The Truth About the Hummus Controversy: History of the Middle East

Sung Min (Clara) Lee

Introduction

Hummus. Who could have thought this seemingly insignificant spread made from cooked and

mashed chickpeas could instigate such a stormy quarrel? The controversy surrounding authorization

over the food has gone beyond the dinner table discussion or debate; it has become one that deals with

the cultural identities of the two nations, Lebanon and Israel, with each country claiming authentic and

unique ownership. Yet, the conflict between Lebanon and Israel regarding the hummus is probably one

of the most harmless and more recent matters in the long list of, often bloody, conflicts between the

two countries. Having never negotiated a definite peace contract, the two countries have engaged in

sporadic yet ceaseless fights since the year 1948, the year in which Lebanon held hands with the Arabs

and attacked Israel. Ultimately, this enmity between the two countries spilled over the debate on the

origin and nationality of hummus. While Lebanon is arguing that Israel is marketing and selling what is

rightfully Lebanese food product as though Israelis, Israel is outraged by the mere idea of the Lebanese

marketing hummus as a Lebanese national food. The hummus controversy is yet another means of

Lebanon and Israel openly demonstrating their antagonism toward each other. However, as trivial as

the hummus controversy may sound, hummus can actually help to bring together the two nations and

thus offers a possibility of a new era and a step closer to peaceful reconciliation between Lebanon and

Israel.

What Is Hummus?

The etymology of the word, “hummus” suggests “the Arabic word for chickpeas.”1 As the word

itself suggests, hummus is made with “dried chickpeas, bicarbonate of soda, tahini (a Middle Eastern

paste or sauce made from ground sesame seeds), lemon, crushed garlic, a pinch of cumin (the aromatic

seeds of a plant of the parsley family), salt and olive oil and paprika to top.”2 Despite the seemingly

simple instructions and harmless ingredients of the hummus, it, in fact, requires that “the tahini has to

be great… good quality....” and the “ratio between the ingredients, of course, is very important.”3 In

short, the methods of making hummus can be summarized as:

…[P]ut twice the volume of chickpeas with cold water and stir in 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda and leave to soak for 24 hours...Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently until they're tender – they need to be easy to mush, and almost falling apart, which will take between 1 and 4 hours depending on your chickpeas.... Mix the tahini with half the lemon juice and half the crushed garlic – it should tighten up – then stir in enough cooled cooking liquid to make a loose paste.4

Hummus can be eaten in various ways such that it can be used as “a super spread on sandwiches and

wraps,” as a “tasty dressing,” a “great dip with raw veggies,” or could be made into a famous Middle

Eastern dish, the “falafel (fried or baked crispy balls made with chickpeas, bulgur, and spices).”5

Hummus is also one of the favorite dishes of those individuals who want to maintain a healthy diet due

to its nutritional values and low calorie. It is “rich in fiber and protein” as well as containing “vitamins

and minerals such as folic acid, zinc, and magnesium,” and can help “lower blood cholesterol” and

“help prevent cancer.”6

The Origin: Where Did Hummus Come From?

The origins of hummus are not exactly known but it is supposedly believed to “date back to the

Time of the Crusades.”7 It was first prepared in the “12th century for Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and

Syria.”8 However, nowadays, enjoyment of hummus is not limited to the Middle Eastern countries,

though it is still prevalent “in 95% of Israeli homes and almost every Israeli restaurant serves it as an

appetizer, a side-dish or a main course.”9 Around the world, and especially in the United States and

also in Europe, the increasing popularity of hummus can be seen from a survey done by the

Information Resources Inc., a market research company that analyzes the consumer packaged goods

industry. This Chicago-based research company has announced that “U.S. Hummus consumption

increased 35% over the last 21 months, with sales reaching nearly $300 million.”10 It is also noted that

“companies that mass-produce hummus have appealed to American tastes by offering endless flavor

varieties, like roasted red pepper, green chili and cilantro, chocolate, and sun-dried tomato.”11 More

recently, Sabra, a hummus manufacturing company that dominates approximately 60 percent of the

American hummus market, has announced an $86 million expansion of its factory to accommodate the

sharp increase in demand.12 Ultimately, “hummus has gone from being an ‘ethnic novelty’ to an

American staple.”13 Such increased consumption was immediately followed by transferring of the

hummus controversy even to the U.S., such as the one at Princeton University, NJ in 2010. The debate

began as Princeton Committee on Palestine (PCP) called for a ban on Sabra’s hummus, which was sold

on campus.

Sabra is partially owned by the Strauss group, which is an Israeli company that has a history of supporting the Golani Brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces. The Golani brigade is known as a particularly reckless one and has been accused by human rights organizations of numerous human rights violations…The Princeton Committee on Palestine objects to the fact that Sabra is the only hummus brand that is offered in most university stores, and that students who wish to eat this traditional Arab food are forced to buy a product that is connected to human rights abuses against Arab civilians.14

Arabic students in other major universities soon followed, resulting in a hummus controversy across

the U.S.15

Lebanon: What Is The Controversy Surrounding Hummus?

Recently between Israel and Lebanon, there has been a hotbed controversy of the marketing

origin of Hummus. The Lebanese claim that hummus is theirs, arguing that the “first manufacturer of

hummus with tahina was a Lebanese company, back in 1959. The Lebanese were the first to

manufacture, produce, export” and “really turn hummus into an international dish.”16 Feeling the need

to devise new methods in gaining credit, recognition, and control over hummus, Lebanon is now trying

to “beat” Israel by making the most hummus in the world. They want “to win a battle against Israel by

registering this new Guinness World Record and telling the whole world that hummus is a Lebanese

product.”17 This Guinness World Record Hummus required

some 300 chefs.... The white-uniformed chefs used 2,976 pounds (1,350 kilograms) of mashed chickpeas, 106 gallons (400 liters) of lemon juice and 57 pounds (26 kilograms) of salt to make the dish, weighing 4,532 pounds (2,056 kilograms).18

Yet, this World Record only proves the ability of the Lebanese to make a quantitatively large hummus.

In order to make hummus their national dish, “Lebanon must formally register the product as

Lebanese,” which, questionably the country has not yet done.19 It is also noted that some Lebanese

groups have criticized a major American hummus manufacturer with an Israeli owner, for selling and

making huge profits from an “intrinsically Lebanese dish.”20 Sayings such as "First our land, then our

hummus" have surfaced on the internet among Lebanese groups.21

Israel: What Is The Controversy Surrounding Hummus?

Israelis, on the other hand, believe that hummus is an inevitable part of their culture and daily

lives, simply saying, “It's Israeli, and it's simply us;” people in Israel deny any counterargument about

the mere fact of the interconnectedness between hummus and the Israelis.22 They believe that

the most important culinary chapter in Israel’s history began with a love story from the Bible: At their first encounter in the barley fields of Bethlehem, Boaz invited Ruth to wipe hummus up with pita: “And Boaz said unto her at mealtime: ‘Come hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar.’ And she sat beside the reapers; and they reached her parched corn, and she did eat and was satisfied, and left thereof (Ruth 2:14).23

Alongside the biblical story rooted in history, hummus is considered

one of the pillars of our [Israel's] cuisine-and for good reason. Chickpeas are among the oldest crops in the land of Israel and among the earliest foods of our ancestors; in ancient Hebrew texts, chickpeas are called hamitz or himtza. In the modern era hummus was initially and primarily consumed here as a breakfast food for field hands.24

Due to the fact that hummus is an Israel cuisine, Israelis have always been considered the top chefs in

making the 'authentic' hummus. It is said that:

hummus industry in the United States is that its industrial production is primarily dominated by Israeli-owned companies. Also, the most widely praised “gourmet” hummus restaurants in American cities seem to be owned by Israeli immigrants.25

To the Israelis, hummus always had and always will be considered an Israeli national dish.

So Why Is This Controversy Such A Big Deal?

Food is a major contributor in defining an identity of a sovereign nation as it binds the people as

a region, nation, and family through the physical act of eating. It becomes

a part of one’s identity through processes of social solidification and processes of social boundary-making. We can understand food as a way of bringing people together through the social experience of eating with others, and eating the same food as others.26

Such concept has coined the term “culinary nationalism.” Culinary nationalism can be summarized by

the term, “we are what we eat,” and “has always been an important component of broader

nationalism.”27 In fact, E.N. Anderson, professor of Anthropology in University of California,

Riverside contends that “Indeed, [food] may be second only to language as a social communication

system (124).”28 Due to the increasing popularity of hummus around the world nowadays, the act of

demonstrating hummus as either a Lebanese or an Israelis food boosts the national pride of the citizens

and serves as a bonding experience for the descendants distributed all across the globe. Anderson also

contends, “as certain foods become associated with a particular identity (ethnic, social class, political

etc.), it becomes a way by which groups of individuals may distinguish themselves from others.”29

Thus, hummus serves as no longer just a food but as a symbolism of the nation's pride and identity and

the fact that another country is trying to steal a nation's individuality seems like a preposterous idea to

one another. Such is the matter that has gone beyond the limits or boundaries of just arguing about the

food but an issue that extends toward a more profound discussion of cultural identities.

Competition: Has Lebanon and Israel Always Been Competitors?

Many believe that the two nations of Lebanon and Israel have always been in an incessant war.

In truth, Lebanon and Israel have not always been hostile to each other. In fact,

with a large Christian minority in an overwhelmingly Muslim region, mercantile and Westernized, Lebanon was considered the least hostile Arab neighbor to Israel and the weakest.30

However, antagonism began to build up as Lebanon declared that it would hold hands with the

neighboring Arab nations and started to attack Jewish land in 1948. Slowly accumulating over the

years, the feeling of animosity between the Arabs and Israelis finally resulted in the creation of

Hezbollah, a militia and political group in Lebanon:

Following the Islamic revolution in Shi’ite Iran in 1979 and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, a group of Lebanese Shi’ite clerics formed Hezbollah with the goal of driving Israel from Lebanon and establishing an Islamic state there.31

Initiated by the mission statement that focused on an “establishment of a Shi'ite theocracy in Lebanon,

the destruction of Israel, and the elimination of Western influences from the Middle East,” Hezbollah

has succeeded in disseminating and widening an anti-Israeli feeling throughout Lebanon.32 Hezbollah

has grown to become a powerful political militia in Lebanon and has been using “its prestige to attempt

to topple Lebanon's government.”33 It has been a huge contributor in numerous bombings across the

Israeli border and has kidnapped many Israeli soldiers; either to hold them hostage from their

homelands for a long period of time or to give them back as corpse. In response to Hezbollah's violent

military tactics against the country, Israel has met them with the same, if not more, amount of violence,

only resulting in many casualties of innocent bystanders.

Beyond Just Competition: War And Bloodshed

The severity of the Lebanese-Israeli conflict finally caught the attention of the world, following

the brutal unwarranted attack of Hezbollah on Israel in 2006. The 2006 Lebanon War, or the Second

Lebanon War was when

Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a 33-day war in which Hezbollah fired a hail of rockets into Israel and the Israelis bombed Lebanese towns, villages and infrastructure but made little headway in ground operations.34

This incident is marked by a devastating amount of destruction of Israeli and Lebanese infrastructure

and casualties from the Hezbollah katyusha rockets and the requital of the Israeli government with the

same degree of violence, resulting in

deaths of over 561 persons during Israeli air and ground strikes, and collected information about an additional 548 deaths, thus accounting for a total number of 1,109 deaths (approximately 860 civilians and approximately 250 combatants) from the 34- day conflict.35

Due to the increasing number of civilian casualties that started to peak in the numbers of thousands and

the growing intensity of violence among the two nations, the United Nations passed the United Nations

Resolution 1701 with some probable solutions. Some of these solutions include a “disarmament of all

armed groups in Lebanon,” “the importance of full control of Lebanon by the government of Lebanon,”

and “calls on the international community to take immediate steps to extend its financial and

humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people.”36 By suggesting practical solutions to the seemingly

bleak reality of the Israeli-Lebanon conflict, the world is reinforcing the reality that this conflict is not a

destined fate, but rather it actually has the capacity to be changed.

What Is The Most Ideal Solution?

While each of these solutions seem practical in their own way, they fail to grapple with the core

predicament that hinders Lebanon and Israel from being at peace with each other, which is the long-

lasting hatred between the two countries. This zealous acrimony is reflected in a few contemporary

examples such as the recent hummus controversy that branches out toward culinary nationalism and the

ruthless military conflicts that only serve to aggravate this feeling of animosity. Even though trying to

alter this firmly rooted denunciation of each other might seem implausible at first, in theory, it is rather

simple. It only requires a stimulating mechanism that will enlighten them of the similarities that they

share as a collective nation: “They're all one and the same. They're one nation. This is the truth. They're

one nation.”37 In Lebanon, organized by Lebanese civil groups, the citizens who have grown tired of

violence have participated in a peace demonstration. They say,

First of all we are here to raise our voice as a third voice against all this violence, against all what is happening. We are-as the civil society-we are here we are part of the people who are concerned for the future of the country. We want everyone to take [on] his role the way they should be, especially at the political level and at the decision making level.

If they do what they are supposed to do then it will be much better,” said Lebanese protester, Adnan Milkey.38

As a matter of fact, the Lebanese and the Israeli citizens are more than ready for peace, some even

yearning for a tranquil night marked by the end of their frightful nightmare in which they have to

shudder every second in fear of unexpected katyusha bombs flying above.

How Does Hummus Play Into This Scenario?

It is an undeniable fact that while hummus stirs up controversy between the Lebanese and

Israeli, it does provide a common food that both countries consider important in their cuisines and can

talk about. In fact, they are both arguing about who should claim hummus, ultimately suggesting the

popularity of the taste of hummus not just in the Middle East but also throughout the entire world.

These two nations are merely blinded by the narrow-minded vengeful perspective that they fail to

acknowledge hummus as actual food; they only see it as another form of weapon that can only have

one “true” ownership and origin: “in normal reality, hummus is hummus, in abnormal reality, hummus

is a weapon.”39 They have been evaluating each other only in military concepts that they even see food

as a weapon to fight with. They are looking at each other with bloodshot eyes, hungry for victory over

this quixotic hummus war. Thus, the hummus war suggests how mere hatred has spilled over in

becoming what is completely irrational—fights and bloodsheds; they are gaining pleasure from

demeaning the other culture over one’s own in an attempt to boost one side’s self esteem by irrational

methods.

However, rather than arguing over the superiority of the ethnic identity surrounding hummus,

the two nations should consider hummus as representing a national identity and should take mutual

pride in the acknowledgment that hummus gained throughout the world. Undeniably they are saying,

we all love the same food. We all love the same food. We relate to the same flavors. This is hummus, and tahini, and olive oil, and olives and fresh vegetables. 40

Hummus is “like a symbol of, of this, you know, utopia of, of living in peace with our neighbors.”41 In

actuality, the Middle East “should share it, not fight over it. None of them can really take, take

responsibility on, on inventing the hummus.”42 The emphasis should be put more on the symbolism of

hummus as a palatable food rather than a source of controversy in prioritizing, thus separating, nations.

Food is supposed to bring people together to join one another around a table, not to rip them apart from

one another.

In short, the controversy over hummus is not a trivial joke to laugh about, but it pertains to a

more serious issue of the long-lasting conflict between Israel and Lebanon. Both Lebanese and Israelis

have tried to get recognition from the world. They have done so by asserting that hummus is each

country’s own. They have even tried competing in making the quantitatively greatest amount of

hummus in the world in trying to prove that one’s own culture is more superior to the other. This

proves that these two countries are in fact, oblivious to their narrow-minded mindsets. However,

“depictions of hummus in the media between 1960 and 1980 tend to see hummus as part of a larger

“Middle Eastern” cuisine, emphasizing its regional origin as opposed to its national origin.”43 In

reality, hummus is only a food, albeit a very important one. Hummus is neither Lebanese nor Israelis

but a general Middle Eastern Arabic food. It emphasizes the cultural identity of the Middle Eastern

people. Hummus should act as a bonding experience between the two nations rather than raise petty

objections of defining one culture over the other because in a nutshell, culture cannot be ranked.

However, the questions to be answered are: Will the hummus controversy ever be resolved? If it does,

will it really help bond the two nations who have been archenemies? The answer to this question is still

one to be questioned and wrestled with.

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