Foul or Fowl?

A foul disease causing illness across the globe may be visiting Israel sooner rather than later:

Millionaire model and actress Paris Hilton could be the next big American star to visit Israel, according to a report Monday in Hebrew daily Ma’ariv. Hilton’s manager was approached by the Israeli branch of the Elite Modeling Agency to pose for a line of beachwear, said the report.

If she agrees to the assignment, then Hilton could be in Israel as soon as the end of this month. Hilton will also participate in the modeling agency’s three-year anniversary celebration at Tel Aviv hot spot Viskia. A spokesman for the Hilton hotel chain in Israel could not confirm whether Paris Hilton was visiting. He said: “There are always rumors that Paris Hilton will visit but we have no knowledge of a future reservation.”

No no no… not her. Did I say foul? I meant something fowl may be visitng Israel.

Israeli authorities were bracing for a potential outbreak of the deadly strain of avian flu Thursday, after more than one thousand poultry were found dead in southern Israel.

The suspected bird flu was found in birds at hen-houses on Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in the western Negev. There are also reports of huge numbers of dead birds in nearby communities, including Kibbutz Holit.

Both Ein Hashlosha and Holit have been fully quarantined, and roadblocks have been erected on the main routes into the area.

Not to worry, Israel. After all, Syria said matter-of-factly in their state-run media that the Israeli-developed strain was genetically engineered to infect and kill only Arabs.

The state-run Syrian daily al-Thawra lately hinted that Israel developed the bird flu virus to harm the genes of its Arab neighbors.

An article published by the newspaper argues that Israel spread the virus in the Far East to mislead the world.

The newspaper backed its suspicions by citing a 1998 report in the Sunday Times that Israel is developing a biological “ethnic bomb” that would kill Arabs and not Jews.

According to the Times, Israeli scientists are trying to identify genes characteristic to Arabs and then develop viruses that attack these genes. The newspaper said the program is being carried out at the Institute for Biological Research in Nes Tsiona near Tel Aviv.

Whew. Isn’t that a relief?