Celebrity chef Rachael Ray recently shared photos of a holiday meal she cooked up, which featured traditional Levantine cooking, that she labeled “Israeli.”
Holiday Feast Highlights – Israeli nite, meze stuffed grape leaves, hummus, beet dip, eggplant and sun dried tomato dip, walnut and red pepper dip, and tabouli pic.twitter.com/pflF9Iv4DG
— rachael ray (@rachaelray) December 21, 2017
The internet, however, was not having it. Multiple replies below her controversial tweet criticized her ignorance and pointed out the ridiculousness of her “Israeli nite” through satire. In other words, Ray was trolled big time, and rightfully so.
Crazy! I’m having Israeli food too! pic.twitter.com/q1dUinHbZ5
— Ali The Ansari (@AliTheAnsari) December 25, 2017
I never knew Israeli food tasted so good! pic.twitter.com/CoVsboyisX
— فاطمة (@AlSaadiFatma_) December 25, 2017
I just can’t live without these israeli specialities. pic.twitter.com/HkZLj5u1GV
— 100de50artı1 (@halil93isik) December 26, 2017
Arab-American comedian Amer Zahr posted this video to explain how to make Palestinian vs. Israeli hummus.
Let me show you how to make Palestinian hummus (& Israeli hummus too) #Palestine #Hummus pic.twitter.com/081tkbnY3q
— Amer Zahr (@AmerZahr) December 24, 2017
Some people may wonder why this is such a big deal. Why argue over something as trivial as a meal? But that is just it — it is not trivial. Because in 1948, Israel expropriated approximately 4,244,776 acres of Palestinian land. Over 400 Palestinian cities and towns were methodically destroyed by Israeli forces to be repopulated by Jews. Homes, businesses, and places of worship were demolished to ensure that the Palestinians would not return.
Today, Palestinians continue to be pushed off their designated settlements to make way for Jewish citizens and settlers. Israel’s systematic dispossession of entire towns are ongoing despite their flagrant violation of international law. There are now approximately 650,000 Jewish settlers illegally living on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Additionally, Trump recently declared Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital, further exposing the United States’ one-sidedness when it comes to arbitration between Palestine and Israel.
After Israel has robbed the Palestinians of their land, displaced them from their capital and killed thousands of innocent civilians, they now wish to strip Palestinians of their cultural identity and claim it as their own.
So to clear things up. There is no such thing as Israeli hummus. There is no such thing as Israeli tabouli. There is no such thing as Israeli stuffed grape leaves. These “Israeli foods” are illegitimate, much like the state itself. This cultural genocide, by the media at large, is a part of the attempt to push forward a Zionist agenda that hopes to, one day, completely eradicate Palestinians.
Photo: Eddy Chen
