(chick)Peas in the Middle East

Time and time again there seems to be this wacky notion that one day there will be a lasting peace between the nations of the Middle East, especially between Israel and Lebanon. John Lennon may have been a dreamer, and I am sure that he was not the only one; but as someone, whose pessimistic world view is deeply rooted in the evidence of the fallibility of the human condition, I would be willing to lay a large sum of money Israel and Lebanon will never be best buddies. If you were to completely ignore the fact that turmoil in the region has its most recent roots right after WWII when the nation of Israel became the proverbial “parting gift” for the plighted and misplaced European Jews, and ignore the fact that it was under English rule in the 1930s when Palestine was split and a large portion was taken from the Arab Muslim population, you will see that centuries of slow and multifaceted Zionism has lead to thousands of Sons and Daughters of Abraham to return to their promised Canaan against the will of their neighbors. As you look farther and farther back in time you can also see a reoccurring pattern of change in ownership of the region. It is like looking at the ebb and flow of the sea, but instead of water picture thousands of yarmulkes washing back and forth across most of the eastern hemisphere. The failure of the Third Crusade allowed the way for the Zionistic Pilgrims to return to a country that they had been dispersed from in the First Crusade. Heading back farther we find the formerly controlling Roman Empire loosing its grip on the region when it split into the Eastern and Byzantium Empires. Further back still The Maccabees (you know those guys that made Hanukkah all the rage) won independence from Alexander the Great’s Hellenized version of Israel. Hundreds of years before Alex the Great got his Greek paws on the Land of Milk and Honey, Israel was free. Its freedom came with the cost of an oath of support to the Nation of Persia. Why did they owe Persia such a favor? They owed them because Persia had previously defeated Babylon and freed the Jews from the clutches of Babylonian exile.

Don’t even get me started on the whole Egypt thing.

Needless to say this region of the world has been in trouble for a long long time and this is only one side of the story (there are at least 3 others that you can be sure of).

You could ignore the history and go straight to the religious route and see that both the Hebrew population and the Muslim population fervently believe that this tiny nation, no bigger than the state of Massachusetts, was given to them by God. Here is the real kicker, they both believe in the same God.

That is where I used to think most of the problems in the region stemmed from…a general disagreement over a Heavenly Manifest. That was until I read an article from the Haaretz (an English printed Israeli newspaper) that enlightened me to a cultural clash that may have even farther reaching consequences than a difference in religion. This is the headline.

Lebanese union to sue Israel for 'claiming ownership' of falafel

After reading the article I was stunned to find out that the problem is not just falafel but hummus and tabouleh as well…GASP!!!! It turns out that the Lebanese union feels that it is unfair that Israel would profit from the sales of these Mid East food staples, because they are (in their opinion) a clear invention of the Lebanese. I cannot wholly blame the people of Lebanon, if I had recipes that had such diverse ingredients like chick peas, garlic, parsley, garlic, chick peas, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, garlic, and chick peas I would hold onto the claim that they were mine quite zealously. Of course on the other hand I can understand why the Israelites would want to share such delicacies with the world, delicacies that can be severed in such diverse ways like on pita bread, and in pita bread, and not to mention, with a side of pita bread.

There simply is just no way that I see these cultures with their shockingly different religious deity…oh wait same God…Ok I don’t think that there is any way that these two cultures with their culinary diversity…oh, wait again… chick peas, garlic and olive oil versus chick peas, garlic and olive oil?

Perhaps John Lennon was right; maybe someday I should join him so the world can live as one.


YEAH RIGHT!!! AS IF!!! He married Yoko and broke up The Beatles, like I would follow his advice.

Next Stop!!! WTF!!!

I am not one who likes to get political on my site (as least not in a serious real world way) but how could I pass up this video from the creators of Charley the Unicorn? Besides it really doesn’t lean clearly right or left wing because it is just so bizarre.


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Sickeningly cute? Check! Slightly Dark? Check! Mildly irritating? Check! Sounds like WTF to me.


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CHALLENGE!!!

I would normally find it against every moral fiber of my soul to classify anything that Mr. T does as a CHALLENGE!!! But this is just painful to watch.


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