important time for those of the Islamic faith. The 30 days of Ramadan are just beginning. “It’s a month where we try to be better versions of ourselves. Both mentally, spiritually and physically,” says Qureshi. The holiday begins under the dark cloud of their fellow worshipers who share their faith and those of other faiths. Imam Quereshi has talked about what he called people who are isolated and have murder in mind. The Islamic Center has been also reaching out to synagogues, churches...

Rep. Ilhan Omar appeared to take the side of Hamas and Islamic Jihad last night after terrorists fired hundreds of rockets at civilian targets in Israel by Hamas this weekend. “How many more protesters must be shot, rockets must be fired, and little kids must be killed until the endless cycle of violence ends? The status quo of occupation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unsustainable. Only real justice can bring about security and lasting peace,” the Minnesota Democrat said in a tweet Sunday night

Islam is “not a religion of hate,” Jordan’s King Abdullah said in a recent interview, arguing that there was perhaps a “lack of understanding” of the religion in Washington. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria asked Abdullah — in an interview filmed in Davos last month but aired on Sunday — about President Trump’s stated view during the 2016 election campaign that “I think Islam hates us.” “By ‘us,’ I think he meant America,” Zakaria said. “In your conversations with President Trump, have you tried to persuade him that that was not the case?” “Absolutely, to all Americans,” Abdullah replied. “And whether I’m...

A French woman whose jihadist son fought, and is thought to have died, in Syria was given a two-year jail sentence for financing terrorism on Thursday because she sent him money. Nathalie Haddadi, 43, insisted she did not know how her son Belabbas Bounaga spent the money she wired to him and said the conviction was a “double punishment” for a grieving mom. “I have trouble understanding how they can accuse me of financing terrorism,” Haddadi told reporters before hearing the verdict. “I helped my son,” she said, while insisting she had never sent money to Syria. […] Haddadi, a...

The subject of Muslim integration in France is one of the country’s most hotly debated issues. But how do Muslims themselves feel about their home country? A new survey offers some insight. Muslims living in France feel a stronger attachment to their country than they do in much of Europe, despite experiencing high levels of discrimination. That was one of the key findings of a new survey that looked at Musliims across Europe. The survey also found that first generation Muslims feel more attached to France than their offspring. This generational difference in feeling towards their country is greater in...

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has canceled plans to attend the U.N. General Assembly, with her country drawing international criticism for violence that has driven at least 370,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims from the country in less than three weeks. […] Attacks by an insurgent Rohingya group on police outposts Aug. 25 have set off a wave of violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, with hundreds dead and thousands of homes burned — mostly Rohingya in both cases. …

When Moina Shaiq realized even her own friends were scared to ask her about her religion for fear of offending her or sounding uneducated, she put an advertisement in a California newspaper: “Questions and answers about being Muslim.” […] With an uptick in anti-Muslim crimes in the U.S., Shaiq said she started the “Meet a Muslim” talks to educate people about her faith and culture while addressing people’s misconceptions and stereotypes. …

Former United States President Barack Obama said at a Berlin reunion with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday that he was “heartbroken” by a suicide bombing that killed 22 people in Manchester. “We can see the terrible violence that took place just recently in Manchester… it’s a reminder that there is great danger of terrorism and people who would do great harm to others just because they’re different,” Obama told a crowd at the German capital’s Brandenburg Gate. He and Merkel had sent a joint message of condolence to the families of those killed in the Monday attack during a...

Trump planning to launch new round of talks during his upcoming visit. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has crossed the Rubicon and voiced “unprecedented” readiness to reach a peace deal with Israel, sources close to the efforts to renew talks between Israel and the Palestinians have told The Jerusalem Post. Abbas, according to the sources, made this clear to President Donald Trump during their meeting at the White House last week. The president plans to use his trip to Israel later this month to receive assurances from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he, too, is committed to a peace agreement.

Muslim leaders in Minneapolis are wary of a man who has been patrolling a predominantly Somali neighborhood to enforce the Islamic civil code. The Star Tribune reports that Abdullah Rashid has been telling residents of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood not to drink, use drugs or interact with the opposite sex, according to his interpretation of Sharia law. He’s been telling Muslim women to wear a head-to-toe garment called a jilbab. …

Hamas is reportedly planning to endorse a state of Palestine along the 1967 borders — a move that would be a monumental shift from the group’s long-held policy of reclaiming all of historic Palestine — though it won’t recognize Israel’s legitimacy. […] Talk of “the 1967 borders” generally refers to the pre-1967 lines between Israel and the territory it captured in that year’s Six-Day War from Jordan (in Jerusalem and the West Bank), Egypt (Gaza and the Sinai) and Syria (the Golan Heights). The amendments to the charter were reportedly worked out during a meeting in Doha, Qatar, which was...

Alleging divestment is anti-Semitic depends on the conflation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Our critiques of Israel’s practices are not attacking people of the Jewish faith or heritage.

DNC Chair candidate Kieth Ellison was caught lying again regarding his stances on the second amendment. Partial Transcript Bash: Congressman, gun control. In 2014 you told Bill Maher that you wished the Democratic Party would come out against the Second Amendment. How do you reach out to Americans who support gun rights when you don’t support the Second Amendment? Ellison: First of all, let me tell you, I remember that show very well and that is not what I said, at all. What I talked about is my grandfather’s shotgun, the fact I am a turkey hunter, and I didn’t...

More than 100,000 Palestinians have sent US President Donald Trump letters, imploring him not to withhold US support from the idea of founding a Palestinian state. Arab media website Al-Monitor reported that the wide scale campaign was organized by Youth Center for Development and Innovation Arab in the West Bank city of Nablus, and that the center had gathered the letters for 11 days, starting on January 20—the day of Trump’s inauguration. The initiative had collected the letters of young Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as from Syrian refugees and Lebanese nationals. “All of the...

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday evening reacted to the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. A statement from PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s office said that the PA remains committed to the two-state solution and is willing to work with Trump’s administration to achieve a peace agreement. At the same time, the statement criticized Netanyahu and claimed that “Israel’s insistence on destroying the two-state solution will lead to more extremism and more instability.” “We are ready to work positively with the Trump administration in order to bring peace,” the statement continued, “but the Israeli Prime...

Most voters agree that Christians living in Muslim-majority countries are mistreated for their religion. But Democrats are more likely to think Muslims are mistreated in America than to think Christians are persecuted in the Islamic world. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 62% of Likely U.S. Voters believe most Christians living in the Islamic world are treated unfairly because of their religion. Just 17% disagree, while 21% more are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) These findings have changed little in surveys since early 2015. By comparison, 39% feel most Muslims living in...

Italy’s Muslim community signed a pact with the government on Wednesday pledging to “reject all forms of violence and terrorism”, with prayers in mosques to be held in Italian. “It’s a very important document which concerns the present and future of our country through inter-religious dialogue, starting from a basic principle: We may have different religions… but we are all Italian,” said Interior Minister Marco Minniti. He added: “One of the essential points is that all the signatories have committed to reject all forms of violence and terrorism.” Only a handful of Italian residents are known to have joined jihadist...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he is willing to work with President-elect Donald Trump to reach a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel. Abbas spoke Saturday at an event marking the anniversary of his Fatah party. He said "We want to emphasize our willingness to work with the newly-elected American administration... to achieve peace... based on a two-state solution." Abbas thanked the U.S. for its U.N. abstention vote last week, which allowed the Security Council to adopt a resolution declaring Israeli settlements in territory claimed by Palestinians illegal.