[ April 19, 2024 ]
The “Palestinians” are up in arms, not for the first time, over what they see as Israel’s “theft” of what they claim are quintessentially “Palestinian” foods — hummus and falafel. This is one more way to continue the narrative of Israel as a foreign body, stealing not just “Palestinian” land, but also stealing “Palestinian” culture, including its clothing, its keffiyeh, and its food.
Here’s the latest complaint by a Palestine Authority spokesman:
Official Palestinian Authority television recently accused Israel of stealing falafel, hummus, and other “Palestinian foods” as part of a conspiracy against “Palestinian heritage.”
Story continues below advertisementThe claim was made by a reporter for the PA television channel’s show Palestine This Morning on October 3, 2018 as part of a report on a local food festival, translated by Palestinian Media Watch.
“We are talking about a brutal attack against the Palestinian heritage in general, including Palestinian foods,” the reporter claimed over images of a cook preparing various dishes.
“There has been theft of the Palestinian falafel, the Palestinian hummus, and some popular foods by the occupation,” she added.
“Holding [food] festivals like these is essential in order to preserve the heritage and also the Palestinian foods,” the reporter said.
Falafel and hummus are, in fact, generic Middle Eastern foods and are eaten by many peoples across the region and beyond. They have also become popular as delicacies in Western countries.
PMW [Palestine Media Watch] noted that the incident is by no means the first time such accusations against Israel have been made. Mohammad Shtayyeh, a central committee member of the Fatah party, once claimed Israel “fabricated the falafel.” A member of the PA Parliament has also made a similar accusation, saying the Jewish state “falsified the falafel ball.” In 2011, Palestinian columnist Muwaffaq Matar charged that Israel had “stolen our clothing, our keffiyeh, our falafel, and our hummus.”
There are several things wrong with this claim. First, no one knows for sure where falafel originated, but it certainly was not with the “Palestinians.” Most food historians believe it was first prepared in Egypt in 1000 A.D., and what’s more, its first preparers are believed to have been Coptic Christians. As Alexandria is a port city, it would have been easy for falafel to have migrated to the Levant, taken by sailors who brought the dish with them. Some maintain that falafel may have originated in Egypt as early as Pharaonic times. Another theory is that falafel may have originated in India, which has many deep-fried dishes in its cuisine, and was brought back to the Middle East by Arabs or Turks. Still another theory claims that falafel originated in Yemen. But no one has ever mentioned the “Palestinians” — that is, the handful of Arabs living in Palestine — as the originators of falafel, save the “Palestinians” themselves. And Jews in Israel did not have to “steal” falafel from the “Palestinians.” Mizrahi Jews had been eating falafel and hummus for many centuries, and when they arrived in Israel as refugees from Arab lands, they naturally brought the dish with them.
It is the same with hummus, which the “Palestinians” claim as their own, and accuse Israel of “stealing” it. Hummus, like falafel, is eaten all over the Middle East and North Africa, by Christians and Jews as well as Muslims, and by non-Arabs (Kurds, Berbers,Persians) as well as by Arabs. The dish is first mentioned in Egypt in the 13th century, which is most likely where it originated. It certainly did not originate with the “Palestinian people” who were created, for propaganda purposes, after the Six-Day War.
Why are the “Palestinians” making such a big deal about Israel “stealing” hummus and falafel from them? They have created for themselves a whole narrative to buttress the claim of a separate “Palestinian people.” They have “Palestinian folk songs,” which turn out to be songs shared by all the Arabs of the Levant. They dance the dabke, and carefully call this circle-and-line dance, again common to all the Arabs in the Levant, a “Palestinian folk dance.” And they call falafel and hummus, two dishes that are eaten all over the Middle East, that have long been eaten by Mizrahi Jews and Coptic Christians, with the weight of authority supporting the claim that both originated in Egypt, “Palestinian” foods “stolen” by Israel. Of course, the Israelis did not “steal” anything. Mizrahi Jews have been eating hummus and falafel for more than half-a-millennium, centuries before the invention of the “Palestinian” people. Nor do the Jews of Israel claim these dishes as their own; they forthrightly recognize them as part of “Middle Eastern” or even of “Arab” cuisine. But the Jews of Israel have their own distinctive religion, language, folklore, and even two separate “cuisines” — that of the Middle Eastern Mizrahis, and that of the East European Ashkenazis. Unlike the “Palestinians,” the Jews of Israel have no need to fabricate an identity; it’s already theirs.
It is the “Palestinians” who, in fact, are “stealing” from their fellow Arabs, by claiming hummus and falafel as distinctively their own, and thus part of “Palestinian” identity. It would be amusing to see the reaction of their fellow Arabs –Lebanese, Syrians, Jordanians, and Egyptians –to the claim that hummus and falafel are “Palestinian” dishes.
As for the further claim that Israel “steals” “Palestinian” clothing, including the keffiyeh, there is no evidence of this “theft” among ordinary Israelis. Nor is there any evidence of “Palestinian” clothing being distinct from that of the Jordanian or Syrian Arabs. Many “Palestinians” dress like tens of millions of other Arabs in the Levant, but their online propaganda is careful to describe this clothing as “Palestinian.” Other “Palestinians,” of course, such as Mahmoud Abbas, have completely abandoned traditional Arab dress and adopted Western clothing. The Israelis have not accused Abbas of “stealing Israeli clothing,” but it might be instructive, in a two-can-play-this-game sort of way, to do so. A way to make fun of their hysterical claim about the “brutal attack [by Israel] against the Palestinian heritage in general.”
But we cannot end this discussion without admitting that there is one task which requires a few select Israeli Jews to wear both “Palestinian” clothes and the keffiyeh, though only most temporarily, and out of real necessity. I am referring to the borrowing (not “theft’) of “Palestinian” clothing and keffiyeh by those tremendously talented Arabic-speaking Jews who conduct undercover operations in the West Bank, and need to dress accordingly.
The Truth Must be Told
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35 Comments
5 years ago
Give me a break! Palestinians need to GET A GRIP! This is a Tel-Aviv Falafel
.
5 years ago
Reply to
Millionmileman
It’s not something I would eat, but I’ll cheer on Israel!
If it is like a Greek gyro then I might like it.
5 years ago
One way to stuff these terrorist grievance mongers back in their box would be to suggest that in solidarity with other Islamic people there, they turned off the electricity to the mics they use to slander people, tried gas to power their TV’s {they have plenty} and refuse all other useful devices created OUTSIDE of “Palestine” like cars, planes, computers and all the rest.
Perhaps a few lessons in their own incompetence are called for.
5 years ago
Reply to
Poppey
Remember when you play guitar, eat croissants, drink coffe, take a shower, etc, the hand of mohammad is there
5 years ago
Reply to
spacearcadian
1) The guitar is of spic lineage. Not Moorish spics, but spic spics. 2) The kipferl is the ancestor of the croissant, has been documented in Austria going back at least as far as the 11th century, in various shapes. 3) Showers were taken, in China and Korea and recorded as early as 500 BC.
What in the f-ck do moslem have to do with them?
5 years ago
Reply to
Achmed Mohandjob
Yes – the kipferl, in the shape of a crescent was created in celebration of victory over the turks. I shall be enjoying many this coming Christmas.
5 years ago
Reply to
spacearcadian
Hey Spacecock, are those all the privileges you just lost at state hospital for hogging the computer from the other patients.
5 years ago
“In 2011, Palestinian columnist Muwaffaq Matar charged that Israel had “stolen our clothing, our keffiyeh, our falafel, and our hummus.” Gee, maybe Israel can make a deal with the filthy palestinians. They give back the falafel and hummus, in exchange for the palestinians getting the hell off Israeli land. Sounds fair.
5 years ago
There has been theft of the Palestinian falafel, the Palestinian hummus, and some popular foods by the occupation,” she added.
Funny, even though Jews “stole” hummus and falafel, the “Palestinians” still have it. The lives of school children massacred by these “Palestinian” thugs? Not so much.
There is one point with which I would take issue with Hugh, however:
It certainly did not originate with the “Palestinian people” who were created, for propaganda purposes, after the Six-Day War.
Some may consider it to be quibbling, but I believe that those who speak in defense of Israel need to be accurate and truthful. I gather, as part of the burgeoning Arab nationalism of the 20th century, there are documented references by Arabs in Palestine referring to themselves as “Palestinians” dating back to the 1920’s. However, the use of that term by Arabs to describe themselves was limited to “intellectuals” until after the Six Day War, when the murderous Yassir Arafat cut such a dashing image and the use of the term “Palestinian” to describe Arabs became widespread. Doing so certainly fed their foundational myths.
In a sense, the term “Palestinian” became “available” after the establishment of the modern state of Israel when Jews, who had created such institutions as the Palestine Post, the Palestine Symphony, and the Bank of Palestine, none of which had significant Arab involvement, changed their names and Israelis started to refer to themselves as “Israeli”. After 1948, those institututions became the Jerusalem Post, the Israel Philharmonic and the Bank of Israel, respectively.
5 years ago
Like with everything the “Palestinian” Arabs do, one must understand that they are a frustrated people who unfortunately need to promote themselves with false claims, instead of their accepting the reality that they are a Semitic Arab culture, and right now, and in the more immediate past have contributed little or nothing to world society. As a result they need to promote false claims, including that their claimed land is “occupied,” while they pursue violent conduct towards another group of Semitic people, the Jews, who lived on and cultivated this same land, long before Islam. While the Israeli’s have been productive and fruitful, the Palestinian Arabs only contribution to society is violence and heinous acts around the globe.
5 years ago
Reply to
Dennis
Muslims are trying to delegitimize Jews from all perspectives.
Jews and Christians accept Isaac as Abraham’s true son. He was the product of Sarah and Abraham.
Ishmael. was the product of Hagar and Abraham. Sarah was up in years, thought she’d never get pregnant and allowed Abraham to sleep with Hagar with the goal of her giving them a son. Well that didn’t wok out well… and long story short, Sarah did get pregnant with Abraham and had Isaac the LEGITIMATE son.
Ishmael. was the ILLEGITIMATE son between Hagar and Abraham and never mentioned in proper lineage. I consider Islam to be an illegitimate “religion” competing against Judaism and Christianity. It does look like Muslims have a stronger hatred for Jews over Christians. I wonder if it goes back to Ishmael and Isaac. I don’t know. I refer to this:
Genesis 17: 17-20
[17] Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
[18] And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
[19] And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with HIM for an EVER LASTING COVENANT, and with his seed after him.
[20] And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a GREAT NATION.
Ishmael went on to have 12 sons but he was not God’s chosen with an eternal covenant where as Muslims claim Ishmael is the chosen one and the most blessed one. So you do have two competing nations – Isaac and Ishmael. I don’t know if Muslims /Arabs are the competing nation. Some say that is true. Ishmael is not part of Christ’s lineage anywhere in the Bible.
It is also believed that the Canaanites were descendants of Ishmael who always harassed, and plagued the nation of Israel from its infancy on wards. God’ often uses evil (Islam is certainly that) to promote a higher good. Joseph had to endure allot to and turned evil to good. Maybe that is the situation with Ishmael. What is also interesting about Muslims is they are not automatically condemned. Muslims put great importance to dreams and visions. Daniel also had them too! Many Muslims have been converted to Christianity through dreams and visions. Nabeel Qureshi, a m=former Muslim, also experienced dreams and visions. Acts.2:17 states [17] And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Someday we’ll all know for sure.
5 years ago
In the next snatch, they will claim Jew family names are theirs too.
Wait and see.
.
5 years ago
Weren’t they basically tribal, troublesome, nomads?
They are a pain in the arse
5 years ago
the israeli version of falafel and hummus taste different than the muslim version. the jews wash their left hand before making theirs
5 years ago
Reply to
Rocinante44
The Bible was very particular on cleanliness.
https://bible.org/seriespage/8-clean-and-unclean-part-i-leviticus-11
Obviously Muslims could care less about personal hygiene or anything else on that topic.
5 years ago
Reply to
Rocinante44
The moslems, no matter HOW many times they attempt to wash their left hand, that left hand is still oozing in fecal matter.
5 years ago
Reply to
evangeline golding
“Eww”, which would be followed with uproarious laughter …. except it’s true.
5 years ago
yah, yah, tell me again about t the great palestinian slaves building the pyramids
5 years ago
Wasn’t even much of the Quran likely copied off of the Hebrew Bible though?
5 years ago
Reply to
R. Arandas
It is a perverted, bastardization of the Old and New Testament.
That is why the Quran refers to the “people of the book”, Jews and Christians.
Mohammad was an uneducated man so he relied on what he heard from others about Judaism and Christianity. LOOK were he lived! He fabricated a rival religion with the hope of converting the “people of the book” to his fake religion.
5 years ago
No culture. no history no Palestinian language… They are squatters on land that never belonged to them.
They need to return to their respective countries. Honestly how does one have the moxey to still claim to be a “refugee” since 1948 and expect NON MUSLIMS countries to PAY FOR YOU?
5 years ago
of course the easiest way to avoid the ‘stealing’ is by killing all the ‘palestinians’ and then INHERITING what’s left behind, lol!
5 years ago
” Palestinian food”…..Nothing says “lovin’ ” like sitting around the communal platter and sticking your bare hands into it after wiping your chuck schumer a few minutes earlier.
5 years ago
Palestina was the original name the the Romans gave to Israel when they were attempting to erase any vestige of their culture and existence. Everyone that was in the region back then became “palestinians”.
5 years ago
Reply to
dennodog
When you realize the idea of a “Palestine” and the name’s origin, then it’s totally relevant.
5 years ago
This has to be the flimsiest reason I have ever heard of to hate Israel
5 years ago
their heritage. what a bunch of assclowns. and lazy murderous assclowns at that. do nothing produce nothing not even their own sanitation or clean water or electricity or anything else. just stabbing and killing Jews. braindead cretins. so effing tiresome.
