Lebanon fires at Israeli planes

The Lebanese army fired on at least four Israel Air Force planes flying over southern Lebanon last week. Lebanese news media reported that the anti-aircraft fire forced the Israeli planes to return to Israel. In addition, the Lebanese government agreed to allow the terrorist organization Hezbollah to keep its weapons, in violation of the United Nations resolution that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Hezbollah reportedly has thousands of rockets and explosives hidden in southern Lebanon.

Violence needed: Nasrallah

Presenting his new political platform, Hezbollah’s leader said armed struggle is the only way to get back land captured by Israel. “Israel represents a constant threat and an impending danger to Lebanon,” Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said last week in a speech filmed by closed-circuit cameras and broadcast to reporters. Nasrallah also took a hard line against the United States, saying its “unlimited support to Israel… places the American administration in the position of the enemy of our nation and our peoples.” Nasrallah said the Iran- and Syria-backed Hezbollah will continue to arm itself to meet threats from Israel with force. The 2006 United Nations resolution that ended the Second Lebanon War bans arms in south Lebanon. “The resistance has managed to achieve a huge victory over the Zionist entity, provide the homeland with protection, and liberation of the remainder of its land,” he said. “This function is a lasting necessity before Israel’s expansionist threats and ambitions, as well as the lack of a strong government in Lebanon.”

Reality series at Shaare Zedek

Steven Spielberg and the producer of Everybody Loves Raymond are producing a reality television series set at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Hospital. The Jerusalem Post reported that Raymond producer Phil Rosenthal was in Israel last week to check out Shaare Zedek and hold discussions with the Israeli producers of the show, which is scheduled to air on the Sundance Channel in the United States in 2011. A longtime backer of Shaare Zedek, Rosenthal said the series would revolved around bringing a small group of American doctors to work alongside Israeli doctors, learning about Israel’s specialty in emergency treatment and the interplay between Jews, Christians and Muslims at the hospital.

Jews, Arabs clash in Jerusalem

Jews and Arabs clashed over a house in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood. The confrontation occurred last Tuesday in Sheik Jarrah, north of the Old City, when Jews tried to move into a home in the Arab area after a court order allowed them to take over the property. The Supreme Court said the home was “owned by Jews.” Police and private security officers escorted the new Jewish residents to the home. Palestinians reportedly attacked the new residents. A Jewish man was taken to a hospital after being hit over the head with a pipe. Two Jews, two non-Israeli left-wing activists and an Arab resident were arrested in the violence.

Army to fight Facebook enemies

The Israel Defence Forces will draft recruits to fight the enemy on Facebook and Twitter. The IDF is set to begin drafting computer experts in order to start a new media department unit, an army spokesperson said at the Eilat Journalists Conference. The new unit would be part of the Army Spokesman’s Office. The IDF posted videos on YouTube showing attacks on Gaza targets during the Gaza war last winter to show how careful the IDF is to avoid harming civilians. The program to face hostile entities on the Web is set to be operational in a few months, IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Avi Benayahu said.