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I'm getting more than a little fed up with the way that Israel is portrayed by the international media and the insistence on negative/anti-Israel bias at virtually every turn.

This week's attempt by the British courts to have Tzipi Livni arrested as a war criminal was truly shocking. At least their Foreign Secretary David Milliband came out, shamefaced, and offered a seemingly sincere apology on behalf of the British government.

I would suggest that the next time the Brits come knocking on Israel's door for help with intelligence about Islamic terrorists on their patch, they should be squarely informed that as 'war criminals' we're not in a position to offer any assistance!

Of course, there are serious problems over here, but there are also many good things happening as well. It's a crying shame that good news doesn't sell papers or attract satisfactory viewing figures, we all know that.

Here's an example of some good news from my part of Israel. It's a small anecdote, but is worth passing on, I feel.

My friend's 12-year-old son plays for Binyamina basketball team. They're a pretty fair side and are doing well in their league managing to win both home and away. For those of you that don't where Binyamina is, well it's a few miles inland from Cesarea and is one of a number of small towns in the area that are in close proximity to Israeli Arab communities, such as Jisr-az-Zarka, Fareidis, Kfar Kara and Umm-El Fahm.

Amongst those towns, Umm-El-Fahm has long been regarded as the most problematic. The town has a reputation for housing some of the most radical Israeli Arabs and has often been cited as a base for Palestinian sympathizers and aggressive Islamists. During the last Intifada, driving on Route 65, the road that passes by 'Umm', a town sited on the steep hillside above the main road, was no laughing matter.  Rocks and stones were reportedly thrown by residents of the Arab town attempting to 'pick off' Israeli vehicles - it was very much a no-go zone.

Bearing this in mind, it was particularly heartening to hear that for the first time ever, Umm-El-Fahm has entered the Israeli junior basketball league, and last week paid a visit to take on Binyamina.

Understandably, with limited experience to call on, the Arab visitors found the home team rather too hot to handle, the final scoring being Binyamina 73-24 Umm-El-Fahm. What was particularly encouraging to hear though was that the game was played in a very good spirit. Kids on both sides chatted before and after the match and parents from both sides engaged in friendly conversation.

In a few weeks Binyamina will travel to Umm-El-Fahm for the return game, and, having expressed serious doubts (prior to the initial meeting) about going into the Arab enclave, most Binyamina parents are actually looking forward to the experience.

It might not be worthy of international news headlines, but this is one of many positive stories coming out of Israel. Wouldn't it be nice for a change to see a fairer balance in the reporting of what is actually going on amongst the everyday people of the region.