Free Republic

Let me begin by saying to all you leftists that I told you so. Lots of leftists are supporting raping, mass-murdering Seventh Century semi-humans, and they are mad that they are now being treated like people who support raping, mass-murdering Seventh Century semi-humans. Apparently, this is a terrible attack on free speech and McCarthyism and probably Islamophobic and transphobic and is the worst thing ever since the last thing that was the worst thing ever. Well, I think it’s kind of funny. They are mad and accuse us conservatives of now embracing cancel culture. You can argue about the definition...

The White House readouts from both calls are largely identical and include the same talking points that Washington has been reiterating since the start of the war one month ago. In both calls Harris stressed the administration’s commitment to increasing humanitarian aid for Gaza, protecting civilian lives as Israel advances in its war against Hamas, rejecting calls from some in Israel to forcibly displace Palestinians and working toward a two-state solution.

I don’t care if you’re out on the street, waving your flag and chanting your slogans. We won’t die silently the way you want us to… I don’t care that you sympathize with Hamas. I know you wouldn’t tolerate any of the things they did to us if they would’ve done it to you. I don’t care that you’re outraged by Israel’s response to the massacre more than the massacre itself. I don’t care that this doesn’t fit neatly into your carefully constructed narrative of ‘Israel as aggressor’ and ‘Palestinian as victim I know you would do everything to eliminate...

"The Accords are our future," stressed Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi. The Abraham Accords are not at risk amid the war between Israel and Hamas, said Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of the Defense, Interior, and Foreign Affairs Committee of the United Arab Emirates Federal National Council on Tuesday, according to the European Jewish Press. “This the third war in Gaza. Whenever there is something happening in Gaza, people come to us and ask: ‘What do you think of the Abraham Accords. Are you going to change?’” said Nuaimi in comments to a special online briefing organized by the...

At first glance, Thursday’s first-ever phone call between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi might suggest the two predominantly Muslim nations are coming together to support Hamas and its war on Israel. But a closer look shows the two leaders were talking past each other. The Saudi prince, known as MBS, wants peace with Israel and his country’s full integration into the world economy, an agenda that puts him fundamentally at odds with Tehran’s drive to destroy Israel and dominate the Middle East through a network of clients and proxies. According to the Saudi readout...

I really did try today to stay away from many things about the conflict going on in the Middle East. Since the heinous attack of Hamas crossing into Israel two weeks ago, I have been reading up and listening to foreign news sources to try to get away from the filter of the US press. As many of us here at RedState have written recently, the US press reporting might be a bit off on their coverage and point of view of what is happening there right now. So when I came across a headline that basically had as its...

Health authorities in Gaza said over 5,000 people were killed since the Oct. 7 start of the war between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel. More than 15,000 have been injured, the authorities said. It is over two weeks since the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its assault on Israel, killing at least 1,400 people and taking over 200 hostage. CNBC could not independently verify these numbers. A full surrender of Hamas and the return of Israeli hostages could end Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus told ABC Radio Melbourne. “The aim here is...

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Everyone in Israel is waiting for the ground invasion of northern Gaza to begin. Why hasn’t it started already? Some in the media are speculating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just “blinked,” and isn’t serious about eradicating the Hamas terrorist organization. That’s not it. One obvious reason for the delay: Israel’s wants all Palestinian civilians in the northern half of Gaza to move south, out of the way of the coming IDF invasion. Another: Netanyahu has been welcoming major world leaders in recent days, including U.S. President Joe Biden, the German Chancellor, and the British Prime...

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions on two companies for allegedly violating a price cap on Russian oil agreed last year by Western countries. Vessels owned by companies based in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey were cited as having violated a price cap set in December by the countries in the Group of Seven leading economies... The coalition set the price cap at $60 per barrel for Russian crude to restrict income for Russian oil that could then be used to fund its invasion of Ukraine. A vessel owned by U.A.E.-based Lumber Marine was found to have violated...

The United States and Qatar have reached an understanding not to allow Iran to access the $6 billion funds reserved for humanitarian assistance. U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Democrats behind closed doors on Thursday that the U.S. and Qatar had reached a “quiet understanding” not to move the money, a person familiar with his comments told Semafor. The news comes as U.S. officials probe whether Iran was directly involved in the Hamas attack on Israel over the weekend. Adeyemo told the lawmakers the funds would not be moving anytime soon, the person said.

"After the Taliban shut universities for women, my only hope was to get a scholarship which would help me study abroad," says 20-year-old Afghan student Natkai. Natkai's name has been changed for her own safety. The Taliban have cracked down hard on women who oppose them. Natkai says she kept studying even though there was little chance of her ever attending university in her homeland. Then she was granted a scholarship to study at the University of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Emirati billionaire businessman Sheikh Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor. The scholarships for Afghan women were announced...

A British fashion entrepreneur has sold a coveted plot of sand on a luxury island in Dubai in a record-setting deal. The empty, 24,500-square-foot parcel of land, which lies on the man-made Jumeirah Bay Island and has no structures on it, sold for 125 million dirhams, or $34 million, on April 19, according to Knight Frank, the real estate firm that brokered the off-market deal. The sale is noteworthy because of the property's sparseness — previous headline-grabbing sales in Dubai have been of mega-mansions and ultra-luxurious apartments. "Only buys you the sand" A $34 million real estate deal in Dubai...

The founder and former CEO of collapsing crypto trader Sam Bankman-Fried is said to be holed up with members of his inner circle in the Bahamas while his empire collapses around him. Bankman-Fried, 30, resigned from FTX on Friday, as the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy and reports emerged that up to $2 billion in client funds had vanished from the company's books in recent weeks. According to Coin Telegraph, the disgraced former CEO is holed up at the Albany Tower alongside FTX co-founder Gary Wang and the company's director of engineering Nishad Singh.

Where in the world is Will Smith? Sources say that days after the Oscar slap flap, Will was flown by his BFF, the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, aka “Fazza,” to the middle Eastern kingdom so he could cool out while his bad press burns like a California wildfire. The 39 year old Fazza, as he is known, is a good looking 39 year old entrepreneur, sports man, and businessman. He was married off to a cousin in 2019 and now has a set of twins. When the babies were born, Smith sent...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Middle East is the most water-scarce region in the world, but participants at an upcoming climate summit in Dubai will be ensconced in a resort with one of the world’s largest water parks, complete with artificial lagoons, encounters with dolphins and a mesmerizing aquarium with sharks, sting rays and schools of fish. It’s a striking backdrop for a climate summit aimed at tackling lack of water and other pressing issues facing the region due in part to warming global temperatures from the very fossil fuels produced by Gulf Arab states and others. The...

Sotheby’s Dubai has opened its exhibit of Sandro Botticelli’s The Man of Sorrows, a rare example of the artist’s later work. The painting is expected to sell at an estimated excess of $40 million at Sotheby’s Old Masters sale in New York in January, and it's on view in Dubai until Tuesday. The brooding portrait of the resurrected Christ was executed in the late 15th or early 16th centuries – the last decade of the artist’s life. For Christopher Apostle, head of Old Master Paintings at Sotheby’s New York, the work presents an unusual moment in the artist’s oeuvre. “Botticelli...

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says he left Kabul to prevent bloodshed as he denied reports he took large sums of money with him as he departed the presidential palace. Ghani, who confirmed he was in the United Arab Emirates, said he was in 'consultation' to return to Afghanistan after he met a barrage of bitter criticism by former ministers for leaving the country suddenly as Taliban forces entered the capital on Sunday. But the United States - Ghani's most important ally - reiterated today that it did not see Ghani as a player in the region, after the ousted president...

Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) on Tuesday demanded answers from the Biden administration on whether ex-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stole US aid before fleeing to the United Arab Emirates. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday indicated she's not aware of whether or not it's true that Ghani fled to Dubai with millions of dollars. https://twitter.com/stevennelson10/status/1430669793267494913

A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai, along with at least two Uyghurs, in what may be the first evidence that China is operating a “black site” beyond its borders.Wu Huan, 26, was on the run to avoid extradition to China because her fiancé was considered a Chinese dissident. Wu told The Associated Press she was abducted from a hotel in Dubai and detained by Chinese officials at a villa, converted into a jail, where she saw or heard two other prisoners, both Uyghurs.She said she was questioned...

We’ve all heard the stories about how China is making people disappear in their reeducation camps in the western reaches of their nation, particularly the Uyghurs. But are they engaged in similar tactics in other countries? That’s the claim being made by one Chinese woman who says that she was detained in a secret black site in Dubai for more than a week. The woman claims to have been held without access to legal counsel or the ability to contact her family. She also was reportedly forced to sign legal documents incriminating her own fiance’ who is still back in...