Hummus for harmony: Israel restaurant offers 50% discount for Arabs, Jews sitting together

Here’s a piece of news which has much relevance in a context where food has become a flashpoint for hatred between communities in India. A restaurant owner in Israel has offered a 50 percent discount for tables where Arabs and Jews sit together, Quartz has reported. This comes amidst a new wave of violence in the region, in which Israel has accused the attacks taking place in its country as acts of terrorism, while Palestine views them as acts of martyrdom. [caption id=“attachment_2477456” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: Wikipedia commons[/caption] The manager of the restaurant, Kobi Tzafir was quoted by The Times of Israel as saying, “If there’s anything that bring together these peoples, it is hummus.” Quartz has reported that the restaurant has put this announcement on its Facebook page. While most comments are said to be positive, some comments strike a more pessimistic note. Daily News has reported that the Tzafir said that the aim is to “show that we’re all human beings, just like each other, not so different”. According to the report, while the discount was going to be till Thursday, the manager is considering extending it indefinitely considering the response to the initiative. It noted that this comes even as UN Secretary-General paid a surprise visit to territories in Israel and Palestine after unrest in the region. As a response to the conflict, the Times of Israel reported that the move was after growing intolerance from extremists  and was a step to bring people together. Similar attempts at making a point about tolerance through food have been made in India, too. For instance, earlier this month, a Muslim professor invited people out for lunch to eat pork, while saying that he doesn’t eat pork for religious, cultural and personal reasons. He gave the invitation to anyone who was willing to join him, irrespective of whether he knew them or not.