"Why don't they leave us alone"? Wow, you are so full of self-importance. Who is bothering you? Falafel is not the exclusive property of Lebanon, and it has never been patented by Lebanese as their own. There is no proof it comes from Lebanon in particular. In fact, it appears to have its origins in Egypt, from which it migrated to Syria. Nevertheless, don't complain if you are unable to market "your" products in the global free market economy.

China is going to sue Italy over the pasta the Marco Polo brought back? Or Italy the US for Chicago Style pizza? Come on, this is really stupid. Lebanon doesn't 'own' any foods.

Felafel, humus, kubeh and all the rest are just known pan-Middle Eastern recipes. It has no place or time. It's not like, say. Cognac or Champaigne, where the region is the brand (and even these French regions have gone a bit overboard). Felafel, etc. are regional dishes, not brands. Even the idea of a lawsuit is totally frivolous. Now you have altruistic idiots complaining about who stole what. Just shut up and enjoy your frickin' felafel wherever you are!

most of the koran was stolen from the torah! things like being kosher and the things mohammy liked about the torah where taken from the torah when it was read to him(he didn't know how to read) he admired the torah, and unforunatley was extremely jealuos of the Jews.

in the falafel and then it will be the will of allahs trademark falafel!

Herod rebuilt and expanded the second Temple. Herod was a practicing Jew with Arab roots on both the paternal and the maternal side. Jews, after his death, conspired with Romans to destroy the Temple; Jews regarded the Temple as the symbol of a non-born-Jew Torah observant.

the falafel hummus and taboueh been invented in kfar yassif in western galile israel the best place in the world.

The mark of a vibrant, forward-looking culture, is one that adopts the best from its surroundings and leaves the worst. We Israelis love Arabic cuisine (btw, the Arabs stole most of it from the turks, who stole it from...etc, etc) and have thus adopted some of it as our own- much like the Italians did with noodles from china. Would you say spaghetti is not Italian? On the other hand, we have not adopted (for the most part) Arab Xenophobia, Muslim oppression of women, or other aspects of modern Arabic or Muslim culture that might be more at home in the Middle Ages. You can't beat Arabic curses, though...and of course theres Feiruz... Sorry, Wissam- you can complain all you want, but Israelis are surfing into the future with pita in our right hand and a computer in our left, and having a great time. the more you look backwards and whine, the more your society will continue to suffer. Bon Apetite!

Felafel is believed to have been first prepared by desert nomads in the Sinai peninsula and has been eaten in the Eastern Mediterranean for over 2000 years. How do we know that the territory currently situated in Lebanon was the primary area of consumption for felafel? And recall that the Phoenicians and later Syrian-Greeks ruled the area, not Arabic-speaking peoples. Secondly, why is this Assocation not concerned about Syrian and Palestianian and Jordanian marketing of "Lebanese" felafel as the product of those three respective countries? Are fellow Arabs allow to steal its dish? Last, the Greek precedent worked within the EU because all participating countries are member states and abide by the decisions of the European Parliament. Lebanon doesn't even recognize Israel so through what legal forum or mechanism can it even engage the Zionist Entity. Unless you want to recognize your southern neighbor this whole endeavor is pointless. Grow up and learn competition, not endless whining.

Not seizes.

Lebanon comes from Arabic too... Laban means white in Arabic... Yogurt is called Laban in Arabic for this reason.. Labani is a color which is white.... Abyad is another way to describe the color white...

If Falafel and Tabouleh and ... are traditional Israeli food. This just leads to wonder what the Lebanese and Palestinians were eating before 1948? Or is it like the democracy (Israeli style) brought to us as a new zionist innovation? Just one more thing, I know beforehand that zionists on this talkback will try to claim these dishes as Israeli national dishes, arguing that since there are Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, then zionists are right in claiming those dishesc as Israeli. Wrong and utterly wrong, since Arab Jews were spread all across the Arab countries and those dishes are only known to the Arab countries of the Levant (including of course the Arab Jews living there) but it is not known in countries like Morrocco or Libya or Yemen where large Jewish communities used to live. So bright witted zionists can very well see that the dishes indicated are not Arab Jews property (as Israel claims to justify ite property rights theft) , rather a speciality of only certain Arab countries in the Levant. Finally, I 'd like to remind zionists, given that they use Jewish faith to justify their acts of theft and aggression, that one of the main teachings of Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) to his people is: DO NOT STEAL.

Thank you so much, we Lebanese tend to self important, some people call us a bit arrogant, but at a matter of fact we are a bit special:-) Well, if you read the article you would comprehend that even the fetta cheese was not patented as Greek nor was the recipe and they still managed to win the law suite, and so will we. As for there is no proof it comes from Lebanon then this is our problem and we will have to prove it in court, but what is for sure is that its not your national food! As for the marketing issue, it will be much easier to market them as soon as we manage to stop you from steeling it. (The court is a marketing tool, don't you think its creative and SPECIAL)

You adopting the best of your surrounding is proof that you are parasites :-) I am glad you like LEBANESE cuisine, it is very tasty, but that doesn't give you the right to steal it and make it yours, does it? We in Lebanon don't have women oppression, they are all over the places and very very good looking:-) as for you not having oppression, i mean go check those fanatic settlers of yours with there long side burns wrapping their arms with ropes and shaking their heads for a particular reason that i dont comprehend, check their woman! Hey, i am surfing as well, may the best surfer win:-)

True, i apologize for my mistake. The truth is i got excited to give one of you people a seizure, so i was hasty.

and calling them "Arabic numbers".

Still waiting for those checks.

I have been cheated out of my rightful inheritance!! My ancestors are the original creators of the pizza pie! Now all this theiving nations are making pizza all over the world and I'm not benefiting one cent from it. I'M GOING TO THE UN TO REGISTER A COMPLAINT! I want a trial at the Hague - I will publicly humiliate Domino's and Godfather's pizza and all the others who deviously stole the ingredients that should only be used in Italian food!!!!

falefil has been around for thousands of years before christ..it was invented by the lebanese phoenicians and passed on to the phoroahs of egypt..israel only recently in the last 50 years stole it and began to market it as their own..their is nothing wrong with creating a cultural melting pot of food, but give credit to the true inventors..

Maybe the UN can pass a resolution!

And the unending Arab victimhood narrative marches on.

I agree with you. I'm half Greek and half Jordanian - I always found the labelling of humous as a "traditional Greek dip" to be quite amusing. The origins of this and other such dips and mezzes, however, are rather murky.

This is an epic fail.

Don't the Lebanese have more important issues to worry about? Sue Syria and Iran instead!

Who cares,It is all Middle Eastern food.And we all like it,now if we could just get the nuts on both sides to shut up we all just might get to sit down to dinner together and work out a real Peace Plan.

nice to know our Arab neighbours have a good sense of Hummus,I mean Humour.

It is not 100% proven that the Lebanese invented Falafel,but it is beyond dispute that the Lebanese invented Gefilte Fish.And thank heaven they did.