More than just humus

Humus war lessons can be applied to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

By Yehuda Litani|Published: 05.13.05 , 20:10

When visiting one of the two humus restaurants that share the same name, "The Original Abu Shukri Number 1" in Abu Gosh, near Jerusalem, everything that seemed important a moment ago is dwarfed in the face of the humus war.

The moment you made your decision regarding which restaurant to choose, the "enemy" across the street, exactly four meters (12 feet) away, has blacklisted you.

Here, there is no talk of disengagement or the other burning issues of the day. The only matter discussed is humus, and more precisely, the awful concoction of the opponent across the street, compared to the superb delicacy offered here.

The restaurant owners and employees affix their probing glares at you and await the verdict: so, how's our humus?

The truth is, there is not much difference between "our" and "their" humus. Both are rather tasty.

Up until recently, the two rivals jointly owned one restaurant, whose name they borrowed from a famous humus restaurant in Jerusalem's Old City.

Since the recent intifada's outbreak, in 2000, many Jews come here from Jerusalem and the coastal plain in search of a substitute for the original Mid-Eastern delicacies of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The moment you park your car on the narrow street near the crusades-era monastery and the mosque, you feel the weight of responsibility – who will you choose, Subhi's restaurant, or maybe the one owned by his cousin, Samir?

And these are no regular cousins – they are also connected through complex marriage ties and even share grandchildren. Samir is married to Subhi's sister, Subhi is married to Samir's sister, and Samir's daughter is married to Subhi's son.

Friend comes to the rescue

But as happens in the best of families, the two got into an argument, and as a result, Subhi opened a new restaurant across the street and adopted the original name, while Samir stayed in the old restaurant.

Indeed, until recently, the conflict was still raging, with the two cousins angry at each other and not talking.

The quarrel, which became the talk of the village and even spilled over to the legal arena, not only caused a deep rift within the family, but also great unease among clients who wanted to continue enjoying the humus without taking sides.

This is when the cousins' friend, Jacque Cohen, came to the rescue. Cohen, who stars in a local humus manufacturer's TV commercial, offered the two a handsome financial reward if they agreed to reconcile in the framework of a new commercial.

The two could not resist the temptation, the reconciliation ceremony promptly took place in front of the cameras, and peace returned to Abu Gosh.

Samir and Subhi are now talking to each other again. The ill feelings of the past have not yet evaporated completely, and they still grumble to their close friends, but outwardly the relationship appears to have largely returned to normal.

A friend from Abu Gosh who spotted me at one of the restaurants asked me to come by his house after I was finished. When I arrived, he said I should prominently publicize the story of the two Abu Gosh cousins.

It is important that this story is translated to English, he said, so the American president would read it and learn its lesson.

This is also the solution, said the friend, to the "big" conflict between the cousins, the Jews and the Arabs. Give both of them plenty of money, he said, and believe me, they would not be able to resist the temptation and would agree to reconcile despite the turbulent past.