Hummus war between Lebanon and Israel

The latest conflict cooking between Lebanon and Israel is all about food: Lebanese businessmen are accusing Israel of stealing traditionally Middle Eastern dishes like hummus.

"It is not enough they (Israelis) are stealing our land. They are also stealing our civilization and our cuisine," said Abboud.

Abboud told The Associated Press that his food industry group has submitted an official request to the Ministry of Economy for a registration process to brand hummus — a procedure that could take "up to a year." He said the branding would open the door for any legal action by the Lebanese government.

Abboud said his group wants a Lebanese branding for several dishes, including hummus, the eggplant spread baba ghannouj and tabbouleh, a salad made of chopped parsley and tomatoes.

"We cannot sue until we have registered the products. First Lebanon must register the products so it becomes property right," Abboud said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/07/news/ML-Lebanon-Israel-Hummus-Lawsuit.php

Aren't there any Israeli dishes to market? Why are they marketing Arab dishes as Israeli?

 

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dont you guys ever get enough? even on food you have to come up with a conflict.

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What a pathetic stunt... Better worry about the guy living in your neighbourhood that's gonna start a war to provoke Israel into bombing your house, than worry about hummus.

Idiots like him make a mockery out of international law, including patent law. It's gonna fire back (pun intended).

It goes with out saying his stunt will fail.

 

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hatred is hatred.

 

I love Lebanese food. I think it's generally acknowledged that foods like Hummus originated in the Middle East.

 

I'm just wondering why they are marketed as Israeli foods. It would be like the British marketing curry as an English dish.

 

British Curry is probably different than Indian Curry. American Chinese food is a unique creation that is not found in China. I could see Israelis have a take on it. European Jewish food is pretty horrible.

 

So if the Arabs come up with a version of the challah, its an Arab dish? If they come up with a version of the burger, its an Arab dish?

There are laws to protect against this kind of plagiarism

And its less than having a take on it. The Israelis have named it their national dish, apparently, along with falafel

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/08/foodanddrink.israelandthepalestinians

 

Whatever, you can't plagiarize food.

 

Apparently you can. I believe the Greek fought [and won] over the use of "feta" by other countries in Europe. Like native medicines, its an intellectual property right.

 

Not the food, just the name. You can still make the exact same thing and call it something else.

 

Sure, but thats unethical too.

We [India] had that problem with neem and turmeric patents in the US

 

What's stupid is that these tools want to patent Arab food as exclusively Lebanese.

Reminds me of the time when Buddhist monks wanted to patent their image so western companies wouldn't be able to put their image on products which the monks have not endorsed. That sounds like a potentially valid thing. The hummus thing, gimme a f'n break.

Also, it's very hard to patent a "cultural" product, since it's not one person who created it. Furthermore, there are plenty Israelis whose roots are from the Middle East (almost 900,000 of them were expelled in the late 40s from their "homes" so they came to Israel)... by the standard that these Lebanese retards are using, those Israelis are "allowed".

 

Not all Arab food, just falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush and one other [can't remember]. I believe the Palestinians have first dibs on falafel though.

In Saudi Arabia, they call it Lubnani/Suri hummus, Afghani Bukhari, Turki dejaj. Thats how I know where tamar hindi [tamarind] came from.

The Arabs were always better at giving credit to the author than anyone else has ever been; for some reason, appropriation has always been the western ideology. Just because you like something that belongs to someone else, doesn't make it yours.

I doubt there are any Lebanese Israelis in Israel, and if there are, they decided Lebanon is not their country.

 

S.A.M.: not to burst your bubble, but tomatoes originated in Mexico, so it wasn't until after 1492 that this dish could have originated, with Egyptian & Mexican ingredients, so THEREFOR tabbouleh must be Macedonian Greek

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origin of parsley:
http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/Features/vegetables/parsley/parsley.htm
origin of tomato:
http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/features/vegetables/tomatoes/tomorigin/tomato origin.htm

 

So, we're complaining that somebody else made somebody else's dish and called it their own?

Good grief.

~String

 

No, called it their "national" dish and is exporting it as their dish. Like I bet many people think mousaqqah is Greek.

 

FOOD INDUSTRY IS MONEY. What is Israel is doing is an economic crime.

 

Exactly. Like the Americans "patented" neem and turmeric

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food is a big part of culture. Trying to peel off another people's culture and call it your own is going to piss people off.