Free Republic

One in five national governments tried to intimidate or kill exiles in recent years. A Russian defector is assassinated in Spain. The Chinese government offers bounties for dissidents who take refuge in foreign countries. The Canadian government fingers Indian officials for murdering a Sikh activist in British Columbia. What do these incidents have in common? They represent acts of "transnational repression," a form of authoritarianism that reaches across national frontiers and has becoming disturbingly common in recent years. Repression Without Borders"More than 20 percent of the world's national governments have reached beyond their borders since 2014 to forcibly silence exiled...

Bent on destroying Israel, and gripped by vicious anti-Semitism, Baghdad ‘pauperized’ its Jews and forced them to leave for the nascent Jewish state in 1951-2. It believed Israel would collapse under the strain. But the immigrants ultimately helped Israel thrive, and it was Iraq that suffered After Adolf Hitler’s defeat in May 1945, many Nazis melted away from the Reich, smuggled out by such organizations as the infamous Odessa group and the lesser-known Catholic lay network Intermarium, as well as the CIA and KGB. They ensured the continuation of the Nazi legacy in the postwar Arab world. Egypt was a...

There’s a simple rule in running for Congress in Miami: Don’t campaign with someone who praised Fidel Castro and fought sanctions against Venezuela’s dictatorial regime. But Donna Shalala didn’t figure it out until it was too late. In a district filled with Castro-hating Cuban-Americans and Venezuelan exiles, Shalala’s campaign committed an egregious gaffe — and set off a round of Democratic finger-pointing — by posting an announcement that she would hold a campaign event Wednesday with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Californian, Rep. Barbara Lee.

Ever heard about the 'Khazar' myth pushed by the Neo-Nazis/KKK? In fact, Jews are both a nation and a religion. the percentage of those with any roots in khazaria is so minimal, that there was only one non-historian "writer" that came up with the idea to say that the percentage is higher. As a penpal who is of Jewish background told me once: 'Before the WW2 Were were told to go BACK to Palestine where we came from... now the same haters don't even grant us that...' Hitler VS Khazar mythOddly enough, Hitler's "aryanism" and anti-Jewish sick obession was AGAINST...

Gerardo Hernandez, a spy for Communist Cuba and the man responsible for the murder of four humanitarian workers (three of whom were American citizens) over international waters, was freed from prison last year by the Obama administration, due in part to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This was revealed at a February 6, 2015, celebration of Hernandez’s release, along with two of his fellow Cuban agents (collectively known as the “Cuban 5.. At the beginning of the event, an IPS official thanked all who who took part in the 17-year campaign and singled out a number of organizations that...

Unlike Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry, Hillary Clinton has been smart enough not to allow her picture to be taken with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad - at least as far as I could find. So I had to go with the montage above. But Clinton is apparently no less disposed to keeping the dictator in power than are Pelosi and Kerry (and President Obama for that matter). YNet has published a lengthy interview with two Syrian dissidents who have found temporary asylum in the United States. The two are still considered to be in danger - as are their families...

The thousands of Jews expelled from Gush Katif are in more danger from Gaza terrorism than they were living in Gaza itself, local politicians have warned. Hof Ashkelon regional council head Yair Farjoun spoke to Arutz Sheva about the issue. If a rocket were to hit a caravan site, the flimsy temporary homes would offer little protection, Farjoun explained. “The families are terrified, some of the towns have protection, but not all of them,” he said. “Even when it hits an open area there are people [around], there are shepherds,” he noted. Some rockets hit the sites formerly home to...

November 17, 2008 Tibetans debate call for full independence from China Samdhong Rinpoche (centre), Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in northern India, after attending a special meeting in Dharamsala Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent Exiled Tibetan leaders began an unprecedented week-long conference today to discuss whether to stick to the Dalai Lama's non-violent quest for autonomy within China or re-launch a drive for outright independence. More than 600 Tibetans from around the world are attending the meeting in Dharamsala, the north Indian hill station where the Dalai Lama set up his government-in-exile after fleeing Tibet in 1959. The...

Cuban exiles reacted with exuberance at the news that Fidel Castro had temporarily ceded power to his brother late Monday night, taking to the streets, dancing and honking their car horns in celebration that decades of dictatorship in Cuba was coming to an end. But today, the initial joy turned mostly to uncertainty as Cubans paused and considered the unanswered questions: why did Mr. Castro himself not appear to announce his illness? Was he alive or dead? What would the future bring for families with loved ones in Cuban prisons, or for those with executed relatives in the grave?

Cubans exiles took to the streets in anticipation Monday night after news spread that Cuban President Fidel Castro temporarily relinquished power to his brother Raul and underwent surgery for intestinal illness. People waved Cuban flags on Little Havana's Calle Ocho, shouting "Cuba, Cuba, Cuba," hoping that the end is near for the man most of them consider to be a ruthless dictator. There were hugs, cheers and dancing as drivers honked their horns. Many of them fled the communist island or have parents and grandparents who did. "We long for the day when power transfers in Cuba are the results...

Cuba has restored citizenship to seven exiles involved in the failed U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of the island in 1961. The government acted Friday during a migration conference in Havana attended by 450 Cubans who live abroad. Officials handed Cuban passports to six of the seven men who took part in the unsuccessful effort to overthrow President Fidel Castro's government. The seventh person was not present. The Reuters news agency says the government called the move an act of reconciliation toward the exile community. More than one million Cubans live overseas, many of them in the United States. The...

AMMAN, Jordan – A long row of battered taxicabs lined a street yesterday in downtown Amman, waiting to carry eager young Iraqi exiles home to battle. Emboldened by news accounts of Islamic militiamen fighting U.S.-led forces, many Iraqis said they were keen to replenish the uprising that has left hundreds of their countrymen and at least 47 coalition troops dead this week. Shiite and Sunni Muslims, age-old rivals, taunted one another about which sect was punishing the Americans more. "You always boast about what's happening in Fallujah," a young Shiite man shouted to a Sunni. "But look what we're doing...

Taking the swagger out of Christian cultural influence THE FACT THAT CHRISTIANS ARE EXILES ON THE earth (1 Peter 2:11) does not mean we don't care what becomes of culture. But it does mean that we exert influence as happy, brokenhearted outsiders. We are exiles. "Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20). "Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come" (Hebrews 13:14). We are happy sojourners, though, because we have been commanded by our bloody Champion to rejoice in our exile miseries....

Rahim Walizada typifies the new Afghan Renaissance. He drives around Kabul in a bright blue 1959 Volga with an Afghan hound named James Bond and aims to revitalise the arts scene with the opening of his designer carpet gallery, Nomad. Mr Walizada, who owns the Chukpalu rug gallery on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, admits that his friends were less than impressed with his decision to leave New York for a more earthy experience in Kabul. "Everyone laughed at me," confessed Mr Walizada, who arrived in Kabul a year ago. "They asked, 'Who is going to buy designer rugs in Kabul?'...

KABUL: Afghanistan's 88-year-old ex-king Zahir Shah -- twice-rumoured to have died in July -- arrived back in Kabul on Saturday from France, where he had been recovering from a broken leg. Zahir Shah was greeted with an embrace by US-backed President Hamid Karzai then walked slowly down the stairs from an Ariana Afghan Airlines, supported by aides, to review an honour guard. Aides followed with a wheelchair and crutches. The reclusive former monarch returned to Afghanistan last year after nearly three decades in exile but had been recuperating at a private clinic outside Paris after breaking his leg in June....

Tears flowed and long-parted relatives embraced as more than 200 Iraqis set foot in their homeland again after years in exile in neighbouring Saudi Arabia. "I feel like my soul has returned to my body," said Ali Salman, his eyes swimming with tears at the Umm Qasr border crossing. "I can't believe I am actually home and that I will see my family again. I just can't believe it." Like most of the 240 men, women and children who were repatriated on Wednesday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr Salman is a Shiite Muslim who fled to...

U.S.-Backed Iraqi Exiles Return to Reinvent Nation Sat May 3, 2:58 PM ET Add Top Stories - The New York Times to My Yahoo! By DOUGLAS JEHL The New York Times This article was reported by Danny Hakim, Douglas Jehl and Michael Moss and written by Mr. Jehl. ?/td> Health Agency Took Swift Action Against SARS ?/td> Struggle to Go On After Club Fire ?/td> For the latest breaking news, visit NYTimes.com ?/td> Get DealBook, a daily email digest of corporate finance newsDealBook. Search NYTimes.com: Related Quotes PFEDJIANASDAQ^SPC 31.558582.681502.88930.08 +0.56+128.43+30.32+13.78 delayed 20 mins - disclaimerQuote Data provided by Reuters   ARLINGTON,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is beginning to build a new Iraqi army even before Saddam Hussein's forces are defeated, deploying some of the nation's exiles and internal dissidents around the country. Several hundred soldiers of the Iraqi National Congress exile group were flown to an area near the city of Nasiriyah, the group said Sunday. "These are Iraqi citizens who want to fight for a free Iraq, who will become basically the core of the new Iraqi army once Iraq is free," said Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. More will be...

Opposition mobilises free Iraqi force AMONG their ranks were an Iraqi American who had abandoned his grocery store in Missouri and a former nightclub bouncer from London. Hundreds of Iraqi exiles, assembled under the banner of the Free Iraqi Force, opened a new front in the battle to oust Saddam Hussein yesterday after flying to the south of the country on a perilous mission to incite rebellion in its cities. Guided by Colonel Ted Seel, a grizzled American Vietnam veteran and expert in psychological warfare, the force will use tribal contacts and guerrilla attacks to trigger uprisings in southern cities...

Iraqi exiles flock home on liberation mission March 31 2003 at 08:37PM Amman, Jordan - A first free bus to Baghdad left the Jordanian capital on Monday, courtesy of one of Saddam Hussein's sons, with 50 Iraqi men onboard determined to fight for their embattled country against United States and British invaders. "It was too expensive for me to leave before, but now the trip is free and I am going back to fight for my country," said Samir, a 35-year-old construction worker. The man said he was going back to Basra, the main southern Iraqi city partially controlled by...