Free Republic

Though we Jews do not share the religious aspect of Christmas with our Christian friends, we do share this great country and we do appreciate the level of acceptance and often times admiration we experience. Just because we do not share the same observance for the holiday, we can share the joy of certain aspects of the Christmas season. One way to do that is voyeuristically viewing the displays of Christmas lights.Those of you from other parts of the country think that we in Southern California are all hedonists, frolicking at nudists colonies. But we have an edge over other...

...The Individual, Enterprise, Study, Work and Liberty formed the culture of the greatest country the world has yet seen, Benjamin Carson’s life, and especially the story of his remarkable mother and his escape from poverty echo the birth drama of The United States of America. In the end it is all about culture. He was born an outsider, a poor black kid. He became a great man because he was raised by a great mother. Dr. Carson’s single mother worked menial jobs all her life and yet she raised two sons to distinguished lives. One became a U.S. Naval Officer...

  Service Birth     Name, state Assoc. Justice Chief Justice Yrs Place Date Died Religion Antonin Scalia, DC 1986–   — N.J. 1936 — Roman Catholic Anthony M. Kennedy, Calif. 1988–   — Calif. 1936 — Roman Catholic Clarence Thomas, DC 1991–   — Ga. 1948 — Roman Catholic Ruth Bader Ginsburg, DC 1993–   — N.Y. 1933 — Jewish Stephen G. Breyer, Mass. 1994–   — Calif. 1938 — Jewish John G. Roberts, DC   2005– — N.Y. 1955 — Roman Catholic Samuel A. Alito, Jr., N.J. 2006–   — N.J. 1950 — Roman Catholic Sonia Sotomayor...

Viorel Florescu/staff photographer Retired Washington Township math teacher Miriam Moskowitz, 98, leaving federal court in New York City on Thursday with Caren Ponty, left, and her nephew Ira Moskowitz, after U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled against her petition to reverse her 1950 felony conviction related to atomic espionage. Miriam Moskowitz has been called a lot of things in her 98 years of life — feisty, aggressive and possessing a violent temper, among them. But the one label that bothers her most is spy for the former Soviet Union — a moniker given to her by the government.  That...

BY THE THOUSANDS they streamed to Yanuh-Jat, Israelis of every description making their way on Wednesday to the remote northern Galilee district, where a fallen hero was to be buried with full honors. Israel's president, Reuven Rivlin, was there to pay his respects; so were the minister of internal security and the nation's top police commissioner. From around the country, hundreds of black-hatted haredi ("ultra-Orthodox") Jews came on chartered buses, disembarking to join throngs of Arabic-speaking Druze in traditional white turbans, police officers in dress blues, and so many other mourners that even the roofs of nearby homes were crowded...

"... I don't know what it's gonna take for Jewish liberal voters to awake to the fact that they are not represented by the Democratic Party, that they are not represented by Barack Obama..."

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel — November 16, 2014 … With deep sorrow, the Israel News Agency announces the passing of Charley Levine. Beloved husband to Shelly Levine, father to Daniel Levine, Dori Levine Schiowitz and Zvi Levine and grandfather to many. Levine, a Jewish activist for the State of Israel and one of the most respected Anglos living and working in Jerusalem, made Aliya in 1978. Charley Levine served as an IDF Spokesperson with the rank of Captain and as a senior media consultant to several Israeli Prime Ministers. He represented global PR giant Ruder Finn in...

Only hours after a firebomb was hurled at a kosher restaurant in the 17th district of Paris, a group of French teenagers assaulted a Jewish boy outside of his school. The attack took place Thursday in the 3rd district, outside of private high school Progress - known for having a large number of Jewish students. The victim was standing in front of the school with a group of friend when a gang of approximately 15 youths ages 16-19, described as "African," assaulted him. He was wearing a kippah, according to the National Bureau for Vigilance against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA), which reported...

By Herb Brandon Israel News AgencyWashington — November 5, 2014 … Contrary to the myth that all American Jews vote with Democratic and other liberal parties, thousands yesterday helped the Republican party to retake the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. “For many of us, we didn’t see this Republican victory as one club conquering another,” said Joel Leyden, Director of Israel 4 USA. “We realized that the mid-term elections represented basic security issues for both the US and Israel. Between suffering terror attacks in Jerusalem, threats to the US by ISIS, Islamic Jihad and Hamas and having...

It isn’t just Maureen Lipman. This morning the actress and comedienne has announced she will not be voting Labour at the next election. “Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse” she writes in Standpoint magazine, “just when the anti-Semitism in France, Denmark, Norway, Hungary is mounting savagely, just when our cemeteries and synagogues and shops are once again under threat. Just when the virulence against a country defending itself, against 4,000 rockets and 32 tunnels inside its borders, as it has every right to do under the Geneva Convention, had been swept aside by the real pestilence of...

A great American patriot and friend of Israel, my Aunt Carla, in St. Louis who sent me this video. When sending it she told me her brother was a member of the AEPi Jewish fraternity and she was the "sweetheart", so it made her feel so proud of these Jewish students for making this video and exposing the disgusting anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses. Also, hat tip to Aaron Goldenberg of Jewish voices on campus on You tube for this video. I knew with the disgusting BDS [boycott, divestment, sanctions] movement against Israel going on all over the...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyNew York — October 21, 2014 … Over 4,000 people attended a demonstration yesterday against the “Death of Klinghoffer” opera in New York City. Many were Jewish, some were Christian. All were angry. They all had one objective – to illustrate that this opera about a 69-year-old wheelchair-bound man, who was shot in the head by Palestinian terrorists on the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985 was an act of terror – not art. After hearing former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani discuss the First Amendment and how it also applied to the protesters, listening...

Thousands In New York To Protest Death of Klinghoffer OperaBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyNew York — October 20, 2014 … Over five thousand Jews and Christians are expected to turn out for a demonstration today against the opening of “The Death of Klinghoffer” Opera at New York’s Lincoln Center. On Oct. 8, 1985, 69-year-old wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer, was shot in the head by Palestinian hijackers on the Achille Lauro cruise ship. The terrorists brutally and unceremoniously threw his body and wheelchair overboard into the Mediterranean. His body washed up on the Syrian shore a few days later. “The four...

JERUSALEM – Israel police are on high alert to avert possible clashes as Jews and Muslims observe their faith's major holidays of Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha, which overlap this year. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri says reinforced police contingents are deployed across Israel. There are large Muslim minorities in four important Israeli cities: Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv twin city of Jaffa — Yafo in Hebrew — and also in Haifa and Acre. Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day, begins at sunset Friday and ends on Saturday night. Eid al-Adha, a three-day holiday that starts Saturday, is an occasion for family celebrations...

An El-Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv was turned into an “11-hour nightmare” after hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish passengers refused to sit next to women. According to those on board the flight descended into chaos because of their demands. The flight was full with Israelis, secular, orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews – known as Haredim – flying home to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Even though the passengers had been pre-assigned seats before boarding, the ultra-Orthodox Jews refused to accept the arrangements because their beliefs required that men and women were segregated

Holocaust Gas Chambers At Sobibor Death Camp DiscoveredBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem — September 17, 2014 … An archaeological dig in Poland has exposed the location of the gas chambers at the Sobibor death camp, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial announced today. Over 250,000 Jews were murdered at Sobibor, but on October 14, 1943, about 600 prisoners revolted and briefly escaped. Between 100 and 120 prisoners survived the revolt, and 60 of those survived the Holocaust. After the camp uprising, the Nazis bulldozed the area and planted it over with pine trees to conceal their crimes. The archaeological dig...

More than 700 people fleeing Africa and the Middle East may have drowned in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean over the last week, bringing the death toll this year to almost 3,000, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Monday. In the worst incident, as many as 500 migrants are believed to have died after traffickers rammed their ship off Malta's coast last week, an event that only came to light this weekend in testimony from two of nine survivors.

Rapper Ari Lesser penned a catchy song that outlines what Hamas is, and why he thinks it is foolish to support them. The rap, titled “Hamas,” outlines the way the terrorist organization oppresses fellow Palestinians, kidnaps civilians, and fires thousands of rockets in Israel. So you want to criticize Israel that’s cool But if you support Hamas, you’re a fool Unless you want radical Islamic rule And stockpiles of rockets at your kids’ school Remember they send their own people out strapped With suicide bombs blowing up in their lap You think they seek peace, that’s a bunch of crap...

They say anti-Semitism is a lot like alcoholism. Every recovering alcoholic knows their disease has no cure—that the seeds for its active return are always there, just below the surface of normalcy, requiring a constant lifelong vigilance to prevent. So, too, with anti-Semitism, sometimes called the world’s oldest hatred. No matter how long it may appear dormant, it never goes away. It is always there.

A freed French hostage has said the terrorist behind the deadly shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May was among his Islamic extremist captors in Syria, and was part of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terror group. Writing on the website of his former employer Le Point magazine, Nicolas Henin said Mehdi Nemmouche, who has been extradited to Belgium and held for questioning, was his jailer between July and December 2013. One of a group of four journalist hostages freed in April, Henin said the 29-year-old, who spent more than a year fighting in Syria, was a...