Free Republic

The European Union formally condemned the demolition of illegal Arab apartment buildings near Israel’s security barrier separating Jerusalem from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, and demanded Israel halt its enforcement of demolition orders. In a statement issued Monday afternoon, the European Union’s foreign affairs department said the demolitions undermine the “viability of the two-state solution”. “Israeli authorities have proceeded with the demolition of 10 Palestinian buildings, containing some 70 apartments, in Wadi al Hummus, part of Sur Baher neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The majority of the buildings are located in Area A and B of the West Bank where, according to...

Former Mayor of D.C. Anthony Williams Washington D.C., Mar 25, 2009 / 02:25 pm (CNA).- Despite extreme positions on abortion and same-sex “marriage,” the Washington Post reports that Anthony Williams, a former mayor of Washington D.C., is being considered for membership in the Knights of Malta. However, Dr. Joseph Metz, an officer of the Order of Malta American Association, told CNA that anyone who does not agree with Church teachings will be denied admission. The Knights of Malta, who earned their name by operating on the Island of Malta for hundreds of years, were created “to care for and...

There's nothing a person says that more serves better to convinces me of their ignorance than when they use the "C" word. They use it as if it was a magical talisman that would make us crumble to the ground and eagerly convert to whatever twaddle they're peddling. People who believe the Crusades were somehow "bad" inevitably are completely and unforgivably ignorant of both Christian and Moslem histories, let alone the infamous and barbaric treatment of Christians under invading Moslem armies in Spain, Portugal and France between AD 711-1492. The Crusades weren't started by Christians or the Church. Instead, they...

Given the current tribulations of the Knights of Malta in our own time, it is well to remember that there were magnificent heroes among them in past days--men who did not shrink from combat even in their old age. When the Turks attacked Malta with an armada of nearly 200 ships and 40,000 soldiers in May of 1565, about 1,000 knights of St. John (later the Knights of Malta) from all over Christendom had already assembled to repel them. These men arrived at Malta with the full knowledge that many of them would never leave the island alive. The following...

Yesterday, we posted a video of little kids singing in anIslamic Center in Philadelphia. The children sang about chopping off the heads of infidels and destroying Jerusalem. The teachers, who were attired in traditional Muslim garb, appeared content with the results of all those rehearsals. Unfortunately, people found out! That posed a dilemma for the ‘religious’ group functioning right in the middle of the National Constitution Center. The Muslim-American Society had a great excuse though. They said it was a mistake — poor vetting — but rest assured they will investigate! They said in a statement: “While we celebrate the coming...

Archaeological evidence suggested that 25 individuals whose remains were found in a burial pit near a Crusader castle near Sidon, Lebanon, were warriors who died in battle in the 1200s. Based on that, Tyler-Smith, Haber, and their colleagues conducted genetic analyses of the remains and were able to sequence the DNA of nine Crusaders, revealing that three were Europeans, four were Near Easterners, and two individuals had mixed genetic ancestry... ...when the researchers sequenced the DNA of people living in Lebanon 2,000 years ago during the Roman period, they found that today's Lebanese population is actually more genetically similar to...

In the land of religious history, Philip Jenkins towers like a giant. Here, we discuss the religious dimension of World War I and his newest book, “The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade.” RNS: You say that World War I was “a religious crusade.” This sounds like a scandalous idea. Can you explain what you mean? PJ: If I myself believed that it was a crusade, that would indeed be scandalous. Actually, I am arguing that a great many people at the time saw it in those terms, which is also scandalous, in a...

A liberal, the old joke attributed to Robert Frost goes, is someone too broad-minded to take his own side in a quarrel. Something similar is going on with Catholics. Just ask Iggy the Crusader, who for years served nobly as the mascot of the College of the Holy Cross. Holy Cross is throwing Iggy under the bus. This was a necessary step in the larger effort to purge the school of any association with the Crusades. “The visual depiction of a knight, in conjunction with the moniker Crusader, inevitably ties us directly to the reality of the religious wars and...

How to Plan a Crusade: Religious War in the High Middle Ages, by Oxford professor Christopher Tyerman, demolishes the legend that Western crusaders were mere irrational rabble from Dark Age rubble.It is a mark of our hyper-political and hypocritical age that those who are most ignorant of the crusades should condemn the perceived ignorance of medieval crusaders. Sprinkle in accusations of greed, thuggery, and a moral equivalence with ISIS (see former President Obama’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 5, 2015) and it pretty much sums up what many people think they know about the crusades. But popular...

To understand any phenomenon, its roots must first be understood. Unfortunately, not only do all discussions on the conflict between Islam and the West tend to be limited to the modern era, but when the past, the origins, are alluded to, the antithesis of reality is proffered. We hear that the West -- itself an anachronism for Europe, or better yet, Christendom -- began the conflict by intentionally demonizing otherwise peaceful and tolerant Muslims and their prophet in order to justify their “colonial” aspirations in the East, which supposedly began with the Crusades. Bestselling author on Islam and Christianity Karen...

A very short video of Obama's chamber of secrets.

In a previous installment I mentioned France's recent war on blogs and the internet. France along with Germany are demanding that American based ISP and Blog services censor content that might be deemed offensive to Muslims. They threatened crackdowns if it was not complied. Since last summer we have received record viewership from France.  We did not know whether to attribute it to French Catholic viewership for our posts of videos and articles by Michael Voris Of Church Militant TV and other Catholic channels or if it was warning of an impending attack by the French Government and or perhaps...

If you want to inform yourself about what islam is, the dangers of islam, the background of islam, the goal of islam, and why islam is DIFFERENT than any other religion, you should read this page and watch the videos on it:..Video-16 min.

A classroom assignment on Islam says one negative effect of the Crusades is that Christians are still treating Muslims harshly. “I almost fell over,” said Barbara Light. Mrs. Light, of Westwood, New Jersey, was helping her 13-year-old daughter prepare for a World History test when she discovered some rather shocking lessons. “The Christians’ harsh treatment of Muslims in the Holy Land led to bitterness that has lasted to the present,” one worksheet stated.

An awesome CGI video about the 1456 siege of Belgrade, The Serbian Christians against the Turkish Onslaught!!

My Brothers! Soon, you will have your fight! You will have to kill other human beings! When that moment comes, when you must kill or be killed remember my words, you are not only fighting to defend Vienna but to defend your faith and your traditions! You are defending your wives & children, your sisters, your brothers, your mothers and fathers because if Vienna falls, Rome will fall! And if Rome falls, Holy mother church will fall! Defend your faith! So that your children may be free to worship God! Free to love Christ! Free! because you have fought on...

MAINESTATEGOP AND THE NEW ENGLAND ALLIANCE FOR LIBERTY AND FREE MARKETS PRESENTS A NEW BLOG  EVENTS IN HUMAN HISTORY BY KYLE WEISSMAN  We've had many history articles on our blog, The story of The Battle Of Lepanto being our best one, we've had many requests for more history related articles. So, we're presenting a new blog, EVENTS IN HUMAN HISTORY by our very own Kyle Weissman.  Kyle Weissman is one of our original founders of the New England Alliance For Liberty and Free Markets, He has been very very active in the free state movement in New Hampshire and...

Bill Warren, Ph.D. is a physicist and mathematician and created a dynamic battle map showing the history of Islam's attack against Christianity and the Crusades response. Be prepared to be shocked And pissed every time some liberal brings up the Crusades in response to Islamic terrorism. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I_To-cV94Bo

When we look back on the Third Crusade (1189-1192) it is all but impossible not to be struck by how close King Richard and the Christian host came to decisively defeating Saladin and re-taking Jerusalem. Twice during the campaign—in January 1192 and again in July 1192—the crusaders advanced to within a dozen or so miles of the Holy City, only to withdraw without making a serious effort to besiege it. In this brief essay, I will attempt to explain the strategic decision to abandon the first advance on Jerusalem in 1191/2. From Acre to Bayt NubaDuring the summer and autumn...

Following 9/11, there was renewed interest in the Crusades as explanations were sought for the brutal attacks. As terrorist attacks have continued throughout the years, and now with the rise of the Islamic State, this interest in the Crusades has not abated. Unfortunately, increased interest has not necessarily translated into increased knowledge. Prof. Thomas F. Madden has lamented: “An interested person who simply strolls into a bookstore looking for a history of the crusades is much more likely to walk out with a book written by a novelist, journalist, or ex-nun than one written by a professional historian and based...