The war in the Middle East that’s cost thousands of lives –– 1,200 Israelis and more than 15,000 Palestinians to date –– continues to reverberate around the world. The pain is especially being felt throughout Los Angeles, which has some of the largest populations of Israelis and Palestinians in America. Protests have occurred since the fighting began and the city has seen a rise in hate crimes, but also a lot of solidarity between people on both sides. One of the ways people are finding common ground is through food.
Natasha Feldman, author of The Dinner Party Project, is hosting a pop-up with chef Jenn Sills called Festivus: A Hanukkah BBQ to bring Jewish comfort food with a twist to LA diners, and maybe spark some dialogue too.
“The proceeds for the pop-up are going to go to New Ground, which is an LA-based nonprofit that works with the Muslim and Jewish community to create partnerships for change. They're really about building honest and authentic relationships so that people can learn about each other's faith and biases, and come to a common commitment for change,” Feldman explains. “We thought it was a really nice combination of the way that foods can bring people together. And the reason I spend so much time thinking about dinner parties and wrote a book about [them] is because I do think it is truly a valuable way to build community. But then, also in this particular moment, being able to build the Muslim and Jewish communities together to a point of understanding because again, we're all humans who basically want the same things. And finding commonalities is, I think, the only way forward.”
The message of understanding could be found all over LA, even at Canter’s Deli, which was recently the target of antisemitic graffiti, along with more buildings in their historically Jewish neighborhood.
Jaqueline Canter, a third-generation owner of the business, says, “We have moved on since that time. Everybody has been very supportive of us. And we don't tolerate hatred. We believe in loving people not hating them. So everybody is welcome at Canter's.”
Canter’s Deli has been an institution for decades in LA's historic Fairfax District, which is home to a large concentration of the city’s Jewish population. Photo by Shutterstock.
Azmi Haroun traveled to LA for the Souk Marché to represent his family’s restaurant, Mannoon and sell their za’atar and more. The event drew thousands to Downtown LA to raise money for relief funds focused in Gaza. Haroun says his family has managed to avoid Islamaphobic attacks, but it’s hard not to be on edge.
“There have been so many fears for Arab-owned, Palestinian-owned businesses of … people having their windows vandalized or negative reviews flooding on websites. We have been blessed to not be on that side. … There's definitely fear if you speak out on something that's just a moral thing, and people make it something else and target you,” Haroun says.
Azmi Haroun traveled from Seattle for the Souk Marché event to sell his family restaurant’s goods. Photo by Giuliana Mayo.
Also at the event were Rheyanah Williams and her mother, Fatmah Muhammad, who are co-founders of the Knafeh Queens. They were churning out knafeh, a cheese-stuffed dessert made from shredded phyllo dough and topped with simple syrup and pistachios for the hungry attendees. Muhammad was larger than life in head-to-toe hot pink, ululating when she saw friends walk into the room as she baked and served her treats. But her focus went beyond just looking fabulous.
“What we're doing with Knafeh Queens is we're trying to share our narrative, the beautiful stories of the Palestinian people,” Muhammad says. “The stories of how I grew up as a Palestinian with love and hospitality and kindness, in good food and warmth. That's truly what I'm trying to amplify for the people of Gaza. We're trying to be the voice for the voiceless and I hope we're doing a good job, and I hope we're making them proud.”
The Knafeh Queens, Rheyanah Williams (L) and her mother Fatmah Muhammad (R), bring sweets and so much pink to the table at the Souk Marché gathering. Photo by Giuliana Mayo.
Yayah Trad, the owner of Jerusalem Chicken, says that he’s gotten support from a cross-section of the community who show up for the restaurant’s famous Palestinian-inspired lemon chicken and lighter-than-air falafel. He came to America in 2011 looking for opportunity, something he found with his business.
“I am Muslim. So if I'm going to pray, I can put my carpet [out], and make a prayer and nobody asks me why. This is a big difference between the USA and [the rest of the] world. … It is freedom,” Trad says.
L: Yayah Trad stands outside his restaurant, Jerusalem Chicken, in South LA. R: The falafel at Jerusalem Chicken is ever so light and fluffy. Photos by Giuliana Mayo.
While I ate much delicious Israeli food and spoke to many Israelis in the reporting of this piece, finding Israelis who felt that same freedom of speech proved difficult. Some people I spoke to said it was too hard to talk about the war, others said they feared reprisals for doing so. Natasha Feldman hopes that her table can be a place for people to be open and speak freely.
”Food in general, for me, it's the international language of love. I feel like it's one of the things that really brings people together, no matter where they're from…We can all cook a simple meal, we can all invite people over. And I think it's one of the best ways that you can take control of finding ways to put aside your own biases and help Los Angeles become a better place.”