PA TV: Israel steals Palestinian foods like couscous and markets them as Israeli
PA TV interviews Majdulin Salameh, representing the Ministry of Tourism, on the international couscous festival in Sicily:
PA TV host: "Let’s talk about the plan for Palestinian participation in this international [couscous] festival, and about the importance of couscous as a popular Palestinian heritage dish, and the theft of this dish by Israel, to the extent that one year it [Israel] participated in this festival and won, [presenting] couscous as an Israeli dish...Couscous, like the other popular dishes and heritage foods, and even the Palestinian debka [dance], has been stolen and marketed as Israeli. What is your role, in the Ministry of Tourism, in stopping these attempts and the Israeli theft?"
Majdulin Salameh: "Our presence [at the festival] in and of itself is a form of struggle and resistance against the entire manner of the Israeli side in stealing our heritage. Not only with couscous but, as you mentioned, there are things that they try to take and to attribute to themselves, such as other popular Palestinian foods, like humus, falafel, embroidery. Lots of things. This is our task as the Ministry of Tourism: we are present at all international forums where it is possible that there will be a threat or a danger to the Palestinian heritage, which will be marketed as Israeli heritage rather than as Palestinian."
PA TV host: "Let’s talk about the plan for Palestinian participation in this international [couscous] festival, and about the importance of couscous as a popular Palestinian heritage dish, and the theft of this dish by Israel, to the extent that one year it [Israel] participated in this festival and won, [presenting] couscous as an Israeli dish...Couscous, like the other popular dishes and heritage foods, and even the Palestinian debka [dance], has been stolen and marketed as Israeli. What is your role, in the Ministry of Tourism, in stopping these attempts and the Israeli theft?"
Majdulin Salameh: "Our presence [at the festival] in and of itself is a form of struggle and resistance against the entire manner of the Israeli side in stealing our heritage. Not only with couscous but, as you mentioned, there are things that they try to take and to attribute to themselves, such as other popular Palestinian foods, like humus, falafel, embroidery. Lots of things. This is our task as the Ministry of Tourism: we are present at all international forums where it is possible that there will be a threat or a danger to the Palestinian heritage, which will be marketed as Israeli heritage rather than as Palestinian."