Free Republic

215,474 views Jul 28, 2026 Europe says confronting political Islam is impossible, but Germany has quietly been dismantling extremist networks. Using a unique "Militant Democracy" doctrine, Germany can ban and erase entire organizations overnight. Even as it takes a hard line on structures, it refuses to touch faith. This approach challenges Europe to rethink its strategy against online radicalization and foreign influence. Is Germany's narrow path the only way to win?

Iran is a theology. It is no longer a country. Not in the way diplomats mean the word. Not in the bureaucratic sense that produces signatures, ministries, chains of command, and solemn communiques printed on heavy paper before disappearing into filing cabinets. What remains of Iran is something stranger: a prayer house where the faithful still answer a call no one can command. MAGA still behaves as though there’s a political switchboard secreted in Tehran, even after six destructive months of war. They imagine some paneled room where a weary official picks up the telephone, listens gravely, and relays instructions...

A wide spread scale over the secret network used to move Iran's oil revenues around international sanctions has [received] criticism. Senior officials have discovered that [corrupt intermediaries] have misappropriated at least $1.6 billion, with some fleeing the country. The controversy has expose the unofficial network of so-called trusts: companies and intermediates entrusted with receiving and transferring oil revenues outside the international banking system. Speaking on state television on Sunday, the head of Iran's State Inspection Organization, Zabihollah Khodaeian, said one intermediart alone had failed to return $200 million in state funds before leaving the country. Khudaeian added that judicial authorities...

Foreign interference seen as the second most concerning threat behind major terror attacksIran and Turkey are working to influence the upcoming Israeli elections, several Israeli officials warned on Monday as the country is gearing up for a controversial election season.The most dramatic warning reportedly came from David Zini, director of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, which is responsible for counterintelligence and safeguarding the elections.According to Channel 13 News, Zini said in a meeting with top officials that the Iranian regime and other countries are looking to interfere with the election process. Sources present in the meeting told the channel...

President Trump on Monday responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for criticizing his plan to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, saying, “Nobody tells me what we should be selling or not.”Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Trump on Tuesday at the White House during a visit to the United States, where he will also attend the wake for late Senator Lindsey Graham. Trump told reporters that he and Netanyahu are “pretty close” to the same page. “We have a little difference, but pretty close,” Trump said.The Common Kitchen Item Older Women Are Using to Thicken HairDermatologists: The 1...

Four men were sentenced to prison in Berlin on Wednesday for operating a covert Hamas weapons-stockpiling network across Europe in preparation for potential terrorist attacks — a landmark ruling marking the first time a German court convicted members of the Palestinian terrorist group under the country’s terrorism laws. The Berlin State Protection Senate — a special national-security chamber within the Berlin Court of Appeal — convicted the defendants of stockpiling weapons for future attacks in Europe, including possible targets in Germany, sentencing them to four and a half to six years in prison for membership in a foreign terrorist organization...

They are preparing for large-scale violent jihad in Europe against Jewish targets. And there are likely to be more attempts, as Stephan Weh, Berlin police union chief, suggested when he said: “As a Western metropolis, Berlin remains a focal point for radical Islamist networks, which today primarily recruit new members and supporters via social media.” Nonetheless, Weh states that this Berlin court ruling was important, given the precedent it establishes, and especially since Hamas is not a designated terror group under German law. As Western authorities become more knowledgeable about organized jihad groups, they still lag too far behind. They...

Turkey still does not meet the legal requirements to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program, the US State Department said in a letter to Congress obtained by The Jerusalem Post. The July 22 letter, sent by the State Department’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs on behalf of US President Donald Trump in response to a letter from Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Missouri), reiterated that Washington’s policy toward Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program remains unchanged and is fully consistent with the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and Section 1245 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. According to...

Jamey dutifully wore her keffiyeh, took up with a “Palestinian” man, and converted to Islam. Jamey Carney was an American woman who moved to Ireland five years ago. She was a deep supporter of the “Palestinian” cause, took part in marches to protest against the Jewish state, dutifully wore her keffiyeh, took up with a “Palestinian” man, and converted to Islam. And despite all that, that “Palestinian” partner, whom the police described as a “Middle Eastern man,” beat her to death. More on her sad life and sadder death can be found here: “‘Asylum seeker’ on the run after American...

• Trump's willingness to even consider lifting the F-35 ban is being seen in the context of his charm offensive to forge closer ties with Erdogan, an initiative the American leader has undertaken despite the Turkish leader's well-documented support for radical Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. • Erdogan also seems to have initiated a charm offensive, most likely with at least a partial view to prying loose those F-35s. • According to the report published by Israel's i24News, Kurdish militias were preparing to launch an attack on Iran with the aim of instigating a nationwide rebellion...

The Turkey of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is no longer the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Under Erdogan’s leadership, Ankara has become a center of political support for the Hamas terrorist organization. Over the years, it has hosted senior Hamas officials and repeatedly used inflammatory rhetoric against Israel. At the same time, Turkey seeks to present itself as a strategic ally of the United States. It continues to benefit from its membership in NATO and from the presence of the United States Air Force at Incirlik Air Base, one of Washington’s most important strategic assets in the region....

You may remember the whole world going nuts in late May when the Free Palestine keffiyists, over 400 in this performative episode of catch-me-if-you-can posed heroism, staged yet another virtue-signalling flotilla to Gaza – Greta Thunberg mysteriously absent this time – bearing their token "humanitarian aid" of six tins of tuna and a few bags of potato chips. Once again, they were apprehended by the Israelis and treated like the maritime scofflaws they were. The sight of activists handcuffed and kneeling, and being mocked by National Security Minister Ben Gvir caused a global seizure of horror and near-universal condemnation. Turkey,...

The LGBTQ+ cruise ship that Patti LuPone is performing on has been blocked from entering Egypt after being banned from entering Turkey. CNN confirmed Friday that Egyptian authorities did not allow Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady to enter its waters. Rich Campbell, the president and CEO of Atlantis Events, told the outlet, "We had full approval and they denied us clearance at the 11th hour."

The unexplained attacks have added a dangerous new layer of uncertainty to an already volatile conflict, raising concerns that additional countries may now be conducting military operations against Iran without publicly acknowledging their involvement.New Airstrikes Came After U.S. Said Its Campaign Had EndedThe U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Thursday morning that it had completed a coordinated operation striking approximately 90 targets inside Iran.Yet only hours later, Iranian state media reported another wave of explosions and airstrikes across the southern provinces of Bushehr and Sistan and Baluchestan.Those attacks occurred after the United States had publicly stated its operation was complete.CENTCOM...

Mediterranean voyage changes course twice after Turkey, then Egypt refuse accessThe Scarlet Lady cruise ship has changed its itinerary for the second time this week, after first Turkey and now Egypt denied it entry to their ports. The ship, owned by Virgin Voyages and chartered by 2SLGBTQ+ travel company Atlantis Events, is carrying 1,900 passengers, including legendary Broadway performer Patti LuPone. The passengers found out on Thursday the cruise would not be heading to Alexandria, Egypt, as a replacement for previously planned stops to Kuşadası and Istanbul in Turkey. Earlier this week, Turkish authorities canacelled the planned port calls, saying...

President Donald Trump flew home from a NATO summit in Turkey on an old baby blue Air Force One plane instead of the new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet he arrived in, a surprise swap that came as the U.S. and Iran once again began trading strikes. Trump offered little clarity on the swap, instead saying he would fly on the legacy aircraft “for old time’s sake,” and indicating that both aircraft would make a previously unscheduled stop on the way back to the U.S. at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base used by U.S. troops....

President Donald Trump has landed in Ankara, Türkiye, for the NATO Summit 2026 aboard the new Air Force One. Watch the dramatic arrival as world leaders gather for one of NATO's most consequential meetings.

President Donald Trump, during the first day of the NATO Summit in Ankara on Tuesday, said he will consider allowing Turkey to buy American F-35 fighter jets -- despite possessing Russian-made air defense systems, which his first administration sanctioned the country for six years ago. "It's a decision we're going to make," Trump said as he met Turkish President Recep Erdogan at Erdogan's presidential compound. "We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey's been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal," Trump said. "So, it's something, certainly, we would consider. It's...

Ancient inscriptions written in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, have revealed a forgotten chapter of early Christianity's rise across the Roman Empire. Etched into stone, the text mentions both Jesus Christ and Mithras, the deity worshipped by a mysterious all-male religion once popular among Roman soldiers and merchants. The inscriptions were discovered at the entrance to an underground Mithras temple in southeastern Turkey, where researchers say it records the sanctuary's symbolic closure by early Christians around 1,700 years ago. Located at Zerzevan Castle, the remarkably preserved temple still contains four sacrificial hangers, a basin believed to have collected the blood...

President Donald Trump said it is “ridiculous” for the United States to maintain its current level of support for NATO “when the relationship is not reciprocal." Referring to the alliance as a "one-sided path” late Thursday, Trump doubled down on his long-argued criticism of allied nations’ defense spending ahead of next week’s planned NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. Alongside his Truth Social remarks, Trump posted a chart displaying contributions from NATO members, showing the U.S. vastly outspending its allies. The President had earlier complained that the U.S. “spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect...