I reported a couple of days ago about how some Palestinian Arabs are upset over the meal that president Obama will be served upon visiting the residence of Israel's President Shimon Peres next week - because it includes falafel and hummous.
Now I see an additional four articles about the same topic in Arabic media.
Palestine Today says "Falafel is one of the oldest foods of the Palestinian people, but Jewish groups struggled since the dawn of history and the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories to prove and counterfeit that falafel and popular dishes of Palestine are part of Jewish food heritage, in a desperate attempt to sway world public opinion. When Israel occupied Palestine it stole the Palestinian cuisine heritage, and they boast and brag and claim that the hummus and falafel is a Jewish meal of Jewish heritage. After that they claimed that the holy sites in Jerusalem and the land of Palestine is part of Jewish history and Muslims are outsiders on the land and those sanctuaries..."
Al Quds says this is an "additional episode in the series of attempts to strip Palestinians of their identity and heritage, down to their falafel and hummus. This is similar to their changing the names of Palestinian cities and geography, through history, which is still the field of intense struggle, mixing allegations with facts, using food and clothes and handicrafts which are made in Israel and promoted globally as part of its heritage." It reluctantly admits that some Jews come from Arab lands and do eat chickpeas with tehina, but claims that the Israeli government is purposefully trying to steal Arab heritage.
Ramzi Shaheen Sadiq. writing at Balagh, has a full op-ed on this topic. He not only laments that Israelis are "stealing" falafel, but that Palestinian Arabs are starting to eat foods like pizza and sushi. Sadiq declares that Palestinian Arabs eating falafel is part of their "resistance."
Al Watan Voice laments that by Obama eating falafel in Israel is proves that the US is no longer interested in working with Arabs to achieve a solution.