"Dror yikra"

Dror yikra is a poem composed by Dunash ben Labrat (דונש בן לברט in Hebrew, دناش بن لبراط in Arabic), a Jewish Moroccan poet who lived in the tenth century CE.
This is Dana International's version at the Eurofestival 1999.

דְרור יקרא לְבן עם בת
וְינצרכם כְמו בבַת
נְעים שמכם וְלא יָשבַת
שְבו נוחו ביום שבת

Dror yikra le-vem 'im vat
ve-intzorekem kmo ba-vat
ne'im shemkem ve-lo yushbat
shevu ve-nuchu be-yom shabbat

(Libera versione italiana):
Dio chiamerà la libertà per i suoi figli e le sue figlie
e ti proteggerà come la pupilla del suo occhio;
piacevole è il tuo nome e non sarà escluso;
fermati e riposa nel giorno di shabbat.

WonderFul

This is an Israeli advertisement of Mc Donald's (מקדונלדס). Before you watch it, you should know that ful (فول) and tahina (طحينة) are Arabic dishes, the former being a hearty mash of fava beans seasoned with olive oil, garlic, coriander and lemon juice, the latter being a sesame paste which is used to season hummus (حمص), a delicious chickpeas dip, and all sorts of salads.

Number fifty-seven, how do you say Mc Donald's in English?

No ful... Tahina!

Neo-nazi gang arrested in Israel

Israeli police arrested a gang of eight young men living in Petah Tikva, Israel who are accused of having carried out attacks on homosexuals, Ortohodox Jews and foreign workers. The members of the gang apparently used to film or photograph their violence.

Part of the footage of the attacks was released in the public domain. (This video contains sections with graphic scenes of violence)

Lebanon goes rugby

As the 2007 Rugby World Cup kicks off today at the Stade de France, it is time to celebrate the Lebanese rugby national team, even if they're not taking part in the tournament, and the Lebanese Rugby League.
This segment from Al Jazeera English explains how the fortune of rugby in Lebanon owes much to the Lebanese-Australians living around Sydney.

Pyrrhic victory

The Lebanese government has declared "the greatest national victory" in its battle against the militant group known as Fath al-Islam, but how devastating is the cost for the victor?
With a death toll of 163 Lebanese soldiers killed in battle and an uncertain number of casualties among the militants and the (mostly) Palestinian civilians living in the refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, there is hardly any room for the triumphalistic tones seen on the media and in Beirut over the last two days.
When the emphasis over the annihilation of a small pocket of "terrorism" is over, there will be time to question where the weapons of Fath al-Islam came from, who is in control of the Palestinian refugees camp in Lebanon (whose registered population amounted to at least 210,000 in 2005), and what status will the people living there (generally in despicable conditions) have in the nebulous assurances of future peace also known as "Road Map".
Maybe, there will also be time to question what would have happened among the Arab (and European) public if Israel, instead of the Lebanese government, had acted in the same way against a pocket of Palestinian militant "resistance" in Gaza or the West Bank.