Hummus, a contested history

Image credit: By Beyrouthhh at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29254279

Hummus is a savoury chickpea paste that has been eaten for centuries in the Levant, perhaps originating in Syria or Lebanon. The word 'hummus' is the Arabic word for chickpea.

Like felafel, hummus is an ancient dish. Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada, a 13th century Egyptian cookbook includes instructions for preparing “hummus b’tahini,” (chickpeas with tahini), but uses vinegar instead of lemon, and does not include tahini. An 18th century recipe from Damascus that includes tahini, garlic, and lemon seems closer to the modern dish.

Also like felafel, hummus has a highly contested history, with some Israeli manufacturers appropriating hummus as a traditional Israeli dish. While there have been Israeli assertions that the Biblical use of the word “hometz” refers to hummus, the direct translation is of "hometiz" is “vinegar,” a very different food. Food historian Noah Robinson points out that following the Nakba, Israeli colonists sought to establish a sense of nativism by adopting local foods such as hummus, felafel and maftoul, while suppressing the role of Palestinians in the development of these dishes. As journalist Joseph Massad comments, “Israelis stole the Palestinian dish and marketed it as their own, just as they did with the Palestinian homeland.”

Israeli attempts to brand hummus as Israeli led to the "Hummus Wars" of 2008 and 2009, with Lebanese chefs finally claiming victory after preparing a 4,500 pound dish of hummus in October 2009 that qualified for an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.  

Hummus remains a controversial food product in Aotearoa. The Israeli company Sabra sells hummus in New Zealand supermarkets under the brand Obela. As well as appropriating indigenous Middle Eastern food, Sabra is co-owned by the Strauss Group, an Israeli multinational food and beverage corporation. The Strauss group has a history of funding and sending care packages to soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces, including the elite Golani and Givati Brigades, which are notorious for committing war crimes in Lebanon and Occupied Palestine.

The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign has called for all New Zealanders to boycott Obela hummus. 

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Links and references

​Here’s why Palestinians object to the term ‘Israeli food’: It erases us from history - The Washington Post
Israel-Palestine: How food became a target of colonial conquest | Middle East Eye
Boycott Campaign: Sabra - CJPME - English
Who owns hummus? | Rachel Shabi | The Guardian
Hummus and The Hummus Wars: A Delicious Story of Controversy
The Hummus Wars on JSTOR
Human rights and hummus: The fight over Obela in New Zealand is just getting started | The Spinoff