Heads-up: Syria 'retains right to respond' to Israeli overflight (updated)

Update:

Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal:

"Syria retains the right to determine the quality, type, and nature of our response to the Israeli attack," he told Al-Jazeera television. "The Syrian leadership is seriously considering its response."

From Haaretz:

The Syrian army said Thursday that its air defenses fired on an Israel Air Force warplane that entered Syria airspace and "dropped ammunition," the country's official news agency reported.

The Israel Defense Forces had no immediate comment, saying it would look into the report.

"We have no knowledge of anything like this. We will get back to you," an IDF spokeswoman said by telephone from Tel Aviv.

Syrian air defenses fired at the incoming plane, which crossed into Syria after midnight local time, the agency said.

Migh-ty laconic reply there, spokeswoman, considering the tensions over the last few months... umm, or perhaps not.

Ynet News backgrounder here.

More Syria posts here.

Israel sending trees to reforest ancient Olympus

From AFP:

Israel to Send 10,000 Trees to Reforest Ancient Olympia in Greece

The Greek Olympic Committee said Wednesday it had accepted an offer from Israel for experts and 10,000 trees to help repair damage caused by fires on Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games.

Considering political, not to mention religious and historic (ya' know... Hanukkah, etc) Israel-Greek relations, this is interesting news.

The most recent backstory is here.

The MUCH earlier one is here.

'Back-to-school' daze in Israel (video coverage)

Much of the Kassam rocket fire emanates from
the largely agricultural Beit Hanun area
within the Gaza Strip to the left, and is
commonly aimed at Sderot (to the right)
and other nearby Israeli civilian areas.

This was what the second day of school in the Israeli town of Sderot, a few miles from the Gaza Strip was like:

Video courtesy of the Sderot Media Center.

Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the 7-to-9 rocket salvo, calling it, "a present for the start of the new school year."

EdmontonSun.com:

SDEROT, Israel — A Palestinian rocket landed in a courtyard next to a crowded day care centre in this southern Israeli town on Monday, sending panicked mothers scrambling to rush their screaming toddlers to safety.

The Jerusalem Post:

The Sderot Parents Association decided they would not take their children to schools and day care centers beginning Tuesday, until the government changed its policy regarding ongoing Kassam rocket attacks on the western Negev town, The Jerusalem Post learned Monday.

Parents also decided to erect a protest tent outside the prime minister's office starting Wednesday, where they said they would remain until the government found alternative sites for studies to take place.

YnetNews:

Israel's reaction to Qassam rocket fire on the Negev region has already taken a heavy toll on Palestinians, and it will take an even heavier toll on them in the future, according to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"My daughter called me terrified and hysteric," one mother says, "our children are studying under fire"

Following Monday’s Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot, Olmert said, "We will not put up with this attack. The IDF has been instructed to destroy all launchers and target anyone involved in the attacks. Rocket barrages have once again been launched on Sderot. They threatened the wellbeing of kindergarten children in this rocket-battered town, which has been exposed to the terror groups' brutality for over five years."

More Sderot coverage is here.

Hey - we got mail! 'juden raus u filthy crook nosed scum'

Well well well...

Look what crawled out from under the rock, about my posting from over a year ago of a Lebanese tv satire mocking Hizbullah (this has been one of the biggest pus-drawing postings on my YouTube page, actually).

The really lowest of the pond scum have been deleted (no offense to microbes and fungi, of course) while other, slightly higher-functioning vermin have been allowed to post - just so you, dear readers, will understand what's out there:

endthy w Hide Marked as spam

New Comment
burn shitrael, piss on u filthy kikes
juden raus u filthy crook nosed scum

Next up on the hit parade:

death4israel Show HideMarked as spam

Whatever they do, how many civilians they bomb,⁠ how many innocent babies they kill, whoever they ally with, those FUCKING JEWS won't stay alive where they have invaded. Jews are DAMNED by GOD and they will be "HOMELESS" forever!! I wish All JEWS DIE and BURN IN HELL!

And for our sewer dining "desert," allow me to present just a mere soupçon, of the rest of the deletions:

psysword Show Hide

time to get out and give palestinians back their land.
free palestine.
palestine to become juden frei. raus!!!!


So, youse blogger utes - what kinda' scum-mail are you getting? So, g'wan kids - hit the comments and leave a few responses of your own (be nice! I delete on sight)...

Madonna, hosts to descend upon Tzfat for New Year

No, not that one, silly...

Nope, not her either...

As the Hebrew saying goes,
"Can the Messiah be far behind?"

From Israel National News:

The singer, sometimes referred to as "The Material Girl" (after a song by the same name), will arrive in the city with her husband, English writer-director Guy Ritchie, and their three children, prior to the start of the holiday. They will be accompanied by several friends, including acting couple Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, as well as top designer Donna Karan. Also arriving with Madonna will be some 3,000 students of the Los Angeles-based Kabalah Center.

This is where they're going. Holy, mystical, sedate, tranquil, picturesque, poor, tiny Tzfat, nestled in the soft, wooded hills of the upper Galilee.

God help them...

UPDATE: Soccer Dad brings the hysterical (and geez', but do I live for good parody) with this take on Madonna's wistful look back on her coming observance:

In her younger days she rose to fame by wearing her underwear prominently on stage; nowadays she stays modestly covered in an ankle length slit skirt and low cut but long sleeved blouse. Rebbetzin Esther Ritchie used to be known as Madonna.

In the 80's she was an extremely popular singer breaking taboos right and left. Now she works, supporting her husband Rabbi Akiva Ritchie as he learns in a Kollel in Bnei Brak.

It might be difficult but as Rebbetzin Ritchie puts it, "Boruch Hashem with the royalties from the sale of my book 'Sex' and my somewhat scaled back touring schedule we're able to make ends meet."

Israeli Hip-hop: Mi Yom Leyom (Video)

Seriously great Israeli R&B-tinged hip-hop. Douse the lights, turn up the speakers and dig it:

Subliminal & The Shadow

H-T: Merehetoric

Clever viral Israeli coffee advert

A personal fave of Israeli commercialdom. Not new, but clever and well-produced:

The series -- there are three, and I'm trying to track down the third -- shows an iconic Israeli pilot at various international locales, apparently on layovers between flights, patiently trying to get the locals to just bring him a "small glass, hot wa-ter," to mix up a steaming, fragrant dose of "Elite" Turkish coffee.

It's a great take on cross-cultural mixups, and the need (speaking personally here) to get that "jolt 'o' java." Also, the ad taps into the Israeli (really, any nationality away from home) need to have a taste of home, while far away.

In the second episode, he's waking up in Shanghai.

In the third episode, he's dragged off to a dank, Soviet-era prison by Russian police, when they misunderstand his curt hand gesture and Israeli-accented statement, asking for sugar: "Put in," as insulting "Putin." If you find it, please send me the linky.

Israeli hacker trio cracks iPhone code, but - 'Will it Blend?'

From YnetNews:

Three Israeli computer engineers managed to hack Apple's iPhone system, making it available for use through Cellcom and Orange, Ynet learned Sunday.

The three were also able to lend the iPhone a Hebrew interface, thus breaking Apple's restriction on using the the phone only through the AT&T company in United States.

Stunning Israel Series: 'Acre: Dancing On The Edge' (original photograph)

'Acre: Dancing On The Edge'
(Photo: Dave Bender)

Stunning Israel Series: 'Jaffa: Setting Sail' (original photograph)

Jaffa: Setting Sail (Photo: Dave Bender)