"In short, Brehaut’s article 'foodwashes' Israel’s crimes against humanity. Just as Israel is increasing illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, displacing thousands of Palestinian families from their ancestral homes, it is erasing Palestinian heritage and culture by appropriating indigenous Palestinian food."
Re: “How Israeli food became a dynamic cultural export”
March 31, 2023
In an appallingly misleading and culturally appropriating article, Laura Brehaut claims that “Israeli food” is made up of “Jewish immigrant cuisine and Palestinian/Levantine cuisine.” While Brehaut praises the “diversity” of “Israeli cuisine,” she completely ignores Israel’s occupation of Palestinian people, their land and in this case, their food. In short, Brehaut’s article “foodwashes” Israel’s crimes against humanity. Just as Israel is increasing illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, displacing thousands of Palestinian families from their ancestral homes, it is erasing Palestinian heritage and culture by appropriating indigenous Palestinian food. Palestinians have long rejected attempts to usurp their cultural identity by their colonizers – especially when it conceals Israel’s brutal regime of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
Reem Majid
Policy Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East