JEWISH WORLD

JEWISH WORLD • APRIL 12-18, 2024 23 World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza last week—it’s further proof that the Palestinian issue dominates the Western con- science more than any other. And because of its naked one-sidedness, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Ben Cohen writes a weekly col- umn for JNS on Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics. JNS.org. chopped liver or latkes, would a review of that establishment con- tain a barb about how these dishes have been appropriated by the Jewish colonizers from the Arabs, without mentioning the long, largely unhappy sojourn of Jewish communities in Arab countries? If so, it’s safe to say that none of the editors would bat an eyelid upon receiving such copy. I am not, of course, asking for sympathy now that my media es- cape routes have been closed down; there are far more pressing matters of life and death to worry about. My point is that if we have really reached a juncture where a discus- sion of eating out necessitates criti- cal mention of Israel but no other country—a trend likely to worsen following the tragic deaths of seven countries that are also global trou- ble spots—Nigeria, Mexico and Korea, among them—warranted similar treatment. After the Times , itwas TheGuardian . That paper, which is known for its harsh coverage of Israel, published a review last weekend of a non-kosher, Ashkenazi-style deli in North London by its food critic, Jay Rayner. I knew that Rayner was Jewish, in part be- cause I’d seen some good-natured joshing from some of his Jewish read- ers about his fondness for pork and seafood dishes. But that didn’t prepare me for what I read. Rayner did spend most of the re- view talking about the food, which he said he enjoyed, while noting that the chicken-soup broth needed more salt. But then came the clincher: “Could I really write about a Jewish restaurant given the current political turmoil? Would I get abuse for doing so?” Rayner wrote. “Surely better to keep shtum . At which point I knew I had no choice: I had to write about it. The horrendous campaign of the government and armed forces of Is- rael in Gaza cannot be allowed to make being Jewish a source of shame.” He proceeded to berate Isra- el for allegedly making “life for Jews who live outside Israel and have no responsibility for the decisions its government takes, so very much harder,” before concluding: “And so I sit here with my terrific salt beef sandwich and my chocolate mousse, indulging that bit of my Jewish iden- tity which makes sense to me. It’s not much, but it’s all I have.” It’s nearly impossible to imag- ine Rayner, or any other food crit- ic, mentioning the persecution of the Uyghur minority by the Bei- jing regime in a review of a Chi- nese restaurant or asserting that a reviewer of Chinese origin is obliged to invoke this crisis of conscience in a discussion of Pe- king duck. Not so with Jewish cui- sine, especially when some Jewish writers are all too willing to join in the chorus of opprobrium. One has to ask, if a Jewish restaurant was serving Sephardic staples like kubbeh or chicken with couscous, instead of Ashkenazi ones like immune from any mention, let alone criticism of, Israel’s military actions in Gaza. The disapproval and the re- sentment are pervasive, seeping into the corners of websites and news outlets that would normally have no business discussing Israel and the Palestinians, or any other conflict (and, of course, they don’t tend to discuss those other conflicts.) Over the last week, I’ve encoun- tered two items on the food pages like this. The first was the eagerly awaited New York Times list of the top 100 restaurants in the city. I clicked on that in order to see whether I’d visited any that made this year’s selection, as well as choose some of the establishments where I’d like to go. I didn’t think (because there was no reason to think) that the Gaza war would show up here, but it did. T he food critic at the Times , Pete Wells, classified one restau- rant—Falafel Tanami, in the Mid- wood section of Brooklyn, at num- ber 65—as “Israeli.” In the accompanying paragraph describ- ing the food, Wells didn’t mention the word “Israel” or talk about the conflict once. Instead, he waxed lyrically about the quality of the falafel balls served there. But that wasn’t the case with the restaurant that came in at number 74—Ayat, an eatery that is also in Brooklyn that Wells classified as “Palestin- ian.” In this case, Wells used half of his allotted paragraph to tell us that its main location features a mural of “Palestinian children behind bars under the Aqsa Mosque.” And he got it wrong: the people behind bars are adults. And he didn’t men- tion the menacing-looking Israel soldiers with machine guns guard- ing those adults. I came away from reading that wondering whether the recommen- dation was for the food or for the politics. Needless to say, none of the other cuisines emanating from From a review of a deli: ‘The horrendous campaign of … Israel in Gaza cannot be allowed to make being Jewish a source of shame.’ Restaurants continued from page 15 Because... 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