Free Republic

Here's an extremely revealing story showing the ultimate fallacy of the leftist and Islamist claim about the 'hijacking' of Islam by extremists. A moderate Muslim leader, who has been calling for bringing Islam in line with the Western humanist values and who opposed homophobia, the introduction of Sharee'ah and the invitation of an Islamofascist cleric has been forced to step down due to threats against his family, and the 'moderate majority' seems to exhibit little concern about his fate. We are routinely being led to believe, by the Islamic apologists and their allies at the Mainstream Media, that Islam is...

The weekend disaster in Qana, Lebanon, where an Israeli air strike killed dozens of men, women and children, illustrates in a most tragic way a basic tenet of 21st century warfare, military experts say: You can't attain victory with bombs alone. "There's so many examples where it hasn't worked recently, even for the world's best air forces," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Israel's campaign against Hezbollah has so far relied primarily on air power. Government leaders and military officials claim the attacks have killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and have severely degraded the militant group's...

San Francisco -- Dozens of protesters carrying banners and Lebanese flags rallied at City Hall on Saturday, condemning Israel's attacks on targets in Lebanon as barbaric and illegal. "We're trying to raise some awareness with the American public about what's going on," said Mohamad Charafeddine, a Stanford University doctoral student who organized the protest. "It's unacceptable." About 50 people, mostly members of the Bay Area's Lebanese community, took part in the demonstration. The protest came as Israel intensified its air assault on Lebanon, striking Hezbollah strongholds and bombing central Beirut for the first time.

"Anti-war activists pray before last meal in front of the White House in Washington July 3, 2006. Cindy Sheehan and 'CODEPINK' launched 'Troops Home Fast,' a hunger strike to protest the war in Iraq" "Former Deputy Ambassador to Mongolia, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, Ann Wright; seated left to right, peace activist Cindy Sheehan; Iraq War veteran, former Army Sgt. Geoffrey Millard; and Franciscan Friar Louis Vitale, eat their last meal before beginning the fast at midnight to end the Iraq War, in front of the White House, Monday, July 3, 2006, in Washington."

Shouting matches broke out in the Knesset on Monday afternoon during a charged debate on three no-confidence motions filed by Arab parties regarding Israel's military response to the kidnapping of a soldier by Palestinian militants. The no-confidence motions were defeated by a large majority after all opposition parties - with the exception of Arab parties - supported the coalition. The no-confidence motion brought forth by Hadash said the Israel Defense Forces operations in Gaza and the arrests of Palestinian parliamentarians were planned in advance and added that the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit cannot be seen as a catalyst...

The European Union plans to transfer 100 million euros to the Palestinian Authority while bypassing the PA's terrorist-led government. According to a decision reached by EU leaders on Friday in Brussels, the funds will be earmarked for healthcare, electricity supplies and support for poor families in the PA. A mechanism to transfer the money directly to the targets of the largesse, bypassing the official Hamas-led PA government, is to be in place by early July, according to EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin. The EU has included Hamas on its list of terrorist groups and has frozen funds to the PA since...

LONDON -- Members of Britain's largest college teachers' union have reignited a fierce debate about academics and politics by asking colleagues to consider boycotting Israel over what it calls "apartheid" policies toward the Palestinians. The 67,000-member National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education is to debate the boycott proposal Monday at its annual conference in the English resort city of Blackpool. The motion "notes continuing Israeli apartheid policies" including the construction of the separation wall between Israel and the West Bank, and asks members to consider a boycott "of those that do not publicly dissociate themselves from such...

Board has plan to oust ROTC from S.F. schools Members want to cut program over 'Don't ask, Don't tell' Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, May 23, 2006 The San Francisco Board of Education appears poised to kick the military's Junior ROTC programs out of the city's public schools, saying the Pentagon's refusal to allow openly gay service members is deplorable and not in line with the school district's anti-discrimination policy. School board members are scheduled to introduce a resolution tonight outlawing the JROTC because of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rule. The resolution calls that policy an "unjust,...

Hey Freepers, (Caution: Not for the faint of heart) I thought you might like to know about Sunday’s anti-immigration rally in downtown Portland. Here’s a lengthy-but-true debriefing: About 12 of us showed up for the anti-illegal immigration rally at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland this afternoon. We were greeted by about 30 of the Portland Anarchist Welcoming Committee (PAWC) and were not at all disappointed with their hospitality. We were very impressed with their open mindedness and passion for their cause. We experienced their usual, screaming-in-your-face maneuvers. Eventually we were able to get some help from the Portland Police (PoPo),...

Meet the people behind so many of the weekly Hate America rallies, including the recent illegal aliens rallies and the May Day boycott:May 1 Boycott & LA Marches for Immigrant RightsNo Work! No School! Take To the Streets!On May 1, stand up for immigrant rights. Join immigrants and supporters to make May 1 a national “day without an immigrant.” We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and legalization for the millions of undocumented workers presently in the United States. Let’s show the government, corporations and politicians that a powerful, united peoples’ movement has the power to win Civil Rights,...

Radical organizations, including active communist and revolutionary socialist organizations, were the driving force organizing the immigration boycott rally at Union Square in New York City on Monday. WND attended the event and took over 350 photographs documenting the effort by the radical political left to deliver an anti-American, anti-imperialist message under the guise of an "immigration rights" rally. The "Immigrant Boycott Day" was intentionally scheduled for May 1, worldwide known as the communist and socialist "May Day" holiday celebrating the struggle of "exploited workers" internationally. This scheduling decision was downplayed by the mainstream media. Documenting how carefully the radical political...

We've got over 125 photos---along with some descriptions and commentary---from Monday's immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles. We will be adding more photos and videos throughout the day today (and possibly into tomorrow). It really is a pretty comprehensive photo essay---enjoy! PS - Feel free to download and use any of our pictures, but please include a link to our site (http://www.modernconservative.com/). Thx, CC

Here are some photos of the Los Angeles rally and march for the criminal invaders that were posted by their supporters. These are pics you will not see in the Mainstream Media.

[I periodically receive email from ANSWER. Here, stripped of all the "send money" pleas, for your amusement, is their latest spew. I know y'all will have fun with such a "target rich" post :] Join in the May 1st Boycott and Day of Action for Immigrant Rights! On Monday, May 1, International Workers Day, we will all be participating in one of the most momentous political events as millions of immigrant workers and students, and hopefully a large number of their allies, participate in the Great May 1st Boycott. Initiated from within the immigrant workers movement itself, the call for the May 1 Boycott...

Domestic Terrorist Group Behind Immigrant Rallies Sponsoring today’s mass immigration rallies: International ANSWER, the Stalinist group dedicated to overthrowing the United States. Here are some Facts About ANSWER. FACTS ABOUT ANSWER A.N.S.W.E.R. is a cover up for the Workers World Party, a Stalinist organization. According to Stephen Zunes, chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco,�Basically, A.N.S.W.E.R. is dominated by the IAC, which is largely a front for the Workers World Party.� David Corn, a writer for the liberal publication Common Dreams, stated, “A.N.S.W.E.R. is run by W.W.P. activists, to such an extent that...

Washington -- If Sen. Russ Feingold was hoping his fellow Democrats would offer a groundswell of support for his maverick resolution calling for President Bush's censure over warrantless eavesdropping, he didn't get it Friday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his proposal. Counting Feingold, only three of the committee's eight Democrats showed up for the sometimes combative hearing that featured a historic moment: Watergate figure John Dean's first appearance before a Senate panel since his 1973 testimony that played a key role in the downfall of President Richard Nixon. Besides Feingold, the only Democrat to speak at the three-hour...

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships killed at least 15 suspected Taliban sympathizers Friday in the latest flare-up of violence near the Afghan border, the Pakistani army said. One soldier also was killed. The top army spokesman described the continuing bloodshed in the North Waziristan tribal region as "disturbing" and said efforts to control it were costing the Pakistani military "heavily." "Eighty percent of the people in the area are sitting on the fence and watching for which side buckles, either the government or the militants, and they will go with the winner," Maj. Gen....

Released hostages 'refuse to help their rescuers' By Oliver Poole in Baghdad (Filed: 25/03/2006) The three peace activists freed by an SAS-led coalition force after being held hostage in Iraq for four months refused to co-operate fully with an intelligence unit sent to debrief them, a security source claimed yesterday. The claim has infuriated those searching for other hostages. The Canadians: Harmeet Sooden and Jim Loney Neither the men nor the Canadian group that sent them to Iraq have thanked the people who saved them in any of their public statements. One of them, Norman Kember, 74, a retired physics...

Pentagon (AP) - A low-key anti-war demonstration moved Monday within a few hundred yards of the Pentagon, as marchers called for an end to the Iraq war. A muffled drum and a ceremonial peace bell sounded along a route followed by about 200 protesters from the Lincoln Memorial to Defense Department (website) headquarters, across the Potomac River in Arlington, Va. "No Iraqi is our enemy," said Steve Cleghorn, 56, of Reynoldsville, Pa. He took part in the march on behalf of the group Military Families Speak Out. Organizers worked with U.S. Park Police to select a route that allowed permitted...

GARDNER, MA — Brian Hawkins kept coming up with new words to describe his feelings about the war in Iraq. “Embarrassed that we torture people. Embarrassed that we detain people without due process,” said Mr. Hawkins, an information technology consultant who lives in Fitchburg. Later, he added “ashamed” to the list. The United States’ duty to democracy is to protect it here, he said. “That’s how we spread freedom and democracy, by being a model country,” Mr. Hawkins said. He was among a small group of people with a great deal to say about the war as they held a...

IF ANYONE can show me that the National Security Agency, under order from President Bush or top aides, eavesdropped on Hillary Clinton or Ted Kennedy or some prominent partisan critic, I'll change my tune and see what this administration is doing as a threat to civil liberties. Until then, I can only see the attacks on an NSA surveillance program -- on Monday the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over the program that allowed officials to mine information from international phone calls and the Internet -- as ill-conceived, partisan and dangerous.

BISBEE — Not everybody was listening to President Bush’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night. In Bisbee’s Goar Park, a group of about 50 anti-Bush protesters “made a joyful noise to drown out Bush’s lies,” according to organizer Mary Elinor “Walking Mary” Adams, 65. The festive din poured up Brewery Gulch. Children joined in the noisy chorus. Coffee and refreshments were served. “Today, I’m with the people who speak the truth,” Adams said as her friend Beverly “Bobo” Quick, 60, danced nearby, smacking a tambourine on hip and hand. Local jewelry maker Joe Hogan, 70, wearing a Tibetan hat,...

UW-MADISON STUDENTS RESPOND TO PENTAGON MONITORING: “SURVEILLANCE OF ANTIWAR ACTIVISTS MUST END NOW!” MADISON, WI – Antiwar activists at the University of Wisconsin at Madison are responding to President Bush’s recent justifications for surveillance along with released Pentagon documents which label student protesters as a “threat” and news of our campus administration’s cooperation with FBI counterintelligence programs. The UW-Madison antiwar student organization, Stop the War! is hosting a press conference to defend ourselves against the Pentagon’s libelous allegations. The press conference will be immediately followed by a protest to counter recruitment by US Marines on our campus. What: Stop The...

Michael Moore Statement on Canadian Election Friday, January 20th, 2006 Michael Moore is currently in production on his next movie. As an avid lover of all things Canadian, he has issued the following statement regarding Canada's upcoming election on Monday: Oh, Canada -- you're not really going to elect a Conservative majority on Monday, are you? That's a joke, right? I know you have a great sense of humor, and certainly a well-developed sense of irony, but this is no longer funny. Maybe it's a new form of Canadian irony -- reverse irony! OK, now I get it.

Michael Moore Statement on Canadian Election Michael Moore is currently in production on his next movie. As an avid lover of all things Canadian, he has issued the following statement regarding Canada's upcoming election on Monday: Oh, Canada -- you're not really going to elect a Conservative majority on Monday, are you? That's a joke, right? I know you have a great sense of humor, and certainly a well-developed sense of irony, but this is no longer funny. Maybe it's a new form of Canadian irony -- reverse irony! OK, now I get it. First, you have the courage to...

Norway's Socialist Left Party said Monday it stood by a planned boycott of Israeli goods, even though the party's leader was forced to back down on the issue as a member of government. Party leader and Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen brought Norway to the brink of a diplomatic crisis with Israel last week by publicly endorsing a consumer boycott of the Jewish state to protest Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. However, both Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere were quick to announce that Halvorsen's view was not shared by the government or any of her partners...

Parents of slain US activist briefly held in Gaza Wed Jan 4, 2006 12:11 PM ET GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen briefly seized the parents of Parents of slain US activist briefly held in Gaza Wed Jan 4, 2006 12:11 PM ET GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen briefly seized the parents of slain U.S. activist Rachel Corrie as they visited the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, but relented after being confronted by a member of the security forces, witnesses said. They said Craig and Cindy Corrie, whose daughter was fatally run down by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to prevent...

Monday, Dec. 5, 2005 8:05 p.m. EST DNC's Dean: U.S. Will Lose War in Iraq Democratic Chairman Howard Dean on Monday likened the war in Iraq to Vietnam and said, "The idea that the United States is going to win the war in Iraq is just plain wrong," comments that drew immediate fire from Republicans. In an interview with WOAI-AM in San Antonio, Dean criticized what he called President Bush's "permanent commitment to a failed strategy" while saying, "We need to be out of there and take the targets off our troops' back." Dean suggested "a strategic redeployment" of U.S....

The future of military recruiting at Harvard Law School hangs in the balance as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in the high-profile Solomon Amendment case Tuesday morning. In case you’ve tuned out three years of protests and press conferences on campus, here’s the issue in a nutshell: the Solomon Amendment, first passed by Congress in 1994, blocks federal funding for universities that limit military recruitment. It poses a dilemma for Harvard Law School, which requires all on-campus recruiters to sign a pledge saying they won’t discriminate against gays and lesbians. The military, which bars gays and lesbians...

The top Presbyterian church official in Chicago has angered Jewish leaders in this city who say a meeting he and other Presbyterians had with Hizbullah last month was "unconscionable." The Rev. Bob Reynolds, head of the Chicago Presbytery, said the meeting in southern Lebanon took place in early November and was part of a tour of the Middle East. "The goal of my trip was educational," Reynolds said. "I think one way people can learn from one another is to learn the way people talk about themselves and describe their own reality. In some small measure that did happen on...

Over the course of the eight months of the D.C. Chapter's Friday night demonstrations in support of our troops recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, we've been fortunate to be able to able to speak with many soldiers and hear their thoughts about the war and those who protest against it. Recently, one soldier shared his stories with us of his experiences with those opposed to the war. To preserve his privacy from vindictive leftists, I'm leaving out details that might help them identify him. The soldier told us of returning to a stateside civilian airport last year in...

US offer would allow Teheran to enrich uranium in Russia By Philip Sherwell in New York (Filed: 20/11/2005) President George W Bush has backed a plan to allow Iran to enrich uranium in Russia. The sudden change in tactics over Teheran's controversial nuclear programme has angered hawks in Washington and surprised European diplomats. Mr Bush, who met President Vladimir Putin at a Pacific Rim summit on Friday, told him he would support Moscow's plan to offer Iran the chance to conduct nuclear enrichment at facilities in Russia. The US was previously against any deal that would allow Iran to enrich...

VIENNA, Austria - The United States and Europe have agreed on a compromise plan to accept expanded nuclear activities by Iran, but only if the enrichment process — a possible pathway to nuclear arms — is moved to Russia, senior officials and diplomats said Thursday. If accepted by Iran, the proposal could end a tug-of-war over whether to refer the Islamic republic to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. The officials and diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing the strategy, said the plan would allow Iran to continue converting raw uranium into the gas that is spun...

LONDON, United Kingdom -- A prominent British Muslim warned lawmakers Monday that proposals for tough new anti-terror laws could undermine the Muslim community's willingness to cooperate in fighting terror. Abdurahman Jafar, a senior member of the Muslim Council of Britain, expressed concern about the Terror Bill, which was drawn up in the wake of the July attacks on London's transit system. The bill would extend the maximum 14-day detention for terror suspects without charge to three months, outlaw attending terrorist training camps and make it an offense to glorify or encourage terrorism. Addressing a meeting of Parliament's joint committee on...

Book Review of: Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left, By David Horowitz, Regnery Publishing, Inc. 2004. 296 pp. The nature of political doublespeak never changes and its agenda is always the same: Obliteration of historical memory in the service of power…. Only a restored memory can demolish totalitarian myths and make men free. (David Horowitz, in Big Lies, Center for the Study of Popular Culture, 2005) At first sight, a merger of the secular political left and the Islamist radical believers is an anomaly. But this book carefully dissects the secret of their partnership: their shared hatred of...

Does this sound familiar? EXCERPTS FROM THE NAKED COMMUNIST Former FBI agent, Cleon Skoussen, in 1958, in his book, THE NAKED COMMUNIST, revealed among other things, these long term goals of the communist agenda. The information is in the Congressional Record August 1963 and in the Communist Manifesto: U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war. Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the U.S. would be a demonstration of moral strength. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. Provide American aid...

French Ambassador to Israel Gerard Araud belittled efforts to have Hizbullah placed on the EU's list of terrorist organizations as "feel-good diplomacy" that "wouldn't make the slightest difference." He also said that Israel had refused an EU offer to send peace-keeping troops to Gaza, and that France stands poised again to push to bring Iran before the Security Council to keep it from acquiring nuclear weapons. Araud made the comments during a lecture he gave on "France and the Middle East" at Bar-Ilan University on Tuesday. Israel has long urged the EU to put Hizbullah on its list of terror...

Opponents of the war in Iraq marched Saturday in a clamorous day of protest, song and remembrance of the dead, some showing surprisingly diverse political views even as they spoke with one loud voice in wanting U.S. troops home. The surging crowd, shouting "Bush out now" and "Peace now," marched in front of the White House and then to the Washington Monument in an 11-hour marathon of dissent. They were young people with green hair, nuns whose anti-war activism dates to Vietnam, parents mourning their children in uniform lost in Iraq, and uncountable families motivated for the first time to...

From the Sept.11 terrorist attacks in 2001 to the Iraq war and the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the image of the United States as the invincible superpower has been weakening over the past few years, European analysts said.

shortly after her son's death and before she became a vocal opponent of the war. Ah, not exactly correct, she was an opponent before he left. If I were a liberal I'd say that was a lie. Some critics say Sheehan is exploiting her son's death to promote a left-wing agenda supported by her and groups with which she associates. Ok, now that parts true, she is exploiting her sons death, and using his flag draped coffin as a soapbox. Before the Crawford vigil began, Gary Qualls, of Temple, walked to the protesters' memorial to fallen U.S. soldiers and removed...

SAN FRANCISCO - A cleric facing immigration charges agreed Monday to be deported to Pakistan, a week after being accused of plotting to open a terrorism camp in California to train followers to kill Americans. Shabbir Ahmed, 39, will be deported on charges unrelated to terrorism: that he overstayed his religious-work visa while heading a mosque in Lodi, an agricultural town of 62,000 about 30 miles south of Sacramento. Ahmed was one of five men from the mosque who were arrested in June, none of whom have been charged with crimes of terrorism. Ahmed's decision not to contest the immigration...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version August 11, 2005, 6:11 p.m. Without Internet, U.S. Would Be a "Fascist State" Crawford protester Cindy Sheehan talks with her blog supporters. Cindy Sheehan, the woman whose soldier son was killed in Iraq and who is now camping by a road in Crawford, Texas demanding a meeting with President Bush, on Wednesday thanked a group of antiwar bloggers for supporting her, saying that without the Internet, America would be a "fascist state." "This is something that can't be ignored," Sheehan said during a conference call with bloggers representing sites like...

May 6, 2005 The Return of the Soviet Union by David Satter When President Bush ascends the reviewing stand in Red Square on May 9 for ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, he may find that his presence is being used less to mark a historic anniversary than to rehabilitate the Soviet Union. The anniversary has unleashed a wave of nostalgia for the Soviet Union. A report by the RIA press agency said, "all the veterans agree that the great love that the Soviet people had for their country and their belief in the righteousness...

LAKEPORT, California (AP) -- An American activist who was killed by a car bomb in Iraq earlier this month was remembered Saturday for her dedication to humanitarian causes and her personal mission of counting civilian casualties of war. Many of the more than 600 mourners, including friends, family, colleagues and journalists who traveled from around the world for her funeral, shared memories of Marla Ruzicka's boundless energy that helped her accomplish much in her 28 years. Kevin Danaher, co-founder of San Francisco-based Global Exchange, a nonprofit international human rights organization, said Ruzicka's magic was understanding and showing unconditional love. "That's...

As usual, the report on the territories commissioned by the UN Commission on Human Rights and presented in Geneva this week slammed Israel for alleged human rights violations, while nary wagging a finger at the Palestinians However, there was a slight change in the tone of the report this year, Israeli diplomatic officials noted, saying that while this was not anything to cheer about, it was worth a passing mention. For instance, the author of the report, South African jurist John Dugard, issued rare praise for what he characterized Israel's "brave move" to quit Gaza. In the commission's "Special Rapporteur...

EU slams Rafah attack as `completely disproportionate,` says action shows `reckless disregard for human life` (Reuters)

The Bush administration has quietly invited Arab leaders to attend the G-8 summit, scheduled to take place next month in Sea Island, Georgia, which will focus in part on US efforts to promote democratization of the Middle East, diplomatic sources in Washington told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. The sources said that several leaders from across the Middle East had already accepted Washington's invitation. But key US allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt have not yet replied and officials here are interpreting their silence as a sign they do not plan to attend. Washington's Greater Middle East Initiative, versions of which...

Jerusalem (jnewswire.com) - Palestinian Arab terrorists used UN ambulances to steal and transport parts of the bodies of five IDF soldiers killed in an ambush along the Gaza-Egypt border Wednesday, Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said. The ambulances belonged to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East - better known as UNWRA. During a visit Friday to the Gaza Strip, Mofaz called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to deal with the cynical use of UNWRA by the "Palestinians" in acts of terrorism against Israelis. It was not the first time UN and other...

[IMRA: The US honors it promises not to sell anything to the Arabs that will disturb the balance of power by including a declaration with each arms sale that it does not disturb the balance. In truth there is no formal mechanism to actually examine the impact of a sale on the arms balance. It would certainly be interesting for the appropriate congressional committees to study this gaping hole in American policy implementation.] WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has agreed to deliver advance air bombs to Arab allies. The Defense Department has approved the delivery of laser-guided air bombs...

www.sana-syria.com/english/headlines/03-5/arab_secretariat_for_arab_partie.h tm The General Secretariat of the Arab Parties held Monday its 20th session under the name of / Sheikh Ahmad Yassin/ Course which was headed by Chairman of the Arab Parties Conference Isaac Farhan. In a speech delivered by Farhan, he underlined that the conference which includes representatives for Arab and political parties is a turning point in our political life that faces threats and complications. He also rejected the so-called the age of America and Zionism which considers legitimate resistance as terrorism and vice versa. For his part, Secretary General of the Arab Socialist Union Party in Syria...