Free Republic

(IsraelNN.com) According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the number of requests received by American companies from Saudi Arabia to boycott Israel has increased by more than 75% in the past two years, rising from 42 in 2006 to 65 in 2007 to 74 in 2008.

In a move to preserve religious and moral values in cyberspace, a group of unidentified Saudis have launched a "clean" Islamic alternative to the leading video-sharing site YouTube. Naqa means "pure" in Arabic. The website offers a collection of edited and Islamically "clean" clips from YouTube under the banner, “Participate with us in a clean website." Site administrators censor video clips that express critical views of the government, Islamic scholars and members of the Saudi royal family.

With the world seemingly unable to stop Iran's nuclear march, other countries in the region are now pushing forward with their own plans to build nuclear power plants. The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan reported on Thursday that the Saudi minister of water and electricity, Abdullah al-Hosain, said the kingdom was working on plans for its first nuclear power plant. The US inked civil nuclear power deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates last year.

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, July 28, 2009 – Air operations here cater to a wide range of travel needs, providing air travel for servicemembers and civilians for mission requirements and leave. An Iraqi worker guides a vehicle across the tarmac at Basra International Airport, Iraq, July 23, 2009. Air operations at Contingency Operating Base Basra are a joint effort between 3rd Air Operations Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment, and Skylink Arabia, a civilian company that employs Iraqi workers. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Frank Vaughn  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. As commercial aircraft land and take off at Basra...

(AP) — WASHINGTON - Barack Obama began on Day One of his presidency to "reboot" America's damaged relationship with the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. With this week's Mideast trip and long-promised speech in Cairo, he takes a perilous leap into the effort. It's a big gamble. As Obama prepares to leave Washington on Tuesday for stops in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, followed by a jaunt through Europe, the president and his advisers see an urgent need to try to reverse animosity toward the U.S. felt among Muslims around the globe.

The Collector of Worlds. By Iliya Troyanov; translated by Will Hobson. Ecco. 464 pages. $24.95.Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) has been variously identified as an explorer, linguist, writer, soldier, translator, diplomat and even a spy. Perhaps he is best known by many readers as the translator of "One Thousand Nights and A Night" and the "Kama Sutra." Another claim to fame was his journey to find the source of the Nile River. Now, Bulgarian writer Iliya Troyanov ("Along the Ganges") has imagined key elements of Burton's life in the fast-paced biographical, historical novel "The Collector of Worlds." Troyanov distills the...

NASA Earth Observatory is having a 10th anniversary, and you can vote for the best image (through April 13th; the finals are April 14-27. Voting Info Anyway, I've been voting, and found two nice images of sand dunes. I might have posted the second one before; oh well, it's still a great image. As is common, click for full size.

Freeman of Arabia   [Mark Steyn] Re Charles Freeman, a truly dreadful appointment, I wrote seven years ago in the British Spectator, in a piece headlined "Down With Saudi Arabia: It's time to destroy the Arab kingdom" (ah, happy days!): By now, the 'Saudis Are Our Friends' op-ed may even have its own category in the Pulitzers. Usually this piece turns up after the Saudis have done something not terribly friendly - refused to let Washington use the US bases in Saudi Arabia, or even to meet with Tony Blair. Then the apparently vast phalanx of former US ambassadors to...

Amazon.com: Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis: Bat Ye'Or, Bat Yeor: Books Eurabia is one of the most significant books of the current generation.http://www.amazon.com/Eurabia-Euro-Arab-Axis-Bat-YeOr/dp/083864077X When Europe became Eurabiahttp://somebodyhelpme.info/eurabia/eurabia.htmlMore Muslims than Catholics in Europehttp://iwka.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/more-muslims-than-catholics/ Stop Eurabia! Eurabian News [Spanish]http://noticiasdeeurabia.wordpress.com/ Eurabia Newsvinehttp://eurabia.newsvine.com/[Eurabia] is a project that was conceived, planned and pursued consistently through immigration policy, propaganda, church support, economic associations and aid, cultural, media and academic collaboration. Generations grew up within this political framework; they were educated and conditioned to support it and go along with it. This is the source of the strong anti-American feeling in Europe and of the paranoiac obsession...

The mere prospect seems impossible: Pope Benedict XVI as the first modern-day pontiff to set foot on the Arabian Peninsula. But is such a visit so unlikely? Speculation about the possibility has been growing since Bahrain’s King Hamad invited the Holy Father to visit his country earlier this month. The king is the first Arab head of state to officially invite the Pope during a private audience and comes after Qatar’s deputy prime minister made a similar invitation last year. Both gestures reveal an interesting phenomenon that’s taking place in the region: growth in the number of Christians living there...

Many of us have heard of the famous advertising empire known as Saatchi and Saatchi, laughed at the jokes of Jerry Seinfeld, tapped our feet to the beats of Paula Abdul and shopped at Max Azria’s BCBG stores. So what do all these successful people from various industries have in common? They are all of Arab origins. The Jewish presence in what is now the Arab world dates back thousands of years; in fact, the very religion was founded in this region. Arab Muslims, Christians and Jews have been living in peace and harmony for centuries, so what happened? In...

Arab women had more rights at the time of the Romans than they have today. At that time, in fact, their capacity to conduct their own economic affairs was recognised, which is not true in Saudi Arabia today. This is maintained by a female Saudi scholar, Hatoon al-Fassi, in a book entitled "Women In Pre-Islamic Arabia", Barred from teaching at King Saud University in 2001, the scholar has examined the situation of Nabataea, a kingdom that at the beginning of the Christian era included parts of modern-day Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, and had its capital in Petra. "We now...

Just a cool-looking shot from space.

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2008 – Information gleaned from 48 foreign fighters detained in Iraq offers insight into al Qaeda’s methods, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters during a briefing today in Baghdad. “The foreign detainees told similar stories about what happened to them once they were smuggled into Iraq,” said Navy Rear Adm. Greg Smith, director of Multinational Force Iraq’s communication division. “These 48 men told us they were lured here with the promise they would be killing Americans … but they were disappointed that most of the violence they saw was directed at the Iraqi people … fellow...

Divorces Get on Fast Track With E-Communication Arab News RIYADH, 2 March 2008 — Living in a high-tech world, many husbands have opted for new ways of divorcing their wives rather than confronting problems head on through discussion and dialogue. Jawhara, a divorcee, said that she received a message on her mobile phone from her husband that read, “Pack your things and go to your family before I return, you’re divorced.”

Saudi Arabia to lift ban on women drivers By Damien McElroy in Riyadh Last Updated: 9:18pm GMT 20/01/2008 Saudi Arabia is to lift its ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the deeply conservative state. Government officials have confirmed the landmark decision and plan to issue a decree by the end of the year. The move is designed to forestall campaigns for greater freedom by women, which have recently included protesters driving cars through the Islamic state in defiance of a threat of detention and loss of livelihoods. The royal family has previously...

My harrowing story, by the teenage girl who was sentenced to 200 lashes after being gang raped in Saudi ArabiaWhen a teenage girl was gang raped in Saudi Arabia,a court sentenced HER to 90 lashes. After she complained,it was increased to 200. Now, the victim speaks for the first time... She was only 19 and a new bride when it happened. Seven men held her at knifepoint and, for a number of hours, she was subjected to a horrific gang rape. But when she later went to the authorities, they sentenced her to 90 lashes. She complained in the media,...

MOSUL, Iraq, Nov. 30, 2007 – A long-awaited passenger terminal project here that had lagged behind schedule now is complete. Less than three months after Mustafa Yoldah left his company’s office in Turkey and came to Mosul with a new foreman and extra workers, the project was finished. For the first time in 15 years, the Mosul, Iraq, airport is ready for commercial flights, beginning with the mid-December Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Photo by Alda Ottley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “He made it happen,” said Alda Ottley, project engineer for this facility. The terminal is...

To be a "good" Muslim References -  'Palestinian' child abuse -  Evil 'Joy' -  'Blessing' Hitler -  Mourning the wicked -  Australia - Muslim land -  Jihad on all Buddhists -  Spain - Muslim land -  Europe - Muslim land -  Arabs DON'T care about 'Palestinians' -  72 virgins - Loyalty -  'Pallywood' -  (use of) Ambulances for terror -  (use of) Women for terror -  Human Shields -  Middle east background -  September 11 terror plot on London -  Myth on: 'Terrorists are desperate' -  Beheadings -  Ilan Halimi [an example of monsterous wild prolonged torture motivated by hate only] -  Muslims attacking Jews in France -  Ahmadinejad ' Islamic Hitler' -  Cutting -  'Honor killing' -  Jews & Christians as "Apes & Pigs"? - ...

They could soon become the majority of the population in the United Arab Emirates. And in Saudi Arabia, too, their numbers are increasing. Who they are, where they come from, and how they live. A report from Dubai and Abu Dhabi ROMA, August 31, 2007 – Three months ago to the day, on May 31, the Holy See established diplomatic relations and exchanged ambassadors with the United Arab Emirates. Few noted the fact that the United Arab Emirates has the greatest Christian presence of any Islamic country. And it is a new and growing presence. Exactly the opposite of what...

JEDDAH: Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it will send a mission to Iraq to consider reopening its embassy there, a move that could help bolster the troubled Shia-led government in Baghdad. “A diplomatic mission from the foreign ministry” will visit Baghdad to explore the possibility of reopening the embassy, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters. He was speaking at a news conference with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates, on a tour aimed in part at seeking support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government and countering Shia Iran’s influence in...

In its latest Economic and Financial Review of Saudi Arabia, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) examined how the world’s largest oil exporter has prospered and put on its best economic performance in two decades as a result of the recent oil boom. Indeed, Saudi Arabia has become one of the fastest-expanding economies in the region, with real economic growth averaging an estimated 6% over the past four years, compared with a 1.4% average growth over the previous 10 years. Nominal gross domestic product (GDP) reached $311 billion in 2005 and is estimated to have increased 11.2% in 2006. Given...

Groundwater reserves under Arabian deserts have yet to be exploited but could provide vital resources for agriculture in some of the world's driest areas, according to a space photography expert. Large underground reserves are situated under what appears to be barren deserts, said Farouk Al Baz... Director of the Centre for Remote Sensing at Boston University... Al Baz said radar images of Arab deserts have revealed numerous courses of rivers and streams that led to depressions where lakes have formed... "A lot of pumping in one area at the same level is not good. What is there is probably all...

Arabism Equals Racismhttp://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24912The Kurdish people in Syria has been subjected to racist Arabist policies ... social backwardness and the repression of non-Arab nations and minorities http://home.cogeco.ca/~dbonni1/18-3-03-opinion-kamal-miraddeli.htmlHanging Saddam: New Middle East’s Aurora America’s lethal enemy: Pan-Arabism br>A free Iraqi, free of the mental pestilence of Pan-Arabism. He was free of any criminal intimidation expressed by any criminal bogus-ambassador of a Pan-Arabist tyranny! And the verdict was a victory for the long tyrannized peoples of that land... - http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/20525.htmlArabism at its Most Ugly http://beirut2bayside.blogspot.com/2004/07/arabism-at-its-most-ugly_23.html“Eurabia” Defined Arab and Islamic anti-Israeli propaganda, barely disguised in academic and ... and geopolitics of Euro-Arabism; in this...

the 9/11 plot with testimonies of experts and pictures of the terrorists. How they looked like Westerners (watch their original clothes) and worked with Iraq to do 9/11. How they were trained in Salman Pak, Iraq. And how Ahmed Al Haznawi was treated in Holy Cross Hospital in June 2001 for sknin infection by anthrax. The first anthrax attacks happened in September 18 2001, with a letter which stated: "Death to America, Allah is great." Experts link Iraq before both 9/11 and the anthrax attacks which remained unsolved. Watch the video. The enemy is stronger than we thought.

Saudi Arabia hails project to reform fighters By David Blair in Riyadh Last Updated: 1:59am BST 02/04/2007 As American jets bombed his last stronghold in the mountains of Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden ordered a young supporter from Saudi Arabia to flee to safety. Aged only 27, the young man had already spent seven years as a "holy warrior" in countries as far flung as the Philippines and Afghanistan. Prince Turki al-Faisal praised the rehabilitation project's contribution to reducing terrorist threats He obeyed his leader's command and retreated over the border into Pakistan - where he was swiftly captured. That was...

Ahmadinejad tries to calm Saudi atomic fears By Michael Hirst in Beirut, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:48am GMT 04/03/2007 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flew into Saudi Arabia yesterday for his first official meeting with King Abdullah, in an attempt to alleviate growing Saudi fears over Teheran's nuclear ambitions. The Iranian president smiled as he was greeted by the Saudi monarch and other officials at a red-carpet airport ceremony in Riyadh at the start of a 24-hour visit to the Arab state most closely allied to America. The king was expected to seek Iran's support in easing sectarian tensions in Iraq, and to...

Saudi king loses power to choose successor By Hugh Miles Last Updated: 1:53am GMT 10/02/2007 Until now, the king alone has selected his successor Saudi Arabia has significantly reduced the powers of its absolute monarchy by quietly removing the king's authority to choose his own successor. This landmark constitutional reform, enacted by royal order last October but only disclosed this week, fundamentally changes the way the desert kingdom – which controls 25 per cent of the world's oil – is governed. Until now, the king alone has selected his successor, known as the crown prince, from among the sons and...

Forty-five Jewish people in Yemen have taken refuge in a hotel in northern Yemen after receiving death threats from Muslim extremists. The group fled their village 10 days ago when they were confronted by masked radical Islamist gunmen. The minority community has followed a traditional way of life in the village of Salem for centuries. But, earlier this month, the Salem Jews received a letter accusing them of spreading vice and corruption. The message was clear - the Jews must leave the country or lose their lives. Decade-long insurgency Dawoud Yousef Mousa and his neighbours fled to Saada City,...

With a Sunni-Shiite cold war descending on the Middle East, Saudi Arabia appears to be hardening its sectarian battle lines. By Michael B. Farrell | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor AL HUFUF, SAUDI ARABIA - Sadek al-Jubran says he's all too familiar with fatwas that declare him an infidel. As a member of a religious minority in a country without religious freedom, Mr. Jubran grew up with discrimination. It's something Shiites like him have regularly faced in this conservative Sunni-ruled kingdom – in the streets and at school, in courtrooms and at the office.

An American nuclear submarine runs up against a Japanese tanker TOKYO - a submarine with nuclear propulsion American and a tanker Japanese entered in collision the sea of Oman, with broad of the coasts of the Arabic Peninsula, confirmed Tuesday the Japanese ministry of the Foreign Affairs. "the ministry received information early this morning. We currently try to obtain more details ", indicated on its side a spokesman of the ministry. According to the news service nippone Jiji, the accident did not cause any major damage and the tanker was Tuesday in a port of the plain Arab Emirates....

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 29, 2002 China Supports Palestinian, Arab Cause: President Jiang The Chinese government and people firmly support the just cause of the Palestinian and Arab people, said Chinese President Jiang Zemin at a meeting Monday morning with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Chinese government and people firmly support the just cause of the Palestinian and Arab people, said Chinese President Jiang Zemin at a meeting Monday morning with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Jiang condemned Israel for its refusal to implement United Nations resolutions, its invasion of Palestinian-controled areas and...

An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified. The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross"...

Just in. I am looking at a picture of the WTC with smoke pouring out of the western tower. Looks like a huge amount of damage. Debris raining down on people in the street.

Here are some links from the FR archives in observance of the fifth anniversary of 9/11/2001 - Threads list of several breaking news items - Latest Articles The first post reporting the attacks by OldEconomyBuyer - World Trade Center Posted on the first anniversary - Associated Press newswire - September 11, 2001 - Chronology of news alerts, bulletins and flashes

Paste this in your address line and sit back and see what the Arabs (say) about the 9/11 attacks. It might shock you or just confirm what you have always felt about their feelings and attitudes toward us. http://www.memrifilms.org/

Islamist Al-Hesbah Website Plan of Action for the Jihad Fighter: How to Kill a Westerner in the Arabian Peninsula On August 4, 2006, the Al-Hesbah website published instructions on "How to Kill a Crusader in the Arabian Peninsula." The document was signed by Amer Al-Najdi, and dated June 15, 2006. Al-Najdi instructs his readers in some possible ways to kill a Westerner, from choosing the victim through following him through the stage of the actual killing. The following are excerpts from the document: [1] "Before Carrying Out the Operation, Pray for Guidance" "Below I will explain the jihadist way of...

The Eurofighter has taken more than 20 years to design and build Saudi Arabia has confirmed it is to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from the UK, in a deal that could be worth more than £6bn ($10bn). The contract, brokered between the Saudi government and the Ministry of Defence, will safeguard thousands of jobs at UK defence firm BAE Systems. Saudi Arabia is buying the Eurofighters to replace its range of Tornado jets which were also made by BAE. The Eurofighter was developed by BAE with European firms EADS and Alenia. Confidential figure "The required commercial principles have now...

WHAT should Arabs do to meet the challenges they face in a world not made by, or for, them? Debated in Arab countries since the middle of the 19th century, the question has been posed with even greater urgency since the 9/11 tragedy persuaded many in the West to regard all Arabs as enemies. Remarkably, the answers given today are more or less the same as those of 150 years ago. One answer, long the one most popular with the elites, is that Arabs should Westernize as fast as they can. Abdul-Rahman al-Kawakibi, the father of modern reformism in the...

The poll found that 63% of all Britons had a favourable opinion of Muslims, down slightly from 67% in 2004 . . . Attitudes in Britain were more positive than in the US, Germany and Spain (where the popularity of Muslims has plummeted to 29%), and about the same as in France. Less than a third of British non-Muslims said they viewed Muslims as violent, significantly fewer than non-Muslims in Spain (60%), Germany (52%), the US (45%) and France (41%) . . . only 32% of Muslims in Britain had a favourable opinion of Jews, compared with 71% of French...

BRITISH Muslims are more radicalised than those in several other major western European nations, according to the authors of a new global poll. The Pew Global Attitudes Report found Muslims in Britain were more likely than their counterparts in France, Germany and Spain to feel there was a conflict between being devout and living in modern society. They were also the most likely of the groups in the three countries to say Arabs did not carry out the September 11 attacks. Their opinion of Westerners was lower and more of them described relations between Westerners and Muslims as bad. Almost...

WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- The vast majority of Iran's Turkish, Saudi and Pakistani neighbors want the United States to accept a nuclear Iran, according to a new poll of the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia and other governments in the region are officially opposed to a nuclear-armed Iran, but two-thirds of Pakistanis, one-third of Saudis and more than one-fifth of Turks support the idea, shows a series of polls released Wednesday by Terror Free Tomorrow, a non-profit and non-partisan organization. Large numbers of people surveyed were undecided, sponsors said. A plurality of people from the countries polled, including a two-thirds...

NZ deports man with links to 9/11 Saturday Jun 10 07:30 AEST The New Zealand government is expected to confirm a Saudi Arabian man linked with a September 11 hijack pilot has been deported from the country because he was a security threat. The man spent four months in New Zealand before being expelled as a national security risk, the Weekend Herald reports. The paper said the American-qualified pilot, Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali, 28, came into New Zealand in February on a student visa, saying his dream was to become a commercial airline pilot and he needed an English language...

The Italian author Oriana Fallaci, who once wrote that Muslims "breed like rats", may be facing up to three years in prison after she vowed to blow up a mosque.Ms Fallaci, 75, who has cancer, is due to appear in court next week charged with the lesser offence of vilifying Islam, punishable with a £3,450 fine. But after her latest outburst in the New Yorker last week Muslim leaders are demanding that she be tried for inciting religious hatred, which carries a three-year jail term. The former journalist, who has said she will not attend Monday's hearing in Bergamo, told...

"The Iranian nuclear program crisis is currently presenting the greatest challenge to the national security strategy of the Bush Administration. Strategists, diplomats and policy makers are all hard at work trying to craft a course of action and an international coalition that will dissuade and/or prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons... So absent military action and the West’s acquiescence to a nuclear armed Iran, can Iran be deterred from proliferating nuclear weapons and associated technology? Can we be assured they won’t pass one to a proxy? The answer is no, at least as current US strategies are crafted..."

J'accuse...! In 1898 a Parisian literary newspaper, L’Aurore, printed what some have called the greatest newspaper article of all time. Written by Emile Zola, the 4,000-word article exposed a corrupt French military more concerned with appearance than reality. An innocent man, Alfred Dreyfus, was falsely convicted and sent to Devil’s Island. Then, it was pride, fear and anti-semitism the drove the machinations. Today, our military is undermined by Saudi petrodollars promoting a single religion, indeed, a single sect, politely known as Wahhabi Islam, but more accurately termed Islamic Fascism, that threatens our nation with physical and economic terror. Aside from...

Tehran, Iran, May 23 – Iran dismissed on Tuesday remarks by Saudi Arabian officials over its controversial nuclear activities as “unreal”. Saudi officials had raised concerns that Tehran’s nuclear program might have a military dimension and that it could spark a regional arms race. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said in a statement that he was astonished by the Saudi position. “Iran has never been after development of a nuclear bomb and has no need for it either”, Asefi said. “We expect Saudi officials to not to be influenced by others’ false claims”, he added. “It seems some have...

A Canadian company has developed a new, more efficient process to make the alternative fuel ethanol from farm waste. With today's high oil prices, experts hope the new technology could reduce demand on fossil fuels and increase energy security. "In the past, ethanol fuel use has been limited, because the cost of production was too high," said Jim Easterly, a Washington, D.C.-based bioenergy consultant. "Ethanol produced from corn kernels and wheat grain has historically been more expensive than gasoline produced from oil." Producing corn-based ethanol, for example, uses energy from oil and electricity for everything from growing the corn to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gulf states will send an envoy to Iran shortly to try to persuade the Islamic republic to forgo nuclear weapons and encourage a peaceful resolution of its dispute with the international community, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday. Prince Saud al-Faisal endorsed a European proposal to offer Iran access to light-water nuclear power reactors as part of a package to induce Tehran to freeze a uranium enrichment program that the West suspects is aimed at making weapons. Tehran denies the charge. "We're hoping a diplomatic solution would work and would allow us to have a third...

Imagine a country within the greater Middle East ambit that has successfully made the transition to electoral democracy with multiparty municipal, presidential, and, most recently, parliamentary polls. Moreover, imagine that despite virtually all of its citizens being Sunni Muslims, the country's national elections commission designates a progressive, foreign-based Christian non-governmental organization to coordinate the international monitoring of its parliamentary elections. And imagine that the incumbent president's party takes a drubbing at the polls, winning barely a third of the seats. Most audiences, if I were to tell them that I was not conjuring up Utopia, but describing a real life...