Free Republic

Massachusetts senior U.S. Senator John Kerry provided a letter on Senate stationery that supported constituents who participated in last December’s anti-Israel, pro-Hamas Gaza Freedom March, led by President Barack Obama ally Code Pink. Democrat Representative Andre Carson of Indiana’s 7th District also provided a letter of support for participants in the so-called Gaza Freedom March. Kerry is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was the Democratic Party’s 2004 presidential nominee. In the letter, Kerry wrote that his staff met with the Massachusetts delegation before they left, and his staff would be briefed about the trip upon their return....

The Hamas-led Palestinian government does not have enough money to pay tens of thousands of employees, the finance minister said Wednesday, pulling back from a pledge to begin paying long-overdue salaries to all workers in the coming days. The announcement raised the possibility of new unrest in the impoverished Palestinian areas. In a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday the government planned to begin paying the workers. On Wednesday, however, Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razek said the government has raised enough money in tax revenues to pay just 40,000 workers. He said only the lowest wage earners, those...