Free Republic

TurkeyÂ’s ill-advised war in SyriaÂ’s Afrin enclave has further exposed how the Islamist regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his nationalist partners are mobilizing ChinaÂ’s Muslims, especially the Uyghurs, for their proxy battles to advance political and religious goals. The clandestine web of networks that was set up by TurkeyÂ’s National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) among Uyghurs and other Muslim groups from Central Asian countries involves not only transporting and facilitating jihadist fighters from ChinaÂ’s Xinxiang region, some of the fiercest and most battle-hardened militants who can only be compared to RussianÂ’s Chechens on the field, but also mobilization of...

The abrupt firing Tuesday of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson follows months of infighting between the State Department and White House over efforts by Tillerson to save the Iran nuclear deal and ignore President Donald Trump's demands that the agreement be fixed or completely scrapped by the United States, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon. In the weeks leading up to Tillerson's departure, he had been spearheading efforts to convince European allies to agree to a range of fixes to the nuclear deal that would address Iran's ongoing ballistic missile...

Palestinian Authority officials did not attend the meeting, which focused on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. WASHINGTON – Israeli national security officials sat around the same table on Tuesday morning with their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, discussing a dire humanitarian situation unfolding in the Gaza Strip. The summit on Gaza, called by Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law and senior adviser on Middle East peace, as well as Jason Greenblatt, his special representative for international negotiations, marks an unprecedented moment for Israeli diplomacy, as their dialogue with officials from Arab states is...

The Turkish foreign minister says Turkey and the United States have reached an agreement on a plan to jointly station Turkish and U.S. forces in the Syrian Kurdish-held town of Manbij. Washington has not confirmed any such plan — and a small contingent of U.S. forces is already in Manbij. Turkey is riled by U.S. support to the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the YPG, and accuses the U.S. of allegedly not fulfilling a promise to move the Syrian Kurdish fighters in Manbij east of the Euphrates River. Ankara has threatened to expand its current offensive in northern Syria to...

(Nigel Farage at :15) We were waiting for Theresa May's response to the growing concern over what's happened in Salisbury.... growing consternation among the residents of Salisbury about what's happened.... (Theresa May at :46) Mr. Skripal and his daughter were poisioned with a military grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia..... based on the positive identification of this chemical agent, our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so, Russia's record of conducting state sponsored assassination the government has concluded that it is HIGHLY LIKELY that Russia was responsible..... (Nigel...

Former CIA Officer and whistleblower Kevin Shipp says the reason for all the crime and treason at the FBI and DOJ all boils down to one thing–the Clinton so-called “charity.” Shipp explains, “Hillary Clinton was running and is running a global financial criminal syndicate. She was using these secret servers to conduct Clinton financial money laundering business. The shocking thing about that is all the former directors of the CIA that have come out to support her, from Clapper to Brennan to Morell to Robert Gates supporting her being elected, knew about this criminal syndicate. Comey was protecting it. Lynch...

A Turkish newspaper close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling party is urging 57 Islamic nations to build a joint army specifically to attack Israel, notes a new report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. The Middle East Media Research Institute reports the article appeared on the paper’s website under the title “What If an Army of Islam Was Formed against Israel?” It was published shortly ahead of a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which has 57 members, MEMRI reported. The article notes, MEMRI said, “that such a joint army will greatly exceed the Israeli army in...

Ezekiel 38 war seems to be getting closer, with American and Israel in joint military exercises and Putin rattling the sword of his supersonic ICBM, which he states no one can destroy (video of Mig-31 taking off and missile being deployed). More on the Iran deal and why Trump's pulling out of the deal would be disastrous for Iran. The amazing accuracy of Biblical predictions! And more. But do not be afraid.

The European Union (EU) on Friday issued a sharply worded statement in which it criticized the law that was approved this week in the Knesset, which allows the permanent residency of terrorists to be revoked. “This week, the Israeli Knesset adopted legislation which empowers the Israeli Minister of Interior to revoke the permanent residency status of persons involved in terrorism, treason or espionage,” the statement said. While the EU stressed it “rejects terrorism in all its forms”, it warned that “the new law could make the residency status of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a protected population under International Humanitarian Law,...

A young Christian from Syria fled to Austria to escape persecution. When he arrived in Europe, he found himself forced into the company of “refugees” who supported the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra. He had to keep his Christian faith a secret, or risk being killed. Eventually he returned to Syria, where he felt he was more likely to be safe. Anton, who translated the German video report below for subtitling, includes this introduction: A Christian Syrian refugee, Spiro Haddad, recalls his illegal journey to Austria. On the way, he is met by people who openly confide their allegiance to...

On his return from a recent two-day trip to Israel -- where he met with high-level officials -- Adonis Georgiadis, the vice president of Greece's opposition party, New Democracy, declared his support for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. In an interview with Skai Radio on March 7, Georgiadis called it "almost funny to discuss whether Jerusalem is a Jewish city or not." "[It] was founded by the Jews... in ancient times. You can read Flavius Josephus or read Diodoros Siceliotis and see the references to the city of Jerusalem, where there was the High Priest of Solomon's Temple and that...

Egyptian soldiers and police personnel operating in the Sinai Peninsula have killed 105 terrorists since the start of an operation in February, a spokesman for the Egyptian army said Thursday, according to the Al-Ahram newspaper. The spokesman, Tamer Al-Rifai, said that the forces are performing their duties “with high morale”, adding that there is no time limit on the operation and it will conclude when it achieves its goals. Operation Sinai 2018 was launched on February 9 in the Sinai Peninsula, where Egypt has been fighting an Islamic State (ISIS) insurgency for several years. Most of the attacks in the...

Hundreds of tents are to be erected near the Gaza-Israel border for a six-week protest, officials said Thursday, in what may stir fresh tensions with Israeli forces. Gaza families are to set up hundreds of tents -- possibly thousands - for the protests running from March 30 to May 15, organizers said. Protesters plan to call for the granting of a right of return for millions of so-called “Palestinian refugees” across the Middle East. Organizers said the families could stay in the tents for prolonged periods, with youth and community activities planned. The demonstration has the backing of all political...

Israel’s goal of peaceful co-existence with its surrounding neighbors has not prevented the IDF from taking the necessary steps to prepare for a potential war. Tensions have been rising on Israel’s northern borders with Syria and Lebanon over the past few weeks. On February 10, the IDF shot down an Iranian drone, which had entered Israeli airspace in a clear violation of Israel’s sovereignty. In response to this escalated act of aggression by Iran, the IDF launched several attacks against targets in Iran and Syria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently visited the northern border, along with top security officials. “Our...

Hezbollah in Lebanon has declared a state of emergency for fear of an Israeli attack approved by the United States. "Hezbollah declared its ranks in readiness for the past two days, for fear of Israeli aggression on Lebanon," the Rai Al-Youm newspaper published in London reported Thursday. "High alert was declared in light of information received that the Israeli army is conducting secret military maneuvers jointly with the United States, which are currently taking place in the country and in the Mediterranean," journalist Kamal Halaf, who is close with Hezbollah, said. Citing sources in Hezbollah, Halaf added that US military...

Iranian sources blamed the architect of a recently-built mosque for having a an affinity for "secular Judaism" and participating in a "Zionist plot." The new mosque, built in Tehran, follows a minimalist design which according to the architects is symbolic of "early Islam's modesty." However, more conservative voices have criticized the mosque's design for the fact that it differs from traditional mosques around the world. In their opinion, the design is the result of "secular and Jewish influence." Mashregh, a local news site, claimed the new mosque looks like a kippah (skullcap or beanie), and that the architects must stand...

Iran's aspirations, Abbas and the "Palestinians," the Iran deal and the possibility of the U.S. pulling out, the Netanyahu bribery accusations, and the Saudi participation in the growing march toward war. Saudi Arabia may care more about stopping Iran even than Israel does. Quote from Netanyahu: "Iran must be stopped. and we are going to stop it."

Andrej Babiš has said there is ‘no way’ the Czech Republic will agree to Brussels’ demand that the nation accept a quota of migrants from the third world. Speaking in the country’s parliament on Thursday, the recently elected Czech Prime Minister slammed the European Union’s (EU) mandatory quota scheme as “ineffective” and divisive. “It is certain that we will not accept anyone, and we are fundamentally against anyone dictating to us who should live and work in our country,” local media reported him saying. “We consider it absurd that the European Commission sues us for something that is nonsense,” Babiš...

It's past time the United States did some soul-searching and accept responsibility for exacerbating an unwinnable war in Afghanistan. This will require a rethink of Washington's current handling of Afghanistan and indeed its entire view of the region. Steve Coll recently made a cogent argument in the New York Times that the U.S. should seriously engage with China and other regional powers. However, this is impossible so long as Washington remains convinced that Pakistan alone is the primary impediment to peace rather than its own mistakes... Both Islamabad and Washington compete to wear the cloak of victimhood. Pakistan remains in...

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will open in May to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel declaring its independence, Trump administration officials said Friday. A senior State Department official said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson approved a security plan late Thursday for an embassy location to open in Jerusalem. “We are excited about taking this historic step, and look forward with anticipation to the May opening,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Friday. Officials told Fox News the embassy would initially be located in the neighborhood of Arnona on a compound that currently houses the...