Free Republic

The United Nations released an “unprecedented” report on anti-Semitism on Monday, which pointed out that the frequency appears to be increasing. It also linked anti-Semitism to denunciations of Israel as well as the Palestinian-led Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for a boycott of all Israeli products. The report stressed that the “prevalence of anti-Semitic attitudes and the risk of violence against Jewish individuals and sites “ is significant. The report, “Combating Antisemitism to Eliminate Discrimination and Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief,” was released on Monday by U.N. Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion or...

Iran executed some 670 people last year, most of them for drug crimes that do not merit capital punishment under international law and more than 20 for offenses against Islam, a United Nations investigator said on Monday. The investigator, former Maldives foreign minister Ahmed Shaheed, also reported what he said were a wide range of violations by Iran of U.N. human rights accords, from abuse of minorities to persecution of homosexuals and labor unions. Shaheed was delivering his first report to the U.N.'s 47-nation Human Rights Council on the rights situation in the country since being appointed last year. It...

A rapid succession of challenges directed at Iran in recent days has reignited a debate in Tehran over how to deal with the rest of the world. Iran's rulers, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, continue to refuse any negotiations in which they would have to compromise. But an influential faction is now pushing for back-channel talks with the United States as a step toward lowering the tensions raised by U.S. allegations about an Iranian assassination plot. In urging that Iran do more to address foreign criticism, members of the group have also pointed to the rising international pressure...