CSotD: He made a joke about hummus and ought to falafel
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Darrin Bell (perhaps) unwittingly hits closer to the mark than he expected in today's Candorville.
I say "perhaps" because I don't know his intentions. Maybe he wanted a ton of hate mail and thought he saw a path. If so, it was a path well chosen.
Except it's not hummus. It's falafel.
There is very little in the Middle East that you can comment on without unleashing a storm, and, in particular, if you track the "Middle East" as far west as Greece and thus widen the topic area of who invented what.
Those of us in the West think of Greece as the cradle of much of our culture and that's certainly true. But it's also true (he said, edging out onto the thin ice) that Greece has a strong orientation towards the East. No pun intended.
I did a serialized version of "Theseus and the Minotaur" a number of years back, and, in researching the piece, found that it was one of Greece's oldest myths and serves as a kind of bridge between the agrarian/goddess culture of the Minoans (represented by the bull) and the more patriarchal culture that was emerging in Greece.
And both the Minoans and Greeks developed in a world in which trade faced east to Phoenicia and beyond, there being to the west nobody ready for international trade.
When the west did begin to develop, it was due to Greek colonization, a factor so jealously guarded that, when I later did a collection of myths and called it "Tales of Ancient Rome," two newspapers had to call me to intervene when Greek readers threatened boycotts and picketing, after which I renamed the series "Tales of the Ancient World" to make it clear that, while the Romans did indeed adapt and tell these stories, they had originated in the mother culture.
And if you think the Greeks resent Roman hegemony, you should see what happens if you discuss any possible similarities between their food and what is served in Turkey. Or vice versa, the Turks also being highly protective and possessive of their culture. To put it mildly.
Notice that we haven't gotten all that close to Israel and/or Palestine in this discussion.
But then, in yet another series, I said that Cassiopeia was linked to the ancient trading city of Jaffa, and thus to modern Tel Aviv, and I made the mistake of saying that Tel Aviv was the capital of Israel. Which, while not technically incorrect, is politically very incorrect.
This time, the email and phone calls came from Israelis, insisting on corrections because, of course, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Depending on whom you ask and what you mean by "capital."
And, considering that a large organization that thinks Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel just extended non-member observer status to Palestine yesterday, well, the topic just becomes more interesting and, gosh, Darrin's timing sure couldn't be better.
Because many a truth is spoken in jest and this jest brings us to the important question of who gets to sue whom over the invention of hummus.
The joke being that it's not hummus. It's falafel. And ain't nobody laughing.
A few years ago, two women in England, one Palestinian, one Israeli, began going to falafel places with a video camera to engage the owners and customers in discussion of the origin of the dish and hence the cultural conflict in their shared (heh) homeland.
The project was called "Falafel Road" and the website is here, while an overview of the project can be read here and, if someone knows of a counterpoint overview from the other party, please post it in the comments in place of accusing me of anything. I couldn't find one.
I also couldn't, within the time constraints of getting this blog up online, find out if there is a longer version of the video, or more segments, and would appreciate that as well. In the meantime, here's what I found on YouTube, and let me just make clear that (A) I don't know who invented the stuff, (B) I really enjoy eating it, (C) it sometimes gives me gas.
Which I guess is only appropriate. These conversations seem to give everybody some form of upset.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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