Free Republic

ISIS reportedly called upon Muslims to use any means necessary to kill “Christians and Jews” in the United States and Europe, with a specific focus on France, in an edition of its Arabic-language magazine. Although the so-called Islamic State has lost its physical Caliphate after it was defeated under the first Trump administration, ISIS radicals continue to advocate for their strict interpretation of the Islamic religion and seek to influence impressionable young Muslims in the West to commit acts of terror in its name. In a copy of its al-Naba obtained by the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism (CAT)...

A German shop owner in the northern city of Flensburg posted a sign on Wednesday that Jews are banned from entering his store, sparking outrage among state officials in Schleswig-Holstein. Hans-Velten Reisch, the 60-year-old owner of the store that sells Gothic-Utensils and technical literature, posted a sign that reads, “Jews are banned from entering here! Nothing personal. No antisemitism. Just can’t stand you.” Germany’s largest daily newspaper, Bild, reported on Thursday that Reisch defended his anti-Jewish sign. He told the paper that “I watch the news every evening. And when I saw what the Jews were doing in the Gaza...

Some French mayors have defied government orders and flown Palestinian flags on town halls, with more expected to follow suit as France prepares to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly. It’s unclear how many cities will join the initiative on Monday after Socialist leader Olivier Faure’s call to fly the flags despite warnings from the Interior Ministry against such displays in a country with both Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim populations. But the call has been gaining momentum as Palestinian flags have been more and more visible in France over the nearly two-year war in...

Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett claimed on Sunday that it caused her anguish to see that only two white lawmakers voted against the resolution honoring Charlie Kirk on Friday. Every Republican voted in favor of the resolution, but 58 Democrats voted against it, including Crockett and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who both cited their disagreement with his political views. Crockett asserted on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Kirk “specifically targeted people of color” with his “rhetoric.” “One of the things I do want to point out that’s not been laid out, that honestly hurts my heart, is when...

Britain, Canada and Australia confirmed on Sunday that they now formally recognize Palestinian statehood, piling pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and putting three major U.S. allies at odds with the Trump administration. The seemingly coordinated announcements came on the eve of the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, at which France and Portugal are also expected to vote for recognition of Palestinian statehood. ...

A gunman shouting “Free Palestine” killed one person a country club wedding in New Hampshire, US. The man opened fire as the bride and groom were about to start their first dance on Saturday night, according to witnesses. Two others were wounded. Hunter Nadeau, 23, has been arrested and charged with the murder of 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare, police said. “Additional charges likely will be brought, including for the additional shooting victims,” John Formella, attorney general for New Hampshire, said in a statement.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced that Budapest will follow the lead of U.S. President Donald Trump in banning the far-left Antifa group as a terrorist organisation. On Friday, Prime Minsiter Orbán said that his government “will take steps to designate Antifa as a terrorist organisation in Hungary.” “We applaud President Donald Trump for taking the lead, calling them what they are: terrorists,” the populist-nationalist leader added. While Antifa is often defended as merely being “anti-fascists”, their name actually originates from Antifaschistische Aktion, the paramilitary wing of the German Communist Party (KPD) in the 1930s. In its latest incarnation,...

Hamas has declared victory after Sir Keir Starmer announced that the UK formally recognises Palestine as a state. The Prime Minister announced the decision in a video message on Sunday afternoon at the same time that Canada and Australia also recognised Palestinian statehood. He said: “Let’s be frank. Hamas is a brutal terror organisation. Our call for a genuine two-state solution is the exact opposite of their hateful vision. We are clear this solution is not a reward for Hamas, because it means Hamas can have no future, no role in government, no role in security.” The move means that...

The Labour Party government has argued that allowing Sharia courts to operate in the United Kingdom is a fundamental “British value” and has refused to distance itself from a broad stroke definition of so-called Islamophobia, which critics say would brand discussions around Muslim child rape grooming gangs as potentially illegally racist. -- Pressed on Tuesday in the House of Commons by Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin as to whether the government supported the existence of Sharia courts in the UK, Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman, unequivocally backed their right to operate. The Labour MP for Finchley...

French President Emmanuel Macron wants to pull off a grand diplomatic coup on Monday by collecting several Western countries together to recognize a Palestinian state, but he’s a long way from delivering a genuine breakthrough in Gaza. The limits to what he can achieve at the United Nations General Assembly are clear. European heavyweights like Germany and Italy will not be joining his initiative and there’s little prospect his efforts can sway U.S. President Donald Trump or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war. The big idea in New York is to trumpet the recognition of Palestinian statehood...

The Taliban government on Sunday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to retake Bagram Air Base, four years after America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan left the sprawling military facility in the Taliban hands. The chief Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, rejected Trump’s assertions and urged the U.S. to adopt a policy of “realism and rationality.” Afghanistan had an economy-oriented foreign policy and sought constructive relations with all states on the basis of mutual and shared interests, Mujahid posted on X. It had been consistently communicated to the U.S. in all bilateral negotiations that Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity were of the...

German Chancellor: Israel’s actions in Gaza do not amount to genocide. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Germany will decide on its stance on EU sanctions against Israel before an October meeting.

'What happened on October 7th was genocide at the highest level’. Trump calls October 7th “genocide at the highest level” after UN accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza. On the hostages who are still being held by Hamas: We have probably 20 that are living. It's a nasty situation.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce the UK's recognition of a Palestinian state in a statement on Sunday afternoon. The move comes after the prime minister said in July the UK would shift its position in September unless Israel met conditions including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza and committing to a long-term sustainable peace deal that delivers a two-state solution. It represents a major change in British foreign policy after successive governments said recognition should come as part of a peace process and at a time of maximum impact. The move has drawn fierce criticism from the Israeli...

71% of French citizens oppose immediate recognition of a Palestinian state before the release of hostages and the surrender of Hamas, according to a survey published by the council representing Jewish organizations in the country. Only 29% of French respondents support the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state. The survey also found that 68% of the public views antisemitic acts not only as a threat to Jews in the country but as a broader threat to French society. By contrast, 19% stated that actions against the Jewish public in France over the Gaza conflict are legitimate. Notably, the share among...

There is a deep human impulse to whittle reality down into familiar and self-flattering fairy tales. We all gravitate toward information that validates our preconceptions and vindicates our in-groups. It is cognitively taxing to revise one’s model of the world. And it is emotionally uncomfortable to recognize fault in our allies or merit in our adversaries. So, we are all tempted to sand the jagged edges off events until they fit into ideologically convenient frames. If this impulse is universal, however, liberals (such as myself) like to believe that we are less vulnerable to it. After all, we are the...

An immigration judge has just ordered Mahmoud Khalil, who led the vicious antisemitic riots at Columbia University, be deported to Syria or Algeria. Mahmoud Khalil is a Syrian national who was part of a group that assaulted police officers, assaulted a Barnard staffer, and violently took over the library. He’s Syrian and he’s a violent Hamas supporter. Legitimate protest involves peaceful assembly for the purpose of voicing the opinion(s) of the involved individuals not terrorism. He led riots that violently invaded university buildings, and vandalized them, writing pro-Hamas graffiti on walls. They attacked campus police trying to regulate the tent...

“That is, unfortunately, the cancer known as white supremacy,” said the Texas congresswoman after learning about Kirk’s comments about her and the Democratic Party. A month before his shooting death, conservative activist Charlie Kirk attacked U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, blaming her and Democrats for being part of a “sinister” plan to replace white people in America. While discussing the issue of redistricting congressional maps, which played out dramatically in Texas last month, Kirk said on his Aug. 4 podcast show, “The great replacement of white people is far more sinister than any redistricting project.” “That is at the core...

George Soros has been the go-to bogeyman for the American right — and right-wing leaders around the world — for years. The 95-year-old billionaire has funneled money into causes around the globe, supporting democratic endeavors, immigration efforts and criminal justice reform through his Open Society Foundations, which he founded in 1979. In the intervening decades, Soros, with his large network of progressive causes and opposition to strong-arm governments, has become the target of conspiracy theories in areas that range from Malaysia to his birth country of Hungary, where a so-called “Stop Soros” law made it illegal to aid undocumented immigrants...

Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, who was one of the targets of the assassination attempt last week in Doha, Qatar, was interviewed by Al Jazeera on Wednesday evening. Hamad is the second Hamas official to be interviewed since the strike, following a similar interview earlier this week with Taher al-Nunu, who was not among the targets. Hamad described the situation in the meeting that Israel struck, recounting, "We were sitting to discuss the American proposal to end the war. Less than an hour later, we heard explosions and immediately realized it was an assassination attempt. As residents of Gaza, we...