Free Republic

All week, Iranians have been mounting massive and widespread street protests. … These demonstrations have been far more consequential than previous such revolts. ... Even more remarkably, a number of bases for the fearsome Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia reportedly fell into the hands of protesters, with one Basij operative killed after demonstrators threw stones in Kuhdasht, a city in western Iran. At time of writing, this insurrection is still escalating. Although at least four protesters have been killed, the feared bloodbath by security forces hasn’t yet materialized. ... [If] this revolt ... succeed[s], this ... would...

Australia has activated a new requirement for search engines to verify the ages of their signed-in users, with companies now facing a six-month countdown to full compliance. The rule, which began on December 27, sits within a newly registered industry code under the authority of the eSafety Commissioner and extends the country’s expanding system of online content controls. Search services such as Google and Bing must soon introduce age-assurance checks when logged-in users perform searches that might surface adult or otherwise “high-impact” material. The mechanisms vary, but common approaches include prompting users to confirm their age through a pop-up screen...

One Australian politician has said the quiet part out loud It’s not often the Premier of New South Wales says something that changes the political debate in the UK and elsewhere, but so it is this week. Following the awful carnage on Bondi Beach, NSW Premier Chris Minns gave a press conference about new legal restrictions on speech, and said this: “I acknowledge that we don’t have the same free speech rules that they have in the United States and I make no apologies for that, we have got a responsibility to knit together our community, that comes from different...

A group of Western and allied states issued a joint statement condemning the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new communities in Judea and Samaria, stating that the move was "part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank." The statement, issued by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom, described the decision as a unilateral action and claimed that such steps "not only violate international law but also risk fueling instability." According to the statement, the decision risks undermining "the implementation of the Comprehensive...

Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel, Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, and Chairman of The Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors, Mark Wilf, have sent a strongly worded letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the deadly terrorist attack at the Sydney Jewish community’s Hanukkah celebrations. In the letter, the leaders of The Jewish Agency called on the government of Australia to act decisively to eradicate antisemitism through education, legislation, and law enforcement. They expressed their deep condolences to the Jewish community in Australia and to the Australian people, emphasizing that their hearts are with the...

..... Patrick, who has written five other books, says Masters’ 2017 book on the SAS, No Front Line, includes only a single paragraph about the storming of the Taliban-held mosque for which Roberts-Smith received the VC and only a single sentence mentioning Roberts-Smith. Yet Patrick argues this action is probably the high point of the entire war for Australia. The award of a Battle Honour Citation for the entire Special Operations Task Group Rotation 12 for “extraordinary heroism and combat excellence”, the first such award since Vietnam, suggests Patrick is correct. ..... Patrick condemns all war crimes but believes people...

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has erupted at the nation’s leaders over the Bondi terror attack, reiterating her longstanding warnings about mass immigration, Islam, and multiculturalism. Speaking today, the 71-year-old said Australians who continue to vote for major parties should expect “what we’re going to get”. Ms Hanson said the violence reflected a broader breakdown in social cohesion and national identity, which she blamed on immigration policy and political leadership. “(If) you keep voting for these bastards who actually don’t have pride for our country, Australia, our flag, then be prepared to get what we’re going to get,” Hanson said....

“DITCH the winter chill” and “expand your horizons in sunny South East Queensland!” reads one newspaper advert, luring New Zealand’s health-care workers towards a new life in Australia. “Warmer days and higher pays”, enthused another, last year, from the Australian state’s police service. Kiwis who chose “policing in paradise” could look forward to 300 days of annual sunshine and a A$20,000 ($12,500) relocation bonus, it declared. For many New Zealanders that is an easy sell. They are leaving their country in record numbers. Almost 129,000 residents emigrated last year—40% above the pre-pandemic average for this century. It is not a...

Left-wing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was greeted with boos and abuse at Bondi Beach on Sunday when he attended a memorial vigil to remember those murdered in the terrorist attack that struck a Hanukkah celebration one week ago. Shouts of “shame!” rang out as the Labor leader made his way through the crowd with his security team and staff. Grim-faced Albanese and his wife were further jeered with one man yelling out “blood on your hands” joined by a second who cried, “you are not welcome.” Other hecklers could be heard yelling out, “you don’t represent Australia” as he...

An emotional meeting took place at a Sydney hospital between Rabbi Mendel Kastel, the brother-in-law of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was murdered in a terrorist attack in the city, and Ahmed al-Ahmad, the Syrian Muslim citizen who courageously intervened and neutralized one of the terrorists during the attack. Al-Ahmad’s attorney, Sam Issa, also attended the meeting, which was reported by Kan News. Speaking to Ahmed at his hospital bedside, Rabbi Kastel expressed his gratitude. “Thank you-not only for saving lives, but for your courage,” he said. “The fact that you come from a non-Jewish background, from a Muslim background, makes...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been heckled and booed on his return to Bondi Beach for a vigil, the first time he has visited since a brief visit on Monday morning. A National Day of Reflection is being held today to honor the victims of the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, on a night that should have been the final night of Hanukkah.

The Australian state of New South Wales is proposing to ban public displays of Islamic State group flags or extremist symbols after a mass shooting driven by antisemitism killed 15 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. Under draft laws to be debated by the state Parliament, publicly displaying the IS flag or symbols from other extremist groups will be offenses punishable by up to two years in prison and fines. The state’s premier, Chris Minns, also said chants of “globalize the intifada” will be banned and police would be given greater powers to demand protesters remove face coverings at demonstrations. “Hate...

Bondi Beach is meant to be neutral ground. A place without history. A democratic beautiful stretch of sand where politics dissolves into sunlight, surf, and families pushing strollers toward the water. That illusion died when Jews gathered there to light Hanukkah candles—and were slaughtered for it. The massacre belongs to a broader pattern that has accelerated since Oct. 7, 2023: Jews targeted far from any battlefield, in the ordinary spaces of civic life. Synagogues, campuses, cafés, city streets—and now a beach—have become killing fields aimed not at a state, but at a people. The mass murder at Bondi did not...

Australia is reacting to the Bondi Beach terror attack as predicted: they’re pushing more gun control again, and they’re refusing to blame radical Islam for the attack. The kicker is that’s exactly who’s to blame. Two men, father and son, Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram, opened fire on Jewish congregants who had gathered to celebrate Hanukkah on December 14. Fifteen people were killed, and at least 35 were wounded. Sajid was killed in the attack, while Naveed was wounded. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claims neo-Nazis are a greater threat—these people are just unserious. To boot, the police response was reportedly...

The federal government will launch a new gun buyback scheme in response to the Bondi beach terror attack in what Anthony Albanese says will be the biggest collection of weapons since the Port Arthur massacre nearly three decades ago. It comes as New South Wales announced a suite of gun control measures including capping the number of firearms most recreational shooters can hold at four. Costs for the buyback, which is expected to see hundreds of thousands of weapons destroyed, will be split between the federal government and the states, the prime minister said on Friday. States and territories will...

Australia's prime minister announced a national gun buyback scheme on Friday (Dec 19) to get rid of high-powered firearms in the wake of the deadly Bondi Beach mass shooting.

The heroic Syrian-Australian man who disarmed one of the terrorists firing at a crowd of Hanukkah revelers at Australia’s Bondi Beach has been slammed as a traitor by many Palestinian commenters for saving Jewish lives, according to a new report. After the West Bank-based Ramallah News outlet shared a story about the life-saving actions taken by Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, many of the outlet’s readers trashed the Muslim hero and prayed that he would not recover from his serious injuries, according to an analysis by the Israeli-based Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). While Ahmed’s heroism served as a “feel-good story” for...

When tragedy strikes it is human to try to look for the good, and one thing that stood out among the horror with the Bondi massacre was the outstanding behaviour from the majority of men. ..... If what happened over the weekend made you more scared of the senseless violence men can be capable of, I don’t blame you. But I do think we should take solace in the fact the vast majority of men caught up in the horrors behaved selflessly and heroically. You don’t have to look far to see all the incredible acts from men during the...

It’s been three days since the jihad against innocent Jews at Sydney’s Bondi beach. A nation’s grief is swiftly turning to anger and Australia’s prime minister is floundering. As more is learned about the father-and-son killers who took 15 lives and wounded many more, questions are piling up. How did the father enter the country? How did security agencies lose track of the son, who not only imbibed his father’s Jew hate, but may have been further radicalised by reportedly studying with one of Sydney’s most notorious Islamist hate preachers? How did they manage to go to a militant area...

Heavily-armed tactical police have swooped on a group of men believed to have been on their way to Bondi Beach - revealing they were acting on information a “violent act” was possibly being planned. (Snip) It is unclear whether the group of men arrested posed any danger to the public, and unclear why they were headed for Bondi however in the current climate law enforcers are taking no chances. A witness said it was “frightening to see so many police with huge weapons in the area” especially after what had happened in Bondi. “This is not something you see every...