Free Republic

Those of you who saw Bibi’s speech at the UN - that Temple of Hypocrisy and Moral Turpitude - will have noticed the polite but tepid applause from a few along with the deafening silence from oh, so many of the international delegates. I fear that calling, nay begging, for peace by successive Israeli Prime Ministers is an exercise in futility. The stark fact, which nobody wants to hear, is that Islam will never make peace with a non-Muslim state, especially if the Muslim foot trod triumphal upon that same territory once occupied in the name of Allah. Even though...

A large majority of Palestinian Arabs believe destroying Jewish life in acts of “suicide” terrorism is a necessary and legitimate means of achieving their nationalistic goals. According to a poll conducted earlier this month by the Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies, 61 percent of “Palestinians” agree that “suicide bombings against Israeli civilians are necessary to get Israel to make political concessions.” A 67 percent majority of Gazan Arabs, however, would like to see attacks originating from their area decrease for fear of a threatened Israeli military response. An overwhelming 84 percent majority of “Palestinians” see Israel's withdrawal from Gaza...

Who will be the key players and factions in post-Arafat Palestinian politics?  There are unfortunately far too many of them.  Arafat's legacy will be fought over by at least five major factions, three separate institutions, and fourteen different security agencies in his own group Fatah alone. That leaves aside the Islamist organizations and smaller PLO groups, and individual rivalries or ambitions within all these groups. "Factions" is probably too precise a word. No real parties exist: there are no disciplined groupings or generally recognized charismatic leaders. The structure is loose and rapidly shifting.  Ideology is virtually non-existent; there is no...

An elite IDF unit broke into a construction site in the West Bank town of Beituniya, near Ramallah, late Tuesday night and rescued Ramat Gan taxi driver Eli Gurel, who had been held captive for four days. Earlier, the police's anti-terror unit captured two of the Palestinian kidnappers in Kalandiya. No shots were fired, and no one was hurt in the rescue. Gurel was reported to be in good health. Just before midnight, soldiers arrived at the site where Gurel was being held. One of them shouted down into a deep pit, "Is there anyone down there?" Gurel, who was...

Mar. 24, 2003 Palestinians rejoice at Saddam's "victories" By KHALED ABU TOAMEH There were many smiling faces in Ramallah Monday as Palestinians celebrated the capture of American and British soldiers by the Iraqi army. "This is a big day for the Iraqi people and all the Arabs and Muslims," says a mustachioed Palestinian policeman in green uniform at Yasser Arafat's battered headquarters in the city. "Everyone here was happy when to see pictures of American soldiers in Iraqi custody. This is a big blow for Bush and Blair. I don't believe they will be able to continue with the war...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has invited key Palestinian factions to convene landmark talks and forge a unified stand on sensitive issues such as a halt to suicide bombings in Israel, an Egyptian government source says. Egypt has been a key Arab-Israeli broker since its own 1979 peace treaty with the Jewish state, but talks in Cairo including all key Palestinian factions would be the first of their kind. "Egypt has invited (President Yasser Arafat's faction) Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to try...

Wednesday was a very unusual news day in Washington. There was the second tragic "homicide bombing" in 36 hours in Jerusalem, which caused President Bush to postpone his Middle East message one-hour after the “homicide bombing, the second postponement in two days;” and there were three other events shortly thereafter. Here are the news items and the corresponding times: Suicide Bombing in Jerusalem (12:10 PM EDT / 7:10 PM Jerusalem time) President Bush Postpones his Middle East message for the second time in two days (1:00 PM EDT) Lightning disables two of four Fire and Medical emergency radio antennas in...