Episode 017: Appetite for Justice with Laila El-Haddad
This week, Laila El-Haddad, co-author of the Gaza Kitchen, joins the Palestine Pod. In honor of the publication of the third edition of the book, Laila shares with us some of the new recipes that she learned on her last trip to Gaza in 2019. Laila paints for us a culinary picture of Gaza and explains how intimately the history and politics, including in particular the Nakba of 1948, affect the local cuisine. Laila and Michael go back in time to recall a rich history of Gaza since Alexander the Great. Laila provides an update on her family in Gaza further to Israel's latest assaults which she notes focused on Gaza's commercial hub and city center unlike previous Israeli assaults which tended to focus on the periphery of the besieged enclave. Lara queries where Gaza's love for the chili pepper came from. Laila recalls that conversations about Gaza's resistance should never lose sight of the fact that resistance itself is not the goal: Liberation is the goal and resistance is the means. Michael instigates bamya-gate part two.
To consult the sources used in the preparation of this episode, please see:
Books
Articles/Videos
Video: Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. "Jerusalem" (Full episode must be purchased). A clip from his trip to Gaza with Laila.
The 2014 Israeli Attack on Gaza (“Operation Protective Edge”) One Year Later (IMEU).
The toll of Israeli strikes on Gaza: Mapping the destruction left behind (Washington Post)
Explore the Ruins of an Ancient Incense Route (Smithsonian Magazine)
The Wine and Vineyards of Gaza in the Byzantine Period (The University of Chicago Press)
Byzantine-era seeds of ‘Gaza wine’ found in Negev (The Times of Israel)
Israel's Occupation: 50 years of dispossession (Amnesty International)
Food as Control, Food as Resistance (Grassroots International): All Palestinians lack food sovereignty. “How do Indigenous and Black struggles around food sovereignty in the US intersect with those in Palestine, in terms of both the violence and trauma out of which they emerged and the forms of resistance they have generated? This was the topic of a rich discussion via the webinar Eating the Other: Toward Food Sovereignty in Palestine and the U.S., which Grassroots International had the honor of co-sponsoring in partnership with Just World Educational, featuring author-activists Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt, chef-activist Brit Reed and farmer-activist Jonathan Wilson.”
Israeli Forces Kill Gaza Fisherman at Sea (Human Rights Watch)
Israeli occupation cost Gaza $16.7 billion in past decade - UNCTAD estimates (United Nations)
The Gaza Strip’s Last Safety Net Is in Danger (The Nation): “No development, no prosperity, no humanitarian crisis.”
Putting Palestinians “On a Diet”: Israel’s Siege & Blockade of Gaza (IMEU)
Israel's control of the airspace and the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip (B’Tselem)
Israel Changed Boundaries of Gaza Fishing Zone 20 Times during 2019 (The Communist Party of Israel)
Israeli Aircraft Bomb Gaza Just Days Into New Government (The New York Times)
Israel’s targeting of economic facilities in Gaza signals disastrous consequences (Relief Web, OCHA)
Israel Bombs Emergency Medical Equipment 3D-Printing Facility in Gaza (Vice): This was where Gaza’s first 3D printer was built (Tarek Loubani, Twitter).
Future’s quote on Palestine in What Does Palestine Mean for Black America (YouTube)
