Free Republic

Climate activist describes beatings, threats, dehydration, and deliberate humiliation during detention following Global Sumud Flotilla’s attempt to deliver aid to Gaza, saying Swedish Foreign Ministry failed to act 'What we have been through is only a small part of what Palestinians have experienced,' Greta Thunberg tells Swedish daily Aftonbladet Famed Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has recounted the five harrowing days she spent in Israeli custody earlier this month following the attempt by a humanitarian flotilla to deliver aid to Gaza, according to local media. Describing Israeli forces “beating, kicking, and threats of being gassed in cages,” the climate activist shared...

The rise of the Nazis in the 20th century was a horrific byproduct of political, economic, and social tensions of the day. It was also rooted in often esoteric and devious spiritual influences and practices, with Nazi philosophers actively attempting to rewrite history and the world’s established moral order. Nazis created a special institute to erase Jewish presence in Christianity. The institute produced a Bible that omitted the Old Testament and completely rewrote the New Testament. Jesus was portrayed as an Aryan hero of human origin who fought Jewish people. As detailed in Susannah Heschel’s The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians...

Sir Sadiq Khan has been called a “disgrace” after he suggested that protesters who chant “From the river to the sea” were not anti-Semitic. The slogan is frequently chanted at pro-Palestinian marches, despite claims that it envisages the destruction of the state of Israel. The Mayor of London said that whether the phrase was anti-Semitic or not depended on the context in which it was spoken. He made his comment during Mayor’s Question Time at City Hall on Thursday, a week after protests that took place on the evening of the Manchester synagogue attack. Susan Hall, the leader of the...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill last week creating a new statewide office tasked with rooting out antisemitism in public schools, the first of its kind in the country. Known as AB 715, the measure establishes a state Office of Civil Rights and mandates the appointment of an an antisemitism prevention coordinator, tasked with tracking complaints, issuing guidance, and coordinating training for educators. Supporters, including the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and Jewish advocacy groups, hailed the law as a necessary tool to protect Jewish students amid a surge in harassment and discrimination. “Today, California is sending a strong and...

Friends help each other out. That’s why the US sends billions of dollars every year to Israel. In return, Israel advances US strategic interests in the Middle East. But despite this mutual back scratching, Israeli-American relations are enduring a rough patch. Last December, a senior State Department official blasted Israel for having “done too little for far too long” to resolve the conflict with its Palestinian neighbors. Indeed, President Bush himself had scolded Israel a month earlier with his demand that “Israel should freeze settlement construction, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people and not prejudice...

The Right Way to Fight Anti-SemitismOctober 7’s second anniversary is cause for sober reflection on how to confront an ancient hatred.I remember the early hours of October 7, 2023. I was sitting at my desk in Gig Harbor, Washington, as the first grainy images from the Hamas terror campaign in Southern Israel started to circulate on X. For most of that day, I scrolled through my timeline, attempting to make sense of the carnage and barbarism.Elay, an Israeli-American contractor who had been working on my home, called me in a panic. Hamas militants had attempted to knock down his wife...

"She sailed on a boat following Greta Thunberg in trying to stop the genocide in Gaza"Björk has called for her “childhood friend” and musician Magga Stína’s “safe return” after her family claimed she had been kidnapped by Israeli forces. Read More: Here’s what went down at ‘Together For Palestine’, with Damon Albarn, Brian Eno, Richard Gere, Florence Pugh and more The singer-songwriter, who recently joined the ‘No Music For Genocide’ campaign – a cultural boycott initiative encouraging artists and rights-holders to pull their music from streaming platforms in Israel in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza – took...

It's the latest in her ongoing string of tributes to hometown heroes on the 'Radical Optimism' tourThe singer has been making a habit of covering a song from a local artist at every show on her current ‘Radical Optimism’ World Tour – which kicked off its North American leg at the start of last month. Last week (October 4), Dua Lipa brought her ‘Radical Optimism’ tour to Los Angeles, where she paid tribute to Fleetwood Mac by performing a cover of their 1977 hit ‘The Chain’. Introducing the track, Lipa said to the audience: “During this tour, I’ve taken the...

If you’re old enough to have admired CBS in its heyday, watching its decline has been painful.Decades ago, it was dubbed the Tiffany Network – home of the great journalist Walter Cronkite (“the most trusted man in America”), and innovator of the top-flight magazine program, 60 Minutes.Even outside its news division, the network was a place where the variety-show host Ed Sullivan could break down racial exclusion by inviting outstanding Black entertainers to his Sunday night program; that was controversial in an era of intense racial turmoil. The CBS news department had some of the best journalists in the nation,...

@TimcastNews “At my first AIPAC reception, you had to wear a name badge with a QR code, talk to donors, and if they liked you, they scanned it to donate on the spot.” @mattgaetz on the surreal, humiliating world of AIPAC fundraisers.

Washington, D.C., police on Sunday arrested a man with hundreds of explosive devices outside a church holding a Mass in honor of the Supreme Court. The man had a manifesto that suggested he was targeting the Supreme Court and Catholics, according to court papers obtained by The Daily Wire. Louis Geri, a 41-year-old from Arizona and New Jersey, was apprehended outside the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on October 5, the same day the church held its annual “Red Mass” in which a cardinal prays for the high court as it embarks on a new term, and which is...

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin has described antisemitism as a "norm" Jews will face for years as he called out a lack of leadership across institutions and the government.The Co-Chief Executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin, has said the hate directed at Jews in Australia and around the world has become a disturbing norm due to an absence of leadership and accountability. Mr Ryvchin spoke to Sky News host Chris Kenny on the second anniversary of the October 7 atrocities amid outrage over pro-Hamas graffiti which appeared in Melbourne on Tuesday and a...

After October 7, friends called me ‘filthy Zionist.’ Longtime colleagues refused to work with me. This isn’t criticism of Israel. It’s about making Jews pariahs.After three months in a remote Amazonian village with no internet or phone signal, I returned to a small Colombian town on October 9, 2023—still in the rainforest, but now with internet—and checked social media for the first time. The jungle was still in my ears—squawking macaws, torrential rain, the low hum of a generator—when my screen filled with ima…

A group called Stand for Palestine Australia announced it would hold a “Glory to Our Martyrs” rally on October 7 — the anniversary of the horrifying Hamas terrorist attack that launched the Gaza war — in the western Sydney suburb of Bankstown. New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns said he was appalled by the “terrible timing” of the event. “Terrible timing, shockingly insensitive,” Minns said in a radio interview on Tuesday. “We understand that there is concern about innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but to do it … on 7th, seems like they are glorifying the actions of these...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Swedish career protester Greta Thunberg to see a doctor because, “… for a young person, she’s so angry. She’s so crazy.” Trump was speaking after Thunberg was deported from Israel along with 170 other activists who were detained while taking part in a flotilla bound for Gaza, as Breitbart News reported. He was asked about Thunberg during a press conference at the Oval Office. The president’s advice to the left-wing Swede was simple: “She is just a troublemaker … She has an anger management problem. I think she should see a doctor. If...

After two years of war, there is a chance of a deal that will end the killing and destruction in Gaza and return the Israeli hostages, living and dead, to their families. It is an opportunity, but it is not certain that it will be seized by Hamas and Israel.It is a grim coincidence that the talks are happening exactly two years after Hamas inflicted a trauma on Israelis that is still acute. The 7 October attacks killed around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, and 251 were taken hostage. The Israelis estimate that 20 hostages are still alive and they...

U.S. Flag with Israeli Stars Which of the United States or Israel uses the other for its foreign policy? Is Israel the proxy for US foreign policy in the Middle East? Or does Israel determine US foreign policy, both through and because of the Zionist lobby and the neocons and liberals present in the US administration? Is it “the world upside down” “tails wagging dogs”? This is a very old question: who manipulates whom in this American-Israeli relationship?

The Board of Deputies of British Jews condemned comments by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who announced his intention to host right-wing activist Tommy Robinson in Israel later this month. According to the Board, “Tommy Robinson is a bully representing the worst of Britain. His presence undermines the sincere efforts of those genuinely working to combat Islamic extremism and foster community cohesion.” “The minister has proven that he is a ‘Diaspora Minister’ in name only—not in his actions. In this dark hour, he chose to ignore the views of the overwhelming majority of British Jews, who consistently and unequivocally reject...

SUMMARYProtests erupt in Spain, Italy, Ireland, France, Germany and Switzerland Protesters in Barcelona smash windows In Italy, students occupy, block access to universities Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Europe on Thursday blocked traffic and vandalised shops and restaurants after Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla. Israel faced international condemnation after armed Israeli soldiers boarded around 40 ships that were attempting to break a naval blockade to deliver aid to the Palestinian enclave, arresting more than 400 foreign activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. In Barcelona, protesters smashed or spray-painted anti-Israel slogans on windows of stores and restaurants including coffee...

After the most recent outbreak of campus antisemitism in America, the Israel Association of University Heads issued a statement denouncing the mistreatment in question and voicing their support for Jewish and Israeli members of the offending institutions. “We will do our best to assist those of them who wish to join Israeli universities and find a welcoming academic and personal home,” they concluded. The heads of all nine public universities in Israel signed the joint statement. Other initiatives followed encouraging students to leave American higher education for Israel. Such a move would, according to the Kohelet Policy Forum, allow students...