I have always wondered about the root of the conflict between Lebanon and Israel. A tiny piece of land (Shaba farms) just doesn’t seem to justify the continuous bloodshed to me. Lebanon and Israel are actually a lot a like, and you’d think they’d get along well, but surprisingly this is a very hostile border.
Well, threats are coming from the north again, but at least this time they have a reason: hummus.
Yes, at the center of the controversy is that dish of ground cooked chickpeas. Apparently, an Israeli company has entered the book of Guiness World Records for the largest plate of Hummus.
The Lebanese are angry. According to the Lebanese Daily Star:
Fadi Abboud, the president of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists, said his group would file a lawsuit to stop Israel from marketing exported hummus and other dishes as Israeli.
Not only that, but Lebanon is about to retaliate with an even large plate of Hummus in the up and coming food festival in Beirut later this month.
What I find genuinely amusing is the comments added by both Arab and Israeli surfers to articles on this topic. Heated debates about the “real” origins of this dish, with Israelis vehemently arguing that hummus is mentioned in the Bible in the story of Ruth, and is therefore a local dish far preceding the Arab invasion to the biblical Land of Israel. Arabs, on the other hand, particularly Palestinians, are lamenting over the Israeli “theft” or “annexation” of what they claim is “their” national dish.
I guess Bruno wasn’t totally off the mark when comparing Hummus and Hamas?
Whatever next? Felafel?
on Oct 6th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Good movie. I guess we’ll start preparing for a major food fight.
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Hey hey. Stay out of Falafel. It’s egyptian, egyptian!
on Nov 11th, 2009 at 6:07 am
I won’t be surprised if Israel claims Mansaf to be Jewish, we just have to wait and see, but I guess people were over reacting since Israel stole a whole country. Anyways Food should bring people together, if only we can trust the real intentions of the Israeli government.
on Nov 11th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Oh, we didn’t steal the country from you, you stole it from us :p Seriously, you can’t deny that the Jewish people originated from this country (Jewish literally means Judean). We had a naqba here and people were forced out of their land and now they’re back – surely as a Palestinian you can relate to that?