Many people are wondering why the popular theme restaurant, Conflict Kitchen, has chosen Palestinian food as their latest cultural spotlight. The Oakland restaurant advertises in bold underneath their name, “ONLY SERVES FOOD FROM COUNTRIES WITH WHICH THE UNITED STATES IS IN CONFLICT.” By the nature of the restaurant’s mission, a lot of people are saying they are recognizing Palestine as a state. However, Palestine is not a country that the “United States is in conflict with” either. By picking Palestine, they already have gone against their advertised purpose. So is the restaurant really making a political statement by choosing to serve Palestinian foods? Or have they bent their own rules in the name of doing something outside the box?
The director of education for Conflict Kitchen, Blaine Siegel, cleared this up saying, “We do not support a side or have an official political opinion.” Mr. Siegel went on to explain that they chose to see Palestine as a US conflict area based on the continual loaning of military support both in equipment, training, and funding we give Israel. Over 3 billion dollars in aid was given to the nation in 2012 alone. Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US military assistance from World War II to now, with over 30 billion dollars given. Conflict Kitchen uses these facts to justify that the US is in a conflict with the Palestinian people.
Their entire goal with the concept is to humanize the Palestinian side of things. They donate to both sides, but, in the coming months, Conflict Kitchen also plans to sell olive oil and soaps made in Palestine. There will be stickers on these products explaining more about where they are from. In order to avoid further controversy, I think it will be very important for them to clarify who made these products and whom the revenue is benefiting.
On other issues thus far, the restaurant has done a great job of informing patrons about Palestinian culture and experiences. Their newest pamphlets have interviews that their workers conducted in West Bank themselves, with subjects ranging from dating to olive trees. See the well-rounded flyer here.
They also continue to keep up with contacts in the West Bank and give patrons the opportunity to talk to them through a third party. For example, Mohammad Barakat is a resident in West Bank that you can talk to through Pittsburgher Rebecca Johnson on advertised days.
By the very nature of the Palestine-Israel discussion, bringing it up will probably cause controversy. Conflict Kitchen’s decision to bring this issue to light may have lost it a few customers, but it really has only continued its norm of promoting knowledge of other cultures Americans aren’t familiar with while serving authentic food.