Free Republic

A Saudi archaeologist... claims the Dilmun civilisation marked the first day of the year by the summer solstice, which falls today and every year on June 21. The theory is based on a discovery made by Dammam Regional Museum archaeologist Nabiel Al Shaikh in 1996, while he was conducting an excavation with a British team of archaeologists. At the site, he found an ancient temple with an oddly positioned triangular corner room, which he claims was used as an astronomical device to measure the position of the sun. He believes that during the summer solstice the sun would set over...

The UN General Assembly this week passed a resolution to characterize the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948 as a “catastrophe,” in what has been heralded as a major victory for pro-Palestinian activists. The word “Nakba,” which means catastrophe or disaster in Arabic, was also a term coined by the Palestinians to commemorate the Jewish state’s founding. The UN resolution acknowledges the Palestinian version of the events that led to Israel’s creation, and calls for the “commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba,” with a “high-level event” at the global body on May 15th, 2023. May...

Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu said Wednesday that a normalization agreement between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is within reach and would effectively “end the Arab-Israeli conflict.” The latest statement from the Prime Minister comes as the new conservative coalition vows to confront terrorism in the Middle East and strengthen alliances with Arab allies. Speaking from Israel at an online event hosted by Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center, Netanyahu reminded an online audience of nearly 300 people that the Abraham Accords were negotiated by the former Trump administration when he was Israel’s prime minister. The Accords normalized...

Bahrain: Francis' Personal Friend Condemns "Deviations Such As Homosexuality"During his November 3-6 trip to Bahrain, Francis presided over a November 5 Eucharist for 30,000 mostly working class Catholics from across the Arabian Peninsula.At various meetings, he called for an end to the death penalty and human rights abuses, pointing out that religious freedom should not remain limited to a mere freedom of worship.On November 4 he spoke to Muslim elders, calling them “brothers in Abraham” and saying that the “great religious traditions" [which contradict each other] must be "the heart" that unites the members of the body of humanity. He...

Historians say early churches and monasteries spread along the Persian Gulf to the coasts of present-day Oman and all the way to India. Archaeologists have found other similar churches and monasteries in Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations has decided that Israel needs to get rid of its nuclear weapons — if indeed it has any. But the organization has nothing to say about Iran.In a 152-5 vote on Friday, the UN’s General Assembly voted to have Israel dispose of its nuclear weapons and place any nuclear sites within its borders under the watchful eye of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The dissenting votes were from the United States, Canada, Israel, Micronesia, and Palau. Twenty-three nations and the European Union abstained.Fox News reports that it has never been confirmed that Israel has any nuclear weapons,...

The United Nations General Assembly's first committee, which deals with disarmament, global challenges, and threats to peace that affect the international community, voted 152-5, on Friday, on a resolution concerning "the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East". The resolution states that Israel must dispose of all its nuclear weapons and place its nuclear sites under the International Atomic Energy Agency's purview. The resolution, which is submitted every year to the UNGA in New York, was submitted by Egypt and sponsored by the Palestinian Authority and 19 counties including Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates. Canada, Israel,...

United Arab List RA'AM mourn [Mufti] supporter of suicide bombings The Islamic movement paid tribute to Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the senior leaders of the "Muslim Brotherhood" and the head of the instigators against Israel. "Dedicated his life to the defense of Islam" Senior officials in the Ra'am party and the southern faction of the Islamic movement paid tribute to Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the leaders of the "Muslim Brotherhood" and the greatest instigator against Israel, after he died during Rosh Hashanah. In the obituary issued by the southern faction of the Islamic movement affiliated with the Ra'am party, and...

An excerpt from senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner’s new book, ‘Breaking History: A White House Memoir On February 23, I departed for the Middle East, along with Avi Berkowitz, Jason Greenblatt, and Brian Hook. The trip included our first visit to the Sultanate of Oman. Strategically located along the mouth of the Persian Gulf, Oman shares a border with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Yemen. Across the Strait of Hormuz is Iran, a mere twenty-one miles away. Upon arriving in the afternoon, we headed to the hotel and waited for a call from the palace with instructions on what time...

Dubai -- A US Navy warship fired a warning flare to wave off an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat coming straight at it during a tense encounter in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, officials said Tuesday. The incident on Monday involving the Guard and the Navy comes as tensions remain high over stalled negotiations over Iran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers and as Tehran enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels under decreasing international oversight. Meanwhile, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Iran now plans to enrich uranium through a second set of advanced centrifuges at its underground Fordo...

The poor performance of Russian equipment deployed in the Ukraine war is bound to be giving global buyers second thoughts.How can it be that a large Russian army attacking force, capable of causing untold destruction, is being checkmated and systematically devastated by Ukraine’s military, in particular its special forces?And what impact will this have on the Russian army and its industrial backbone, the Russian companies that build the tanks, armored personnel carriers, mobile air defenses and aircraft including fixed-wing and helicopters ­– all of which have suffered extreme losses in the conflict?Russia’s exports consist of various commodities, most prominently wheat,...

Iran was surprised to see the recent Negev Summit where Israel hosted the foreign ministers of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt. It is now examining how strong this new alliance might be. Iran was surprised to see the recent Negev Summit where Israel hosted the foreign ministers of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt. While Tehran has been shouting about the Abraham Accords since the beginning, accusing Arab states of betraying the Palestinian cause and threatening them against working with Israel, it appears that the Islamic Republic now understands that this new era of peaceful diplomacy is actually happening...

ran’s Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned the governments of the region and the “Zionist movement” against any role in the Persian Gulf. This comes in the wake of the Negev Summit, where Bahrain and the UAE, which are in the Gulf, attended an unprecedented and important summit in Israel. The report of his comments took place in Iran’s Fars News and Tasnim News on Wednesday night. He was “referring to the security situation in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of ​​Oman and some movements of the presence of the Zionists...

The foreign ministers of countries under Iran’s guns seemed more intent on cooperation among themselves than on backing America’s pursuit of reviving a failed nuclear deal. Beefed up military and intelligence cooperation among regional allies to confront Iran is the most positive outcome of the Negev summit — even as America inexplicably remains determined to appease the mullahs. Foreign ministers of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Egypt today ended a summit hastily organized by Israel’s foreign minister, Yair Lapid, at the Negev town of Sde Boker. They decided to boost security cooperation and vowed to meet periodically in...

Bennett's office said that the prime minister feels well and will work from home while quarantining......Israel's Police Chief Kobi Shabtai also tested positive, according to a report this morning. Because he tested positive, Bennett is required to be in quarantine for five days or until symptoms subside which means he will miss in-person meetings over the next few days.... Bennett has had at least three doses of the Pfizer COVID vaccine. Currently, a historic summit is taking place in the Negev at Sde Boker with the foreign ministers of six nations. Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is hosting Blinken and...

America, in these halcyon days of Old Joe Biden’s foundering regime, is in free fall, and the whole world knows it. As PJM’s inimitable Stephen Green put it recently, “The alleged American president’s response to the Ukraine War has been so detrimental to America’s own interests that everyone sees him as weak. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that two of the Middle East’s richest petrostates wouldn’t even take Biden’s call,” that is, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The reasons for the unprecedented snub are clear: the Saudis and the UAE know that Biden is not a...

The Biden administration debacle in Afghanistan has convinced America’s enemies of the administration’s weakness and vulnerability. The timing of Vladimir Putin’s march on Ukraine is undoubtedly connected to the perception in Moscow of Washington’s lack of will to engage in a confrontation. Communist China is astutely waiting for the right time to seize Taiwan. Should Moscow achieve its objectives, Xi Jinping, China’s dictator would follow Putin’s example and act, knowing full well that the Biden administration would pay lip service to the violation of Taiwanese sovereignty, and perhaps demand UN sanctions, but ultimately, Washington would live with the new...

The Jewish state’s dream of warm peace with its Arab neighbors has eluded it for more than 72 years. In September 2020, President Donald Trump helped engineer the Abraham Accords between Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. The very treaty signing on the White House lawn projected human warmth, and signaled a warm peace. Subsequently, Sudan and Morocco joined the normalization of relations with Israel. It is true that peace, as opposed to war, came much earlier than September 2020. Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994. These peace treaties, however,...

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani praised Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s historic visit to his country on Tuesday. “The two sides discussed political and security developments in the region and the challenges facing its countries, including the Iranian nuclear file, terrorism, religious extremism, poverty, as well as social issues,” Al-Zayani said. “They underlined the importance of intensifying joint efforts to address regional challenges and threats, maintain stability and security in the Middle East, and enhance regional and international peace.” He added: “Prime Minister Bennett invited his Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister to visit the State of...

Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his ground-breaking work negotiating the Abraham Accords. Kushner worked on the Accords in his capacity as White House Senior Advisor, along with his deputy, Special Assistant to the President Avi Berkowitz, who was also included in the nomination. The nomination was submitted by U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.). The New York Post obtained a copy of the nomination, in which Zeldin wrote, “The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, represent the most significant diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and Arab nations in decades.” Zeldin...