Free Republic

Today is Yom Hashoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day — a day on which Jews and all civilized people around the globe commemorate the 6 million who died at the hands of virulent antisemites. Israel takes this day very seriously. For those unclear on the whole Israel concept (Obama, Kerry, and State Department, I’m speaking to you), Israel is the only liberal democracy within the Middle East. It’s the only nation in that region that allows all people to worship freely, that accords full rights to women, and that protects all minorities, including sexual and racial minorities, from discrimination, even while...

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s plan to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians calls for the release of some 103 Palestinian prisoners serving time in Israeli prisons from a time prior to the signing Oslo accords, London-based Al Hayat reported, citing Western diplomatic sources. According to the report, Kerry’s plan for renewed negotiations also includes a freeze in construction in settlements outside the main settlement blocs and a three-pronged economic renewal project for the Palestinian economy. … Sources close to the issue were quoted as saying the plan also includes a public statement by Prime Minister Benjamin...

WASHINGTON– State Department officials on Monday confirmed Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam of the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, will soon be going on a trip of the Middle East and the U.S. government will be picking up the tab. The planned construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City has set off a contentious national debate over religious freedom in the U.S., drawing impassioned opposition from some families of 9/11 victims.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has told his Fatah movement he wants a more specific US commitment on the borders of a future Palestinian state before agreeing to direct talks with Israel. Abbas says he received assurances from US President Barack Obama, but that they weren't clear enough. He says he expects enormous pressure, but that he will not go "blindly" into negotiations. Abbas spoke late Tuesday at a closed-door meeting with Fatah leaders. His comments were published in a Palestinian daily and confirmed by his adviser Sabri Saidam. The PA president is under pressure from the US administration to...