Free Republic

Did former President Bill Clinton mishandle the Middle East situation in 2000? Yes 55.7% No 44.3% Total Votes: 79 Freep it!

Freep this poll Who do you sympathize with more? The Israelis 62.9% The Palestinians 37.1%

The blast on a bus in Northern Israel carrying Arab citizens of that country is extremely unusual in the context of the past 18 months of bloodshed in the Middle East. First reports indicated the bomber deliberately detonated his explosives soon after getting on the bus. [Arab Israelis] are not, on the whole, a target for Palestinian militant attacks But he may well have been on a different suicide mission to the one which occurred, because most of the people on the bus were so-called Arab-Israelis, some of the one million-or-so Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin. These people - who...

(March 7) Mr. Prime Minister, The other day you were quoted lamenting the failure of your colleague Ariel Sharon's tactics. It isn't every day that a French statesman insinuates that he basically shares Israel's - not to mention Sharon's - strategic goals. If anything, a generation of French statesmen, politicians and intellectuals tirelessly told us Israelis that we were pursuing the wrong aims, and advised us we could win our place under the Middle East's sun - if only: if only Israel would realize that the Palestinians will make do with a two-state solution, and if only we'd believe that ...

Question: What is the ruling on taking European nationality for a Muslim who has come to a European country fleeing from oppression in his homeland, where he has lost his identity papers and has lost all hope of going back to his country? May Allaah reward you with good? Answer: Praise be to Allaah. In order to answer this question, we must explain two things. 1 – Whether settling in a kaafir country is permissible 2 – Establishing whether there is a need to take the nationality. With regard to the first matter, settling in a kaafir country is not ...

CORDOBA, Spain - A conference of Muslim women ended Sunday with a call to end to what it called negative stereotypes in the West. Security guards scuffled with some participants who tried to pray in a nearby church that was once an ancient mosque. A final statement at the end of the two-day conference attended by about 200 women and men, defended Islam as a religion of tolerance and condemned domestic violence. It expressed concern about difficulties faced by Muslim immigrant women as they to integrate into Western societies. But a key focus of the meeting of Muslim scholars, ...

Some 300 Palestinians have stormed a local Hebron prison and released all inmates jailed there by the Palestinian Authority. The raid was carried out a short time ago by Islamic activists in the Palestinian-controlled half of the divided West Bank city. Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives were reportedly amongst some 60 prisoners released in the action, Channel 2 reported. Islamic Jihad operative Muhammad Ayoub Sider, wanted by Israel and the target of an earlier failed IDF attempt on his life, was among those released this evening. PA security forces made no effort to prevent the raid and release of prisoners, ...

(21:00) Israeli soccer team under tight German security By Roy Kammerer, The Associated PressKAISERSLAUTERN, Germany - Salt Lake City is not the only place where high security is casting a long shadow over a sporting event. Israel's national soccer team arrived in Germany today, sending hundreds of local and federal police officers into action to guard both the visitors and the German team for a friendly match being played Wednesday in the southwestern city of Kaiserslautern. It's the first time Israel is playing in Germany, and officials say the security force is the largest for a German soccer event ...

By The Associated PressKUWAIT - A senior Kuwaiti official has quit his post in Washington because of an uproar at home over his taking part in a debate with Israelis at the World Economic Forum. In a statement issued today in Kuwait, Shafiq al-Ghabra said he had resigned as head of the Kuwait Information Office in Washington in protest over the accusation that he was normalizing relations with Israel. He said the Kuwaiti government had not given him sufficient support. However, Information Minister Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah called on al-Ghabra to reconsider his resignation. The minister told ...

<p>ISTANBUL, Turkey - Ministers from European and Islamic countries began arriving in Istanbul Monday for a conference to bridge what many fear is a widening gap between the Muslim world and the West.</p> <p>Ministers from the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the European Union will meet in an Ottoman palace on the shores of the Bosporus for a two-day conference starting on Tuesday to promote understanding and cooperation. The meeting is the first for ministers of the two powerful regional groupings.</p>

As Israel's leaders struggled to summon a response to deter further Palestinian rocket attacks, the public found itself staring down a potential double-barrelled nightmare - the threats of Scud missiles launched from Iraq and Kassam rockets from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The fear of Iraqi attacks has grown by the day, as Israeli officials have come to believe that Saddam Hussein's regime may be the next target of the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Israelis are particularly sensitive to the likelihood that Iraq's president will respond to an American onslaught by unleashing Scuds on their population centers - as ...

Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Monday that if the Palestinians continue to launch Kassam-2 rockets at Israeli communties, Israel might have to take action that could harm the civilian population in the territories. Ministers who attended the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which was addressed by Ben-Eliezer, quoted the Defense Minister as saying: "If we have to blockade Nablus, we will do it as long as is needed, and if we have to blockade Tul Karm - we will do it as long as is needed." Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh said Monday that if the Palestinians continue to fire ...

RAMALLAH, West Bank - A senior Palestinian Authority official went on trial today in connection with a large shipment of weapons intercepted by Israeli commandos in the Red Sea last month. The smuggling affair was a key factor in hardening the US position toward the Palestinian Authority in recent weeks. Israel says Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was personally involved in trying to smuggle 50 tons of Iranian weapons, including anti-tank missiles, aboard the freighter Karine A to the Gaza Strip. Arafat has denied any connection with the weapons shipment and ordered an investigation into the affair. He ordered the arrest ...

Israel is responsible for the regional security deterioration, United Nations special Middle East envoy Terje Larsen said today. As soon as Israel declared Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat irrelevant, he became very relevant, said Larsen. Larsen also condemned Israel's retaliatory F-16 bombing attack last night. For more details, see IAF retaliates at Gaza targets.

By Etgar LekovitzAn autopsy conducted today on the body of the 14-year-old Palestinian teenager who took part in Friday's murder of 25-year-old university student Moran Amit has revealed that the assailant was killed by a bullet that entered his body through his rectum. The assailant, Samir Abu-Miala, had collapsed as he was arrested in Jerusalem's Peace Forest, located in the foothills of the city's Haas Promenade, shortly after taking part in the lethal attack. Magen David Adom officials, who made a fruitless effort to resuscitate him, and surgeons at the Abu Kabir forensic institute did not discern any wounds on ...

On Tuesday, January 15, 2002, the California Assembly and Senate Public Safety committees held hearings on AB 1416 and SB 1103. Identical in content, these bills not only proposed to class Ecstasy as a Schedule I drug, they also threatened to impose a 90-day mandatory minimum sentence for using or being under the influence Ecstasy. &nbsp;Attorney Richard Glen Boire, of the Alchemind Society’s Center for Cognitive Liberty &amp; Ethics, joined representatives from several organizations, including the Drug Policy Alliance, in opposition to the bills. At the Assembly hearing on AB 1416, the chairman informed those present that Section 2, (which ...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A military judge today formally charged a Lebanese woman of "contacting Israel" by singing in the Jewish state, a charge that carries up to 15 years in prison. An indictment read by judge Riad Talieh also accused singer Nada Rizk of frequently visiting Israel, giving an interview to Israel Radio on October 24 about her singing career, and of marrying Abdel Basset Ahmed bin Oudeh, an Israeli-Arab who worked for the Mossad. Rizk is believed to be living in Israel. Lebanon is technically at war with Israel, banning any dealings or contacts with the Jewish state. Bishara ...

The director of the Wakf, Adnan Husseini, said today the Islamic Trust is adamantly opposed to the reentry of non-Muslims to the Temple Mount - for the time being. The government is expected to take up a recommendation by the Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, to reopen to the Temple Mount to Jews and Christians in the coming weeks. But today, the Wakf director rejected the possibility of reopening Judaism's holiest site to non-Muslims for the time being, warning that such a move could have unspecified "reactions." Asked what sort of reaction to expect, the Wakf director said: "they know ...

The prestigious New York Times has published an op-ed written by PLO chief Yasser Arafat. The article, which appeared today, begins, "For the past 16 months, Israelis and Palestinians have been locked in a catastrophic cycle of violence..." The word "cycle" may be designed to distract readers' attention from the fact that the violence was pre-meditatedly initiated by the Palestinians at the express orders of Yasser Arafat himself, as many Israeli security leaders have stated frequently since then. Arafat's second paragraph begins, "But first, let me be very clear. I condemn that attacks carried out by terrorist groups against Israeli ...