Free Republic

A former Iranian deputy defense minister who once commanded the Revolutionary Guard has left his country and is cooperating with Western intelligence agencies, providing information on Hezbollah and Iran's ties to the organization, according to a senior U.S. official. Ali Rez Asgari disappeared last month during a visit to Turkey. Iranian officials suggested yesterday that he may have been kidnapped by Israel or the United States. The U.S. official said Asgari is willingly cooperating. He did not divulge Asgari's whereabouts or specify who is questioning him, but made clear that the information Asgari is offering is fully available to U.S....

LONDON (EJP)--- Prominent British film director Ken Loach has called for a boycott of state-sponsored Israeli cultural institutions in response to Israel’s actions in Lebanon, and has encouraged others to follow suit. The 69-year-old winner of this year’s Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival has also refused an invite to attend this year’s Haifa Film Festival in protest against Israel’s actions during the recent hostilities in Lebanon. He said: “I support the call by Palestinian film-makers, artists and others to boycott state sponsored Israeli cultural institutions and urge others to join their campaign. “Palestinians are driven to call...

The critical importance of Israeli public diplomacy in the war against the Iran-Hizballah axis of terror. Public diplomacy for any country, not just Israel, has gone global. While the conflict may be determined in local terms, such as Israel's fight against Hizballah, the ramifications of the action itself are global in nature. Therefore, public diplomacy must be geared toward the global scene. Ever since 9/11, we have been in a different type of war. We were exposed for the first time to a global network of terrorist organizations, sort of a multi-national corporation of non-state actors. On the Lebanese scene,...

Keeping The Peace In Lebanon The Israeli Defence Force operating within Southern Lebanon is describing its most recent discovery as "a spectacular find" - a huge Hizbollah bunker hidden underground. Sky's Lisa Holland has this special report.

(this note below is part of the article as it appears at Chabad.com) Note: This article was written in 1982. See if anything has changed! At this writing the trouble in Lebanon seems to be winding down, with the prospects of an end to the shooting almost visible. We pray that this does not turn out to be a false alarm and peace may return, or maybe come for the first time, to that troubled area. It has been a traumatic period for Jews the world over. We know that the Israeli army sacrificed any number of its young men...

Johnathan, FNC reporter Beirut....

JERUSALEM — Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned that southern Lebanon would be turned into a "graveyard" if Israel continued its attacks and attempts to occupy the region that has been bombarded relentlessly for the last four weeks, in a speech aired on al-Manar television. He also advised Lebanon to send its 15,000-soldier army to the Israeli border in an attempt to sway the United Nations to pass a resolution supporting its demands for a cease-fire.

TYRE, Lebanon - Minutes after Israeli jets attacked Beirut on Monday, killing at least 15, rescue workers were searching for survivors. And Lebanon's Prime Minister Faud Seniora accused Israel of state terrorism and rejected a U.S.-French cease-fire proposal because it would allow Israel to remain in Lebanon until a peacekeeping force is in place. The front line — south Lebanon — is now totally cut off. A single fallen log over the Litani River is now the only way in or out.

Iran admitted for the first time on Friday that it did indeed supply long-range Zelzal-2 missiles to Hizbullah. Secretary-general of the "Intifada conference" Mohtashami Pur told an Iranian newspaper that Iran transferred the missiles so that they could be used to defend Lebanon, Channel 1 reported. The extent of Iran's intimate involvement in Hizbullah attacks is starting to emerge. According to the defense establishment, the reason Hizbullah has not fired long-range Iranian-made Fajr missiles at Israel is due to Teheran's opposition. Israel now understands that without direct orders from the ayatollahs, Hizbullah is not allowed to use Iranian missiles in...