Food Fight

Associated Press reports on yet another intractable battle that is rearing in the Middle East. This time it's a food fight, initiated in 2008 by a Lebanese economic organization, over the marketing of hummus as an Israeli delicacy:

The issue of food copyright was raised last year by the head of Lebanon's Association of Lebanese Industrialists, Fadi Abboud, when he announced plans to sue Israel to stop it from marketing hummus and other regional dishes as Israeli.

But to do that, Lebanon must formally register the product as Lebanese. The association is still in the process of collecting documents and proof supporting its claim for that purpose.

Lebanese industrialists cite, as an example, the lawsuit over feta cheese in which a European Union court ruled in 2002 the cheese must be made with Greek sheep and goats milk to bear the name feta. That ruling is only valid for products sold in the EU.

Abboud says that process took seven years and realizes Lebanon's fight with Israel is an uphill battle.

Also see: The Association of Lebanese Industrialists's Campaign to Protect OUR FOOD.

Wikipedia also tackles the thorny issue of hummus' origins:

According to Jana Gur, "While not a single Israeli will claim that this chickpea and tahini concoction is anything but Arabic, the status it has reached in Israel is unprecedented anywhere in the Middle East: In Lebanon or in Jordan, hummus is a simple morning fare or a part of a meze table. In Israel it is a religion. The best hummus restaurants, invariably owned by Arabs, are considered national treasures. Guides are dedicated to the best places to "mop up" hummus, books and essays discuss comparative virtues of fluffy Jerusalem hummus as opposed to chunky Galilean versions. ...and supermarket shelves burst with a variety of hummus products, sporting catchy names (most of them Arabic)".^[33] According to Gur, "The success of certain brands of Israeli hummus abroad may have been what brought about Abboud's [Fadi Abboud, the president of the Lebanese Industrialist's Association] anger", leading him to claim that Israel has been "stealing" their country's national dishes, like hummus, falafel,tabbouleh and bab ghanouj.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Netanyahu to U.N.: Have You No Shame?

Also see: Canada boycotts Ahmadinejad's speech from CTV News.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Supreme Court of Canada: "Jerusalem, Israel" Not to Appear as Birthplace on Canadian Passport

When Mr. Eliyahu Veffer was advised that the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs refused to reflect the birthplace on his Canadian passport as “Jerusalem, Israel”, he commenced an Application for Judicial Review, claiming the refusal violated his rights as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Veffer’s application for judicial review citing both Canadian and United Nations policy on the matter.

The Supreme Court of Canada’s Bulletin of Proceedings reports:

Mr. Veffer is a Jewish Canadian citizen born in Jerusalem. He requested that the Minister of Foreign Affairs inscribe “Jerusalem, Israel” on his passport as his place of birth. Passport Canada, pursuant to policy, issued a Canadian passport indicating “Jerusalem” as his place of birth. Mr. Veffer’s former counsel wrote to the Minister and requested that the passport be amended to include Israel as Mr. Veffer’s country of birth. The Minister refused. Mr. Veffer sought judicial review on the basis that Passport Canada violated his Charter rights to (freedom of conscience or religion, identity and equality).

The application for judicial review was dismissed, as was an appeal, both on the grounds that Jerusalem is recognized by the United Nations as not being lawfully within the territory of any state. As a result, even though Israel had controlled the western portion of Jerusalem since the early 1950s and the eastern portion since 1967, and even though Canada maintains a diplomatic practice of acknowledging Israel’s de facto control of the western portion of Jerusalem (but not the eastern part), Canada does not recognize de jure that any part of Jerusalem is part of the territory of the state of Israel.

- Annie Noa Kenet, Toronto

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Quotable

From a comment by Laura S. at Volokh:

Yes. Israel takes a lot of flak for keeping the border with Gaza closed. Ergo, one might reasonably ask why Egypt gets away with keeping its border closed too. Especially in light of the fact that the residents of Gaza have a history of making war against Israel but not Egypt.

I agree. It is an increasingly reasonable question.

Egypt certainly could be playing an important role in alleviating the day-to-day distress and suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza. It may not help bring us closer to a genuine, long-term solution, but it sure wouldn't hurt.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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