Free Republic

Israel to buy Italy's M-346 jet trainer for $1b S. Korea threatens to cancel deals because Israel did not choose its T-50 Golden Eagle. The Ministry of Defense has decided to buy the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 jet trainer for the Israel Air Force, rather than South Korea's T-50 Golden Eagle, jointly developed by Korean Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI) and Lockheed Martin Company (NYSE: LMT). The ministry notified the companies of its decision, after the Air Force decided that it preferred the M-346 on the grounds that its performance was better than the T-50. The deal is worth around $1 billion....

WNN/CGN): NY, NEW YORK: As I listen to sound bites of news, a swarm of words sting me: Iran, Israel, nuclear, Palestine-Israel at a standstill, Muslims kill Jews, and Jews kill Muslims. As a Muslim woman who teaches classes about the Holocaust at a Catholic college, I am constantly frustrated by the media coverage of the Middle East which overwhelmingly serves to highlight and entrench national and religious tensions, prejudice and conflict. A recently-aired documentary by filmmaker Karen Ghitis, on Al Jazeera, was an extremely heartening exception to the rule. The film, Jerusalem SOS, showed Jews and Muslims saving each...

I never thought I would say this, but those of us on the Israeli Right owe a debt of gratitude to Mahmoud Abbas. I never thought I would say this, but those of us on the Israeli Right owe a debt of gratitude to Mahmoud Abbas. By forging a unity agreement with Hamas earlier this month in Doha, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority president has inadvertently corroborated one of the central tenets of our political philosophy: the Palestinians cannot and must not be granted a state. Ever since the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993, we have warned against...

JERUSALEM — After bombs went off near Israeli embassies in New Delhi and Tbilisi, and a man with an Iranian passport accidentally blew himself up in Bangkok, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu couldn’t let the opportunity pass. Yediot Aharonot, the country’s most widely read newspaper, reported Wednesday: An updated list of talking points distributed by the national advocacy desk in the Prime Minister’s Office sought to connect the wave of terror with the international community’s efforts at tightening sanctions on Iran, and also to prepare the ground for a military option to stop Iran’s nuclear program. According to Yediot,...

When American troops removed Saddam Hussein from power, Muslim extremists took over Iraq. They launched a campaign of genocide against Iraqi Christians, and most Christians fled from Iraq, with many of them living in Syria as refugees. Syrian Christians make up 10 percent of the population of Syria, and belong to one of the oldest traditions of Christianity in the world. Remember that Saul of Tarsus converted to Christianity when he was on his way to Damascus, Syria, to persecute Christians. He changed his name to Paul, after Jesus knocked him off his horse. Paul wrote half of the New...

Israeli library uploads Newton's theological texts February 15, 2012 By ARON HELLER , Associated Press Israeli library uploads Newton's theological texts (AP) Israel's national library, an unlikely owner of a vast trove of Newton's writings, has digitized his theological collection, and put it online. More at the link...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Book Of Zechariah Chapter 4 Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees 1. Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2. And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the...

Regimes come and go but the bribes remain the same. US aid to Egypt is guaranteed by the Camp David Accords and stopping it would be a violation of that treaty, a high-ranking Muslim Brotherhood lawmaker said Sunday.Essam El-Erian, who also serves as chairman of the Egyptian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said that should aid from Washington be cut, the Brotherhood would consider changing the terms of Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel.El-Erian told the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat that the US needs to understand that “what was acceptable before the revolution is no longer,� and that should the aid provisions...

US naval forces in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea have over 320 Tomahawk missiles, capable of hitting any target in Iran, Interfax reports. The US Fifth Fleet has two groups of aircraft carriers headed by aircraft carriers Abraham Lincoln and Carl Vinson. The US naval forces in the region include two aircraft carriers, two cruisers with 26 cruise missiles each, four destroyers with 8-56 missiles each, two Annapolis submarines with 12 missiles and the Georgia with 154 Tomahawks. Another aircraft group will arrive, headed by the aircraft carrier Enterprise, a missile cruiser and three destroyers. The total number of...

There are two kinds of Arabs in this world. Those who hate Jews, and those who don’t. And in my life, I have met more of the former than the latter. I am not proud to say that. Arabs will not like me for admitting it. But it is true. And it is something I wish the Obama administration understood. It is something Americans should know as the “Arab Spring” enters its second year. (snip) The fact is, Arabs don’t all look alike or think alike. But we are often pushed into a kind of groupthink, a kind of self-censorship...

Professor Amy Kaplan at the University of Pennsylvania explains to educators how to shoe-horn hatred for Israel in their courses - even if the course has nothing to do with politics or history.

Israel’s position on Kosovo is a matter of vital national interest on which no government should ever compromise.Photo by Reuters February 17 marks the fourth anniversary of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia. The UDI has been recognized since by the United States and its key NATO partners, as well as 80-odd other countries. The majority of the world’s sovereign states have refused to do so, however, including two permanent Security Council powers (Russia and China), two budding giants (Brasil and India), five European Union members (including Spain) – and Israel. Successive Israeli governments have come under pressure from...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Book Of Zechariah Chapter 3 1. And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the...

I saw other threads about this story, but didn't see the video posted. Video is at the bottom of the story.

On Monday, Israeli embassy workers in the capital cities of India and Georgia were targeted in terrorist attacks that Israeli officials believe were planned and carried out by Iran and its client, the militant group Hezbollah. The bomb in Tbilisi was defused, but the bomb in New Delhi, planted in an embassy worker's car, exploded and injured at least two. Iran's next target could well be on American soil. In Senate testimony last month, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated that Iranian officials "are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real...

Bombers targeted staff at Israel's embassies in India and Georgia on Monday, wounding four people, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of involvement.

BANGKOK (AP) — An Iranian man carrying grenades blew off his own legs and wounded four civilians Tuesday after an earlier blast shook his house in Bangkok, Thai authorities said. The explosions came a day after an Israeli diplomatic car was bombed in India — an attack Israel blamed on Iran.

A man thought to be Iranian has had both legs blown off after attempting to throw a bomb at police in the Thai capital, Bangkok, officials say. Two other explosions were reported in the same busy commercial district of the city, injuring four other people. Police said one blast took place at the house the injured man rented with other Iranians. One of those men also threw a bomb at a taxi in the capital. Last month, the US embassy warned of possible attacks in Bangkok.

Suspected Iranian Blew Off His Own Leg In A Botched Terror Attack In Bangkok Robert JohnsonFeburary 14, 2012 One day after bombs targeting Israeli embassy staff went off in India and Georgia, another botched attack played out this morning in Bangkok. Through several reports, the incident appears to have played out something like this: Saeib Morabi, a suspected Iranian, was fleeing an explosion that rocked through his rented home in central Bangkok. While he was on the road looking for transportation, another explosion went off "on a nearby road." When Morabi finally managed to flag down a cab, the driver...

An Iranian bomber has been blamed for three explosions in the Thai capital Bangkok just a day after bomb attacks in India and Georgia. The blasts, which injured five people, come amid growing suspicion Iran is staging a series of revenge attacks for the assassinations of two nuclear scientists. A picture posted on Twitter showed a wounded man - the bomb suspect - lying on a pavement outside a Thai school. TV reports suggested an Iranian identification card was found nearby. It is understood two blasts came from grenades while a third explosive detonated in a home rented by the...

An Israeli Cabinet minister says his country will "settle the score" with the perpetrators of a bombing attempt in Bangkok. An Iranian man fleeing wounded from an explosion at a rented Bangkok house lobbed a grenade at police that rebounded and blew off one of his legs Tuesday in a series of blasts. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the explosion, which wounded four civilians, was an attempted terrorist attack backed by Iran. Israel has also blamed Iran for a pair of attacks on Israeli diplomatic targets in India and Georgia on Monday. Tehran has denied responsibility for those attacks.

Hamas announced the sole power plant in Gaza went dark after it ran out of diesel on Tuesday. "The Gaza power plant has completely stopped working because of the shortage of fuel entering the Gaza Strip, and the depletion of diesel it needs to work," said Ahmad Abu al-Amrin, an official from Gaza's energy authority. He called on Egypt "to assume its historical responsibility in supporting the resistance of the Palestinian people by ensuring they had all the necessary fuel to operate the plant". .....

Mideast: As the president sneaks more money in the budget for Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood thugs he helped install in Cairo show their gratitude by threatening to attack Israel. For three decades, the U.S. essentially paid Egypt not to attack our closest ally in the region. The policy worked to maintain peace. But Obama nullified that deal by backing Islamist revolutionaries against reliably pro-U.S. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Now the bribe has lost its effect. The new Egyptian leadership, led by the virulently anti-Jewish Muslim Brotherhood, this week issued a warning to Washington that it should understand that "what was...

Syria stepped up its siege Tuesday on the city of Homs and launched fresh attacks in cities all over the country, leaving dozens dead, according to opposition groups. At least 40 people were killed, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria. The deaths included three defected Syrian soldiers and two women, the group said. Deaths took place in Idlib, Homs, Daraa, Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, Hama, Damascus, the Damascus suburbs, and Latakia, the group said. Fear and horror paralyzed residents in the Syrian city of Homs Tuesday, with snipers preventing anyone from moving and heavy shelling blasting through the...

A top Muslim Brotherhood official has warned that any cuts in U.S. aid to Egypt could affect Cairo’s peace treaty with Israel – the latest sign that Egypt’s emerging political forces intend to call Washington’s bluff over the diplomatic dispute triggered by a crackdown on non-governmental organizations. Egyptian judges have referred 16 Americans and 27 others linked to NGOs for trial, accusing them of using foreign funds to encourage disruptive protests. Among the targeted NGOs whose assets and funds have been seized are the U.S. government-funded International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute. On Capitol Hill, the chorus of senior...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Book Of Zechariah Chapter 2 1. I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. 3. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, 4. And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls...

Harvard University Professor Alan Dershowitz is one of the most knowledgeable and unapologetic defenders of Israel among American academics. This has unfortunately opened him to unfair and intellectually dishonest attacks from his fellow liberals.In answering a recent attack by Max Blumenthal, formerly of Media Matters for America (MMfA), Prof. Dershowitz said, “Let me tell you, Max Blumenthal and Media Matters will be singlehandedly responsible for (Obama) losing this election. They (the Democrats) cannot win the election and keep this affiliation with them.”I agree with Prof. Dershowitz, though obviously I think there are many, many more reasons why President Obama...

For the second straight year, President Obama is seeking to decrease funding to joint U.S.-Israel missile defense programs. Tucked within Obama’s 2013 budget proposal is a request to reduce the amount of money Israel receives for its critical missile defense systems by $6.3 million relative to the 2012 budget proposal. Among these defense systems are Arrow and David’s Sling, both of which are jointly operated with the U.S. Publicly, the president has referred to himself as a stalwart champion of the U.S.-Israel military alliance. But administration efforts to reduce the amount of missile defense aid that Israel receives appear to...

In the context of the social justice movement, it is instructive to learn from Greece, a country facing economic collapse. Last summer’s demonstrations in Israel have brought to the forefront socioeconomic issues. It was largely due to an increased sensitivity to the somewhat nebulous concept of “social justice” that enabled the Histradrut labor federation to launch a general strike last week for contract workers’ rights. The horrid treatment of these outsourced, temporary employees has been going on for years. But it was only after the summer’s demonstrations, which managed to mobilize record numbers of average Israelis to take to the...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that the PA will not meet Israel’s demand that it recognize Israel as the Jewish State, Kol Yisrael radio reported. According to the report, Abbas explained this statement using the reasoning that once that the PA agrees to this requirement, there would be no value to the million and a half PA Arabs living in Israel, and no refugee would be allowed to come back to Israel, in keeping with the PA demand that Israel allow millions of Arab refugees to return to their old homes in Israeli cities as part of...

As the saying goes, “Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Who are the bedfellows of the ELCA? In a past blog, Exposing the ELCA revealed the close ties and similar ideologies the ELCA has with the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Now we find that the ELCA is also very close with an organization called the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

On Friday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer doubled down on an assertion he made last week about the inevitability of an Israeli strike on Iran to limit the Islamic republic’s nuclear capabilities. Krauthammer referred to a Washington Post column in which David Ignatius indicated, generally, when Defense Secretary Leon Panetta thought such an attack might happen. “Our own secretary of Defense has said it’s highly likely and he gave a timeframe — April, May, June — which means the Israelis think that the moment, the zone of immunity where they can no longer...

As part of the "Academic Boycott of Israel," BDS professors speak about how to most effectively demonize Israel in "every classroom." In a breakout session of the “Academic Boycott of Israel” initiative, Amy Kaplan, professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania spoke about how teachers can most effectively demonize Israel in every classroom as well as the "positive aspects" of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Any Israel supporter has seen his or her share of phony reports about alleged Israeli crimes spread like wildfire through the Internet. Before anyone has the chance to correct the record, the public has already been irrevocably exposed to the false report. Well, this week, it happened to CNN. Two weeks after the Israeli Walla news site (Hebrew) reported that CNN had downsized its Jerusalem bureau, the blogosphere suddenly erupted with suspicions that CNN had deliberately laid-off the Jewish Israeli staff, leaving only Arab employees.

NEW DELHI –The wife of an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi and her driver were injured on Monday when the car they were traveling in was bombed, officials said. A second attempted bombing was defused outside the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, at about the same time. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately blamed Iran, which has vowed revenge for the recent assassinations of several scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear program. Hezbollah, which receives funding and strong support from Iran, also had promised to avenge the assassination of one...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Book Of Zechariah Chapter 1 1. In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2. The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. 4. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying,...

You will recall that last Friday, I blogged a report that CNN Israel had fired all its Jewish journalists. Several of my blogging friends were afraid to run with the story, largely because it came from a blog that most of us had never seen before. I ran with it (although as a "Report" and not as confirmed fact) because I found the fact that they had all the journalists' names and that one of them was confirmed to me independently by someone who knew him, convincing. CNN has finally responded to the rumor. The response is not going to...

Anonymous hackers threaten "crusade" against Israeli websites10 Feb 2012 The world-wide internet hacker network ‘Anonymous’ has released a video threatening a cyber war against Israel.. urging hackers from across the Arab and Muslim world to target the websites of the Jewish state.http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/11308/anonymous_hackers_threaten_crusade_against_israeli_websites

Iran warns Hamas against compromise with Israel By KHALED ABU TOAMEH 02/12/2012 19:46 Iran's supreme leader Khamenei expresses solidarity with Palestinians while meeting with Hamas PM Haniyeh

Iran's supreme leader Khamenei expresses solidarity with Palestinians while meeting with Hamas PM Haniyeh.

Issues: * Santorum Vs Romney. * Birth control. * Nuclear Iran. -- [Lib.] D. Brazil: Over 60% of Republicans like Rick Santorum On ABC 'This Week' with George Stephanopoulos. The same Dianne Brazil who says she's "catholic" defended the Pres. Whereas George Will said: This is what liberalism [and progressives] looks like, to break the [religious] institutions. WashingtonPost's 'Anti War' journalist David Ignatius had to inject his opinions too trying to scare and insist on "negotiations..." Even though he knows that Syria is Islamic-fascist Iran's door to the Arab world, and he knows that Iran is a GENOCIDE threat. George...

Any good armchair general with a good search engine and time on their hands can figure out in a hurry that the song and dance about Iran being unable to close the Strait if Hormuz for long is just a plain crock. Worse than a crock. Yet, this big Orwellian lie persists, so once again I have to set the record straight. Iran has the capability of not only closing the Strait for some time, but creating a world of hurt for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Iran possesses a build up of anti-ship weapons called Sunburn missiles, which it...

A new team is set to join the NASCAR racing league, a sport currently holding the number two spot in revenues and number of viewers (after football) – American Israel Racing (AIR). The goal behind the new initiative: "Promote awareness of and support by Americans for Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East." The new team is planning on having their car, adorned with an Israeli flag; participate in the Daytona 500 which is set to take place at the end of the month in Florida. The race is considered one of the most watched sporting events in...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 79 1. O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance; Thy Holy Temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. 2. The dead bodies of Thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of Thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. 3. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. 4. We are become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us5. How...

Iran will soon unveil "big new" nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday while reiterating Tehran's readiness to revive talks with the West over the country's controversial nuclear program. Ahmadinejad spoke at a rally in Tehran as tens of thousands of Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power. Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on the upcoming announcement but insisted Iran would never give up its uranium enrichment, a process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons. The West suspects Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Book Of Genesis Chapter 32 Jacob's Fear of Esau 1. Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. 2. Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's [a]camp." So he named that place [b]Mahanaim. 3. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4. He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; 5. I have oxen...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday the Islamic Republic would soon announce "very important" achievements in the nuclear field, state TV reported. He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organized rallies across the country to mark the occasion. Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America." Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who arrived in Iran on Friday for three-day trip, also spoke at the ceremony. Haniyeh vowed that the Hamas movement will never recognize the State of...

A report by NBC claims Israel's Mossad is backing an Iranian terror group in an assassination campaign against Iranian nuclear assets. US officials say deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident armed, funded and trained by the Mossad, an NBC report claims. It is widely believed the The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) has killed five Iranian nuclear scientists since 2007, and may have destroyed a missile research and development site. The attacks have been conducted in a dramatic fashion,with motorcycle-borne assailants often attaching small magnetic bombs to the exterior of the victims’...

Archbishop Atallah Hanna on Wednesday condemned an attack targeting a monastery in west Jerusalem, expressing anger after extremists defiled the holy site with anti-Christian messages. In a statement, the archbishop said that “what the settlers have done is rejected, and their racism is humiliating. … They didn’t harm us, they harmed only themselves,” he added during a visit to pray at the site. “We strongly condemn any attack against holy sites for any religion; it is totally prohibited.” “Death to Christians” was daubed Tuesday in Hebrew on the outer walls of the Monastery of the Cross, an 11th-century fortress-like holy...

Let’s say you’re Israel. An enemy dedicated to your destruction is developing the means to wipe you off the face of the earth, with the covert and overt help of world powers like Russia and China. It’s only a matter of months before that enemy achieves its goals – and when it does you will not be able to stop the mushroom cloud rising over your cities. So you come up with a sophisticated military plan to strike your foe in an extraordinarily targeted fashion. And you ask for the help of your longtime ally – virtually your only ally...