Free Republic

OK, come on now. I mean, really. One picture cropped to remove a knife might be explained as incompetence or a simple mistake. But now we have two pictures from the “peace activists” that were cropped by someone at Reuters to remove knives in the hands of the activists, as they attempted to take soldiers hostage.

Eyewitness accounts from ships raided by Israeli commandos have cast doubt on Israel's version of events that led to the deaths of at least 10 people. German pro-Palestinian activist Norman Paech said he had only seen wooden sticks being brandished as troops abseiled on to the deck of the ship. Israel says its soldiers were attacked with "knives, clubs and other weapons" and opened fire in self defence. The raid led to widespread condemnation and the UN has called for an inquiry.

Europe lauds Obama shutdown of secret CIA prisons By SHAWN POGATCHNIK and FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press Writers – DUBLIN, Ireland – U.S. President Barack Obama's decision Thursday to shut secret CIA-run prisons abroad brought renewed calls for their locations to be disclosed as well a fresh denial from Poland, one of two eastern European countries most closely linked to the practice. Across Europe, governments uneasy that CIA flights had been carrying terrorism suspects through their airports and air space for years said they were relieved to be heading into a new rendition-free era. Dick Marty, the Swiss lawmaker who spearheaded...

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which has almost five million members in the US, took a step toward a partial boycott of Israeli goods at its 2007 Churchwide Assembly in Chicago last week. On Saturday, the assembly, the church's top legislative authority, passed a resolution calling to work toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urging investment in the Palestinian Authority. The assembly then urged "consideration of refusing to buy goods or invest in activities taking place in Israeli settlements, and a review of other economic options," according to Bishop Christopher Epting, the presiding bishop's deputy...

There is a hue and cry coursing through the more ardent supporters of President Bush's Iraq policy and its mostly a matter of disturbed semantics. It seems those supporters, including Bush himself, Rumsfeld (naturally) and U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (more naturally) have pounced on the term "fascism" to be the easiest way to popularly press their suit for "staying the course" in Iraq. Their sense of history is most disappointing. From Rumsfeld most of all, who is the only one of this transformed trio to have lived during an era when democracy actually faced a do-or-die challenge from fascism. George...

by Mark Finkelstein September 4, 2006 - 09:11 Talk about your Dubious Distinction Awards. In his recently-released videotape, Adam Gadahn, né Pearlman, a nice boy from California turned Al-Qaeda spokesman, names Sy Hersh as a “sympathetic” personality, along with British MP George Galloway and Brit journalist Robert Fisk. As per the Counterrorism Blog, Gadahn "asks . . . Hersh to 'reveal more' than what was published in a New Yorker article on the war." The New Yorker article in question was one of a series Hersh has written, critical of the Bush adminstration's Iraq policy. In a speech last year...

From Propaganda Information Clearing House (now only via Google Cache): Are FOX News Employees really “Noncombatants”?By Mike Whitney08/24/06 "Information Clearing House" -- Are FOX employee’s innocent bystanders or an integral part of the American war machine? That may turn out to be an important question now that 2 FOX workers have been captured by a group of Palestinian militants.It would be hard, if not impossible to draw a line of separation between the US military and FOX News. Their anchors may shun the camouflage fatigues and jack-boots, but that is where the difference ends. FOX is a fully-integrated cog in...

"Three weeks ago, this plot of land in Crawford was covered in trees and brush. Today, it looks like the circus grounds..."

Peace activist murdered by PalestinianAngelo Frammartino, a 24 year-old student from Italy who arrived in Israel as a human rights organization activist, was stabbed to death Thursday by an Arab knifeman. "He believed in what he did and was always ready to help others," a friend described him. The website of Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported that Frammartino was working for the setting up of a children's supper camp for Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City, and was supposed to return to Italy on Friday. The youth was stabbed in the back while walking with four friends in the Sultan...

Bishops want to apologise for Iraq war By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent BISHOPS of the Church of England want all Britain’s Christian leaders to get together in public to say sorry for the war in Iraq and its aftermath. The bishops say that the Government is not likely to show remorse so the churches should. They want to organise a major gathering with senior figures from the Muslim community to make a “public act of repentance”. The bishops admit that their suggestion is provocative and bound to attract massive criticism, but insist it is not “a cheap gesture”. Their renewed...