Free Republic

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) continues to occupy a special place in the pantheon of Syrian terror surrogates. Of all the major Palestinian and Lebanese paramilitary groups sponsored by Damascus, the PFLP-GC exercises the least strategic and operational autonomy. While the perks of this servitude are considerable (it is the only group to have received tanks from the Syrian government), so too are the limitations (its lack of independence has precluded the growth of a strong popular following). Despite its relatively weak presence in the West Bank and Gaza, the PFLP-GC has played a vital...

The Syrian Army has finally managed to recapture the entire Yarmouk Basin region following fierce clashes with the Islamic State... - their defeat in southwest Syria.

The media and political elites who pose as defenders of the poor beleaguered Palestinians don't care about them at all.  They are merely pawns in an effort to rid the world of Jews, starting with the half of world Jewry living in the historic homeland of Jews, Israel.  This has been proven beyond a doubt by the reaction – really a lack of any reaction – to Syria's bombing of a large Palestinian settlement, in the course of that nation's civil war and ongoing ethnic cleansing of Sunni Muslims, who stand in the way of Iran's effort to establish a Shia...

Syrian government forces used warplanes, helicopters and artillery on Sunday to pound districts of the capital held by the Islamic State group, in a bid to enforce an evacuation deal reached with the militants earlier in the week. Two Palestinian refugees, a father and a son, were killed during the fighting at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, according to the United Nation’s Palestinian refugee agency, which added that thousands of homes have been destroyed in four days of fighting. Hundreds of IS militants hold parts of the Yarmouk camp and nearby area of Hajar al-Aswad in southern Damascus. They...

A Palestinian refugee camp has been under siege for more than 1,660 days. Hundreds of the camp residents have been killed, while tens of thousands have been forced to flee from their homes. Those who have remained in the camp -- mostly the elderly, women and children -- live in unspeakable sanitary conditions and drink polluted water. More than 200 Palestinians from the camp, which has been under siege since 2103, have died as a result of lack of food or medicine. The conditions in the refugee camp, by any standard, are horrific. Why have most of us not heard...

MAINESTATEGOP AND THE NEW ENGLAND ALLIANCE FOR LIBERTY AND FREE MARKETS PRESENTS A NEW BLOG  EVENTS IN HUMAN HISTORY BY KYLE WEISSMAN  We've had many history articles on our blog, The story of The Battle Of Lepanto being our best one, we've had many requests for more history related articles. So, we're presenting a new blog, EVENTS IN HUMAN HISTORY by our very own Kyle Weissman.  Kyle Weissman is one of our original founders of the New England Alliance For Liberty and Free Markets, He has been very very active in the free state movement in New Hampshire and...

'Severe blow': Al Qaeda suicide bomber takes out leadership of key ISIS brigadeHAIFA, Israel – A recent suicide bombing in southern Syria shows the rivalry between Al Qaeda and ISIS is more than just a contest to see who can kill the most infidels -- the groups are using classic terror techniques on each other. The Nov. 15 bombing came at a top-level meeting of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, a key ISIS militia known for its bloody and vicious hold over parts of the Golan Heights. Six of the group’s top men were killed, including Muhammad "Abu Ali" al-Baridi,...

"When [Abdul] heard the amount, he just broke down and started crying," Simonarson said. "He was so thankful and he kept saying, 'thank you for all your generosity,'" Gissur Simonarson, the man who took the photo, said.Heartbroken readers around the world have made a definitive statement after seeing a viral photo circulated on the Internet this week -- showing a Syrian father selling pens in the streets of Beirut while cradling his sleeping daughter. And that statement so far has nearly six digits in it. A Norwegian activist named Gissur Simonarson came face-to-face with the refugee on Tuesday. With...

Israel has often complained that UNRWA, the UN body dealing with "Palestinian refugees," merely exists to continue the conflict without resettling the people it treats as the UN does with all other refugees, but apparently the Palestinian Arabs are unhappy with the organization too - for not giving them enough, and for giving too much to their brethern in Syria's Yarmouk neighborhood. Residents of Gaza defined as "refugees," namely the descendants of Arab residents who left Israel in the 1948 War of Independence, are protesting against UNRWA after the latter transferred resources to displaced Palestinian Arab residents of the Yarmouk...

Syria Deeply spoke with displaced Assyrian families who fled to Beirut after Jabhat al Nusra and ISIS arrived in their hometown of al-Hasakah. Many of them have relatives presently held hostage by ISIS.Beirut, Lebanon – “We are searching for the quickest way to go to Europe or Canada, maybe America,” said Jack Zayya, an Assyrian Christian refugee from Syria who arrived in Beirut two months ago. Standing in front of a local Assyrian church, he recalled the difficult journey from his hometown of al-Hasakah, situated in northeastern Syria and home to many Christians and Kurds.Before the war, Zayya led a...

According to reports from Syria and also the Turkish press, ISIS has bombed two churches in Syria, the St. Odisho Assyrian Church in Tel Tal and the St. Rita Tilel Armenian Church in Aleppo. The churches were bombed yesterday. Located on the Khabur river in the Hasaka province in Syria, Tel Tal is one of the 35 Assyrian villages that was attacked by ISIS on February 23. ISIS captured nearly 300 Assyrians in those attacks and subsequently released 23, all from the village of Tel Goran. The remaining Assyrians are still being held captive. The entire Assyrian population of these...

Don’t look now but ISIS fighters are just a few short miles away from Bashar al-Assad’s Presidential Palace in Syria after taking control of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus where some 18,000 are trapped in what the UN calls a “beyond inhumane” situation. The camp, which has been under siege by the Assad regime for years came under attack by ISIS earlier this month who reports indicate may be working alongside al-Qaeda’s Syrian arm al-Nusra in what would be a break with recent precedent. Some Palestinian factions — who, alongside the Free Syria Army are battling ISIS for control...

Morally confused leftist mind, Very existence of the Jewish state is reason enough to place the ultimate responsibility on Israel for the slaughter and starvation committed by the Syrian regime, the Islamic State and other jihadists Yarmouk, once a relatively stable haven for as many as 100,000 Palestinian refugees located in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, has become a living hell for those refugees left behind whom have managed to survive years of starvation, disease or relentless attacks from the Syrian government and its adversaries. Now, Yarmouk has become the latest front in the jihad launched by the Islamic State...

Thousands of civilians are in "immediate danger" and must be evacuated from "completely dire" conditions following ISIS' affront on a refugee camp, a U.N. official said Tuesday. Some 18,000 civilians have been trapped with limited food and water in the Yarmouk camp near Syria's capital, caught between government forces and dueling rebel groups. Their already-tenuous situation deteriorated sharply last week when ISIS launched a push to seize control of the camp from rival armed groups like the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, setting off street battles and mounting alarm for those trapped in the crossfire. U.N. Relief and Works Agency spokesman...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State has taken control of 90 percent of a Palestinian refugee camp on the Damascus outskirts where 18,000 civilians have suffered years of bombing, army siege and militia control, a monitoring group said on Saturday. The hardline group's offensive in Yarmouk gives it a major presence in the capital. Islamic State, the most powerful insurgent group in Syria, is now only a few kilometers from President Bashar al-Assad's seat of power. The United Nations has said it is extremely concerned about the safety and protection of Syrians and Palestinians in the camp. Civilians trapped there have...

Special Dispatch - No. 2499 August 21, 2009 No. 2499 In March 2009, Hamas held a festival at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, Syria to mark "the victory of the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades," its military wing, in the "Al-Furqan War," [1] i.e., the 2008-9 war with Israel in Gaza. The festival included a photo exhibit and the screening of films showing the Al-Qassam Brigades at their training camps; distribution of videos about the Brigades' operations during the war; and an evening poetry program featuring poets and children's choirs from across the Arab world. There were also speeches by...