Free Republic

An Egyptian archaeological mission working at the Wadi Al-Nasb site in the southern Sinai Peninsula unearthed a major ancient metalworking center, according to a report by Ahram Online. Throughout Egyptian history, the region was known to be an essential source of copper and turquoise, but the new work uncovered facilities that suggest large-scale smelting and processing of copper ore also occurred on site as well before more refined products were shipped to the Nile Valley. The team discovered scores of copper ingots, crucibles, tuyere heads, and the foundations of a large workshop with smelting furnaces. While evidence shows that the...

The Muslim world often gets away with things that would send shockwaves through the international community if anyone else did them. On May 29, reports surfaced that Egypt was preparing to seize and potentially shut down the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine — the oldest continuously functioning Christian monastery in the world, nestled right at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Built by Emperor Justinian I around 550 AD on Mount Sinai, it has stood for nearly 1,500 years—making it centuries older than Islam.

(This cross-fade montage shows a detail of the palimpsest under ordinary lighting; under multispectral analysis; and with a reconstruction of the hidden text.Credit: Museum of the Bible (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo by Early Manuscripts Electronic Library/Lazarus Project, University of Rochester; multispectral processing by Keith T. Knox; tracings by Emanuel Zingg.) Scholars have been searching for what is believed to be the first map of the nighttime sky for centuries, and now they have finally found the medieval parchment hidden beneath Christian texts from the library at St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai. James Evans, a historian of astronomy at the...

On the year’s shortest day, hundreds of Israelis ventured deep into the desert to witness a strange natural phenomenon atop an ancient pilgrimage site that some argue is where God spoke to Moses. The mountain kept its secrets for centuries, its air of sacred mystery enhanced by a remote location in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. But one day last week, hundreds of Israeli adventurers headed deep into the wilderness to reach Mount Karkom, determined to get closer to answering a question as intriguing as it is controversial: Is this the Mount Sinai of the Bible, where God is...

Experts believe they’ve finally found one of the holiest sites in the Bible — miles from where it was previously assumed to have existed. A biblical archaeologist organization, The Doubting Thomas Research Foundation, claims it has found the actual mountain where, according to the Old Testament, Moses lead the Israelites – a mountain that was enveloped in smoke, fire and thunder – and where, at the top, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. But in actuality, the society now claims, Mount Sinai, one of the most sacred places in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions, is Jabal Maqla, which...

Considered one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world still in operation, the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai is home to more than two centuries of history — and more than that of legend. Tradition claims, for example, that the main altar of the monastery is built on the spot where the Burning Bush first addressed Moses. But the monastery, declared a world heritage site by UNESCO, also holds other seats of honor. For example, it accommodates the oldest continuously operating active library in the world.From the day it was founded in the sixth century (between 548 and...

The U.S. relationship with Qatar was a function of Washington’s post-9/11 delirium. Yesterday’s strike was about finally undoing it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says that Tuesday’s attack on Hamas leadership in Qatar “was a wholly independent Israeli operation.” That’s only partly true, though—because there’s no way Israeli Air Force jets fired missiles at Qatar, home of the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East, without a green light from the White House. President Donald Trump says he feels “very badly” about the location of the attack. But if he didn’t want to give the impression that Israel...

Summary. While Israel has historically been regarded as a close ally of the United States—sharing democratic values, intelligence cooperation, and defense partnerships—certain individuals of Arab "Palestinian" origin or ideological affiliation have been involved in acts of violence against Americans. This article provides a factual overview of documented incidents that have shaped this complex relationship. 1. Sirhan Sirhan and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (1968)Background: Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a Palestinian IslamoChristian born in Jerusalem in 1944, moved with his family to the United States in 1956.[1]Defense : The ex Grand Mufti of Jerusalem dispatched two Arab lawyers to defend Sirhan....

The International Committee of the Red Cross chose a wing in Al-Shifa hospital "adjacent to the [Hamas] movement offices,” according to documents found by the IDF in Gaza and recently declassified. Two Hamas documents found by Israeli forces in Gaza indicate that international organizations such as the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders are well aware of the presence of Hamas in the Gaza Strip’s medical facilities despite obfuscating or outright denying it publicly, NGO Monitor revealed on Wednesday. The internal Hamas memos were among a cache of documents declassified by the Israel Defense Forces. NGO Monitor translated the Arabic-language...

Trump Stares Down Protesters in D.C. Safety Showdown: President Donald Trump faced a fiery protest while dining at a Washington, D.C. restaurant near the White House. Demonstrators stormed the venue waving Palestinian flags and chanting, “Free D.C., free Palestine, Trump is the Hitler of our time.” Despite the uproar, Trump remained composed, continuing conversations with nearby guests. Vice President J.D. Vance reassured diners to enjoy their meals, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth watched as security tried to contain the scene. Watch

Observation: Former President Trump’s response to recent events may appear measured on the surface, but it carries a sharp undertone of reckoning — particularly for Qatar, a long-time U.S. partner that has walked a fine line between diplomacy and duplicity. For years, Qatar has positioned itself as an impartial broker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all while funneling support — financial and political — that has helped keep Hamas firmly in power in Gaza. Israel has long raised concerns about Qatar’s double game: projecting neutrality to the West while quietly propping up one of the most destabilizing forces in the region....

Pope Leo XIV met Sept. 4 with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, calling for swift action to end hostilities in Gaza and ensure urgent humanitarian access to the most afflicted areas. According to the Holy See Press Office, the meeting — held at the Vatican Apostolic Palace — addressed escalating tensions in the Middle East and reinforced the Vatican’s long-standing support for peace built on justice and dialogue. The statement described the discussions as “cordial” and noted they focused on the broader political and social instability across the region, “with particular attention to the tragic situation in Gaza.”The Holy See emphasized...

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz issued an ultimatum to Hamas: surrender, release all hostages, and disarm, or see Gaza City — the group’s last stronghold — destroyed. Katz’s statement came in apparently response to a statement by Hamas that it would be willing to release all of the hostages in return for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — which would leave the group armed and in charge, ready to prepare for war again. The Times of Israel reported: “Defense Minister Israel Katz warns that Hamas will soon face a stark choice: either accept Israel’s conditions to end the war — including...

The White House is reportedly considering a plan to pay Palestinians $5,000 to relocate for 10 years while the Gaza Strip is transformed into the “Riviera of the Middle East” envisioned by President Trump. The Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation (GREAT) proposal would establish a trusteeship for control of the 25-mile-long strip of land that would be administered by the US for at least 10 years, while reconstruction – financed by billions of dollars in public and private-sector investments – takes place, according to the Washington Post. Gaza’s entire 2 million population would need to be temporarily relocated for...

In the Muslim Middle East, plotting revenge is a way of life, so it is not surprising that the Islamic Republic of Iran is seeking to avenge the humiliating defeat inflicted by the United States and Israel this past June. Although Israel is the main focus of Iran’s revenge, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are also targets for the ayatollahs. With Hezb’allah demobilized as the executive arm of Iran, and Assad’s Syrian territory is no longer available to transport arms to Hezb’allah, the entire Shiite crescent has been disrupted and is now close to elimination. Only...

The Israeli military on Friday ended its policy of pausing daytime operations in Gaza City, intended to ease aid delivery, in the latest indication that the military was moving toward a full-scale invasion of the area. In a statement, the military said the “local tactical pause in military activity” would not apply to the city as of 10 a.m. on Friday, describing the area as a “dangerous combat zone.” The Israeli military said in late July that it started instituting pauses of operations between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. in several parts of the Gaza Strip. It made the move...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib will headline a Detroit pro-Palestinian conference featuring ex-prisoners, extremistsA controversial pro-Palestinian gathering in Detroit is drawing scrutiny for featuring speakers with extremist views—including two former Israeli prisoners released in a Hamas deal—alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a prominent anti-Israel congresswoman. The second annual "People's Conference for Palestine" conference, which is being organized by a dozen different pro-Palestinian groups, will begin Friday afternoon and will end on Sunday. Rep. Tlaib will speak alongside several individuals accused of espousing antisemitic rhetoric, including a professor who has compared Jews to Nazis, a journalist who quipped about Hamas kidnapping "several...

In an interview with CNN, Ambassador Yechiel Leiter says his son was killed in Gaza because Israel avoids harming civilians: “If we were doing what we're accused of, maybe he'd be alive today.” Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, was interviewed by CNN’s Jake Tapper, underscoring the unprecedented challenges the IDF faces and the moral calculus guiding its operations. “You got to ask yourself a question,” Leiter said. “A country that's capable of taking out the control of all of Iranian airspace in 72 hours, allowing for the B-2s of the United States to come in and obliterate...

US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that the Gaza war will reach a “conclusive ending” in the next two or three weeks, saying that there was a serious “diplomatic push” underway to end the nearly two-year conflict. “I think within the next two to three weeks, you’re going to have pretty good, conclusive — a conclusive ending,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. What Trump based his prediction on was unclear, given that Israel has indicated it is not interested in the phased ceasefire proposal that Hamas agreed to last week. Rather, the Israeli government has instead been...

Peter Baum @baum_p: Palestinians steal the cultures of others because they have no culture of their own. They even call themselves Palestinians even though they speak Arabic though there is no letter ‘P’ in Arabic . So in Arabic the pronunciation is Filastin which means Philistine - or uncouth uncultured heathens……seems appropriate.