A new war between Israel and Lebanon has erupted, but this time the war is not geopolitical, but rather an issue of cuisine-who has sovereignty over traditional Arab dishes and sandwiches.

The president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association Fadi Abboud, said he is preparing to file an international lawsuit against Israel for allegedly “taking the identity of some Lebanese foods” and thus violating a food copyright.

“In a way the Jewish state is trying to claim ownership of traditional Lebanese delicacies like falafel, tabouleh and hummus” Abboud said.

According to Abboud, the Lebanese are losing “tens of millions of dollars annually” because Israel is selling and marketing traditional Lebanese dishes.

“The Israelis are marketing our main food dishes as if they were Israeli dishes,” he charged.

via Lebanese union to sue Israel for ‘claiming ownership’ of falafel – Haaretz – Israel News.

—

This is the kind of war I can watch with delight.   You see, the only way to decide this is to eat a whole bunch of good food and see who is really the best at making it.  We can also have civil historical discussion about how everone in the Middle East (and the World) are from the same big family and with so much good food to eat, it’s not worth killing each other.

To be honest, however, this might actually become an issue as it has in the EU.  Recall, many foodstuffs are named for the place where they were born, so to speak, and it can be argued this label is something that should be defended for accuracy and quality sake.  I don’t know if “falafel” is a city/town/O’Reilly fetish in history, but if someone has a good argument for why the term should be protected, take it to your lawyers and see how it works.

And in this case, you might want to avoid the lawfirm of Abraham, Isaac, and Hummus.