This Week in Palestine`s Print Edition

Issue No. 183, July 2013
A Culinary Experience
My Big Fat AbuLaban Iftar....................................................................................... 4
Wild Capers in Palestine......................................................................................... 8
Al-Halal and al-Haraam .......................................................................................... 10
My Mother, My Grandmother, and the Food They Made......................................... 16
Food in Palestine..................................................................................................... 20
Chefs from Palestine............................................................................................... 24
Hilda’s Malban......................................................................................................... 32
The Generous Wilderness of Yacoub al-Khayyat.................................................... 36
From the Bosom of the Earth to the Bounty of the Table......................................... 40
Maqloubeh – Made in Italy...................................................................................... 42
The Sweet Taste of Palestine.................................................................................. 46
Noor Women’s Empowerment Group...................................................................... 48
Healthy Culinary Sessions for a Long, Healthy Life................................................ 52
In the Limelight........................................................................................................ 54
Reviews................................................................................................................... 60
Events...................................................................................................................... 66
Listings.................................................................................................................... 70-88
Maps........................................................................................................................ 89-97
The Last Word......................................................................................................... 98
Picturesque Palestine.............................................................................................. 99
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Maps: Courtesy of PalMap - GSE
Distribution in the West Bank: CityExpress
A Culinary Experience
I have a confession to make: I have a crush on Chef Emeril Lagasse! He is a master
when it comes to the art of cooking. He expertly prepares unique dishes with original
recipes. On screen, Emeril is vibrant. His passion transmits through his energy as he
dances his way into making a dish. I was very excited when I read that he had opened
a restaurant in Bethlehem, PA. “He has a restaurant in Palestine?” I was so surprised!
It turns out that his restaurant is in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, it was a
nice coincidence.
In this issue – “A Culinary Experience” – we highlight some of Palestine’s best
chefs. We accompany Rana Abdulla on her journey into the kitchen of her mother and
grandmother and taste the wonders of wild capers in Palestine as described by Aisha
Mansour. Vivien Sansour writes about the rich delicacies of Palestinian malban, and
Lana Shehadeh brings out the vivid memories of motabbak at Zalatimo, in the Old City
of Jerusalem. Nicola Hazboun makes an Italian-style maqloubeh, and Riyam Kafri-Abu
Laban tells the story of her “Big Fat Abu-Laban Iftar”; surely that’s an experience that
many can relate to. Daphne Muse contributes to This Week in Palestine once again
with “From the Bosom of the Earth to the Bounty of the Table,” an article about the
value of bread across various cultures.
What makes a culinary experience special? Passion, and a lot of fresh ingredients.
We Palestinians would know. Our exquisite cuisine shows our appreciation for food and
quality cooking. A plate of stuffed grape leaves with zucchini and eggplant is prepared
with patience, elegance, and love. Even our salads and desserts stand out with their
fine touches and unique flavours. So my friends, this July, be inspired by our tasty
blends. Enjoy the goodness of sweet dates, tea with sage, and qatayef. Take your time
while you eat, and let every bite seep into your senses.
Ramadan Kareem!
Manar Harb
Content Editor
Forthcoming Issues:
The Heat Is On – August 2013
Theme: A Culinary Experience
Cover photo: Maqloubeh, art work by Sara Lovari.
Healthy Practices – September 2013
saralovari@inwind.it
Photo by Santo Cosci.
Contemporary Palestine – October 2013
Please note that the caption beneath the photo on page 22 in our June 2013 issue should in other words, “Since
1187 A.D., right after Salah Eddin liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders; the Joudeh family - a Muslim family
from Jerusalem - became the sole legitimate custodians of the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Mr. Adeeb
Jawad Joudeh is the current custodian of the keys and the seal holder of the Holy Grave. The Nusseibeh family
was given the role of keepers of the door of the Holy Sepulchre.”
We apologise for the inadvertent error.
Advisory Board
Elias Anastas
Riyam Kafri-AbuLaban
Omar Barghouti
Raed Saade
Yasmeen El Khoudary
Rawan Sharaf
Architect, Bethlehem
Human rights activist, Ramallah
The views presented in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
Maps herein have been prepared solely for the convenience of the reader; the designations and presentation
of material do not imply any expression of opinion of This Week in Palestine, its publisher, editor, or its
advisory board as to the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or the authorities thereof, or as to
the delimitation of boundaries or national affiliation.
2
Diwan Ghazza, Gaza
Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry, Ramallah
Activist and tourism expert, Jerusalem
Director of Al Hoash, Jerusalem
3
My Big Fat AbuLaban Iftar
By Riyam Kafri
July 20, 2012 - Our Ramadan commences with a 70-person
iftar that brings the entire AbuLaban family out of the
woodwork. The sisters, the brothers, the daughters, the sons,
the grandchildren, the great grandchildren, the brides-to-be,
the grooms-to-be, the sisters-in-law, the brothers-in-law, the
AbuLabans living in Ramallah, and the AbuLabans from all
over the world. Seventy beautiful people sit under the age-old
grapevine in our front yard and break their fast together on
the first day of Ramadan. None of the food is catered, it is
Abbreviated AbuLaban family.
all homemade, and as Allahu Akbar sounds from the nearby
mosques, Samira (my sister-in-law) and I smile to each other as
we watch the soup evaporate, the chicken disappear, the meat
vanish, and the rice platters wane. The ebb and flow of food
from platters to plates, the sound of children arguing over who
gets the first piece of kifta – all are signs that the AbuLabans
are gathered here and now to eat and mark the continuation of
a venerable tradition started by Khamis AbuLaban, father and
patriarch of this extended family of Abu Shoosheh refugees
who came and settled in Ramallah in 1948.
The AbuLabans are experts at hosting big gatherings; after all,
to gather the immediate family means a 50-person congregation
of men, women, children, and teenagers. But isn’t this what
Palestine is all about, large extended families, big dinners,
and food cooked with so much love? The women in our family
4
(garlic), sprinkled with lemon and eaten
with white rice; and for those strong at
heart, hot green peppers on the side.
Kifta bit-heeniyyeh will give those hungry
for something tangy, dense, and meaty
something to look forward to. The table
is then complemented with fattoush, the
perfect marriage between fried bread,
fresh salad vegetables, and a lemonvinegar-oil dressing, and ornamented
with the deep-crimson balady sumac
that Samira gets from Sinjel. Tamarind,
qamr el-deen, and soos (licorice) filled
with essential minerals necessary to
quench a fasting person’s thirst sit in tall
glass carafes on the side, along with the
rest of the soft drinks. Dates decorate
the corner of every table. And of course
qatayef, the dessert of the season,
nervously waits in the kitchen for its
turn in this theatrical production of food
and love. Qatayef is the showstopper
of the evening. No one forgets dense,
doughy qatayef stuffed with walnuts
and cinnamon or sweetened Arabic
goat cheese. Some of us wait the entire
year for that one particular crunchy soft
moment when it meets your tongue
and explodes into your mouth causing
a firing of taste buds and an overload
of serotonin in the synaptic cleft. Your
brain glows with pleasure. Kahweh sada
washes it down.
The night before, as we all anticipate
hilal (crescent moon) Ramadan to be
spotted in clear skies, we begin to plan
cook like pro chefs and can dissolve the
best catering company into tears. To me,
the American-educated, young bride,
and mother of twins, an AbuLaban Iftar
sounded a lot like a scene from My Big
Fat Greek Wedding, and I kid you not, it
is! I mean Stephen Spielberg could not
have choreographed a scene like this.
And as the latest addition to the family,
I had better step up to the stove and join
the cook off, because this is memories in
the making for me and my children and
grandchildren to come. And who does
not love to cook, really?
Preparations for this joyous event
begin days before Ramadan. My
husband Ahmed and my brother-inlaw Hisham spend their time on the
phone calling everyone and confirming
an already known tradition. Everyone
is invited. The menu is discussed
extensively and the vegetables involved
in the main dishes are chosen based on
what is in season. Since Ramadan is in
the summer these days, maqloubeh,
the ultimate comfort food for Palestinian
families, would take centre stage. Firm
eggplants, watery cauliflower, yellow
potatoes, and bright orange carrots all
expertly layered with meat and rice and
slow-cooked with water and spices, then
flipped onto a large platter to take its
rightful place as the queen of all dishes.
Alongside the queen will sit fresh, green
molookhiyyeh cooked with chicken
broth and finished with qadhet tomeh
5
may even extend this intricate and
complex cooking dance into their own
kitchens and offer to bring something
cooked from their own homes. I have
been doing this for three years, and lucky
for me and the AbuLabans, cooking is a
hobby and a passion passed down to
me from my mother. The act of bringing
food to the table makes you a provider,
a mother, and the owner of your own
home. The first iftar in Ramadan holds
all those meanings and much more. It
is a tradition started many many years
ago by my father-in-law, may he rest in
peace. And it was continued by Samira
and my husband many years after he
passed away. It is not just food; it is
about love and family and memories.
It is simply Palestinian. To Khamis
AbuLaban, family is all he had left after
he lost his village. And when you lose
all that is material and physical in life,
you always hang on to what is more
precious, love. This coming Ramadan
will start around the tenth anniversary of
his death, but this Ramadan also starts
after two more of his grandchildren have
gotten married and started families of
their own, one of his granddaughters
welcomed another member to her family,
one of his daughters-in-law is expecting
another baby girl, and another grandson
will be on his way to the golden cage of
matrimony. We will all gather under the
grapevine, we will eat, laugh, yell at the
children to be quiet, and plan to marry
off another son or daughter soon, and
we will all play our little part in keeping
the Khamis AbuLaban tradition alive for
many years to come. Ramadan Kareem!
the next day. The schedule is set so that
as the chicken is marinated the meat
is cooking, as the meat is cooking the
eggplants, cauliflower, and potatoes
are fried. The rice relaxes in water as it
soaks and gets ready to be cooked into
the perfect softness. The ground beef
is spiced and made into medium-sized
fingers, precooked in the oven before the
thick tahini sauce and the fried potatoes
are placed on top and then left to roast
in the oven. Samira and I along with
many of my other sisters-in-law are up
as early as five in the morning. The twins
are up at that time and need to be fed,
so I feed them, put them back to sleep
and head to the kitchen. Samira is up
too, and she stands in her own kitchen
trying to begin the cooking marathon.
And in collective but separate kitchens
we cook rhythmically, systematically, and
ritualistically, only stopping every now
and then to check on each other. We
coordinate the use of her big gas oven,
the kind only restaurants and, of course,
the AbuLabans own. We decide that the
last thing we should tackle is fattoush so
it can stay fresh, and we often encourage
each other: “Just a few more hours, the
kifta is ready, the chicken is roasting;
khalas, we are almost done.” While the
sounds in the kitchen rise with women
chattering, and the temperature from
the ovens spikes to carry aromas of
cooked goodness, the young nephews
and nieces are busy putting together
the dining area. The tables are laid with
plates, spoons, forks, and glasses. It is
a world-class attempt to make sure that
every guest has a place. Ramadan lights
are threaded through the grapevine to
add a touch of ambiance. Ahmed is busy
managing the team of young nephews
and nieces.
Samira has been cooking for the
AbuLabans for years. She has been
surrounded by nine sisters-in-law who
all, like trained dancers, join her at the
right time in the kitchen to give her an
extra pair of hands to hold a pot or chop
an onion or wash the accumulating
dishes. She has four more sisters who
Dr. Riyam Kafri-AbuLaban is an assistant
professor of organic chemistry at Al
Quds Bard College based at Al Quds
University-Abu Dis. She co-writes and
co-manages The Big Olive: The Tales
of Two Professors in Palestine (http://
thebigolive.tumblr.com). She is married
to Ahmed AbuLaban, and both are on
the fearless frontlines of parenthood
with the lovely toddler twins Basil and
Taima. Riyam can be reached at rkafri@
gmail.com.
6
Wild Capers in Palestine
By Aisha Mansour
dressed in her traditional embroidered
birawi dress and peasant headscarf,
as she picked the grape leaves. In the
1980s, Americans were not exposed
to stuffed grape leaves. I’m sure they
were thinking, Why is this lady picking
grape leaves? I was too embarrassed. I
just stood motionless, asking my mother
every few minutes whether she had
picked enough grape leaves. I wanted
to leave ASAP.
Thirty years later, I am in Palestine
picking capers. The general population
seems to be unaware of the abundance
of wild capers in Palestine. Thanks
to cultural globalisation and Fatafeat
(the Dubai-based food channel), many
Palestinians consume capers. But they
often purchase the imported tiny pickled
buds from local supermarkets. Last year,
a car stopped in the middle of the street
as I picked capers just to ask me what I
was picking. I handed the man and his
wife a few. He recognized the tiny buds.
He buys them from the supermarket,
but he did not realise that they grew all
over Palestine. In a mere 30 minutes,
one can pick enough to pickle a small
jar of capers instead of purchasing the
expensive import.
Several references explain the use of
capers in traditional Arab medicine. The
roots were used to heal several ailments,
including colds and fevers, infertility,
joint infections, diabetes, lung diseases,
and general pain. However, I have not
found any reference to the use of the
caper in traditional Palestinian cuisine. I
have asked friends and colleagues who
have elderly family members hoping that
someone would recall the use of this bud
in the Palestinian diet. To date, I have no
evidence that the caper was ever used in
traditional Palestinian cuisine.
Maghreb azan (the sunset call to
prayer) had begun and it was quickly
getting dark, but I was keen to go out and
pick a few more capers to fill one more jar.
An extra jar of pickled capers will come in
handy as a gift. I was planning on taking a
group caper-picking later in the week, but
I worried that the buds would expand and
bloom into the beautiful white-purplish
flowers. Once the buds flower, there is
no caper for picking and pickling. So I
went out to pick some capers just when
the sunset call to prayer started.
Passers-by stared, wondering what
I was picking at this time of day. I
plunged into a ditch where a large
caper bush sprawled. Caper bushes
are persistent and grow everywhere
in the Mediterranean region, including
Palestine. You can find caper bushes
on the sides of the street, in the midst
of olive and fig orchards, and exuding
from almost every sidewalk and rock
fence crack. A teenager passed by going
home after a soccer game. He paused.
Backed up. And looked down at me as I
crawled in the ditch picking the capers.
Perhaps he thought that I had fallen into
the ditch, broken my ankle, and couldn’t
get out. I may have needed his help. I
stared back and offered a friendly hello.
He didn’t respond. He continued to walk
homebound.
I’ve turned into my mother. Immigrating
to the States to live in a condensed
apartment complex, my mother yearned
for her peasant way of life. After all, she
was a fallaha who harvested the family’s
crops and sold them at the hisbeh
(market) until she married my father and
flew to the States. So when she found a
grapevine on the side of the road or in a
public park, she stopped to pick the grape
leaves. Sometimes she would make a
special trip bringing two or three bags
and dragging my sister and me to help
her pick the maximum number of grape
leaves. Pedestrians stared at my mother,
Pickled Capers
Fill a jar with freshly picked and washed
capers from a nearby bush.
8
Add one grape leaf, one teaspoon of
salt, and any other herb or pepper that
you desire. Seal the jar and store for at
least one month prior to consuming.
Note: I pour boiled water into the empty
jar and lid prior to their use.
When the capers are ready, use them as
a flavour enhancer in salads, sandwiches,
pasta dishes, and with fish. Sahha!
If you have information on the use of the
caper in traditional Palestinian cuisine,
please send me a message on my blog
(address below).
Aisha Mansour blogs at the Seasonal
Palestinian. Follow the weekly blog at
www.seasonalpalestinian.wordpress.com.
Photo By Aisha Mansour.
9
Al-Halal and al-Haraam
Food as Metaphor for Righteousness
in Palestinian Society
Food as metaphor for love is a dominant
theme in Palestinian society. Cultural
expressions ranging from filial love
and conjugal fidelity to family solidarity
and Ramadan rituals instrumentalise
food to communicate love, tenderness,
and loyalty. To share bread and salt
(‫ )اخلبز وامللح‬is metaphoric of a deep
bond, an indissoluble alliance between
friends, spouses, kinsfolk, in-laws, and
neighbours. An underlying logic relates
the literal sharing of the bread with the
concept of ishreh (‫)الع�شرة‬, the bond of
living together. “Time” plays a pivotal
role in fomenting this aspect of social
cohesion. It is believed that ishreh,
sharing living space through time and
food, nurtures reciprocal love, trust, and
loyalty. In this sense the ritual sharing of
food bespeaks joint life and forms the
elementary unit of social solidarity. In
brief, food constitutively constitutes the
righteous community.
“Do you want your children to ‘eat’
haraam?” The Jerusalem electricity
company advertisement poster
admonishes the subscribers. The caption
cleverly invokes the religious laws related
to food to deter thefts of electricity lines
and endless delays in paying the monthly
bills. “Eating halal,” in accordance with
Muslim law, is idiomatically used to enjoin
people to abstain from breaking the
divine law of shari’a. The social religious
command to live in halal and steer away
from haraam encapsulates the normative
values that direct the faithful on the path
of righteousness. Conducting oneself in
accordance with shari’a and using the
Prophet Muhammad as a paragon, i.e.,
leading a virtuous life without infracting
the divine laws, is understood as living
in halal. Iben halal is a gallant, pure-ofheart, incorruptible, guilt-free individual.
The epithet refers to one who lives in
the grace of God, mardi ‫مر�ضي‬. Iben
halal is an idiomatic expression that
By Ali Qleibo
singles out a man or woman of noble
character as opposed to iben haraam,
literally bastard, but which refers to
the unreliable, fraudulent, thieving,
and dubious individual with tainted
character. Whereas the first one is
mardi (‫)مر�ضي‬, living in the grace of
God, the other is ghadeeb (‫)غ�ضيب‬,
i.e., one who has incurred the wrath
of one’s parents, one’s spouse, and
Allah; damned.
The expression of the presence
of an Other, that we are not alone
– a profound religious feeling – is
illustrated in our abiding by divine law
as reflected in our understanding and
corresponding conduct in accordance
with the ubiquitous concept of halal and
haraam. This binary opposition reflects
two possibilities of human existence:
living in or out of grace. Falling out
of grace and thereby becoming a
damned ghadeeb is mainly attributed
to “eating” haraam. In this context the
concept “eating” denotes a wide range
of social transgressions such as lying,
bearing false witness, dissembling,
stealing, embezzling, and cheating. In
short, “eating” and “living” in haraam
10
“Palestinian Meal” 1980,egg tempera on wood-70X80 cm. Artwork by Suliman Mansour.
refers to fraudulent violations of divine
and social laws. The infractions of
the sacred bond of ishreh are judged
as breaking the rules of trust and
loyalty with loved ones and with the
community at large. Such aberrant
behaviour earns the perpetrator the
epithet of “iben haraam.” It is believed
that living in haraam and feeding one’s
offspring on the tainted income have
adverse consequences.
Food as metaphor for love,
tenderness, and loyalty finds its
ultimate expression in bread. “I long
for my mother’s bread” (‫)احن اىل خبز امي‬
is the opening verse of one of Mahmoud
Darwish’s popular poems. It touches a
special chord in Palestinian wijdan (the
poetic sensibility at the core of our ethos).
One’s mother’s bread does not need to
be the best bread. It may be horribly dry
and crumbly, unleavened, half-baked and
chewy or nondescript ordinary bread.
Rather bread is a metaphor for every
Palestinian’s nostalgia for a mother’s
love and warmth.
In our society where food, love, intimacy,
and tenderness are closely related
categories, eating and its metonymic
associations assume a highly symbolic
social value. During the special meals
of Ramadan, feasts are made for the
relatives of the mother, maternal aunts
and uncles, silet al-rahem (‫)�صلة الرحم‬,
literally translated as uterine relations.
All female relatives related to the mother,
i.e., by means of the uterus, are invited
to participate in the Ramadan feasts
celebrating the breaking of the fast.
Costly as they may be, it is incumbent
on the male to perform them as an
expression of his love for his mother and
to maintain al-ishreh, nurtured through
the symbolic partaking of “bread and
salt.”
Palestinian weddings initiate a series
of reciprocal azayem, ostentatious
celebratory family feasts. Food, once
11
On his way home the Palestinian male
will continue to drop by and visit his
mother but refrains from eating her food.
“But she has lunch ready” is the usual
self-defence advanced to justify not
eating his mother’s food. He would not
dare mention his wife’s first name.
“This is your favourite seasonal dish.”
The mother would implore him to eat. “I
cooked the stuffed artichokes especially
for you. Minshan khatry (for my sake) eat
only one single artichoke.”
Once he succumbs to the first artichoke
he would be urged to move to the second.
“If you love me eat another.”
From early childhood we all grew
up with this extortion. “If you love me,
eat...” Even when babies cry because of
discomfort from wet nappies, stomach
cramps, or anything else, the Palestinian
mother instantly cuddles the infant, brings
the uncomfortable child close to her
chest, and offers her breast. The infant’s
diverse needs fuse into one response:
breastfeeding. Arab children are choked
by their mothers love.
Once they mature and become
independent, Palestinian adults are
perceived as ungrateful wretches. Arab
idioms are conjured to console the
mother, Albi ala ibni u alb ibni hajar
(‫)قلبي على ابني وقلب ابني حجر‬, my heart is
again, creates the “bread-and-salt”
alliance that modulates with time
into al-ishreh, which solidifies the inlaws’ relationship. On the other hand,
because of their love for God, and in a
complex theological framework in which
Muslims seek to emulate God’s quality
of samad, i.e., transcending desire,
Palestinian Muslims renounce food and
fast throughout the days of Ramadan also
as a sign of love for God.
A pivotal turning point in every
Palestinian man’s life is the moment
he develops an independent taste and
begins to savour his wife’s food. The
transition from his mother’s cuisine to
his wife’s cuisine – his being “weaned
off” his mother’s cooked food – underlies
his “maturity.” It marks the transference
of his love for his mother to his spouse.
The ritual drama is traumatic for the
mother and guilt-provoking for the son.
She is no longer his sole love and object
of veneration, and she must share his
love with his wife, whose tenderness,
love, and recognition he now seeks. Once
he has moved his sense of loyalty to his
wife, a by-product of ishreh (life together),
the spouse assumes the role of the
nurturer. Invariably the event registers in
the mother’s view as an act of treachery.
The following mother/son repartee is
typical in Palestinian homes.
12
mulaghwas (‫)ملغو�ص‬. It is a state of ritual
impurity, similar to food that is inedible,
that turns his wife off sexually from him
and that renders him suspicious, lacking
social credibility. Negative food qualities
are used as euphemisms to describe
his fall from grace. The lyrics of the song
parallel his actions as the wife laments
his change of heart.*
Religious idioms permeate our daily
discourse: al-kheir wil shar, good and
evil; al-reda wil la’ana, the blessed
acceptance by God and the accursed
state of rejection. The conscience
(dhamir) of one who lives a life that is
haraam is never clear, saafi. Only by
living in halal does one find inner silence
and peace, sakina.
Our daily discourse is expressive of
deep-rooted spiritualism. In Palestine,
to buy a fraction of a kilo of tomatoes,
grapes, or apricots is unheard of. Even
the kilo is barely considered a sufficient
amount for a commercial transaction.
Though there are only two of us, my
daughter Aida and I, we must conform
to the local practice and purchase our
fruits and vegetables by the ratel, the
equivalent of three kilograms, which can
be quite awkward. Grapes, for example,
come in beautiful big heavy clusters that
are difficult for the peasant to disfigure
and cut into smaller bunches. If the
saleswoman were to leave the grapes in
constantly worried about my child, but
his/her heart is made of stone.
“She is waiting for me.” The son finally
stands up to leave.
“Of course, now you eat everything
... you want to go to her laghaweese.”
(Laghaweese refers to dirty, sloppy food
that has nothing to do with the rules of
cooking or hygiene.) “My poor son,” she
would lament out loud. “She has put a
spell on you.”
In love with his wife, the husband
rushes home.
“What did you cook today?”
In an extremely popular video song by
Carol Samaha, the film reel shows the
wife stirring pots, lifting and closing pot
lids, sweating and huffing and puffing
while cooking for her husband. He
comes home. He does not uncover the
pots, does not inquire about the food,
and barely greets her. These are telltale
signs that he has fallen out of love and
is disenchanted with her. Instead he
walks over to the refrigerator and eats
leftover stale lettuce leaves. The idiom
in Arabic is bikhamkim (‫)بخمخم‬, literally,
eating whatever one finds irrespective
of its quality or degree of staleness.
Significantly the word bikhamkim is used
to describe a man who sleeps with all
kinds of women irrespective of age or
beauty. He is also considered tainted,
13
Photo by George Azar.
bag reiterating, “Min kheir Allah,” from the
bounty of God. The fruits of the land grow
through the grace of God. It is awkward
to see His barakeh, His gracious gift,
transformed into money; while significant
in its own right, it does not grow in nature.
In everyday language in contemporary
Palestine, spiritual values reminiscent of
biblical culture are expressed; kheir and
barakeh, halal and haraam are words
constantly on the lips of Palestinians.
These words, far from being empty
clichés, retain their full ethical value
as illustrated by the form of conduct,
customs, and manners of their users:
Palestinian peasants’ simple economic
transactions exude a mysticism that
reiterates the biblical spirituality that
underlies the reciprocal love between
humans as supplicants and God as
provider.
their natural form the scale of the balance
would tip heavily in favour of the buyer.
Were she to lift it up the scale would tip
in her favour. She resolves the dilemma
by allowing the scale to tip in favour of
the client.
Three kilos of grapes are more than
what we can consume in two days.
Since I only like freshly picked grapes,
I return the last bunch that she swiftly
puts back into the shopping bag saying,
“halal aleik” (it is your right in accordance
with the religious concept of ownership,
halal). I take the last grapes out of the
bag and return them to her wicker basket
saying, “halal ‘alaiky,” thereby acquitting
her of the guilt of selling me less than
my right. Adamantly she refuses saying,
“Biddish akol mal haraam” (I do not want
to eat from money that is not my due, i.e.,
ritually impure) and returns the grapes to
the shopping bag. I submit and take the
extra grapes, cucumbers, or tomatoes
and hand her the money.
The money barely touches the palm
of her shyly extended hand when signs
of awkward embarrassment flush her
sun-baked face. She takes the money,
lifts it to her mouth, kisses it, and mutters
words of thanks of God, “Alhamdu-lillah.”
Hurriedly she puts a few extra vegetables
or fruits of a different kind in the shopping
Dr. Ali Qleibo is an anthropologist, author,
and artist. A specialist in the social history
of Jerusalem and Palestinian peasant
culture, he is the author of Before the
Mountains Disappear, Jerusalem in
the Heart, and Surviving the Wall, an
ethnographic chronicle of contemporary
Palestinians and their roots in ancient
Semitic civilisations. Dr. Qleibo lectures
at Al-Quds University. He can be reached
at aqleibo@yahoo.com.
*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Toa0BOyWyA
14
My Mother, My Grandmother,
and the Food They Made
We begin this story with the search for
the best Palestinian recipes, weaving
the traditional culinary palette into
a tantalising experience. This later
becomes a search for personal cultural
identity. When pondering on my childhood
experiences, I remember my mother’s
lovely features and her delicate soft skin
as she began her day early and ended
it late, completing all her housework.
Amongst my warmest memories, I
recollect how she sang as she cooked.
As a child I observed her in her solitude
picking stones from the lentils with
joyous care, as if picking flowers from
the garden, giving her fulfilment. My
mother, Fatme Hamshari, loved to cook
alone. Every day she baked a fresh loaf
of homemade bread in the taboun, our
mud-and-clay hearth oven used by the
fellaheen. She taught me how to mix the
flour and water, the yeast and sugar, then
knead the dough, cover it with a clean
cloth, and let it rise in a warm place;
afterwards it would be cut into round
pieces and covered again to protect its
face. She made sure that I cleaned my
hands with dry flour after preparing the
bread dough. She never allowed me to
touch the oven or to cook or bake.
My mother taught me primarily by
example how to run an organised home
– ironing our clothes and taking care of
the many other household duties; most
important of all, personal cleanliness.
Growing up in our family environment, I
learnt self-discipline. I was able to defer
gratification and never just accept the
status quo. The smell, presentation, and
taste of the fresh bread and zaatar that
she prepared inspired me. Everything she
did gave her enjoyment and invigorated
her spirit. Every move she made in the
kitchen was accompanied with a smile,
an expression of tremendous love that
charmed me completely. She taught us
about Palestinian folklore by memorising
people’s stories and linking them to our
By Rana Abdulla
Wild thyme.
life events. She had the ability to weave
dynamic, accurate accounts of life and
past events that are still alive in my
mind as if they were happening at this
very moment. She knew every village
of Palestine.
My grandmother influenced us a lot
with her tasty recipes. She would prepare
the most incredible salads and cook
nutritious, flavourful dishes, which would
be both tasty and, at the same time,
packed with an assortment of elements
good for the body and soul. Zaatar,
for example, is an herb that is strongly
16
the scent of their luggage betraying the
contents. It is said that you can identify
Palestinian travellers by the smell of
zaatar and meramiya (sage) amongst
their belongings. These scents have
an effect on the Palestinian people and
have become the anchors of memory
that signify their lost villages and homes.
Zaatar is dried in early summer, mixed
with sumac and sesame, and stored for
later use. It can be added to chicken
dishes, baked into plain dough, or put on
salads. This herbal condiment has been
made this way for generations. Well-
associated with the Palestinian identity.
Poets, writers, and artists often refer to
it in their works.
Although zaatar is unique in Palestinian
cooking, it is more than just something to
eat. It is a powerful cultural symbol; and it
is the aroma in every Palestinian home. It
is the wild thyme that is handpicked as it
flourishes on the mountains of occupied
Palestine during spring. It conveys the
smell of Palestinian soil, leaving me with
many indefinable memories. Palestinians
adore it. Palestinian travellers always
take it with them as a gift to pass on,
17
properties. Palestinians believe that
zaatar is effective in making the mind
alert and the body significantly stronger.
Zaatar, sometimes translated as
hyssop, is a stout, many-stemmed
grey, fuzzy shrub, about two feet tall. In
summer its white, rather small flowers
are grouped in dense spikes on the
upper part of the branches. The taste
of zaatar is similar to oregano. It is part
of the marjoram family. Its Latin name is
Origanum syriacum. Zaatar belongs to
the Labiatae (or Lamiaceae) family, which
includes mint, sage, basil, rosemary,
thyme, and many other aromatic plants.
A distinctive feature of all the plants of
the Labiatae family is the flowers with
petals resembling upper and lower
lips. Many plants of this family are
aromatic and have square stems when
cut crosswise, but this is not universal.
Zaatar bread – also known as fatayer
fallahi, which means villagers’ pie – is a
typical Palestinian pastry that is usually
made in spring, which is the official
season for collecting fresh wild thyme. It
is flatbread, oily but crunchy, and stuffed
with fresh zaatar leaves, onions, and
sumac.
Traditional taboun bread.
known for its salty, tangy taste, zaatar
is an excellent savoury complement to
salads, cheese, and biscuits, as well as
a delicious appetizer before almost any
evening meal. It is perfect as a seasoning
for meat, fish, or vegetables, or simply
made into a paste with Palestinian
extra virgin olive oil. No preservatives
or additives are used in any part of its
creation. Zaatar is high in anti-oxidants.
In Palestine, “making zaatar” refers to
baking oiled flatbread stuffed with newly
gathered fresh zaatar and green onions.
For many it is a seasonal rite as well as
a communal cooking project, usually in
an outdoor oven. For breakfast, people
sprinkle the zaatar mixture on pita drizzled
with olive oil, and eat it accompanied by
mint tea. Zaatar can be used to marinate
chicken and fish as well as grilled or
roasted vegetables. It can be used for
dips, sprinkled on labneh and hummos,
eaten with feta cheese and olive oil,
or served with pita chips and crudités.
Palestinians seem to have an inherent
knowledge of which foods and herbs are
best suited to a particular situation, time,
ailment, or celebration. Zaatar is believed
to be an immune-system booster and
an aid to digestion. Some claim that it
relieves headaches and has antibacterial
Fatayer Zaatar Recipe
Dough:
3 cups white flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
Filling:
2 to 3 cups fresh zaatar leaves (thyme),
washed thoroughly
1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sumac
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
18
raised me with a sense of duty and
love for the family. However, I didn’t
grow up cooking and didn’t realise
that cooking was part of the many
responsibilities of marriage. I moved
into my husband’s home with only one
recipe in my culinary repertoire: fried
eggs. My first cooking experience
was with rice. I filled the pot with
the full 10-pound bag of rice not
realising that it would double in size.
The rice rapidly expanded while it
cooked, resulting in lots of foam and
an explosive boil-over. I slumped
into a chair and cried about my lack
of culinary skills. The stove and the
kitchen floor took hours to clean and
the rice ended up in the garbage bin.
To my surprise, I was assured I’d
be taught how to cook. This formed
part of my cultural identity. I still learn
something new in the Palestinian
kitchen every day.
My grandmother made many
elaborate recipes in a flash; she was
a fast and efficient cook. Her ability to
produce traditional dishes amazed us.
She added her own hints and touches
to the dishes, which never failed to
mesmerise us.
My mother and grandmother live on
through me and their recipes.
Dough: In a medium-size bowl,
combine flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and
olive oil. Rub the mixture together until
the oil is well combined with the flour.
Gradually add one cup of warm water
while kneading using one hand (add
more water if the dough is dry or more
flour if it is too sticky). Cover the bowl
with a plastic bag and place it in a warm
place for about 30 to 40 minutes or until
doubled in size.
Filling: In another bowl, combine
zaatar (thyme) leaves, chopped onions,
sumac, salt, and olive oil. Mix all
together and set aside.
Cut the dough to form three or four
balls. Using a rolling pin, roll out each
ball on a hard surface that is greased
with olive oil until you make a paper-thin
sheet of dough. Another option is to use
your hands to punch down the dough
until it becomes so thin that you can’t
punch it further (don’t worry if the dough
ends up with some holes).
Add a pinch of zaatar stuffing and a
pinch of olive oil to the dough sheet, fold
two sides of the dough to the middle.
Add another pinch of zaatar stuffing and
fold the dough. Keep adding a pinch of
zaatar and folding the dough until you
can’t fold it any further.
Place stuffed dough pieces on an
oven tray greased with olive oil. Flatten
the dough pieces with your hands.
Place the tray in a preheated oven for
about 10 minutes or until they become
slightly brown or golden. Flip them over
and leave them for another 5 minutes.
It’s best when served hot to enjoy the
crunchiness of the bread. This is usually
served with fresh yogurt or tea.
Palestinian girls, including myself,
were eager to marry young and have
children as did our mothers and
grandmothers before us. My mother
Rana Abdulla is a Palestinian Canadian
from the village of Bal’a, Tulkarem.
She is a Canadian Certified Public
Accountant who graduated from
Thompson Rivers University in British
Columbia and St. Lawrence College in
Ontario. Her career has been a blend
of taxation, auditing, and refugee
advocacy. She also taught accounting
for college students at Algonquin
College in Ottawa, Ontario. In addition
to Arabic, she is fluent in French and
English.
19
Food in Palestine
Beyond the Calories
By Márton Bisztrai
Let me be personal and begin with my
first and not really pleasant introduction to
food in Palestine. I arrived in Bethlehem
as a callow cultural anthropologist hungry
for human contact and an introduction
to the culture and society around me.
The hospitality that I experienced
was enthralling and at the same time
overwhelming. Day by day I was invited
to join different families for lunch, an
immense pleasure at the beginning.
But after a while it became shocking. At
various dinner tables I found new friends,
engaged in great conversations, and
listened to exciting tales of both great
happiness and struggles. Each family
wanted to give their best and serve the
food of the season that they felt was most
representative of their culture. And so, I
ate warak dawaly (stuffed grape leaves)
and kousa (stuffed squash) almost every
day for nearly two weeks.
Food and nutrition are considered to
be primarily biological needs, however,
if this vision is unsatisfactory, we should
apply new perspectives in order to
examine what is on our plates. When
we get closer to hummus, for example,
many supplementary meanings are
going to appear. It is almost a cliché in
social sciences that nutrition is more
than just protein, calorie intake, and
culinary pleasure. Food is a symbol
with countless layers of meaning that
can carry and reflect both culture and
identity. Gender issues, religion, power,
loyalty, memories, and resistance can all
be found in kitchens. For many, cooking
is an art and eating is a ritual that can
create a homey atmosphere or indeed
the opposite, disgust and discomfort.
Communities can identify themselves and
mark their borders through food; and last
but not least, food is politics.
Photo by Márton Bisztrai.
20
Photo by Márton Bisztrai.
My fantastic hosts worked a lot, spending
precious hours to roll the grape leaves and
stuff small zucchinis with rice and meat
because of an alien who had suddenly
entered their world. Every turn of a grape
leaf was a gift that represented (using
the universal language of food) their
hospitality, identity, pride, and culture.
For me, however, this hospitality quickly
became too much of a good thing and this
highly representative food soon became
the only object that I would struggle to
endure within Palestinian culture.
On the other hand, food and drink is a
perfect tool to connect us with abstract
issues.
After thoroughly inspecting the beer
selection on offer at a local store in
Ramallah, a foreign activist asked the
shopkeeper in a friendly tone: “Why
don’t you have Taybeh? All the imported,
mass-market products are available,
but Taybeh is missing!” A naive smile
appeared on the owner’s face, and he
replied: “Ah yes, all the foreigners like
it.” So what can be concluded from
this story? Does Taybeh beer have
ingredients that suit foreigners’ tastes? Or
are foreigners perhaps experts and able
to detect the (otherwise real) differences
between a bottle of Taybeh and the other
available beverages? Probably both…
But besides the taste and recognition
of its quality, there is one more driving
factor – Taybeh is uniquely Palestinian.
While some Palestinians are indifferent to
it and others are forbidden to drink it, this
product of fermented malt and hops has
essential meanings for Western visitors.
In general, drinking alcohol divides work
time from leisure time and is a frequently
occurring custom in many Western cultures.
Its practice provides conformity and a
homey feeling even when one is far from
one’s local environment. Parallel to this, it
connects the consumer with the Palestinian
struggle that can be a significant element
of his identity. Taybeh gives an opportunity
to link these factors together. In this case,
drinking Taybeh beer instead of Maccabi
(the Israeli brand) is an unconsciously
or consciously occurring event of selfexpression: loyalty to Palestinians and the
active rejection of Israeli policy.
21
is a variety of expropriation that carries
the whole Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
US President Barack Obama literally
consumed it during his visit to Shimon
Peres’ dining room when the first course
of falafel and hummus was presented as
“Israeli cuisine.” These delicious energy
bombs of chickpeas and tahini are new
examples of cultural colonialism. A new
battlefield has opened in the Middle East.
Nowadays falafel and hummus are
served at diplomatic receptions, Harvard
Business School balls, and even in the
White House kitchen as Israeli food.
In response to this, Palestinian chefs
have protested, a Lebanese student has
organised a campaign, and a Jewish
author has written a complete book (Liora
Gvion, Beyond Hummus and Falafel,
2012) in an attempt to show the “original
roots” of hummus and falafel. It seems
that the struggle for self-determination
exists in food as well.
Using food in building national identity is
not an old concept; in fact, it could be said
that it shares its age with nationalism itself
(around 250 years old). The existence of
locality, religion, gender, and class identity
preceded the nationalised mindset.
Now what is called “Palestinian,” after
closer inspection, exposes a diverse
cultural space that is coloured and
divided by locality, religion, and class.
Unequivocally, Jaffa is about fish, and
the Jenin district (where the ingredients
It is not surprising that food serves
patriotic aspirations in Israel as well.
Such a young entity with an extremely
diverse society is hungry for a common
national base. The newly created state
is continually looking for legitimacy in
religious history and constantly creating
its modern mythology too. According to
The Book of New Israeli Food (Janna Gur,
2007), Ben-Gurion in the fifties came up
with an idea to manufacture a substitute
for rice, which was in very short supply
at that time. It is now called ptitim and
labelled as a “unique Israeli invention.”
This is how food is nationalised and made
to be part of mythology. Nevertheless,
jumping to another dimension, the “new
invention from modern Israel” is just one
of the various types of wheat products that
stems from the “couscous family.” Older
“uncles” can even be found all around
the world. There is berkoukes in Algeria,
fregula in Sardinia, tarhonya in Hungary,
and maftoul in Palestinian cuisine.
Although there is no discussion about
the identity and symbolism of ptitim
and maftoul, there is a real and current
debate over hummus and falafel. Their
consideration as “national Israeli products”
symbolise the nature of the occupation in
the eyes of the Palestinians. Hummus and
falafel were considered to be the food of
the poor for many centuries in the Levant,
but now they are included in the “Israeli
national kitchen” and are being labelled
as the number one Israeli local food. It
Nationalised hummus. Photo by Márton Bisztrai.
22
are easily accessible) is famous for
musakhan, chicken on top of bread that
is full of juicy fried onions. Mansaf comes
from the southern region’s Bedouin
culture (some say from Jordan). Meat
and yoghurt, the basics of this dish are
both derived from sheep. In addition,
mansaf is considered to be a prestigious
festive food that originated from a Muslim
religious feast, the Eid al-Adha. It is the
celebration of Abraham’s willingness
to sacrifice his son Ishmael. Millions
are regularly repeating what finally the
prophet did by sacrificing a sheep in God’s
glory. The actual prestige of sheep meat
is not only because of its high price but
also because of its association to religious
identity and celebration; this is what gives
it the extra value.
Nutrition is a natural activity,
which occasionally creates or draws
borders between different social
groups. Collapsing secularism and
strengthening religious identity support
the reappearance of old social borders
within Palestinian society. Food and drink
are greatly involved in this process. For
example, alcohol consumption can be
seen as a virtual cultural border between
Muslims and Christians because it is
forbidden for the former. In the district
of Bethlehem, however, where the two
groups live side by side, the reality and
everyday practice can be quite different.
Non-representative research indicates
that 72 percent of a Christian-owned
liquor store’s customers are Muslims. It
even happens that a Muslim man buys
Jewish kosher wine from the Christian
shopkeeper. Despite these overlaps,
there is, however, a certain type of
food that is (with very rare exceptions)
only consumed by the local Christians.
Pork meat is taboo in both Judaism and
Islam. Very few things would disgust their
followers as much as pork does. Because
of its rejection by Judaism and Islam it
provides the perfect opportunity for a
shrinking Christian society to differentiate
themselves from both sides. One of the
most ancient traits of the human character
is that we organise and live our lives in
the social groups of “them” and “us.”
Pork meat consumption is a conscious
or unconscious marker of “them” and “us”
for Christians living in between Judaism
and Islam.
The way to a man’s heart is through
his stomach – this universal proverb is
frequently used by Palestinians as well.
And now to conclude, let me add some
changes to this proverb: One of the best
ways to understand different cultures
is through people’s stomachs. Visiting
Palestinian kitchens is the most delicious
“research” that I have ever conducted.
Márton Bisztrai is a cultural anthropologist
currently working on his PhD thesis at
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. He
spent two years in the Holy Land and
conducted a participant observationbased research (mainly) on religious and
national identity.
23
Chefs from Palestine
The TWIP Collective
Since the theme of this current issue of This Week in Palestine is “Culinary
Experience,” we had initially thought of featuring one chef as Personality of the Month.
This idea turned out to be considerably more complicated than we had anticipated,
simply because there were so many high-calibre Palestinian chefs. In a bid to avoid
being crucified, we asked several chefs to each write a few lines about himself and
share a photo of one of his dishes. Incidentally, we were not able to find a woman
chef, though we tried. It seems that it’s a man world when it comes to chefs, at least
in Palestine. We suspect this is true all over the world.
The following article attempts to shed light on eleven Palestinian chefs* who have
left their mark on the industry and have a promising future of further excellence. They
are certainly not the only chefs operating in Palestine; in fact, the more we dug, the
more we heard about more chefs, but unfortunately, time and space are limited and
Chef Ghassan Abdel Jawad
Chef Ghassan Abdel Jawad is an executive chef and chefs’
trainer who specialises in Palestinian food heritage. He is currently
involved in a cultural project of heritage food – an exchange
programme between Palestine and the Golan Heights, supported
by the Progressive Youth of the Occupied Golan. The theme of
the project is “Unity of Thought, Will and Action.” Apart from that,
Chef Ghassan trains and offers professional rehabilitation to a
group of Palestinian ex-detainees.
In order to promote Palestinian cuisine globally, he participated in
making the largest platters of tabouleh and musakhan in the world. The
tabouleh platter, in fact, made the Guinness Book of World Records. At
the time, Chef Ghassan was the head chef at Zeit ou Zaater Restaurant
in Ramallah. He also took part in the Vietnamese Food Festival and,
on his own initiative, invited President Obama to a Palestinian lunch.
Chef Ghassan is now working to establish the Palestinian Chefs
Chef Ibrahim Abu Seir
Chef Ibrahim Abu Seir was born in 1965 into a modest family
in one of the beautiful old houses of the Muslim Quarter in the
Old City of Jerusalem. He graduated from Terra Santa School
and, and as the family owned an oriental sweet shop close to
Damascus Gate, he spent the days of his childhood and youth in
the streets of the Old City.
After finishing his diploma in hotel management at Bethlehem
University, Chef Ibrahim went back to his original talent of working
with pastries and sweets with a new creativity enhanced by what
he learned at the university as well as by working with international
chefs and participating in various courses in France and Belgium.
He also gained considerable experience working as a pastry chef
at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem and as a pastry instructor
at Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center.
Chef Ibrahim believes that his job as a pastry chef is important,
but the goal of his life is to pass on his experience to the young
24
only allow us to feature these eleven. We sincerely apologise to those chefs out there
who have not made it into our pages. This is by no means personal, and we hope to
be able to acknowledge their work in a future issue.
*in alphabetical order according to family name
Union, which will comprise chefs from Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. He has
presented various programmes on Palestinian radio stations with the view to consolidating
the identity of Palestinian cuisine. Chef Ghassan is keen on protecting Palestinian heritage
food, particularly since many items have been appropriated as Israeli food.
generation of the city and to help them find good careers in order to strengthen their
capacity to overcome the obstacles faced by the new generation of Jerusalemites and
to raise the standard of pastry production in Palestine.
25
Chef Odeh Abul Hawa
Chef Odeh Abul Hawa has been the executive chef at the
Seven Arches Hotel in Jerusalem since 1989. Earlier he was
the executive sous chef at the Jerusalem Intercontinental Hotel,
the hotel where Odeh started his culinary career as a kitchen
apprentice in 1971. He has worked through all kitchen organisation
echelons, holding various positions within the kitchen brigade. He
was also trained by multinational chefs, which helped shape his
style and increase the depth of his knowledge.
Chef Odeh has participated in sixty international competitions
and food festivals, where he has been awarded cups, medals, and
certificates. Chef Odeh filmed a culinary show with Palestine TV in
1990, and has done the same with other local television channels.
The international personalities for whom Chef Odeh has
prepared meals include the late President Yasser Arafat in
Gaza, Francois Mitterrand, President Jimmy Carter, during the
Chef Ammar Ahmad
Chef Ammar Ahmad has always found joy in cooking. He
launched his career at Crown Plaza-Amman as a cook. He is
currently the head chef of the Movenpick Hotel Ramallah. On
Fridays, he joins his chef colleagues in Family Friday on the
terrace of Al Riwaq Restaurant. Families come with their children
for lunch. The children spend their day cooking with the chefs and
tasting their own creations. Chef Ammar loves to see the smile
on their faces as they take their first bite. This is the reason he
wanted to become a chef; he wanted to use food to draw smiles
on the faces of his guests.
At the Movenpick Hotel Ramallah, Chef Ammar was introduced
to modern cooking techniques. He developed his professional
skills and found himself living his dream career. He admits that
although cooking brings him much joy, being a chef is just like
any other profession; there are tough days too when the team
could be serving a thousand guests simultaneously. During those
Chef Nabil Aho
Born in Jerusalem, Chef Nabil Aho – a certified hospitality
educator since 1996 – has thirty years of professional experience
in the culinary arts and specialises in hot kitchen and food
production. He started as an apprentice in 1983, but worked hard
to move up to become chef de partie and then executive chef
while simultaneously working as a chef instructor at Bethlehem
University and Notre Dame Center of Jerusalem’s Professional
Promotion Hospitality Section. Chef Nabil strongly believes in
broadening the public’s culinary knowledge and has been writing
regularly about food in Al-Quds newspaper for the past five years.
A colleague described Chef Nabil as a “culinary encyclopaedia”
and, as such, he is active in offering consultancy services
in culinary food and service to local hotels, restaurants, and
culinary schools. Moreover, he is an active member and one of
the founders of Chefs for Peace. Chef Nabil participates in local
26
Palestinian presidential elections, Warren Christopher, US Secretary of State, and
many others. Chef Odeh is a part-time chef instructor at Notre Dame of Jerusalem’s
Professional Promotion Hospitality Section. He cooks with passion and does his best to
professionally produce food that will satisfy and please his guests. In addition to cooking
for hotel guests and celebrities, Chef Odeh’s passion is to mentor younger chefs and
help them discover their own talents.
challenging days, the team is determined to ensure that the quality follows the trend and
the high standards they have. The hard work at the hotel does not prevent him from
tending to his land and taking care of his olive trees and grapevines.
and international food festivals, such as the Slow Food Festival in Turin, Italy, and the
Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg, where he received a diplome d’honneur. He also
participated in a team competition at the International Open Air Cooking Championship
and the Moldavian Culinary Cup-2012, where he won the silver medal and was also a
culinary judge.
27
Chef Joseph Asfour
Born, raised, and educated in the Golden City, Jerusalem, Chef
Joseph comes with a packed bag, just like Saint Nicholas on
Christmas Eve, yet Chef Joseph’s bag is packed with expertise
in the theory and practice of food, beverage, and condiments
processes. His education and knowledge, which started
back in 1983, come from countless training courses in quality
management for hotels and restaurants, marketing management,
and human resources development, in addition to courses in
food and beverages, where he developed a unique style among
other chefs. His presentations are fashionable and eloquent. It
is as if he communicates his love of food from his heart to yours.
His outstanding knowledge of French, Italian, Irish, Palestinian,
and other cuisines makes Chef Joseph a highly qualified artist.
He is the founder of one of the most elaborate settings in
Ramallah, Darna Restaurant. His work at Angelo’s Restaurant,
the Red Crescent in Ramallah, and other localities, here and
Chef Ahmad Ashayer
Chef Ahmad started his career by working at the Hyatt Hotel back
in 1989. During his work, he enhanced his culinary education at the
Tadmor Hertzlia Academy. His experience at the academy earned
him a Level 5 degree, qualifying him to become an executive chef.
In 1992, he earned his culinary certification from the association
of Young Chefs of Israel. Upon completion of his education, he
worked at the Diplomat Hotel in Jerusalem and soon after at its
branch hotel in Tel Aviv.
Chef Ahmad’s most prominent accomplishments include
working as executive chef at the Blue Dolphin Restaurant and
being appointed Kitchen Executive Chef, responsible for setting
up the food and beverage departments of the Legacy Hotel and
The National Hotel during their inaugural events. He was also
executive chef at the Jericho Intercontinental Hotel.
Chef David Diedes
Chef David George Diedes was born in Jerusalem on April 6,
1974. He attended St. George’s High School, where he graduated
in 1991. After completing school, he attended the Notre Dame
of Jerusalem Culinary Arts Program. He then went on to a full
apprenticeship at Lausanne Palace in Switzerland. His basic
training started in bakeries. Very early each morning, he produced
all sorts of breads, croissants, and pastries, and then distributed
the baked goods to hotels and shops all over the city of Lausanne.
He later had the opportunity to work with top Swiss chefs and
prepare thirteen-course meals for VIPs at the Lausanne Palace.
Following his training at the Lausanne Palace, Chef David was
hired at the American Colony Hotel. As a trainee, he survived
long hours in the kitchen, where he gathered experience from the
chefs who came from various countries to present their food. Chef
David still works at the American Colony where he has become
an executive chef. He has also been a chef instructor at Notre
28
overseas, has provided Chef Joseph with the knowledge he needs to present food of
exquisite quality. Chef Joseph believes in quality rather than quantity on the plate.
Chef Joseph has had the opportunity to serve his delicious creations to many presidents
and dignitaries, such as the late President Yasser Arafat of the PLO, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas,
the current head of the PNA, Russian President, Mr. Putin, US Secretary of State, Ms.
Rice, former British prime minister, Mr. Tony Blair, the late Pope John Paul II, the former
UN general secretary, Mr. Kofi Anan, Mr. Javier Solana, the famous American actor Mr.
Richard Gere, and many others.
Today Chef Ahmad is proud to be the executive chef at the Ambassador Hotel and
considers it a blessing to be part of the Ambassador family.
Dame since 2007. He finds joy in cooking Palestinian and Arabic dishes and aspires to
make our Middle-Eastern cuisine a world pioneer. “Cooking is for everybody,” he says,
“but perfection and completion of a dish comes from the love of cooking, which involves
all our senses. Cooking is a combination of surf and turf, salt and sugar, sour and sweet,
and fresh green herbs,” he concludes.
29
Chef Johnny M. Goric
Chef Johnny Goric is the executive chef of the Legacy Boutique
Hotel in Jerusalem. He teaches gastronomy and modern
Mediterranean cuisine at the professional promotion centre of
the Notre Dame Culinary School. He has worked in major chain
hotels and other leading hotels throughout the world, and was an
executive chef at the Intercontinental Hotel and Resort in Jericho.
He is a member of the prestigious Chaine des Rotisseurs, and
part of the Chefs for Peace team that cooks all around the world
to promote peace in the region. He has participated in many
international culinary competitions in Thailand, and the United
States, Turkey, Luxemburg, and Romania where he won three gold
medals and the golden cup in the Bucharest, Romania, Open-Air
Cooking Competition in May 2010.
Locally, Chef Johnny is the winner of a gold medal at the
Palestinian Culinary Arts Competition in 2008, and served
as a judge in the same competition in 2009. He successfully
Chef Agustin Shomali
Chef Agustin was born with his taste buds feasting on both
Palestinian and Spanish culinary influences. From a young age,
he kept his eyes and ears open in the kitchen, watching his
Spanish mother prepare tortillas and his Palestinian grandmother
prepare maftoul.
Chef Agustin’s career started when he graduated from the
Notre Dame of Jerusalem Culinary Arts Program, where he was
taught by Palestinian culinary masters such as the late Chef
Yacoub Salbis, Chef Joseph Asfour, and Chef Nabil Aho. He then
found a small corner of the American Colony kitchen to learn the
trades of mixing the inspirations of the Orient with the creativity
of Western gastronomy.
After his graduation, Chef Agustin participated in several
international culinary courses in Spain, Italy, and France, not to
mention various local courses in Bethlehem. He has also taught
Chef George Srour
Chef George Srour is an internationally recognised Palestinian
chef. After obtaining a diploma in food and service from
Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, where he won the Award
of Outstanding Academic Achievement, he was enrolled in a
culinary art course at the Scuola Alberghiera di Rovereto School
in Italy. He has gained professional experience and has worked
for prestigious hotels and restaurants, such as the Casa Nova
Palace Hotel in Bethlehem, and the American Colony Hotel. In
2009, he had the honour to cook for the Pope. He is currently the
Italian chef at the Jacir Palace Intercontinental Hotel.
Thanks to his culinary talents, Chef George has represented
Palestine in local and international competitions, such as the
Couscous Festival in Sicily in 2008 and 2009, and the three
editions of the International Open Air Cooking Championship in
Romania. He is also the first Palestinian chef to obtain a Certificate
of Judging in Culinary Arts Contests by the World Association
30
represented Palestine at the Couscous Festival in Sicily and took first place in 2007, and
best presentation in 2009. Chef Johnny’s career has given him the opportunity to cook
for several major personalities, including King Abdullah II of Jordan, the late President
Arafat, President Clinton, President George W. Bush, and many more.
cooking classes for local women both in the classroom and on radio and TV. Chef Agustin’s
path has taken him from Jerusalem’s kitchens through Spain’s Canary Islands specialty
restaurants to being an executive chef at the new Ararat Hotel in Bethlehem and a chef
instructor at Al Ahlieh School in Ramallah. Chef Agustin Shomali’s many inspirations
encourage him to create his fusion cuisine with such mouth-watering inventions as the
risotto makloubeh to funky trios of tartare and a delicious knafeh à la vanille that attract
his faithful clientele from near and far.
of Chefs Societies in Dubai. As a result of his work experience in prominent Italian
restaurants in Italy, it is said that he has become the Palestinian Italian chef par excellence.
Chef Srour is an ambitious chef who desires to pass on his knowledge through the
cooking courses. He is also a member of the Emirates Culinary Guild and the World
Association of Chefs Societies. He hopes to modernise Palestinian culinary traditions
through his international approach and that cuisine is an excellent tool to attract tourism
and raise awareness about Palestine.
31
Hilda’s Malban
the midst of harsh and ever-changing
realities. My aunt’s malban sheets, like
our grandmothers’ maftoul drying under
our sun, represent a significant political
stance. They are saying that we still
have a chance. Why? Because unlike
many communities around the world
that have been completely overtaken by
gigantic companies such as Monsanto,
multinational corporations, and junkfood establishments such as KFC and
McDonalds, we still have many of our
seeds and much of our knowledge
that can enable us to create for future
generations the same kind of sweet
childhoods we had – of Dabuki grapes,
loz (almonds), and Dafour figs. These
baladi varieties are the source of our
survival. They are literally the seeds of
our inborn culture that has its roots deep
in this terrain.
Our grandmothers’ maftoul and my
aunt’s malban are not folkloric images
of a past life. They are living models: not
of who we were but of who we still are,
which is why we are a lucky generation
who carries an enormous responsibility.
But more good news suggests that
while our responsibility is huge, fulfilling
it is very simple – in fact, pleasurable.
It involves eating well and indulging in
our ancestral gifts of selected seeds
and tested practices that have proven to
be good for our health. We possess in
our backyards and among our farmers
the most essential and sought-after
knowledge and raw materials. What is
now globally known as top-shelf health
foods with organic labels and fancy
packaging is a lower-grade version of my
aunt’s grape leather or Um Mohammed’s
goat cheese, or Um Khalid’s zaatar, or
Um Hikmat’s taboun, or my mother’s
unforgettable yakhnee bitinjan. We have
an easy task: to eat and to eat local
baladi foods. But this simple task requires
awareness and a kind of appreciation of
our selves, our origins, and the soil that
we are fighting for. And though malban
takes days to make, and though it is
much like our reality – sticky and slightly
complex – it carries in its longevity the
By Vivien Sansour
White sheets covered with a brown
spread of cooked grape juice hang every
August off my Aunt Hilda’s balcony.
It takes her more than three days to
create a delicacy that ignites the palate
with the intense flavours of qraish (pine
nuts), sesame, and the refreshing zest
of Palestine’s Dabuki grapes straight
from her garden – all of which create the
perfect fruit leather: malban. It has been
more than 25 years since the last time
my small fingers got caught up in the
sticky spread as I tried to snip a taste off
my grandmother’s malban sheets, which
hung exactly in the same position, and off
the same balcony. Back then, Beit Jala,
my hometown, looked like the grounds of
a visual competition of brown and white
rooftop spreads of nut-mixed malban
canvasses. Today, one would have to go
on a malban hunt in order to find these
magical carpets of saccharine delight. A
once-thriving tradition has become a rare
delicacy in a continuously changing and
challenging reality of food production and
consumption patterns. But in keeping this
artisan ritual, Hilda does not complicate
the process with philosophical concepts.
She is doing what her mother-in-law,
my grandmother, did before her; she
is using the environment around her to
create wholesome food to share with
her family. Wrapping each piece of dried
malban in brown paper, she sets aside
several servings as gifts to be shipped to
loved ones abroad. In a failed attempt to
recreate the past, malban becomes the
only way diaspora Palestinians from this
village can taste, smell, and remember
where they come from.
But despite the inevitable nostalgia
there is still the good news: malban
and other culinary traditions like it are
still alive – perhaps not as widespread
as they once were, but they are here;
and they not only represent the past,
they are also part of a dynamic present
that has proven to be perseverant in
Malban in the making.
32
33
Malban hung to dry.
DNA of our freedom. It contains the
bundle of elements that enable us to be
self-sufficient with the foods and seeds we
grow and reproduce, allowing us – despite
all odds – to remain independent while
we enjoy what the world is progressively
craving: a return to wellness.
By the time you read this it will be grape
season. Try making your own malban.
You can use my Aunt Hilda’s recipe.
cold grape juice with the semolina flour.
Slightly and separately roast the sesame
seeds and qrish (pine nuts) in a pan.
As the boiling juice thickens, slowly
add the flour and grape-juice mix while
constantly stirring. Towards the end add
the sesame and pine seeds. Prepare a
place on your roof with bed sheets (using
plastic is unhealthy and ruins the taste of
malban). Take the hot malban mix and
spread it evenly on the sheets. Make sure
to choose a sunny day when you cook
your malban. Depending on the sun, it
takes from three to seven days for it to
completely dry and be ready to tear off
the sheets. Cut up the malban and store
it somewhere cool so you can enjoy it all
year round. Make sure to involve some
children in the process. They love grapes
and they will some day thank you as I do
my aunt and grandmother.
Happy Malban Season!
Hilda’s Malban
Ingredients:
5 kilos grapes
½ cup semolina flour
250 ml pine nuts
250 ml sesame seeds
After picking the grapes, remove the
fruit from the stems. Wash the grapes,
then puree them in a blender. Strain the
juice twice using a sieve or other straining
device to make sure the juice is free of
any coarse particles such as seeds and
skin. Put aside one cup of the juice, and
pour the rest into a big pot and boil.
In a separate blender, mix the remaining
Vivien Sansour is a lifestyle writer,
producer, and photographer. She can be
reached at vivien.sansour@gmail.com.
Article photos by Vivien Sansour.
34
The Generous Wilderness of
Yacoub al-Khayyat
“I noticed that the darkest part of the night
is the moment just before the light begins to
appear,” says Yacoub al-Khayyat, standing
in the middle of a meadow with a bouquet
of wild plants, including spectacular thorns,
delicate white and yellow flowers, fragrant
laurel leaves, a cluster of small red berries
called ‘ulleiq, and a sprig with tiny reddish
“nuts” called botm, which are slightly
larger than peppercorns. Yacoub is taking
me and my companions to his ancestral
village in Upper Galilee, Iqrit, which he
sometimes refers to as al-waja’ al-habib,
the beloved wound.
He has pulled over to walk into what
he calls his wilderness to pick a few
wild things to offer us, his enchanted
guests. “I experience my wilderness as
I experience my kitchen, first by smell.
I smell everything first.” He then rustles
the laurel leaves, smells them, and offers
them for us to inhale before inviting us
to crunch the botm and ‘ulleiq. We are in
love with the musky smell of laurel, the
mildly peppery flavour of the botm, the
still-tart ‘uleiq, and most of all with this
man who embodies this swirl of smells and
tastes that somehow connects to our own
longings and emotions. We are moved in
his presence.
Moments before, we had eaten ‘ulleiq,
botm, shomar – or wild fennel – and
‘iliq in a variety of spectacular dishes
prepared by Yacoub in his small but vital
restaurant in Rameh. We will come back
to the food in a moment. Rameh is one of
the Palestinian towns in Galilee that has
remained, not been wiped out like Iqrit
by military decree, and as such, Rameh
is home to its original families as well as
to many Palestinians from towns and
villages like Iqrit who became internally
displaced with the creation of the state of
Israel in 1948.
Iqrit’s story, along with that of Kufr
Bir’im, is already known to many. Israeli
forces entered the town in 1948, after
By Riad Bahhur
hostilities had ended, to find the people
of Iqrit huddled in the church, hoping for
protection from the horrors experienced in
other nearby Palestinian villages. Military
commanders asked the people of Iqrit to
leave for two weeks “for security reasons,”
allegedly because of Iqrit’s proximity to the
Lebanese border. A promise of return was
given and then broken. Two weeks, then
two months, then two years passed. In the
summer of 1950, an Israeli court ruled that
the promise was legally valid and should
be honoured. Still, Yacoub’s grandparents
along with the rest of the people of Iqrit,
were denied the right to return to their stillstanding village. On Christmas Eve, 1950,
the village of Iqrit, nestled in a stunningly
green and gentle landscape, was blown
up by the state of Israel in order to prevent
the return of its people to their homes. As
young and old arrived for Christmas Eve
prayers, they found their beloved homes
and gardens in ruins.
“I am willing to pay the price of seeing.
The price is to feel this great pain,” says
Yacoub as he sits on the stones of his
grandfather’s house. He pours bitter
coffee with cardamom into tiny cups and
welcomes us. The coffee was made by
Nidal and Jiryis, two young men who have
decided to return to Iqrit without waiting for
permission from the state that displaced
their grandparents. They are joined by
several other youths who sleep under the
trees and stars and sometimes in the small
room built on the side of the small church.
They live a rustic life far away from the
entertainments of other youth their age,
eating off the land even though the Israeli
army has uprooted every tree they have
planted and destroyed every structure
they have begun. When I asked Nidal
what he liked most about living in Iqrit, he
said quietly, “the calm.” They listen intently
as Yacoub speaks. “My grandfather used
to bring me to Iqrit when I was as young
as five or six years old. He did not speak.
He came to pick sabr (prickly pear) and
36
Destroyed village of Iqrit in Upper Galilee.
The sun fades as we sit on those old
stones. The meal we ate earlier is still
sitting happily in our bellies. How can
I do it justice in words? The cultivated
ingredients are perhaps more familiar
than the wild plants mentioned above,
but it is the wild ingredients that animate
the dishes that Yacoub creates. He takes
the familiar eggplant, cauliflower, fava
and garbanzo beans, lentils, yogurt, and
eggs, and transforms them with the wild
ingredients he forages on his meditative
journeys throughout the year.
Yacoub is generous. After all, he has
shown us a slice of his wilderness and
shared with us the smells and tastes he
gathers from it. Yet there is a “secret” he
laughingly refers to when I press him about
how he is able to carry that pain. “Pain
exposes many things – your weakness and
your strength – at the same time. It also
cleanses and washes you to reveal your
core or your essence, if you have a core.”
As he speaks, I have a picture of
Yacoub’s grandfather in my mind. Not only
Yacoub al-Khayyat, originally from Iqrit, now living in Rameh.
I used to marmir (de-spine the sabr by
rolling them with sticks on the ground). I
remember feeling good that he was happy
with how well I was removing the spines
from the fruit.”
Yacoub was born in 1956, eight years
after the displacement and six years after
the destruction of Iqrit. Although he never
ate a meal in his grandparents’ house while
it was still standing, he says, “I can smell
what my grandmother would be cooking
today. She is cooking a sauté of green
favas with onions. It smells amazing. I can
smell the olive oil, the onions, the favas,
and I can smell her and see her in her
dress, standing over the pan with a spoon.”
37
sheep’s-milk yogurt and topped with
a fry of minced onions, ground wild
sumac berries, and crushed dried mint.
Of course we neither asked for a menu
nor saw one, we just sat and waited with
the excitement and anticipation of very
hungry children.
The sun has by this point set on our
coffee grounds and on the stones of
the destroyed homes of Iqrit as Yacoub
shares one of his poems. Addressing a
child, perhaps his 5-year-old self, he says,
“Do not fear the darkness, for darkness
is the mother of light, just as a tiny seed
gives birth to shade.” We sit quietly for a
moment and reflect on the Arabic word
for shade, fayy, which evokes so much
his face, but also his silence, with the boy
by his side arranging the sticks for his task
of rolling the spines off the cactus fruit.
They work quietly, side by side, before
taking their harvest back down the hill
to share with the rest of the family. It is
harder to imagine how they ate the fruit
in their new exile – did they eat silently?
What were they thinking as the sweetness
splashed on their tongues? How do you
describe the flavour of so much loss?
Around the table of Yacoub’s small
restaurant, Sharabeek, my friends and
I ate a perfectly creamy pudding of an
eggplant that had been roasted and
scooped out of its skin, then covered
with a layer of light, fluffed tahineh, under
Dishes from Yacoub al-Khayyat’s restaurant in Rameh.
more than the English word shade. Fayy
is relief for the tormented, balm for the
wound, and God’s grace in the face of a
fiery sun. I ask Nidal and Jiryis what they
hear in Yacoub’s poem. The young Jiryis
looks reassuringly into Yacoub’s eyes and
speaks confidently with a voice that has
found its core in the silence of a beloved
wound: “Ihna al-fayy. We are the shade.”
another layer of crushed ‘ulleiq berries
with their juice elegantly draped over the
tahineh cloud, topped with the freshest
and most fragrant green mint I have
ever tasted. There was a plate of ‘iliq, or
wild dandelion greens, cooked simply to
perfection and blessed with a squeeze
of lemon before being devoured. Yacoub
gathers the ‘iliq from several locations
throughout the spring and early summer.
Savory brown lentils were sautéed with
wild fennel leaves and onions, a heavenly
combination. There is no telling how he
gets his cauliflower to the sweet point
of caramelisation every time without
disappointing, or whether today he will
prepare shamameet, eggs poached in
Riad Bahhur teaches, writes, and
makes films. He is currently working
on a documentary film that features
Palestinian food and agriculture. He can
be reached at riadnb@gmail.com.
Article photos by Vivien Sansour.
38
From the Bosom of the Earth to
the Bounty of the Table
By Daphne Muse
Let us break bread together on our knees (on our knees).
Let us break bread together on our knees (on our knees).
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Excerpt from traditional African American Hymn
From the earth’s maternal bosom sprouts the seed that produces
a grain that’s been pounded, milled, and ground into a nourishing
substance found on the tables of billions of homes around the world
for thousands of years. With every loaf or round comes a story. Out
of ovens, off stove stops, and from rounds, it goes from seed to
Hungarian rye; naan, an oven-baked flatbread from India; or injera,
a spongy and absorbent bread from Ethiopia. I grew up at a time
when the smells emanating from the house were not commercial
air-fresheners, the off-gassing of chemicals from the furniture, or the
smell of a pop-tart being nuked in a microwave. Our home was filled
with the rising of yeast rolls, hot-water cornbread, or spoon bread
fresh out of a summer oven.
Bread is an icon with a history that dates back some 30,000 years.
With almost every loaf, round, or biscuit, there comes a story. I’ve
rarely met a bread I didn’t like. I’ve shared bammy at tables in
Jamaica, brioche with a family in France, and fry bread with Navajos
in Arizona. Fry bread, a staple with a controversial history, was
invented when First Nations people like the Navajos were relocated
to reservations and allocated rations of flour, sugar, and lard. While
bread, like so much of our food, has been corporatised, for billions
of mostly women around the world, its preparation remains a daily
practice and not relegated to some cultural memory. Somehow the
lack of bread at the table makes the meal feel incomplete and creates
a missing link to a world that once nourished us so differently.
It remains a staple in homes, markets, and restaurants from
Ramallah to Gaza and Hebron to Jericho; the aromas of khoubiz,
kmaj, and ka’ak still waft from stones and tabouns (ovens). Bread
is so iconic that within the African American vernacular, bread used
to be referred to as a synonym for money. “Man, how much bread
you got on you?” was a commonly heard refrain in many a black
community in the twentieth century.
From the United States to El Salvador and Ireland to Egypt, there
are so many in the world still struggling to make their daily bread.
The battle to bring bread to the table has taken on David and Goliath
proportions as big corporations such as Monsanto muscle their way
into the control and domination of seeds and farming. As access to
daily bread becomes more difficult, valued traditions, economies,
and diets of people across the globe are destabilised. According
to Scott Alves Barton, adjunct professor at the Institute of Culinary
Education (NYC), executive chef/culinary in Salvador, Bahia Brazil,
40
of a superb gumbo. I so look forward to
the day when I sit at the table in Ramallah
or Jericho and share a’ja with a family
and in turn make cornbread infused with
freshly grated corn, dill, and hot peppers.
The aromas coming from that kitchen
are bound to be soothing and will create
memorable touchstones on my palate.
For me, breaking bread, like sharing tea,
is just so very civilising.
“Bread is big here too, but we also have
coconut, corn, sweet potato, manioc,
and other tuber/starch-based breads
with varying degrees of wheat; a typical
diasporic pantry. Wheat bread came with
the Portuguese colonisers to be able to
celebrate the (Catholic) sacrament.”
My curiosity was piqued while watching
a segment on DW Journal (German
Television) which focused on the fact that
many types of bread are now premade
and sit in warehouses for months at a
time, prior to being shipped to cafes,
grocery chains, and restaurants for
baking. In many cultures in Asia, Africa,
and the Middle East, bread is used as an
eating implement, to gather up the meal
into mouth-sized pockets for eating: naan
to absorb the flavours of a majestic curry;
injera to capture the spice of a doro wat;
and corn bread to sop up the magical roux
Daphne Muse is a writer, poet, and
social commentator. Her work has
appeared in This Week in Palestine and
The Washington Post, and has aired on
NPR. She is the author of four books and
spent six years writing for the Office of
Education at the Commission on Major
League Baseball. She blogs at www.
daphnemuse.blogspot.com and can be
reached at msmusewriter@gmail.com
or daphnemuse.blogspot.com.
41
Maqloubeh – Made in Italy
By Nicola Hazboun
Panzanella is the name of a rustic summer dish that
originated years ago in the wonderful Italian Tuscany. This
poor dish does not require any cooking and was always
consumed in fields, especially by those Italian farmers
who, at that time, stayed away from their houses for the
whole day. The main ingredients of panzanella are stale
bread and small pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers, and
red onions, in addition to basil, and seasoned with salt,
pepper, vinegar, and oil. Does it remind you of something?
Is it Italian-style fattoush? Well, yes. Except that in
panzanella, the bread is soaked, whereas in fattoush, it
is crunchy. Moreover, mint is used in fattoush instead of
panzanella’s basil. Another difference is that sumac is
sometimes added to fattoush, whereas the red spice is
not even known among Italians – at least not among those
Italians who have yet to visit Le Rotte Ghiotte.
The similarities and differences between panzanella and
fattoush represent the concept that lies behind the idea of
Le Rotte Ghiotte, literally translated as “The Tasty Routes,”
an Italian restaurant that is managed by a Palestinian
family. Le Rotte Ghiotte – named the best restaurant
in Arezzo at the Mangia & Bevi contest in 2013 – is a
culinary voyage around the Mediterranean where the mix
of culinary cultures has proven itself to be an enjoyable and
authentic experience in exploring the commonalities among
Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, Turks, Greeks, North
Africans, Spanish, French, and Italians and in admiring the
differences imposed on each culinary culture by the nature
of its own land and the touch of its own people.
Palestinian and half Tuscan. He brought
it to Arezzo after having observed his
grandmother Helen as she prepared it for
the whole family in our house in Madbaset
Bethlehem.
I visit Le Rotte Ghiotte every Saturday,
arriving around 5 pm, when my cousins
Shady and Tamer are waiting so that
we can do the boring accounting work
together and begin the brain-consuming
process of evaluating the restaurant
and figuring out what should be done
next. The heaviness of challenges
and difficulties all fade away when, at
around 8 pm, clients start to flow in and
the fragrances of the Spanish paella
and Greek souvlaki start mixing with the
perfumes of qidreh and falafel. After a
while comes the highpoint of the evening
when Chef Shady leaves his kitchen
to check on his guests and explain to
them the origins of what they just had
for dinner, weaving together the facts
into stories. This scene never ceases to
bring to mind all the times that I would
sit with Shady, Tamer, my brother, and
my other cousins to enjoy a delicious
meal prepared by our grandmother in
Bethlehem.
Just like panzanella and fattoush there
is a lot to observe when introducing the
Italian public to La Piadina del Msakhan,
which is made with chicken, onions,
sumac (a Middle Eastern red spice),
and extra-virgin Tuscan oil wrapped in
an Italian piadina.
Msakhan is a Palestinian dish that is
made in Italy by Chef Shady, who is half
A young, professional, and dynamic team at Le Rotte Ghiotte.
42
43
The weekly Social Cooking classes at Le Rotte Ghiotte.
Maqloubeh - Made in Italy.
A young, professional, and dynamic
team, a Mediterranean menu that
changes every three months in order
to ensure the freshness of in-season
ingredients, the attention to detail and to
the needs of our guests, and the many
theme events and social cooking classes
are the elements that characterise the
unique dining experience of Le Rotte
Ghiotte.
“From Palestine to Arezzo, the Kings
of Restaurants and Pizzerias” is the
title of the local newspaper article that
announced Le Rotte Ghiotte as the
winner of the 2013 Best Restaurant
Contest in the city and province of
Arezzo. The title of the article, especially
the first part of it, led me to understand
that one more successful element of Le
Rotte Ghiotte is the authenticity of its
simple identity as Palestinian.
Nicola Hazboun is a Palestinian
management engineer who has been
living in Italy for the last 11 years. He
is co-owner of Le Rotte Ghiotte in
addition to working as an export sales
and marketing manager for Boscarini
multinational group of polyethylene
piping system manufacturers. He can be
reached at n.hazboun@hotmail.it.
Palestinian mjaddarah at Le Rotte Ghiotte.
44
The Sweet Taste of Palestine
By Lana Shehadeh
As we were growing up abroad, my
parents constantly tried to keep my
siblings and me in tune with our Palestinian
culture. From my mother’s point of view,
Palestinian culture was an amalgamation
of Arabic poetry, Palestinian embroidered
dresses (thobe), an understanding of the
history of Palestine, and knowledge of our
religion. From my father’s point of view,
Palestinian culture and being in touch
with my father’s Palestinian heritage
meant one word and one word only….
Zalatimo.
During every summer vacation and
holiday, my father would take us to the Old
City of Jerusalem every chance he got.
Getting to Jerusalem from my hometown
of Silwad (Ramallah) was a bit of a hike.
By the time we got through the hour-long
checkpoints and security stops on the
way, my siblings and I would sigh at the
sight of the large walls of the Old City. We
would race through the narrow roads of
Al-Quds to make sure we got to Zalatimo
on time. Over the years we learned that
the Zalatimo bakery opened at the crack
of dawn and shut it doors at noon. We
bumped into people, pushed our way
through the large crowds, dodged fruitand-vegetable stands, and laughed as we
heard the creative songs that the produce
merchants would chant to encourage
people to purchase their goods.
As we ran through the Old City our
excitement would build; I remember
feeling my mouth watering just thinking
about the smell of those pastries, the
taste of the sweet syrup, and that melted
cheese. I would scream to my dad, “I
get the first one!” We knew that all the
pastries were made fresh, right in front of
our eyes, so it always took time to bake
and we would all fight over that first piece
of Zalatimo.
Today, as I walk through the Old City,
it is different. Everything in Palestine is
constantly changing. The occupation has
taken its toll on Palestine and you can
see it in all areas of life. There are more
settlements, fewer Palestinian homes,
more Israeli flags hung throughout
the Old City, and even higher security
measures at the checkpoint. The Old City
of Jerusalem is empty – the city that for
years was buzzing with Palestinians from
all over doing some shopping and paying
their respects to the holy city. I remember
running through its narrow streets
unable to move two feet
without bumping
into someone.
Today, the narrow
roads are clear. You
can spot a few tourists
here and there but not
many Palestinians. The only
Palestinians you see are the
Jerusalemites who live in the city. The
Jerusalemites are the inhabitants who are
in constant struggle to keep Palestinian
identity grounded in the city of Jerusalem.
The only thing in the Old City that is
familiar to me is the little bakery that
was always my dad’s priority. As I spot
the rusted metal doors of the bakery,
my mouth begins to water. I can smell
the syrup that’s poured on the pastries,
I can picture the crunchy sweet texture
with powdered sugar sprinkled all over
it. I make my way through the doors; the
bakery has only two customers. The first
familiar face I see is Hani’s. He looks the
same, the colour of his hair is a mixture
of black and white. He seems to have
aged since the last time I saw him. He
looks the same, though, and just like I
remember, he is completely preoccupied
with his pastries and perfecting their
texture. Just spotting the rusted doors
and seeing a glimpse of Hani brings back
many childhood memories.
Family Recipe Lives On
Hani carries on flipping his dough and
ensuring that it is as thin as possible.
46
Mr. Zalatimo preparing the famous motabbak.
but business is very bad.
In the past our bakery
was always filled with
customers. But after the
Intifada and the road closures,
Palestinians are unable to come to
Jerusalem and we have fewer and fewer
customers every year. My brothers are
in Ramallah, and they run the Ramallah
location on Al-Irsal road,” says Hani,
eager to give me directions to all their
locations.
According to Hani, the ingredients are
very simple: paper-thin dough, sweet,
white Arabic goat cheese, sugar syrup,
and powdered sugar on top. As delicate
as they are, these ingredients have stood
the test of time and continue to mark
Jerusalem as Palestinian. I hope that
Hani and his family continue to serve
their paper-thin motabbak for many
years so that I and many others like me
will continue to pass on the experience
to our children and their children and to
many Palestinian generations to come.
Getting
the dough
that thin is a
work of art on its
own. One can easily
recognise the need for
skill to accomplish such a feat. He smiles
as I spot him throwing the dough in the air
and wrapping it around his hand.
“My father taught me how to make
motabbak (a popular cheese-stuffed
pastry). He learned from his father, who
learned from his father. Our recipe goes
back more than two hundred years,”
explains 30-year-old Hani, who is also
known as Abu Samir.
Hani, like his family of Zalatimo, is
originally from the Old City of Jerusalem.
He says his great-grandfather,
Mohammad Zalatimo, learned the recipe
of motabbak in Lebanon and brought
it back to Jerusalem. As his pastries
became popular, people started to call
this special motabbak by the family
name: Zalatimo.
“I run the bakery in the Old City,
Lana Shehadeh is a research officer
with BBC Media Action in Ramallah. She
works on content research, quantitative
and qualitative research, and audience
recruitment for debate programmes on
the BBC. Lana also writes frequently
for the BBC, Al-Monitor and This Week
in Palestine. You can follow her on @
Lana_Shehadeh.
47
Noor Women’s Empowerment Group
One of our first cooking classes. Both men and women are
very welcome!
Noor Women’s Empowerment
Group is a grassroots, economically
independent project that was created
in 2010 by and for refugee women
from Aida and Al-Azzeh refugee camps
(Bethlehem) with the help of some
volunteers. We who participate in the
project are in charge of our families, and
most of us have a disabled child. Besides
having to deal with social stigma, we face
economic issues that prevent our children
from getting adequate care.
Noor started with a Mothers’ Club that
met regularly. Our first victory was to buy
big quantities of nappies for our disabled
children from a factory in Hebron. By
buying in bulk, we paid a much lower
price, allowing us to save a lot of money.
However, we soon realised that in order
to provide educational and recreational
activities for our disabled children, we
needed to raise funds.
Twice a month we organise cooking
classes for those who want to learn to
cook traditional Palestinian dishes. We
gather at our kitchen in Aida Camp and
among vegetables, spices, olive oil, and
zaatar, we all learn about food, Palestine,
refugees, and life in the camps. When the
food is ready, we eat together and then
go for a tour around Aida Camp.
Preparing krass with spinach while drinking coffee.
We also offer home stays to individuals
or groups who want to experience the
famous Palestinian hospitality, make new
friends, and learn some Arabic.
With the help of international volunteers,
we improve our English and participate
in workshops on topics that range from
nutrition and health to computer skills.
Above all, the most important thing
Noor has taught us is that together we
are more able to find solutions to our
everyday problems.
There are many ways you can get
involved and support our project! Join one
of the classes, get a copy of Zaaki (our
recipe booklet), stay with a family in the
camp, teach us English, or help us organise
leisure activities for our disabled children.
Islam Abu Aouda is Noor’s coordinator.
She lives in Aida Camp together with
her six children and husband. You can
contact Noor at noorweg.aida@gmail.
com and check out our blog at noorweg.
wordpress.com.
Photos courtesy of Noor Women’s
Empowerment Group.
48
Healthy Culinary Sessions for a Long,
Healthy Life
By Riham Jafari
One of the components of UNRWA’s
“Life is Sweeter with Less Sugar”
diabetes and high blood pressure
campaign is teaching healthy culinary
skills to Palestine refugee women
through the cooking-sessions initiative.
These sessions will be implemented
by the UNRWA health programme in
cooperation with the Women’s Program
Center in eight refugee camps in the West
Bank. Cooking sessions will be held twice
a week over a period of six months. The
UNRWA health programme launched
this campaign to mark World Health Day
on April 7, as a way to combat diabetes
and hypertension among Palestine
refugees. The campaign also includes
training health staff in screening methods
and techniques. In addition, the healthy
culinary sessions provide practical
information sessions facilitated by a
senior nutritionist as well as counselling,
follow-up, and other forms of support.
The healthy culinary sessions initiative
is based on recent research conducted
by the Women’s Health Program
that indicated that 73.8 percent of
the patients who were interviewed
used an estimation measurement for
adding oil during cooking whereas
26.2 percent used a measuring spoon.
Estimating measurement during cooking
Healthy eating does not mean following
nutrition guidelines and abstaining from
the food we love. It is about having
energy and feeling good. Learning how
to prepare healthy food is crucial to
fostering healthy lifestyles and preventing
non-communicable and other diseases.
In addition to medical treatment and
screening in order to address diabetes
and hypertension among Palestinian
refugees, community-based organisations
need to be engaged in teaching healthy
culinary practices. During 2011, UNRWA
(United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East)
health clinics provided high blood pressure
and diabetes care for 211,533 Palestine
refugees through its network of 139 health
clinics in the occupied Palestinian territory,
Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. High blood
pressure and diabetes commonly occur
together, with 45 percent of diabetes
patients diagnosed with sustained high
blood pressure. Since 2001, high blood
pressure/diabetes cases have more than
doubled. If left untreated, they will increase
the risk of developing cardiovascular
disease, blood vessel damage, stroke,
and heart and kidney failure.
For this reason, it is important to
focus on preventative steps and
community efforts regarding nutrition
to enhance access to healthy food and
preventative and treatment services
for Palestine refugees. The initiative
of healthy culinary sessions aims to
enhance the healthy culinary skills of
Palestine refugee women and engage
the Palestine refugee community in
increasing preventative care for patients
with non-communicable diseases. It will
also promote awareness and health
education for patients in general and their
families. Engaging women in communitybased organisations in the camps will
facilitate healthy dietary behaviours and
improve the production and consumption
of a wide range of nutritious food.
52
“I am very happy with the work I
am doing here. I help these women
take care of themselves and empower
them to look after their own health as
well as that of their entire family. She
continues, “Healthy cooking has also
helped many families decrease their
monthly expenses.”
Sana Adawi, 40, of Al-Arroub Camp
says, “Women can now be the doctors
of their families.” These healthy cooking
sessions provide increased awareness
and beneficial information. “We usually
use recipes that have been passed
down from our mothers and we have
gotten used to them. These new recipes
help us to look after our health, as do
the exercises we learn at the sessions.
These classes have provided physical,
psychological, and social benefits.”
Jamila Abdullah, 51, agrees. “I suffer
from diabetes and these sessions have
been psychologically very beneficial for
me. This new information has made me
feel relaxed. I now know more about my
illness.”
is considered to be an unhealthy practice
that can contribute to the development
of obesity and chronic diseases. The
sessions contribute to changing cooking
practices among refugee women who
bear the primary responsibility for grocery
shopping and cooking meals.
The refugee community in general and
refugee patients with non-communicable
diseases should be a part of the solution.
The best way to deliver preventative
services is to engage the refugee
community and UNRWA health partners.
Offering healthy culinary sessions in
refugee camps is one of the creative
ways that are being used to change
some typical unhealthy cooking practices
such as overuse of salt, hydrogenated
fats, and food additives, as well as poor
packaging methods. It is hoped that this
initiative will lead to longer life expectancy
among refugees.
Quotations from Women
Alaa Al-Amla, a nutrition specialist, works
with the women of Al-Arroub Camp on
healthy-eating informational cooking
classes. She has been leading the
healthy cooking sessions with a special
focus on diabetes, weight loss, and
decreased oil consumption.
Riham Jafari works at the UNRWA Public
Information Office/West Bank Field
Office. She can be reached at r.jafary@
unrwa.org.
Women in the UNRWA health clinic in Al-Arroub are taking
practical cooking lessons about preparing healthy food with a
nutrition specialist.
53
Personality of the Month
Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center in
close cooperation with Dublin College of
Catering. The programmes became jointly
accredited by Bethlehem and Dublin. In
addition, several exchange programmes
were implemented that created unique
opportunities for many Palestinian tourism
professionals to train in Ireland and other
European countries.
On many occasions, Mr. Dajani was able to
organise several courses with internationally
renowned culinary and catering experts who
travelled to Bethlehem and Jerusalem to
train hundreds of Palestinian students. In
addition, he coordinated many programmes
that targeted industry graduates,
housewives, and professionals.
Mr. Dajani built a strong relationship
between the Institute and the private sector.
His approach identified the gaps between
supply and demand in the market and
responded to the industry’s emerging needs
and trends. Guest-speaker programmes
and industry placements were a major part
of the educational curriculum at the Institute.
In early 1990, he was appointed head of
the tourism delegation in the negotiations
with the Israeli side for the handover of
the tourism file from the civil administration
to the Palestinian Authority and was later
appointed to the Ministry of Tourism and
Antiquities. During the same period he
was named chairman of the multilateral
talks on tourism hosted by the Japanese
government. In 1997, Mr. Dajani retired
from academic life after 25 years of service
to the education sector and the Palestinian
tourism industry, and became fully involved
in the family business afterwards.
Mr. Dajani, is convinced that the tourism
industry will continue to constitute the
backbone of the Palestinian economy
through job creation and foreign currency
earnings. The industry is labour intensive
and the Palestinian hospitality industry will
always be recognised for its unique product
offering and cost differentiation. He believes
that automation and services upgrade will
always present a challenge to operators,
investors, and owners within the Palestinian
tourism industry.
Abu El Walid Dajani
Abu El Walid Dajani was born in
Jerusalem in 1944 and studied at De
La Salle High School in the Old City of
Jerusalem. Mr. Dajani was fortunate to study
in one of the most prestigious hotel schools
in Switzerland. He joined Bethlehem
University in 1973 and established the
Institute of Hotel Management.
Over the years at the university he
established several specialised
programmes, some of which became very
popular through videoconferencing, such
as “Tourism for Peace,” in partnership with
international universities actively involved
in spreading tourism education through
videoconferencing. This enabled Palestinian
students to benefit from the programme
without having to incur the expense of
travelling aboard. As they sat in their
classrooms on the Bethlehem University
campus, the students were able to attend
lectures delivered by international experts in
various countries. The interaction between
the lecturer and the students was extremely
productive.
Many of the graduates of the Institute
of Hotel Management hold prestigious
positions around the world and continue
to touch base with their mentor to solicit
advice on career moves and investment
opportunities in the industry at large.
Mr. Dajani was instrumental in the
establishment of the training centre at
54
Photo by Emile Ashrawi.
Artist of the Month
Reem Talhami
Interviewed by Manar Harb
Reem Talhami was born in Shefa Amr,
in northern Palestine. At the age of 17,
she moved to Jerusalem to study at
Hebrew University, where she obtained
her BA in music and voice training in 1996
from the Rubin Academy of Music. She
has given concerts in most Palestinian
towns and villages and has participated
in numerous festivals locally and in
Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain,
Morocco, and many European countries.
She has produced several cassettes and
CDs in cooperation with various music
groups, such as Washem and Sabreen,
and has taken part in theatre productions
and children’s musical plays in Palestine.
Yihmilni Elleil (The Night Carries Me),
her new album, was released on April
11, 2013, in Jerusalem. The official
album-release took place at a special
concert event on Thursday night, April
25, in Gaza. To celebrate and extend
this moment, we are featuring Reem in
our limelight section. I had the pleasure
of speaking with her and exchanging
e-mails, which resulted in this interview.
Listening to Reem has given me courage
and brightened my spirits after the agony I
felt when leaving Palestine, remembering
Gaza, and winter 2008.
Celebrating her accomplishments and
work, including her latest album, gives a
56
push of strength. She has been featured
here before, and I am honoured to
present her again as Artist of the Month.
This interview comes just after
your new album, Yihmilni Elleil, was
released. Tell us about the experience
of this album. What are the themes
you sing about and what events
triggered and inspired the making of
this work?
Gaza is the spirit of the album.
Connecting with Khaled Juma, a prolific
poet from Gaza, started the whole
process. When Saed Murad joined
forces with us, it became obvious that
the songs would reach new heights.
For years, Gaza was before my eyes.
I was overcome with intense feelings of
impotence and paralysis in front of the
Gaza Strip and its people, especially after
the last two attacks served to prolong
the suffocating and stifling situation for
Palestinians in their own homeland. I
became even more convinced that I
needed to do something from my position
as an artist and a Palestinian. The team
effort and working with Khaled Juma’s
songs made my vision clearer.
Our lyrics have begun to create new
perspectives on the current situation in
Gaza. In the ten songs of the album, you
will listen to life, love, hope, beauty, and
a taste of sorrow that goes side by side
with contemplation and celebration of life.
The city that we desire is revealed piece
by piece, and our Gaza comes to light.
What new collaborations have taken
place to enable the production of
Yihmilni Elleil?
For the first time in my life, I took the
initiative to embark on my own music
project and deal with all the details
that were required. I wrote down every
single detail and learned every lesson.
The written project won two grants, one
from The Palestinian Cultural Fund of
the Ministry of Culture and the other from
the A.M. Qattan Foundation – a grant in
the category of performing arts. I was
grateful and proud. Sabreen Association
carried out the production of the album.
suddenly became the only right thing out
there! Gaza is handing life to us all.
Nowadays, I am doing an albumlaunch tour throughout Palestine. We
started in Gaza and moved through
Al-Khalil, Nablus, Jenin, and Ramallah
before going on to Shefa Amr, Haifa,
and Jerusalem. The meetings I have
with people give me the chance to talk
about the various aspects of my work:
lyrics, music, Gaza, the role of art, and
so on, which give some idea of the
nature of these songs and how they can
change or develop. Later I will continue
the album-launch tour in other Arab
countries if things go smoothly. Given
that Palestinians face endless restrictions
and barriers, I want to bring my songs to
them rather than expect them to come to
me. This step is a must for me, and the
big concert tours will have to wait a little
longer. I need to consider other ways to
perform my songs, and that will require
more time and money.
Saed Murad composed and arranged the
songs, and we recorded the voice and
music at Sabreen Studio in Jerusalem.
The process enabled the work to move
forward.
I hope it continues to move forward,
develop, and progress. What was it
like to perform in Gaza, and what’s
the next step?
It was one of the most inspiring, joyful,
and exciting times of my life. At that
moment, for us all, the audience and
myself, it felt as if the siege were over!
There were no barriers or obstacles.
Meeting Khaled Juma for the first time in
person was one of the greatest moments
in my life. I never thought that this would
happen so soon. The entire collaboration
process between us, and later with the
composer Saed Murad, was done via
Internet, and we managed that for the
whole period of the production. Every
single moment of my stay in Gaza
was filled with love, generosity, and
inspiration. On stage, singing to Gaza,
the city that seems to be present at
the wrong time and in the wrong place,
To continue reading the interview,
please go to the online edition at: www.
thisweekinpalestine.com.
57
Book of the Month
El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt take us
straight into Gazan homes and kitchens
where women such as Addoula, Um
Imad, and Um Hana cook daily and put
heart-warming Palestinian soul food
on their tables. The food tells the story
of a people largely marginalised and
forgotten. Um Imad, a refugee from Beit
Tima near al Majdal (Ashkelon today),
reminisces about her destroyed village as
she makes Kishik Beit Tima; here kishek
is no longer a type of dried yogurt but a
manifestation of the past in the present.
The diverse cuisine comes from the large
refugee population that came to the strip
in 1948. The book goes beyond that. It
documents slow food, the sad state of
uprooted olive tree groves, nutrition and
its challenges in Gaza, UNRWA aid, and
agriculture, and it bravely brings to the
forefront of everyone’s mind the daily
struggles of living under a complete
blockade. In its folds, El-Haddad and
Schmitt not only tell a human story but
also address political issues head-on, for
example, food rations, tunnel smuggling,
and food appropriation. It does not shy
away from exposing the blatant Israeli
hijacking of Palestinian and Arab cuisine
and its appropriation into Israeli culture.
The Gaza Kitchen also brings out the
rhythmic beauty of Gazan cooking. Very
few recipes in the book begin without
“Using a mortar and pestle (zibdiyyeh),
crush…” A zibdiyyeh is the most basic
tool in the Gazan kitchen; it is made
of red clay and costs around 50 cents.
While salads are usually tied to the
act of chopping, in Gazan cuisine,
ingredients for salads are crushed and
mixed together, making the taste entirely
different and more aromatic. Cooks
interviewed in this book made a point of
commenting on their zibdiyyat, with some
proudly mentioning that they have had
the same zibdiyyeh for twenty years. The
book is perfectly punctuated with vibrant
pictures that put a clear human face to
the cooks behind the recipes. The book
is available for purchase online at www.
justworldbooks.com.
The Gaza Kitchen: A
Palestinian Culinary
Journey
By Laila El-Haddad and Maggie
Schmitt
Just World Books, 2013, 140 pages,
$29.00
In their book The Gaza Kitchen: A
Palestinian Culinary Journey, Laila ElHaddad and Maggie Schmitt bring Gaza
straight into our hearts and kitchens. It
is a delicate reminder that in this tiny,
overpopulated, incredibly scarred piece
of land lives the collective of Palestinian
history, and one of the most tantalising
cuisines that can be offered. The recipes
are beautiful, comprehensive, and
representative of the various areas that
the refugee population came from in
1948. All are exquisite.
But the book is not just beautiful recipes.
It tells a story of human survival and
perseverance. Isolated from the world
by the Israeli blockade, Gaza has been
reduced to nothing but a map scarred
with bullet holes and white phosphorus
residue. Suffocating under a barely
breathing economy, an ailing ecology,
and a gripping poverty, it is difficult to
imagine Gaza with a human face. Leila
58
Website Review
http://www.nakheelpal.com
By Abed A. Khooli
Review date: June 14, 2013
Three brands are listed under Products:
Jericho Dates, Barhi Dates, and Mooncity
Dates, each leading to details and
packing choices.
Gallery provides a series of pictures
from the lifecycle of production: ripe
dates, growing, cultivation, collection,
and packing.
The last menu item, Buyer Info,
requires registration or login for some
reason. One can spot submenus such as
Product Specifications, Box Dimensions,
Palletization, Conservation, Quality
Assurance, and Shipping & Delivery.
The content area has some introductory
text and a few thumbnails from the
gallery. A sidebar has a few items under
the News heading to the right.
The footer has a small image of the
packing factory and links to the company
Instagram and Facebook accounts in
addition to fine-print notes (copyright,
designer, privacy policy, and affiliations).
Nakheel website is simple and
informative. The site could become
more user-friendly by increasing font
size, fixing the layout of menu items, and
providing general buyer information for
public access.
Nakheel (Arabic for palm trees) is a
private Palestinian company located in
the Jericho area. Nakheel was founded in
2010 and specialises in growing, packing,
and exporting dates. The company
website is available in English (default)
and Arabic.
The homepage uses a simple layout
with a header stripe, a banner area, and
a menu bar followed by the content area.
The language switch is at the top left
and the site name and logo are located
to the right.
The banner area has three sliding
graphical parts: Brands opens by default
and shows three known date varieties.
The other two vertical tabs – Packing
House and Farms – open on mouseover.
Clicking either the tab or the image
navigates to a new page with additional
information.
The main menu lies under the banner
area. Home links back to the main page
and also has a submenu (Contact Us)
that displays contact information and an
e-mail Web form. This submenu is a little
tricky to display.
The second menu, Nakheel, provides
background information about the
company and is divided into two
submenus: About Us (history, activities,
and mission) and Chairman Message
(shareholders briefing with plans and
statistics).
Abed A. Khooli is a SharePoint, BI, and
Web development specialist. He can be
reached at akhooli@arabic2000.com
(www.arabic2000.com).
60
Exhibition Review
Otherwise Occupied
Palestine Represented at the Venice Biennale
May 29 – August 31, 2013
The opening of “Otherwise Occupied,” at the Venice Biennale.
“Otherwise Occupied” has turned out to
be an amazing exhibition. Accompanied
by a symposium and book launches, the
exhibition has already attracted more than
10,000 visitors. Without a doubt, this is
an important achievement in showcasing
visual productions of Palestinian artists
in the international arena. It marks the
second representation of Palestinian
art and artists at the Venice Biennale;
the first being the exhibition “Palestine
c/o Venice,” which was initiated and
organised by curator Salwa Mikdadi
in 2009. This first exhibition depicted
contemporary Palestine and Palestinian
art through artists who lived in Palestine.
Both exhibitions were organised as
collateral events, since unacknowledged
countries are not given space in an official
pavilion. The Biennale’s regulations only
provide official representation space for
“legitimate, recognised, and independent”
nations to show their latest, highest, most
sophisticated, and best productions of
visual arts. Since Palestine has no such
status, the exclusion of the Palestinian
pavilion not only demonstrates a denial
The evening of May 29 marked the
opening of “Otherwise Occupied,” with
a crowd of around 1,000 people who all
came to see Palestinian representation
at the 55th International Art Exhibition
– Venice Biennale. The exhibition –
commissioned by Al Hoash and curated
by Bruce Ferguson and Rawan Sharaf
– presented two established Palestinian
artists: Bashir Makhoul and Aissa Deebi.
The production team from Al Hoash
and Winchester School of Art arrived
at the historical, amazingly beautiful
floating city eight days before the opening
with working plans, laptops, tools, and
enthusiasm to produce the Palestinian
pavilion. On the day of arrival, we were
all anxious to see our exhibition venue,
the Liceo Artistico Statale di Venezia,
an art school hosted in an old Venetian
building with a huge garden opposite the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia and
beside one of the main ferry stations in
Venice. Our first meeting to begin 12 days
of hard work and long hours of setup and
preparation was at the corner café in front
of the Accademia.
62
Palestinian identity was integrated within
a global communist identity-seeking
utopia – are enacting the performativity
of “thinking otherwise.”
In his ambitious interactive installation,
Giardino Occupato, Bashir Makhoul asks
visitors to pick up a box and place it in
the garden, occupying the garden of the
Liceo Artistico Statale di Venezia with
thousands of cardboard-box houses.
The accumulation of boxes – each with
raggedly cut holes invoking windows and
doors – assembles/resembles evocative,
basic, village-like communities. The use of
cardboard is suggestive of the temporality
of settlements, dwellings, encampments,
and the life of transience, which can often
endure as a state of affairs for displaced
persons. The ambiguous performance is
both playful and deadly serious, situating
the performer in the role of the occupier.
Aissa Deebi’s two-channel installation,
The Trial, is a work about the colonial
present as much as the colonial past:
a video installation that consists of two
actors at a table in a darkened room,
alternately reciting a speech by Daoud
Turki, a Palestinian-Arab citizen of
Israel. The speech was delivered at the
Haifa District Court in 1973, just before
he was convicted of espionage for his
activities as a leader of a Marxist cell. The
speech is ironically revived to present an
insight into the transformations of identity
through its ideological affiliations.
of its existence but also correlates nations
with the existence of their internationally
recognised state. This reality raises
questions about what an independent
nation/state might actually be or mean.
It questions the idea of an “official”
representation of Palestine or any other
nation.
“Otherwise Occupied” signifies the
outcome of a long-term partnership
between Al Hoash and the Winchester
School of Art and the University of
Southampton, and features artists who
have over the years tackled, interrogated,
researched, and explored notions of
identity, nationhood, nationality, memory,
and colonial systems. The featured
artworks in this exhibition propose an
alternative approach to researching,
understanding, questioning, and realising
the processes that produce Palestinian
identity for each of the artists.
The artworks presented by Makhoul
and Deebi are unavoidably occupied
with political engagement and are
artistically and critically questioning
Palestinian identity, thinking through
the de-territorialisation of Palestine and
the issues of dispersal, plurality, and
dispossession. Both artists – whether
exploring contemporary colonial actions,
turning them into a collective relation to
space, enacting a dangerous “game,” or
digging into the archive and researching
particular cases in history where the
Bashir Makhoul, “Giardino Occupato,” 2013. Detail in-situ, corrugated cardboard, size variable.
63
Restaurant Review
Critiquing the Industry and Telling a Story
restaurants that market themselves as
msakhan specialists. Makloobeh is being
fused with Italian cuisine elements to be
served as risotto al makloubeh in another
fine dining restaurant. Mexican cuisine has
made it to the West Bank, but Abu Mazen’s
stuffed lamb necks remain a serious Khalil
(Hebron) delicacy not meant for the faint of
heart. Mansaf, a Jordanian specialty, is the
dish of choice for weddings and funerals.
As restaurant culture booms all over
Palestine, we are faced with issues of
service, customer satisfaction, pricing, and
the list goes on. Restaurant reviews then
can serve as tough love. A serious review
will cause chefs and owners to break into
a bit of a sweat. It will quickly remind them
that customers deserve to receive the
service they are paying for. In Palestine,
this may not be a bad thing. It is no secret
that some high-end establishments charge
New York City prices for entrées that are
miles away from how gourmet food should
taste, look, and feel. So a review that will
make a chef aware that people notice how
food is presented, how it tastes, or whether
the meat is fresh can simply ensure that we
are getting what we are paying for.
Restaurant reviews offer an opportunity
to put the heat on restaurant owners, and
they are also a small historic record of yet
another element of Palestinian culture. From
falafel tours through the West Bank to the
perfect steak in Bethlehem, to reminiscencefilled ice cream cones, restaurant reviews
can not only guide readers to the best
establishments and push for healthy
competition within the industry, they can
also tell the story of Palestine through food.
Restaurant reviews are meant to promote
some restaurants and sometimes raise a
few flags about others. In Palestine though,
restaurant reviews go beyond this; they are
a documentation of Palestinian cuisine as a
dynamic and evolving element of Palestinian
culture and identity. Like everything else,
Palestinian dishes are hijacked and
appropriated as Israeli or Jewish – not just
in Israel, but all over the world. Maftool has
turned into Israeli couscous, hummus is a
dipping sauce for Israeli kosher pita, falafel is
a vegetarian dish that substitutes for veggie
burgers, and the list goes on.
Restaurant food is no stranger to
Palestinians. Every town has its very special
shawerma place, falafel stand, hummus and
fool place, and knafeh sweet shop. Families
build memories around food. Our childhoods
are marked by milestones. The first time you
had Rukab ice cream. The first time your
parents allowed you to have shawerma, or
the falafel from the stand down the street
from your grandmother’s house, a key
feature of Ramadan’s iftar.
There is also the memory of places through
food. In Jerusalem, it is kaak bsimsim and
Zalatimo motabbak. In Nablus, it is Bseiso’s
knafeh. In Tulkarem, it was always the
falafel. It just tasted different. In Ramallah, it
was Abu Skandar’s shawerma and Rukab’s
ice cream, and later on, Baladna’s ice cream.
Food memoirs can map both our individual
and collective memories. Because food is
so central to our culture and tradition, one
cannot help but notice how Palestinian
cuisine has been preserved by some and
reinvented by others. Msakhan, typically a
homemade delicacy that has been served
for years by grandmothers, mothers,
and daughters, is now being served in
The TWIP Collective
64
Saturday 20
Note: Please make sure to contact the venue to check for the latest updates.
FILMS
The Jerusalem Festival 2013:
Edward Said National Conservatory of Music,
tel: 627 1711; Yabous Cultural Center, tel: 626
1045; Jerusalem Hotel, tel: 628 3282; Center for
Jerusalem Studies, tel: 628 7517; El-Hakawati,
tel:583 8836
Monday 1
18:00 Al Mor wa Al Rumman by the Palestinian
director Najwa Najjar, Yabous Cultural Centre
Tuesday 2
CONCERTS
Monday 1
18:00 The Story of a Land by the Palestinian
director Ahmad Budairy, Yabous Cultural Centre
The Jerusalem Festival 2013:
SPECIAL EVENTS
20:00 Sirag Group Palestine, Edward Said
National Conservatory of Music
Monday 1
The Jerusalem Festival 2013:
Tuesday 2
20:00 Mai & Apo Group Palestine, Yabous
Cultural Centre
20:00 Labess Group Algeria/Canada, Edward
Said National Conservatory of Music
Thursday 18
Thursday 4
21:30 Layali Ramadan (Ramadan Nights) - Oud
Al-Nad Choir, National Conservatory of Music
19:00 Detstvo and Naba’ Alturath Almaqdeseh,
El-Hakawati
21:30 Layali Ramadan (Ramadan Nights) - Beit
Al-Inshad Group, National Conservatory of Music
Alternative Information Center, tel: 277 5444
21:30 Layali Ramadan (Ramadan Nights) - Beit
Al-Inshad Group, National Conservatory of Music
ART
Thursday 25
18:00 Mobile Circus Tour 2013 - The Palestinian
Circus School, The Russian Center
Sunday 7
21:30 Layali Ramadan (Ramadan Nights) Sanabel Theatre, National Conservatory of Music
CONCERT
Saturday 27
Tuesday 30
21:30 Layali Ramadan (Ramadan Nights)
- Maqamat Al-Quds Ensemble, National
Conservatory of Music
19:30 AICafe, Alternative Information Center
FILMS
Tuesday 9
TOURS
19:30 AICafe, Alternative Information Center
Saturday 6
LECTURES
10:00 Jerusalem libraries tour, Jerusalem Hotel
Tuesday 2
Tuesday 9
19:30 “AICafe,” Meeting with Shashat, Alternative
Information Center
17:00 The Western Wall Tunnels, Center for
Jerusalem Studies
Saturday 13
Saturday 13
19:30 AICafe, Discussion, Alternative Information
Center
20:30 Ramadan Rituals in the Old City, Center
for Jerusalem Studies
Tuesday 16
Saturday 20
19:00 Sufi Night, Center for Jerusalem Studies
19:30AICafe: Union of Agricultural Work
Committes,” Alternative Information Center
Saturday 27
Saturday 20
20:30 The Sufi Zawiyas, Center for Jerusalem
Studies
19:30 AICafe: World Population Day,” Alternative
Information Center
Tuesday 23
19:30 AICafe: Ramadan meanings and traditions,
Alternative Information Center
Saturday 27
19:30 AICafe: Palestinian refugees today,”
Alternative Information Center
TOURS
Saturday 6
15:00 AICafe field activity, Alternative Information
Center
66
67
Franco- German Cultural Centre, tel: 298 1922;
Café Ziryab, tel: 295 9093; Café La Vie, tel:
296 4115;
Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange
(PACE), 240 7611; Ramallah Cultural Palace,
tel: 298 4704
ART
CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES
FILMS
Thursday 4
Tuesday 2
10:00 STORY HOUR, in French and Arabic,
FCGG Robert-Schuman Mediathek
18:00 RINZESSINENBAD, German with English
subtitles, Franco-German Cultural Centre
CONCERTS
LECTURES
Palestine International Festival:
Wednesday 3
Tuesday 2
6 pm THE PRICE OF PEACE. ISRAEL /
PALESTINE: A EUROPEAN CHALLENGE? ,
Lecture by Bernard Philippe, senior official at the
European Commission and a specialist in Middle
East diplomacy. , FGCC
Sunday 21
Sunday 7
Monday 8
17:00 Café Francophone, Café Zyriab
20:30 El Funoun Dance Troupe, Alseera
Secondary School
Monday 8
20:15 Murad Baraki and Farid Ghanam,
Ramallah Cultural Palace
19:00 “Other lights,” Exhibition Opening, FrancoGerman Cultural Centre
Wednesday 3
Friday 12
20:15 Orchestra of Recycled Instruments,
Edward Said National Conservatory of Music
18:00 “A homeland denied – Palestine,” Exhibition
Opening, Markaz Aldiwan Iilthaqafa wa al Turath
Thursday 4
Saturday 20
20:15 Graduation of the dance school, Ramallah
Cultural Palace
20:00 “BUS STOP PALESTINE,” Jerusalem
Bus Stop
Thursday 4
19:00 An evening between the Occident and
Orient, Saed Karazoun plays oud and presents
his project “Filistin Ashabab Radio,” FCGG
Robert-Schuman Mediathek
Tuesday 23
20:00 “BUS STOP PALESTINE,” Jerusalem
Bus Stop
Friday 5
20:15 Boney M, Ramallah Cultural Palace
ART
Thursday 4
18:00 The Mobile Circus Tour 2013 - The
Palestinian Circus School, Jamal Abdel Nasser
Park
9:00 A tout to the city of Nablus and vicinity, PACE
CONCERT
Palestine International Festival:
Friday 12
18:00 Stammtisch Deutsch, Café La Vie
Sunday 21
ART
11:00 “DISCOVER THE iPAD,” FCGG RobertSchuman Mediathek
Saturday 6
17:00 Café Francophone, Café Zyriab
12:00 Mobile Circus Tour 2013 - The Palestinian
Circus School, The Child Happiness Center
LITERATURE
TOURS
Monday 1
Sunday 28
Birzeit Camps-Junior Orchestra, Birzeit Activity
Center
9:00 A tour to the city of Hebron and vicinity,
PACE
Friday 5
Birzeit Camps-Palestine Girls Choir, Birzeit
Activity Center
Cinema Jenin, tel: 250 2642
Sunday 14
SPECIAL EVENTS
Birzeit Camps- Palestine Strings Camp, Birzeit
Activity Center
Palestine International Festival:
SPECIAL EVENTS
19:00 Opening Ceremony, 3al Raseef Troupe
and Wise Wolf, Al Hadeka Ala’meh
Palestine International Festival:
CONCERTS
Monday 1
Palestine International Festival:
20:15 Opening Ceremony, El Funoun Dance
Troupe and Spanish dance of Murcia, Ramallah
Cultural Palace
Thursday 4
19:00 Orchestra of Recycled Instruments, Dar
Qandeel Troupe, Al Hadeka Ala’meh
TOURS
Friday 5
Sunday 7
19:00 Detstvo and Al Zababdeh Troupe, Cinema
Jenin
9:00 A tour to the city of Ramallah and vicinity,
PACE
Saturday 6
20:00 Weshah Dancing Troupe, Cinema Jenin
Sunday 7
19:00 Nawa Group and Rohi Khamash, Cinema
Jenin
TOURS
Sunday 14
9:00 A tour to Sebastiya and Jenin City, PACE
68
69
Sanabel Culture & Arts Theatre
Al-Jawal Theatre Group
Tel: 671 4338, Fax: 673 0993
sanabeltheatre@yahoo.com
Alruwah Theatre
The Edward Said National
Conservatory of Music
Telefax: 628 0655
Tel: 626 2626, alruwahtheatre2000@yahoo.com
Tel: 627 1711, Fax: 627 1710
info@ncm.birzeit.edu, ncm.birzeit.edu
Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art
Tel: 628 3457, Fax: 627 2312
info@almamalfoundation.org
www.almamalfoundation.org
The Magnificat Intstitute
Tel: 626 6609, Fax: 626 6701
magnificat@custodia.org
www.magnificatinstitute.org
Al Ma’mal LAB
Tel: 534 6837, almamal.lab@gmail.com
Theatre Day Productions
Al-Urmawi Centre for Mashreq Music
Tel: 585 4513, Fax: 583 4233
tdp@theatreday.org, www.theatreday.org
Tel: 234 2005, Fax: 234 2004
info@urmawi.org, www.urmawi.org
Turkish Cultural Centre
Ashtar for Theatre Productions & Training
Tel: 591 0530/1, Fax: 532 3310
kudustur@netvision.net.il, www.kudusbk.com
Telefax: 582 7218
info@ashtar-theatre.org, www.ashtar-theatre.org
Wujoud Museum
The Bookshop at the American Colony Hotel
Tel: 626 0916, www.wujoud.org, info@wujoud.org
Tel: 627 9731, Fax: 627 9779
bookshop.americancolony@gmail.com
www. americancolony.com
Yabous Cultural Center
Tel: 626 1045; Fax: 626 1372
yabous@yabous.org, www.yabous.org
British Council
Tel: 626 7111, Fax: 628 3021
information@ps.britishcouncil.org
www.britishcouncil.org/ps
Al-Harah Theatre
Center for Jerusalem Studies/Al-Quds University
Telefax: 276 7758, alharahtheater@yahoo.com
info@alharah.org, www.alharah.org
Tel: 628 7517
cjs@planet.edu, www.jerusalem-studies.alquds.edu
Alliance Française de Bethléem
Community Action Centre (CAC)
Telefax: 275 0777, afbeth@p-ol.com
Tel: 627 3352, Fax: 627 4547
www.cac.alquds.edu
Anat Palestinian Folk & Craft Center
Educational Bookshop
Telefax: 277 2024, marie_musslam@yahoo.com
El-Hakawati Theatre Company
Tel: 274 4030, www.aeicenter.org
Arab Educational Institute (AEI)-Open
Windows
Tel: 627 5858, Fax: 628 0814
info@educationalbookshop.com, www.educationalbookshop.com
Tel: 583 8836, Mobile: 0545 835 268
f.abousalem@gmail.com, www.el-hakawati.org
Artas Folklore Center
Mob: 0597 524 524, 0599 679 492, 0503 313 136
artasfc@hotmail.com
French Cultural Centre
Tel: 628 2451 / 626 2236, Fax: 628 4324
ccfjeru@consulfrance-jerusalem.org
Badil Centre
Issaf Nashashibi Center for Culture &
Literature
Tel: 277 7086
Jerusalem Centre for Arabic Music
Tel: 277 7863
Melia Art Center
Bethlehem Academy of Music/ Bethlehem
Music Society
Beit Jala Community Based-Learning
& Action Center
Telefax: 581 8232, isaaf@alqudsnet.com
Tel: 627 4774, Fax: 656 2469, mkurd@yahoo.com
TeleFax: 628 1377
Melia@bezeqint.net
www.meliaartandtrainingcenter.com
Tel: 277 7141, Fax: 277 7142
Bethlehem Peace Center
Tel: 276 6677, Fax: 276 4670
info@peacenter.org, www.peacenter.org
Palestinian Art Court - Al Hoash
Telefax: 627 3501
info@alhoashgallery.org, www.alhoashgallary.org
Cardinal House
Palestinian National Theatre
Telefax: 276 4778
info@cardinalhouse.org, www.cardinalhouse.org
Public Affairs Office
Catholic Action Cultural Center
Sabreen Association for Artistic
Development
Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation
Tel: 628 0957, Fax: 627 6293, info@pnt-pal.org
Tel: 274 3277, Fax 274 2939
info@ca-b.org, www.ca-b.org
Tel: 628 2456, Fax: 628 2454
www.uscongen-jerusalem.org
Tel: 276 6244, Fax: 276 6241
info@cchp.ps, www.cchp.ps
Tel: 532 1393, Fax: 532 1394
sabreen@sabreen.org, www.sabreen.org
Inad Centre for Theatre and Arts
Telefax: 276 6263, www.inadtheater.com
70
International Centre of Bethlehem-Dar
Annadwa
Yes Theater
Tel: 277 0047, Fax: 277 0048
info@diyar.ps, www.diyar.ps
ITIP Center “Italian Tourist Information
Point”
Jericho Community Centre
Telefax: 232 5007
Jericho Culture & Art Center
Telefax: 232 1047
Palestinian Group for the Revival of Popular
Heritage
Municipality Theatre
Tel: 232 2417, Fax: 232 2604
Telefax: 274 7945
Relief International - Schools Online
Bethlehem Community Based-Learning &
Action Center
Tel: 241 3002
Tel: 295 9837
info@artschoolpalestine.com, www.artschoolpalestine.com
Mob: 0598 950 447
Telefax: 274 2381, 274 2642
mahasaca@palestinianheritagecenter.com
www.phc.ps
ArtSchool Palestine
The International Palestinian Youth League
(IPYL)
Nativity Stationary Library
Palestinian Heritage Center
info@popularartcentre.org, www.popularartcentre.org
Tel: 240 8023, Fax: 240 8017
westbank-gaza@amideast.org, www.amideast.org
Tel:222 9131, Fax: 229 0652
itv@ipyl.org, www.ipyl.org
Telefax: 276 0411, itipcenter@yahoo.com
Amideast
Telefax: 229 1559,
www.yestheatre.org, info@yestheatre.org
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
(RCHRS)
Ramallah Cultural Palace
Ashtar for Theatre Production
Tel: 298 4704 / 295 2105, Fax: 295 2107
rcpevents@ramallah-city.org
www.ramallahculturalpalace.org
Baladna Cultural Center
RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural
Conservation
Tel: 298 0037, Fax: 296 0326
info@ashtar-theatre.org, www.ashtar-theatre.org
Telfax: 295 8435
BirZeit Ethnographic and Art Museum
Tel: 240 6887, Fax: 240 6986
riwaq@palnet.com, www.riwaq.org
British Council
Tel: 296 5638, 295 3206, sandouqelajab@yahoo.com
Sandouq Elajab Theatre
Tel. 298 2976, www.virtualgallery.birzeit.edu
Tel: 296 3293-6, Fax: 296 3297
information@ps.britishcouncil.org
www.britishcouncil.org/ps
Shashat
Carmel Cultural Foundation
Sharek Youth Forum
Tel: 297 3336, Fax: 297 3338
info@shashat.org, www.shashat.org
Tel: 296 7741, Fax: 296 7742
info@sharek.ps, www.sharek.ps
Tel: 298 7375, Fax: 298 7374
Cinema Jenin
Tel: 277 7863
Tel: 250 2642, 250 2455
info@cinemajenin.org, www.cinemajenin.org
Sabreen Association for Artistic
Development
Hakoura Center
Tel: 275 0091, Fax: 275 0092
sabreen@sabreen.org, www.sabreen.org
Telfax: 250 4773
center@hakoura-jenin.ps, www.hakoura-jenin.ps
Tent of Nations
The Freedom Theatre/Jenin Refugee Camp
Tel: 274 3071, Fax: 276 7446
tnations@p-ol.com, www.tentofnations.org
Tel: 250 3345, info@thefreedomtheatre.org
Dar Zahran Heritage Building
Tamer Institute for Community Education
Telfax: 296 3470, Mob: 0599 511 800
darzahran@gmail.com
Tel: 298 6121/ 2, Fax: 298 8160
tamer@palnet.com, www.tamerinst.org
El-Funoun Dance Troupe
The Danish House in Palestine (DHIP)
Tel: 240 2853, Fax: 240 2851
info@el-funoun.org, www.el-funoun.org
Sareyyet Ramallah - First Ramallah Group (FRG)
Tel: 295 2690 - 295 2706, Fax: 298 0583
sareyyet@sareyyet.ps, www.sareyyet.ps
TeleFax: 298 8457, info@dhip.ps, www.dhip.ps
The Edward Said National Conservatory of
Music
Tel: 295 9070, Fax: 295 9071
info@ncm.birzeit.edu, www.birzeit.edu/music
Franco-German Cultural Centre Ramallah
The Edward Said National Conservatory of
Music
British Council- Al Najah University
Telefax: 274 8726
info@ncm.birzeit.edu, www.birzeit.edu/music
Telefax: 237 5950
information@ps.britishcouncil.org
www.britishcoumcil.org/ps
The Higher Institute of Music
Telefax: 275 2492
highiom@hotmail.com
www.thehigherinstituteofmusic.ps
Cultural Centre for Child Development
Tel: 238 6290, Fax: 239 7518
nutaleb@hotmail.com, www.nutaleb.cjb.net
Turathuna - Centre for Palestinian Heritage
(B.Uni.)
Cultural Heritage Enrichment Center
Tel: 274 1241, Fax: 274 4440
pdaoud@bethlehem.edu, www.bethlehem.edu
Tel. 237 2863, Fax. 237 8275, arafatn24@yahoo.com
French Cultural Centre
Tel: 238 5914, Fax: 238 7593
ccfnaplouse@consulfrance-jerusalem.org
Al Sanabl Centre for Studies and Heritage
Nablus The Culture
Tel: 256 0280, sanabelssc@yahoo.com
www.sanabl.org, www.sanabl.ps
Tel: 233 2084, Fax: 234 5325
info@nablusculture.ps, www.nablusculture.ps
Beit Et Tifl Compound
Dura Cultural Martyrs Center
Emideast
Tel: 221 3301/2/3/4, Fax: 221 3305
Mob: 0599 097 531
Tel: 298 7374, Fax: 296 6820
sakakini@sakakini.org, www.sakakini.org
Al-Qattan Centre for the Child
Tel: 283 9929, Fax: 283 9949
reem@qcc.qattanfoundation.org
www.qattanfoundation.org/qcc
Mahmud Darwish Foundation and Museum
Tel: 295 2808, Fax: 295 2809
Info@darwishfoundation.org
www.darwishfoundation.org
Arts & Crafts Village
Telefax: 284 6405
artvlg@palnet.com, www.gazavillage.org
Manar Cultural Center
Al Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque
Gaza Theatre
Telefax: 298 8091, alrahhalah@hotmail.com
72
Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
French Cultural Centre
Al-Rahhalah Theatre
Tel: 222 4813, Fax: 222 0855
pcac@hotmail.com, www.pcac.net
Telefax: 296 7654, yaf@palnet.com
Tel: 296 7601, info@artacademy.ps
Palestinian Association
for Contemporary Art PACA
Tel: 296 1613, Fax: 197 1265, Mob: 0599 259 874
akel.nichola@gmail.com
Palestinian Child Arts Center (PCAC)
Young Artist Forum
International Academy of Arts
Tel: 297 0190, info@nawainstitute.org
Al- Rua’a Publishing House
Telfax: 225 5640, 222 6993/4
Tel. 295 0893, chp@panoramacenter.org
Nawa institute
Tel: 241 3196, Fax: 241 3197
info@al-mada.ps, www.al-mada.ps
Hebron Rehabilitation Committee
Tel: 240 1123 / 240 2876, Telefax: 240 1544
usra@palnet.com, www.inash.org
Al-Kamandjâti Association
Al-Mada Music Therapy Center
Tel: 222 4811
info@hebron-france.org, wwww.hebron-france.org
The Spanish Cultural Center
Tel: 298 0036, 296 4348/9, Fax: 296 0326
iman_aoun@yahoo.com
Fawanees Theatre Group
Tel: 296 5292/3, Fax: 296 5294
info@alkasaba.org, www.alkasaba.org
France-Hebron Association for Cultural
Exchanges
The Palestinian Network of Art Centres
In’ash Al-Usra Society- Center for Heritage
& Folklore Studies
A. M. Qattan Foundation
Tel: 297 3101
info@alkamandjati.com, www.alkamandjati.com
Tel: 228 3663, nader@duramun.org, www.duramun.org
Telefax: 298 1736/ 298 0546, makdonia@palnet.com
Ashtar for Culture & Arts
Tel: 296 0544, Fax: 298 4886
info@qattanfoundation.org, www.qattanfoundation.org
Telefax: 229 9545, children_hc@yahoo.com
Greek Cultural Centre - “Macedonia”
Mazra’a Qibliyeh Heritage and Tourism
Centre
British Council- Palestine Polytechnic University
Children Happiness Center
Tel: 0545 - 671 911, 0599 - 926 107
www.palcircus.ps, info@ palcircus.ps
Tel: 295 7937, Fax: 298 7598
Telefax: 222 4545, tdphebron@alqudsnet.com
Telefax: 229 3717, information@ps.britishcouncil.org
www.britsishcouncil.org.ps
The Palestinian Circus School
Tel: 298 1922 / 7727, Fax: 298 1923
info@ccf-goethe.org, www.ccf-goethe-ramallah.org
Telefax: 283 3565, atlas9@palnet.com
Telefax: 288 4403
Telefax: 281 5825, mazraaheritage@yahoo.com
www.geocities.com/mazraaheritage/
Culture & Light Centre
Telefax: 286 5896, ifarah@palnet.com
Tel: 286 7883, Fax: 282 8811
ccfgaza@consulfrance-jerusalem.org
Tel: 296 7601, fax: 295 1849
paca@pal-paca.org, www.pal-paca.org
Tel: 282 4860, Fax: 282 4870
Global Production and Distribution
Palestinian Association for Cultural
Exchange (PACE)
Telefax: 288 4399, art.global@yahoo.com
Dialogpunkt Deutsch Gaza (Goethe-Insitut)
Tel: 240 7611, Telfax: 240 7610
pace@p-ol.com, www.pace.ps
Tel: 282 0203, Fax: 282 1602
Holst Cultural Centre
Palestine Writing Workshop
Tel: 281 0476, Fax: 280 8896, mcrcg@palnet.com
Mob: 0597 651 408
www.palestineworkshop.com
Theatre Day Productions
Telefax: 283 6766, tdpgaza@palnet.com
Popular Art Center
Windows from Gaza For Contemporary Art Tel: 240 3891, Fax: 240 2851
Mob. 0599 781 227 - 0599 415 045, info@artwfg.ps
73
Mount of Olives Hotel (61 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 4877, Fax: 626 4427
info@mtolives.coml, www.mtolives.com
Addar Hotel (30 suites; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 626 3111, Fax: 626 0791, www.addar-hotel.com
Mount Scopus Hotel (65 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Alcazar Hotel (38 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 582 8891, Fax: 582 8825, mtscopus@netvision.net.il
Tel: 628 1111; Fax: 628 7360
admin@jrscazar.com, www.jrscazar.com
National Hotel (99 rooms; bf; cr; res; cf)
Tel: 627 8880, Fax: 627 7007
www.nationalhotel-jerusalem.com
Ambassador Hotel (122 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 541 2222, Fax: 582 8202
reservation@jerusalemambassador.com
www.jerusalemambassador.com
New Imperial Hotel (45 rooms)
Tel: 627 2000, Fax: 627 1530
American Colony Hotel (84 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
New Metropole Hotel (25 rooms; mr; res)
Tel: 627 9777, Fax: 627 9779
reserv@amcol.co.il, www.americancolony.com
Tel: 628 3846, Fax: 627 7485
New Swedish Hostel
Austrian Hospice
Tel: 626 5800, Fax: 627 1472
office@austrianhospice.com
www.austrianhospice.com
Tel: 627 7855, Fax: 626 4124, swedishhost@yahoo.com
www.geocities.com/swedishhostel
Azzahra Hotel (15 rooms, res)
cr, res, ter, cf, pf)
Tel: 627 9111, Fax: 627 1995
info@notredamecenter.org, www.notredamecenter.org
Notre Dame Guesthouse (142 rooms, Su, bf, mr,
Tel: 628 2447, Fax: 628 3960
azzahrahotel@shabaka.net, www.azzahrahotel.com
Capitol Hotel (54 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 2561/2, Fax: 626 4352
Petra Hostel and Hotel
Christmas Hotel
Pilgrims Inn Hotel (16 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 2588, Fax: 626 4417
christmashotel@bezeqint.net, www.christmas-hotel.com
Ritz Hotel Jerusalem (104 rooms, bf, mr)
Tel: 628 6618
Tel: 627 2416, info@goldenwalls.com
Tel: 626 9900, Fax: 626 9910
reservations@jerusalemritz.com
www.jerusalemritz.com
Commodore Hotel (45 rooms; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 627 1414, Fax: 628 4701
Gloria Hotel (94 rooms; mr; res)
Rivoli Hotel
Tel: 628 2431, Fax: 628 2401, gloriahl@netvision.net.il
Tel: 628 4871, Fax: 627 4879
Golden Walls Hotel (112 rooms)
Tel: 627 2416, Fax: 626 4658
info@goldenwalls.com, www.goldenwalls.com
Savoy Hotel (17 rooms)
Holy Land Hotel (105 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Seven Arches Hotel (197 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 626 7777, Fax: 627 1319, svnarch@trendline.co.il
Tel: 628 3366, Fax: 628 8040
Tel: 627 2888, Fax: 628 0265
info@holylandhotel.com, www.holylandhotel.com
Jerusalem Hotel (14 rooms; bf; mr; res; live music)
St. Andrew’s Scottish Guesthouse
“The Scottie” (19 rooms +Self Catering Apartment)
Tel: 628 3282, Fax: 628 3282
raed@jrshotel.com, www.jrshotel.com
Tel: 673 2401, Fax: 673 1711
standjer@netvision.net.il, www.scotsguesthouse.com
Jerusalem Meridian Hotel
St. George Landmark Hotel
(74 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 5212, Fax: 628 5214
www.jerusalem-meridian.com
Tel: 627 7232 Fax: 627 7233
uraib.zalatimo@stgeorgelandmark.com
www.stgeorgelandmark.com
Jerusalem Panorama Hotel
(74 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 4887, Fax: 627 3699
panorama@alqudsnet.com
www.jerusalempanoramahotel.com
St. George’s Pilgrim Guest House
Hashimi Hotel
Tel: 628 4410, Fax: 628 4667, info@hashimihotel.com
Tel: 628 2657, 627 4318, Fax: 626 4684
aset@aset-future.com, www.aset-future.net
Knights Palace Guesthouse (50 rooms)
Strand Hotel (88 rooms; mr; res)
(25 rooms; bf; res)
Tel: 628 3302, Fax: 628 2253, sghostel@bezeqint.net
St. Thomas Home
Tel: 628 2537, Fax: 628 2401, kp@actcom.co.il
Tel: 628 0279, Fax: 628 4826
Legacy Hotel
Victoria Hotel (50 rooms; bf; res)
Tel: 627 0800, Fax: 627 7739
rani@jerusalemlegacy.com, www.jerusalemlegacy.com
Tel: 627 4466, Fax: 627 4171
Info@4victoria-hotel.com, www.4victoria-hotel.com
Metropol Hotel
Tel: 628 2507, Fax: 628 5134
74
Murad Tourist Resort
Tel: 2759880, Fax:2759881, www.murad.ps
Alexander Hotel (42 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Nativity BELLS Hotel (95 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 277 0780, Fax: 277 0782
Tel: 274 8880, Fax: 274 8870
nativitybells@palnet.com, www.nativitybellshotel.ps
Al-Salam Hotel (26 rooms; 6f; mr; cf; res)
Tel: 276 4083/4, Fax: 277 0551, samhotel@p-ol.com
Nativity Hotel (89 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 277 0650, Fax: 274 4083
nativity@nativity-hotel.com, www.nativity-hotel.com
Angel Hotel Beit Jala
Tel: 276 6880, Fax: 276 6884
info@angelhotel.ps, www.angelhotel.ps
Tel: 222 9288, Fax: 222 9288
Olive Tree Hotel (20 rooms; 6 su; res; sp; bar;
wifi-lobby)
Tel: 276 4660 Fax: 275 3807
olivetreehotel@yahoo.com
Facebook: olive tree tourist village
Paradise Hotel (166 rooms;cf;bf;mr;res;su;pf)
Tel: 274 4542/3 - 274 4544, paradise@p-ol.com
Bethlehem Bible College Guest House
St. Antonio Hotel (36 rooms; mr; cf;res;pf)
Ararat Hotel (92 rooms, su, bf, mr, res, cf, pf)
Tel: 274 9888, Fax: 276 9887
info@ararat-hotel.com, www.ararat-hotel.com
Beit Al-Baraka Youth Hostel (19 rooms)
(11 rooms; mr; pf)
Tel: 274 1190, guesthouse@bethbc.org
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah (171 rooms and Su;
bf; mr; cr; res;ter; cf; gm; pf; sp)
Tel: 298 5888, Fax: 298 533
hotel.ramallah@moevenpick.com
hotel.ramallah.reservation@moevenpick.com
www.moevenpick-ramallah.com
Rocky Hotel (22 rooms; cf; res; ter)
Tel: 296 4470, Telefax: 296 1871
Pension Miami (12 rooms)
Telefax: 295 6808
Ramallah Hotel (22 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 295 3544, Fax: 295 5029
Retno Hotel (33 rooms & su; res; mr; gm; sp)
Telefax: 295 0022, Retno@retnohotel.com
www.retnohotel.com
Royal Court Suite Hotel (39 rooms; res; mr; ter;
cf; pf; i)
Tel: 296 4040, Fax: 296 4047
info@rcshotel.com, www.rcshotel.com
Al-Qaser Hotel (48 rooms; 7 regular suites, 1 royal
suite; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 2341 444, Fax: 2341 944
alqaser@alqaserhotel.com, www.alqaserhotel.com
Al-Yasmeen Hotel & Souq
(30 rooms; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 233 3555 Fax: 233 3666
yasmeen@palnet.com, www.alyasmeen.com
Asia Hotel (28 rooms, res)
Telefax: 238 6220
Chrystal Motel (12 rooms)
Telefax: 233 3281
International Friends Guesthouse (Hostel)
(mr; res; ter; cf; pf)
Telfax: 238 1064
ifriends.house@gmail.com, www.guesthouse.ps
Tel: 276 6221, Fax: 276 6220
Saint Gabriel Hotel
Beit Ibrahim Guesthouse
Tel: 274 2613, Fax: 274 4250
reception@luthchurch.com, www.abrahams-herberge.com
Bethlehem Hotel (209 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 275 9990, Fax: 275 9991
Reservation@st-gabrielhtel.com, www.st-gabrielhotel.com
Al-A’in Hotel (24 rooms and suites; mr; cf)
Tel: 240 5925 - 240 4353, Fax: 240 4332
alainhotel@hotmail.com
Santa Maria Hotel (83 rooms; mr; res)
Aladdin Hotel
St. Nicholas Hotel (25 rooms; res; mr)
Tel: 240 7921 - 2407689, Fax: 240 7687
aladdinhotel1@gmail.com, www.expedia.com
Al-Bireh Tourist Hotel (50 rooms; cf; res)
Telefax: 240 0803
Al-Hajal Hotel (22 rooms; bf)
Telefax: 298 7858
Al Hambra Palace (Hotel Suites and Resort)
Tel: 295 6226 - 295 0031, Fax: 295 0032
alhambrapalace1@gmail.com
www.alhambra-palace-hotel.com
Tel: 274 3040/1/2, Fax: 274 3043
AlZahra Suites
Tel: 276 7374/5/6, Fax: 276 7377, smaria@p-ol.com
Tel: 277 0702, Fax: 277 0706, bhotel@p-ol.com
Shepherd Hotel
Bethlehem Inn (36 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 274 2424, Fax: 274 2423
Tel: 274 0656, Fax: 274 4888
info@shepherdhotel.com, www.shepherdhotel.com
Bethlehem Star Hotel (72 rooms; cf; bf; res)
Shepherds’ House Hotel
Tel: 274 3249 - 277 0285, Fax: 274 1494
htstar@palnet.com
(Facilities: Restaurant and Bar, WiFi)
Tel: 275 9690, Fax: 275 9693
Bethlehem youth hostel
Telefax: 274 84 66, http://www.ejepal.org
Casanova Hospice (60 rooms; mr; res)
Tel: 274 3981, Fax: 274 3540
Casanova Palace Hotel (25 rooms; bf; res)
Tel: 274 2798, Fax: 274 1562
El-Beit Guest House (beit sahour) (15 rooms)
Saint Vincent Guest House (36 rooms)
Tel: 276 0967/8, Fax: 276 0970
svincent@p-ol.com, www.saintvincentguesthouse.net
Tel: 242 3019
alzahrasuites@yahoo.com, www.alzahrasuites.ps
Reef Pension (Jifna village) (8 rooms; res)
Telefax: 2810881, www.reefhousepension.ps
Talita Kumi Guest House (22 rooms; res; mr; cf)
Al-Wihdah Hotel
Tel: 274 1247, Fax: 274 1847
TeleFax: 277 5857, info@elbeit.org, www.elbeit.org
Zaituna Tourist Village
Everest Hotel (19 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 275 0655
Tel: 274 2604, Fax: 274 1278
Summer Bar (Ankars Garden)
Tel: 295 2602
Star Mountain Guesthouse (10 rooms; wifi; pf)
Tel: 296 2705, Telefax: 296 2715
starmountaincenter@gmail.com
Adam Hotel (76 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Telefax: 282 3521/19, Fax: 282 5580
Al-Deira (22 Suits; cf; mr; res; ter)
Tel: 283 8100/200/300, Fax: 283 8400
info@aldeira.ps, www.aldeira.ps
Al Mashtal Hotel
Tel: 283 2500, Fax: 283 2510
mashtal@arcmedhotels.com
www.almashtalarcmedhotels.com
Almat’haf Hotel
Tel: 285 8444, Fax: 285 8440
info@almathaf.ps, www.almathaf.ps
Al-Quds In­ter­na­tional Hotel
(44 rooms; 2 suites; bf; mr; res)
Telefax: 282 5181, 282 6223, 286 3481, 282 2269
Beach Hotel (25 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Telefax: 282 5492, 284 8433
Commodore Gaza Hotel (60 rooms;su; bf)
Tel: 283 4400, Fax: 282 2623
Telefax: 298 0412
Ankars Suites and Hotel
(40 Suites & Rooms, su,mr,bf,cr,res,ter,cf,gm,pf)
Tel: 295 2602, Fax: 295 2603, Info@ankars.ps
Beauty Inn
Grand Hotel (107 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 274 1602 - 274 1440, Fax: 274 1604
info@grandhotelbethlehem.com
Al- Zaytouna Guest House (7 rooms; bf; res; mr)
Golden Park Resort & Hotel (Beit Sahour)
Telefax: 274 2016 Deir Hijleh Monastery
Tel: 994 3038, 0505 348 892
(66 rooms; res, bar, pool)
Tel: 277 4414
Hisham Palace Hotel
Holy Family Hotel (90 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res;)
Tel: 232 2414, Fax: 232 3109
Tel: 277 3432/3, Fax: 274 8650
holyfamilyhotel@hotmail.com, www.holyfamilyhotel.com
Inter-Continental Jericho
(181 rooms; su; bf; cf; mr; res; ter; tb)
Tel: 231 1200, Fax: 231 1222
Holy Land Hotel
Tel: 277 8962/3, Fax: 277 8961
holylandhotel@hotmail.com, www.holylandhotel.net
Jericho Resort Village
(60 rooms; 46 studios; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 232 1255, Fax: 232 2189
reservation@jerichoresorts.com, www.jerichoresorts.com
House of Hope Guesthouse
Tel: 274 2325, Fax: 274 0928
Guesthouse@houseofhopemd.org
Jerusalem Hotel (22 rooms)
House of Peace Hostel
Tel: 232 2444, Fax: 992 3109
Tel: 276 4739, http://www.houseofpeace.hostel.com/
Telepherique & Sultan Tourist Center
Inter-Continental Hotel (Jacir Palace)
(55 rooms)
Tel: 232 1590, Fax: 232 1598
info@jericho-cablecar.com
(250 rooms; su; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6770
Lutheran Guesthouse “Abu Gubran”
Tel: 296 6477, Fax: 296 6479
beauty.inn@hotmail.com, www.beautyinn.ps
Best Eastern Hotel (91 rooms; cf; res)
Tel: 296 0450, Fax: 295 8452, besteastern@jrol.com
Caesar Hotel (46 rooms & su, 2 mr, cr, res, cf)
Tel: 297 9400, Fax: 297 9401
reservation@caesar-hotel.ps, www.caesar-hotel.ps
City Inn Palace Hotel (47 rooms; bf; cf; res)
Tel: 240 8080, Fax: 240 8091
cityinnpalace@gmail.com, www.cityinnpalace.com
Gaza International Hotel
(30 rooms; bf; cf; res)
Tel: 283 0001/2/3/4, Fax: 283 0005
Grand Palace Hotel
(20 rooms; cr; mr; cf; res)
Tel: 284 9498/6468, Fax: 284 9497
Marna House (17 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 282 2624, Fax: 282 3322
Palestine Hotel (54 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: Tel: 282 3355, Fax: 286 0056
Grand Park Hotel & Resorts
(84 rooms; 12 grand suites; bf; cf; mr; res; sp; pf)
Tel: 298 6194, Fax: 295 6950, info@grandpark.com
Cinema Jenin Guesthouse (7 rooms; 2 su)
Gemzo Suites
Tel: 250 2455, Mob: 0599 317 968
guesthouse@cinemajenin.org, www.cinemajenin.org
(90 executive suites; cs; mr; pf; gm; res)
Tel: 240 9729, Fax: 240 9532
gemzo@palnet.com, www.gemzosuites.net
Haddad Hotel & Resort
Tel: 241 7010/1/2, Fax: 241 7013
haddadbooking@ymail.com
www.haddadtourismvillage.com
Manarah Hotel
Tel: 295 2122, Telefax: 295 3274
manarah@hotmail.com, www.manarahhotel.com.ps
Merryland Hotel (25 rooms)
Tel: 298 7176, Telefax: 298 7074
North Gate Hotel
Tel: 243 5700, Fax: 243 5701
info@northgate-hotel.com, www.northgate-hotel.com
Tel: 277 0047, Guesthouse@diyar.ps, www.diyar.ps
Manger Square Hotel (220 Rooms; bf; cf; mr; res; cr)
Hebron Hotel
Tel: 277 8888, Fax: 277 8889
fabudayyeh@mangersquarehotel.com
Web: www.mangersquarehotel.com
Tel: 225 4240 / 222 9385, Fax: 222 6760
hebron_hotel@hotmail.com
76
Key: su = suites, bf = business facilities; mr = meeting rooms, cr = conference facilities; res = restaurant,
ter = terrace bar; tb = turkish bath, cf = coffee shop; gm = gym; pf = parking facilities, sp = swimming pool
77
Al-Diwan (Ambassador Hotel)
Middle Eastern, French, and Italian
Cuisine
Tel: 541 2213, Fax: 582 8202
Alhambra Palace Jerusalem
Restaurant & coffee shop
Tel: 626 3535, Fax: 6263737
info@alhambrapalacej.com
Al-Manakeesh Pizza & Pastries
Tel: 585 6928
Al-Shuleh Grill
Shawerma and Barbecues
Tel: 627 3768
Amigo Emil
Middle Eastern, American, Indian,
and Italian Cuisine
Tel: 628 8090, Fax: 626 1457
Antonio’s (Ambassador Hotel)
Middle Eastern, French, and Italian
Cuisine
Tel: 541 2213
Arabesque, Poolside, and
Patio Restaurants (American
Colony Hotel)
Western and Middle Eastern Menu
Tel: 627 9777, Fax: 627 9779
Armenian Tavern
Armenian and Middle Eastern Food
Tel: 627 3854
Askidinya
Italian and French Cuisine
Tel: 532 4590
Az-Zahra
Oriental food and Pizza
Tel: 628 2447
Borderline Restaurant Café
Italian and Oriental Menu
Tel: 532 8342
Burghoulji
Armenian and Middle Eastern
Tel: 628 2072, Fax: 628 2080
Four Seasons Restaurants
and Coffee Shop
Barbecues and Shawerma
Tel: 628 6061, Fax: 628 6097
Gallery Café
Snacks and Beverages
Tel: 540 9974
Garden’s Restaurant
Tel: 581 6463
Fast Food
Tel: 585 3223
Lotus and Olive Garden
Victoria Restaurant
(Jerusalem Meridian Hotel)
Middle Eastern and Continental
Cuisine
Tel: 628 5212
Nafoura
Middle Eastern Menu
Tel: 626 0034
Tel: 627 8077
La Rotisserie (Notre Dame
Hotel)
Gourmet Restaurant, European
and Mediterranean Menu
Tel: 627 9114, Fax: 627 1995
Dina Café
Coffee and Pastry
Tel: 626 3344
Panoramic Golden City
Barbecues
Tel: 628 4433, Fax: 627 5224
Pasha’s
Oriental Food
Tel: 582 5162, 532 8342
Patisserie Suisse
Coffee Bean Café
Pizza and Oriental Pastry
Tel: 627 3970, 628 8135
Petra Restaurant
Pizza House
Sandwiches and Sushi
Tel: 627 0820
Quick Lunch
Educational Bookshop
Books and Coffee
RIO Grill and Subs
Chocolates, Coffee, and Internet
Tel: 626 0993
Flavours Grill
International Cuisine with
Mediterranean Flavour
Tel: 627 4626
Middle Eastern and Arabic Menu
Tel: 628 3051, Fax: 627 4171
Wake up Restaurant
Tel: 627 8880
Zad Rest. & Café
Tel: 627 7454, 627 2525
Nakashian Gallery Café
Chinese Restaurant
El Dorada Coffee Shop and
Internet Café
Coffee and Pastry
Tel: 673 2401, Fax: 673 1711
The Patio (Christmas Hotel)
Oriental and European Menu
Tel: 628 2588, 626 4418
Mediterranean Cuisine
Tel: 627 1356
Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 627 7799
Books and Coffee
Tel: 627 5858
The Scots Bistro
Tel: 627 7232, Fax: 627 7233
Versavee Bistro (Bar and Café)
Oriental and Western Food
Tel: 627 6160
Kan Zaman (Jerusalem Hotel)
Fast Food and Breakfast
Tel: 628 4377
Chinese Cuisine
Tel: 626 3465, Fax: 626 3471
Fresh Juices, Coffee, and Tea
Tel: 627 4282
Turquoise Lebanese
Restaurant
Goodies
Cardo Restaurant
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 627 0827
The Gate Café
Tel: 628 4228
Italian and French Cuisine
Tel: 583 5460
Rossini’s Restaurant Bar
French and Italian Cuisine
Tel: 628 2964
Philadelphia Restaurant
Mediterranean Menu
Tel: 532 2626, Fax: 532 2636
Shalizar Restaurant
Middle Eastern, Mexican, and
Italian Cuisine
Tel: 582 9061
78
1890 Restaurant (Beit-Jala)
Tel: 277 8779
restaurant.1890@gmail.com
Abu Eli Restaurant
Middle Eastern and Barbecues
Tel. 274 1897
Abu Shanab Restaurant
Barbecues
Tel: 274 2985
Afteem Restaurant
Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 274 7940
Al-Areeshah Palace (Jacir
Palace – InterContinental
Bethlehem)
Middle Eastern and Barbecues
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6154
Al-Hakura Restaurant
Middle Eastern and Fast Food
Tel: 277 3335
Al- Khaymeh (Jacir Palace –
InterContinental Bethlehem)
Middle Eastern and Barbecues
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6154
Al Makan Bar (Jacir Palace –
InterContinental Bethlehem)
Snack Bar
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6770
Balloons
Coffee Shop and Pizza
Tel: 275 0221, Fax: 277 7115
Barbara Restaurant
Tel: 274 0130
barbra.rest1@hotmail.com
Beit Sahour Citadel
Mediterranean Cuisine
Tel: 277 7771
Bonjour Restaurant and Café
Tachi Chinese
Coffee Shop and Continental
Cuisine
Tel: 274 0406
Chinese Cuisine
Tel: 274 4382
Dar al-Balad
Oriental and Continental Cuisine
Tel: 274 0711, Mob: 0599 205 158
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 274 9073
Divano Café and Restaurant
Tel: 275 7276
divanocafe@gmail.com
Grotto Restaurant
Barbecues and Taboon
Tel: 274 8844, Fax: 274 8889
Golden Roof
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 274 3224
King Gaspar Restaurant
& Bar (Italian, Asian and
Taboo – Restaurant and Bar
The Square Restaurant and
Coffee Shop
Mediterranean Cuisine
Tel: 274 9844
Zaitouneh (Jacir Palace –
InterContinental Bethlehem)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6154
Al-Nafoura Restaurant
Mediterranean Cuisine)
Tel: 276 5301, Fax: 276 5302
Il’iliyeh Restaurant
Al-Rawda
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 277 0047
Barbecues
Telefax: 232 2555
Layal Lounge
Green Valley Park
Snack Bar
Tel: 275 0655
Oriental Cuisine and Barbecues
Tel: 232 2349
La Terrasse
Jabal Quruntul
Middle Eastern and Continental
Cuisine
Tel: 275 3678
Continental Cuisine (Open Buffet)
Tel: 232 2614, Fax: 232 2659
Limoncello (Beit Jala)
Limoneh
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 231 2977, Fax: 231 2976
Little Italy
Tel: 275 5161
Mariachi (Grand Hotel)
Seafood and Mexican Cuisine
Tel: 274 1440, 274 1602/3
Fax: 274 1604
Barbecues and Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 237 1332
Qasr al-Jabi restaurant
Massina (Breakfast)
Noah’s Snack/ Ararat Hotel
Hotel)
Continental Cuisine and Pastries
Tel: 238 3164, Fax: 233 3666
Snack Food
Tel: 749 888, Fax: 276 9887
Zeit Ou Zaater (Al-Yasmeen
Palmeras Gastropub
Continental Cuisine
Telefax: 275 6622
Peace Restaurant & Bar
Mexican, Italian, Oriental
Tel: 296 5911
Pasta, Seafood, Steaks & Middle
Eastern
Tel: 0595 187 622
Andareen Pub
Riwaq Courtyard (Jacir Palace
Msakhan and Taboun
Tel: 290 5124
– InterContinental Bethlehem)
Coffee Shop and Sandwiches
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6754
Roots Lounge (Beit Sahour)
Tel: 0598 333 665
The Tent Restaurant
(Shepherds’ Valley Village)
Barbecues
Tel: 277 3875, Fax: 277 3876
Sima café
Tel: 275 2058
St. George Restaurant
Oriental Cuisine and Barbecues
Tel: 274 3780, Fax: 274 1833
st.george_restaurant@yahoo.com
Mob: 0599 258 435
Al Falaha
Akasha
Oriental
Tel: 295 9333
Allegro Italian Restaurant
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah
Italian fine cuisine
Tel: 298 5888
Al- Riwaq All-day-dining
restaurant
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah
International, Swiss and Oriental
cuisine
Tel: 298 5888
Khuzama Restaurant
Angelo’s
Cafe, Bistro & Bar
Tel: 296 4115
French and Italian Cuisine
Tel: 296 6477/8
Western Menu and Pizza
Tel: 295 6408, 298 1455
Azure Restaurant and Coffee
Shop
Continental Cuisine
Telefax: 295 7850
La Vie Café
La Vista Café and Restaurant
Oriental and Western Cuisine
Tel: 296 3271
Level 5
Fusion European
Tel: 298 8686
Cann Espresso
Ice Cream and Soft Drinks
Telefax: 295 6721
Bel Mondo Italian Cuisine
Tel: 298 6759
Caesar’s (Grand Park Hotel)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 298 6194
Arabic and Italian Cuisine
Tel: 297 2125
Café De La Paix
Mr. Fish
French Cuisine
Tel: 298 0880
Castello Restaurant & Café
Oriental
Tel: 297 3844/55
Chinese House Restaurant
Chinese Cuisine
Tel: 296 4081
Clara restaurant and pub
Tel: 297 4655
Darna
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 295 0590/1
Diwan Art Coffee Shop
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 296 6483
Do Re Mi Café (Royal Court)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 296 4040
Elite Coffee House
911 Café
Cake and Sweets
Tel: 295 6813
Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 298 8289
Dauod Basha
Salim Afandi
K5M - Caterers
Andre’s Restaurant
Mob: 0597 348 335
Tel: 238 4180
Tel: 274 9110
Seafood, Breakfast, and Pizza,
Coffee Shop, Lebanese and Italian
Cuisine
Tel: 297 1776
Baladna Ice Cream
(Jericho Resort Village)
Arabic Cuisine and Barbecues
Tel: 232 1255, Fax: 232 2189
Tel: 275 8844, Fax: 275 8833
Awjan
Italian and Arabic Cuisine
Tel: 296 5169
European Coffee Shop
Coffee and Sweets
Tel: 2951 7031, 296 6505
Express Pizza
Mac Simon
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 297 2088
Mr. Donuts Café
Donuts and Coffee Shop
Tel: 240 7196
Seafood
Tel: 295 9555
Mr. Pizza
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 240 3016, 240 8182
Muntaza Restaurant and
Garden
Barbecues and Sandwiches
Tel: 295 6835
Na3Na3 Café
Italian and Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 296 4606
Nai Resto Café - Argeeleh
Mob: 0595 403 020
Newz Bar
Lounge and “Le Gourmet” pastries’
corner
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah
Tel: 298 5888
Osama’s Pizza
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 295 3270
Orjuwan Lounge
Palestinian-Italian Fusion
Tel: 297 6870
Rama café Resto/Bar
Tel: 298 5376
Peter’s Place Restaurant &
Bar (Taybeh) Palestinian Cuisine
American Pizza
Tel: 296 6566
Tel: 289 8054, Mob: 0547 043 029
Fawanees
Italian Cuisine
Tel: 297 0705, 297 0706
Pizza Inn Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 298 1181/2/3
Pastries and Fast Food
Tel: 298 7046
Fuego Mexican and Tapas Grill
Tel: 29 59426 - 1700 999 888
Hoash Il’iliyet Restaurant
and Gallery
Pesto Café and Restaurant
Philadelphia Restaurant
Middle Eastern Menu
Tel: 295 1999
QMH
Zam’n Premium Coffee
Masyoun
Tel: 297 34511
Roma Café
Italian Light Food
Tel: 296 4228
Rukab’s Ice Cream
Ice Cream and Soft Drinks
Tel: 295 3467
Saba Sandwiches
Falafel and Sandwiches
Tel: 296 0116
Samer
Middle Eastern Food
Tel: 240 5338 - 240 3088
Scoop
Tel: 295 9189
French, Italian, and Mexican
Cuisine
Tel: 295 6808
Sinatra Gourmet
Italian and American Cuisine
Tel: 297 1028
Sky Bar (Ankars Suites and
Hotel)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 295 2602
Sparkles Bar
Cigar bar
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah
Tel: 298 5888
Stones
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 296 6038
Tabash (Jifna Village)
Barbecues
Tel: 281 0932
Pastries and Snacks
Tel: 295 4455
Ziryab
Barbecues, Italian, and Oriental
Cuisine
Tel: 295 9093
Al Daar
Barbecues
Tel: 288 5827
Al-Deira
Mediterranean Cuisine
Tel: 283 8100/200/300
Fax: 2838400
Almat’haf
Mediterranean Cuisine
Tel: 285 8444, Fax: 285 8440
Al-Molouke
Shawerma
Tel: 286 8397
Al-Salam
Seafood
Tel: 282 2705, Telefax: 283 3188
Avenue
Tel: 288 2100, 288 3100
Middle Eastern and Western Menu
Tel: 298 7905/ 6
Fastfood
Tel: 283 3666
TCHE TCHE
Carino’s
Tel: 296 4201
The Vine Restaurant
Continental Cuisine
Mob: 0595 403 020, 0568 403 020
THE Q GARDEN
Roof-top garden International Cusine
Tel: 295 7727
Tomasso’s
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 240 9991/ 2
Tropicana
Mexican Cuisine, Oriental Menu,
and Zarb
Tel: 297 5661
UpTown (Ankars Suites and
Hotel)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 295 2602
Values Restaurant
Tel: 286 6343, Fax: 286 6353
LATERNA
Tel: 288 9881, Fax: 288 9882
Light House
Tel: 288 4884
Marna House
Telefax: 282 3322, 282 2624
Mazaj Coffee House
Tel: 286 8035
Mazaj Resturant
Tel: 282 5003, Fax: 286 9078
Orient House
Telefax: 282 8008, 282 8604
Roots - The Club
Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 288 8666, 282 3999, 282 3777
International and Sea Food
Tel: 296 6997
Abu Mazen Restaurant
Vatche’s Garden Restaurant
Al Quds Restaurant
European Style
Tel: 296 5966, 296 5988
Jasmine Café
Coffee Shop Style
Tel: 295 0600
Pronto Resto-Café
Zaki Taki
Zam’n Premium Coffee
Tel: 221 3833, Fax: 229 3111
Tel: 229 7773, Fax: 229 7774
Golden Rooster
Telefax: 221 6115
Hebron Restaurant
Telefax: 222 7773
Orient House Restaurant
Sandwiches
Tel: 296 3643
Telefax: 221 1525
Royal Restaurant
Tel: 297 5444
80
Zeit ou Zaater
Big Bite
Tel: 295 6020, Fax: 296 4693
Janan’s Kitchen
Barbecues and Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 295 6767, 296 4480
Fax: 296 4357
Tal El-Qamar Roof
Plaza Jdoudna Restaurant
and Park Middle Eastern Menu
Italian Cuisine
Tel: 298 7312
Zarour Bar BQ
Sangria’s
Traditional Palestinian Cuisine
(Birzeit)
Mob: 0599 868 914
Tel: 295 0121
Coffee Shop Style
Tel: 298 1033
Tel: 222 7210
81
East Jerusalem (02) Armenian Museum, Old City, Tel: 628 2331, Fax: 626 4861, Opening hours:
Mon.- Sat. from 9:00 - 16:30 • Dar At Tifl Museum (Dar At Tifl Association), Near the Orient House,
Tel: 628 3251, Fax: 627 3477 • Islamic Museum (The Islamic Waqf Asso­ciation), Old City, Tel: 628 3313,
Fax: 628 5561, opening hours for tourists: daily from 7:30 - 13:30 • Math Museum, Science Museum, Abu
Jihad Museum for the Palestinian Prisoners Studies - Al-Quds University, Tel: 279 9753 - 279 0606,
foryou@alquds.edu, opening hours Saturday - Wednesday 8:30 - 15:00 • Qalandia Camp Women’s Handicraft
Coop., Telefax: 656 9385, Fax: 585 6966, qalandia@palnet.com • WUJOUD Museum, Tel: 626 0916, Fax:
0272625, info@wujoud.org, www.wujoud.org
Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Museum of Palestinian Popular Heritage - In’ash el Usra, In’ash el
Usra society, Al-Bireh, Tel: 240 2876, Fax: 240 1544, Opening hours: daily from 8:00 - 15:00 except Fridays •
Ramallah Museum, Al-Harajeh St., Across from Arab Bank, Old Town, Ramallah, Telefax: 295 9561,
open daily from 8:00 - 15:00 except friday and Saturday • The Birzeit University Ethnographic and Art
Museum Tel: 298 2976, vtamari@birzeit.edu, Opening hours: daily from 10:00 - 15:00 except for Fridays and Sundays
Bethlehem (02) Al-Balad Museum for Olive Oil Production, Tel: 274 1581, Opening hours: 8:00-14:30
Monday through Saturday • Baituna al Talhami Museum, (Folklore Museum) Arab Women’s Union,
Tel: 274 2589, Fax: 274 2431, Opening hours: daily from 8:00 - 13:00/ 14:00 - 17:00 except for Sundays and
Thursdays afternoon • Bethlehem Peace Center Museum, Tel: 276 6677, Fax: 274 1057, info@peacenter.org,
www.peacenter.org , Opening hours: daily from 10:00-18:00 except Sundays from 10:00 - 16:00 •
International Nativity Museum, Telefax: 276 0076, nativitymuseum@salesianbethlehem.com,
w w w. i n t e r n a t i o n a l n a t i v i t y m u s e u m . c o m • N a t u r a l H i s t o r y M u s e u m , Te l e f a x : 0 2 - 2 7 6
5 5 7 4 , e e c @ p - o l . c o m , w w w. e e c p . o r g • A r t a s O l d V i l l a g e H o u s e / M u s e u m ,
Mob: 0597 524 524, 0599 679 492, 0502 509 514, artasfc@hotmail.com, Opening Hours: By Appointment
• Palestinian Heritage Center, Telefax: 274 2381, mahasaca@palestinianheritagecenter.com, www.
palestinianheritagecenter.com
Gaza (08) Al Mathaf, Tel: 285 8444, info@almathaf.ps, www. almathaf.ps
East Jerusalem (02) Car Rental • Car & Drive, Tel: 656 5562/3 • Dallah Al-Barakah, Tel: 656 4150 •
Good Luck, Tel: 627 7033, Fax: 627 7688 • Green Peace Rent A Car Ltd., Telefax: 585 9756 • Jerusalem
Car Rental & Leasing ltd., Tel: 582 2179, Fax: 582 2173 • Orabi, Tel: 585 3101 • Middle East Car Rental,
Tel: 626 2777, Fax: 626 2203, mecarrental@gmail.com • Taxis Abdo,Tel: 585 8202 (Beit Hanina), Tel: 628 3281
(Damascus Gate) • Al-Eman Taxi & Lemo Service, Tel: 583 4599 - 583 5877 •Al-Rashid, Tel: 628 2220
• Al-Aqsa, Tel: 627 3003 • Beit Hanina, Tel: 585 5777 • Holy Land, Tel: 585 5555 • Imperial, Tel: 628 2504
• Jaber - Petra, Tel: 583 7275 - 583 7276 • Khaled Al-Tahan, Tel: 585 5777 • Mount of Olives, Tel: 627
2777 • Panorama, Tel: 628 1116 • Tourist Trans­por­tation Abdo Tourist, Tel: 628 1866 • Jerusalem of
Gold, Tel: 673 7025/6 • Kawasmi Tourist Travel Ltd., Tel: 628 4769, Fax: 628 4710 • Mount of Olives,
Tel: 627 1122 • Mahfouz Tourist Travel, Tel: 628 2212, Fax: 628 4015 •
Bethlehem (02) Car Rental Murad, Tel: 274 7092 • Nativity Rent a Car, Tel: 274 3532, Fax: 274 7053 Taxis
Asha’b, Tel: 274 2309 • Beit Jala, Tel: 274 2629 • Al Fararjeh Taxi - 24 Hours, Tel: 275 2416
Hebron (02) Car Rental Holy Land, Tel: 222 0811 • Taxis Al-Asdiqa’, Tel: 222 9436 • Al-Itihad, Tel: 222 8750
Jericho (02) Taxis Petra, Tel: 232 2525
Nablus (09) Car Rental Orabi, Tel: 238 3383 • Taxis Al-Ittimad, Tel: 237 1439 • Al-Madina, Tel: 237 3501
Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Car Rental Good Luck, Tel: 234 2160 • Orabi, Tel: 240 3521 • Petra,
Tel: 295 2602 • TWINS, Tel: 296 4688 • Taxis Al-Bireh, Tel: 240 2956 • Al-Masyoun Taxi, Tel: 295 2230 •
Al-Salam, Tel: 295 5805 • Al-Wafa, Tel: 295 5444 • Al-Itihad, Tel: 295 5887 • Hinnawi Taxi, Tel: 295 6302
• Omaya, Tel: 295 6120 • SAHARA Rent a Car Co., Tel: 297 5317/8 • Shamma’ Taxi Co., Tel: 296 0957
East Jerusalem (02) 4M Travel Agency, Tel: 627 1414, Fax: 628 4701, info@4m-travel.com, www.4m-
travel.com • Abdo Tourist & Travel, Tel: 628 1865, Fax: 627 2973, abdotours@hotmail.com • Aeolus Tours,
Tel: 0505 635 5496, Fax: 656 5823, aeolus@aeolus-ltd.com • Albina Tours Ltd., Tel: 628 3397, Fax: 628 1215,
albina@netvision.net.il; info@albinatours.com, www.albinatours.com • Alliance Travel Solutions, Tel: 581 7102,
Fax: 581 7103, info@alliancetravel-jrs.com, www.alliancetravel-jrs.com • Arab Tourist Agency (ATA), Tel:
627 7442, Fax: 628 4366,george@atajrs.com • Atic Tours & Travel Ltd., Tel: 628 6159, Fax: 626 4023, info@
atictour.com, www.atictour.com • Awad & Co. Tourist Agency, Tel: 628 4021, Fax: 628 7990, admin@awad.
tours.com, www.awad-tours.com • Aweidah Bros. Co., Tel: 6282365, towertours@alqudsnet.com • B. Peace
Tours & Travel, Tel: 626 1876, Fax: 626 2065, b.peacetours@bezeqint.net • Bible Land Tours, Tel: 627 1169,
Fax: 627 2218, links@palnet.com • Blessed Land Tours, Tel: 628 6592, Fax: 628 5812, blt@blessedlandtours.
com, www.blessedlandtours.com • Carawan Tours and Travel, Tel: 628 1244, Fax: 628 1406, carawan@
jrol.com, www.carawan-tours.com • Daher Travel, Tel: 628 3235, Fax: 627 1574, dahert@netvision.net.il, www.
dahertravel.com • Dajani Palestine Tours, Tel: 626 4768, Fax: 627 6927, dajani@netvision.net.il • Dakkak
Tours Agency, Tel: 628 2525, Fax: 628 2526, dakkak@netmedia.net.il • Destination Middle East, info@
destination-middle-east.com • Dynamic Links Travel and Tourism Bureau, Tel: 628 4724, Fax: 628 4714,
dynamic.links@dynamic-links.net • George Garabedian Co., Tel: 628 3398, Fax: 628 7896, ggc@ggc-jer.com
• GEMM Travel, Tel: 628 2535/6, sales@gemmtravel.com • Guiding Star Ltd., Tel: 627 3150, Fax: 627 3147,
mark@guidingstar2.com, www.guidingstarltd.com • Holy Jerusalem Tours & Travel, Tel: 540 1668; Fax: 540
0963, info@holyjerusalemtours.com, www.holyjerusalemtours.com • Holy Land Tours, Tel: 532 3232, Fax: 532
3292, info@holylandtours.biz • Jata Travel Ltd., Tel: 627 5001, Fax: 627 5003, jatatraveltd@hotmail.com • Jiro
Tours, Tel: 627 3766, Fax: 628 1020, jiro@netvision.net.il, www.jirotours.com • Jordan Travel Agency, Tel:
628 4052, Fax: 628 7621 • Jerusalem Orient Tourist Travel, Tel : 628 8722, Fax: 627 4589, hamdi@jottweb.
com • JT & T, Tel: 628 9418, 628 9422, Fax: 628 9298, jtt@bezeqint.net.il, www.jttours.com • KIM’s Tourist &
Travel Agency, Tel: 627 9725, Fax: 627 4626, kim@shabaka.net, www.kimstours.com • Lawrence Tours &
Travel, Tel: 628 4867, Fax: 627 1285, info@lawrence-tours.com • Lions Gate Travel & Tours, Tel: 627 7829,
Fax: 627 7830, Mobile: 0523 855 312, info@lionsgate-travel.com • Lourdes Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: 627
5332, Telefax: 627 5336, lourdestravel@bezeqint.net • Mt. of Olives Tours Ltd., Tel: 627 1122, Fax: 628 5551
moot@netvision.net.il, www.olivetours.com • Nawas Tourist Agency Ltd., Tel: 628 2491, Fax: 628
5755 • Nazarene Tours and Travel, Tel: 627 4636, Fax: 627 7526 • Near East Tourist Agency
(NET), Tel: 532 8706, Fax: 532 8701, Jerusalem@netours.com, www.netours.com • O.S. Hotel Services,
Tel: 628 9260, Fax: 626 4979, os@os-tours.com • Overseas Travel Bureau, Tel: 628 7090, Fax: 628
4442, otb@netvision.net.il • Priority Travel and Tours LTD., Tel: 627 4207, Fax: 627 4107 • Safieh
Tours & Travel Agency, Tel: 626 4447, Fax: 628 4430, safiehtours@bezeqint.net • Samara Tourist
& Travel Agency, Tel: 627 6133. Fax: 627 1956, info@samaratours.com • Shepherds Tours &
Travel, Tel: 6284121- 6287859, Fax: 6280251, info@shepherdstours.com, www.shepherdstours.com
• Shweiki Tours Ltd., Tel: 673 6711, Fax: 673 6966 • Sindbad Travel Tourist Agency, Tel: 627 2165,
Fax: 627 2169, sindbad1@bezeqint.net, www.Sindbad-Travel.com • Swift Travel, Tel: 628 0704, Fax: 627 2783,
swifttours@hotmail.com • Terra Sancta Tourist Co, Tel: 628 4733, Fax: 626 4472 • Tower Tours & Travel
Ltd., Tel: 628 2365, Fax: 628 2366, towertours@alqudsnet.com, www.tower-tours.com • Tony Tours Ltd., Tel:
244 2050, Fax: 244 2052, ihab64@012.net.il • Traveller Experience Tours, Telefax: 585 8440, Mob. 0548 050
383, info@travellerexperience.com, www.travellerexperience.com • United Travel Ltd., Tel: 583 3614, Fax: 583
6190, unidas@bezeqint.net, www.unitedtravelltd.com • Universal Tourist Agency, Tel: 628 4383, Fax: 626
4448, uta-j@zahav.net.il, www.universal-jer.com • William Tours & Travel Agency, Tel: 623 1617, Fax: 624
1126, wiltours_n@hotmail.com • Yanis Tours & Travel, Telefax: 627 5862, hai_mou@yahoo.com • Zatarah
Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: 627 2725, Fax: 628 9873, info@zaatarahtravel.com
Bethlehem (02) ACA Travel & Tourism, Tel: 274 1115, Fax: 275 2263, tourism@aca.ps, www.aca.ps •
Angels Tours and Travel, Tel: 277 5813, Fax: 277 5814, angels@p-ol.com, www.angelstours.com.ps • Arab
Agency Travel & Tourism, Tel: 274 1872, Fax: 274 2431, tourism@aca-palestine.com, www.aca-palestine.com
• Bethlehem Star Travel, Telefax: 277 0441, info@bst.ps, www.bst.ps • Crown Tours & Travel Co. Ltd.,
Tel: 274 0911, Fax: 274 0910, info@crown-tours.com, www.crown-tours.com • Four Seasons Co. Tourism &
Travel, Tel: 277 4401, Fax: 277 4402, fseasons@p-ol.com • Gloria Tours & Travel, Tel: 274 0835, Fax: 274
3021, gloria@p-ol.com • Golden Gate Tours & Travel, Tel: 276 6044, Fax: 276 6045, ggtours@palnet.com
• Kukali Travel & Tours, Tel: 277 3047, Fax: 277 2034, kukali@p-ol.com • Laila Tours & Travel, Tel: 277
7997, Fax: 277 7996, laila@lailatours.com, www.Lailatours.com • Lama Tours International, Tel: 274 3717,
Fax: 274 3747, litco@p-ol.com • Millennium Transportation, TeleFax: 676 7727, 050-242 270 • Mousallam
Int’l Tours, Tel: 277 0054, Fax: 277 0054, Mitours@palnet.com • Nativity Tours and Travel, Tel: 276 1124,
TeleFax: 276 1125, info@thenativitytours.com, www.thenativitytours.com • Sansur Travel Agency, Tel: 274
4473, Telefax: 274 4459 • Sky Lark Tours and Travel, Tel: 274 2886, Fax: 276 4962, skylark@palnet.com •
Terra Santa Tourist Co., Tel: 277 0249 Fax: 277 0250 • Voice of Faith Tours, Tel: 275 70 50 Fax: 275 70
51, nabil@gmtravel.co.il, www.gmtravel.co.il
Beit Jala (02) Guiding Star Ltd., Tel: 276 5970, Fax: 276 5971, info@guidingstar2.com
• Luzun, Tel: 282 2628 • Taxis Al-Nasser, Tel: 286 1844, 286 7845 • Al-Wafa, Tel: 284 9144 - 282 4465 •
Azhar, Tel: 286 8858 • Midan Filastin, Tel: 286 5242
Beit Sahour (02) Alternative Tourism Group, Tel: 277 2151, Fax: 277 2211, info@atg.ps, www.atg.
ps • Brothers Travel & Tours, Tel: 277 5188, Fax: 277 5189, holyland@brostours.com, www.brostours.
com • Grace Tours, Tel: 275 7363, Fax: 277 2420, elias@grace-tours.com • Magi Tours, Telefax: 277 5798,
magitours@spidernet.ps
82
83
Gaza Strip (08) Car Rental Al-Ahli, Tel: 282 8534 • Al-Farouq, Tel: 284 2755 • Imad, Tel: 286 4000
Hebron (02) AL-Afaq for Travel & Umrah, Telefax: 221 1332, alafaqtravel@yahoo.com • AlArrab Tours
Tel: 221 1917, info@alarrabtours.com • Al-Buhaira Tours and Travel co., Telefax: 225 2095, www.AL-BUHAIRA.
com, INFO@ALBUAIRA.com • Alkiram Tourism, Tel: 225 6501/2, Fax: 225 6504, alkiram@hebronet.com •
Al Raed Travel Agency, Telefax: 229 3030, Mob: 0599 889 477, raedbader@msn.com • Al-Salam Travel and
Tours Co., Tel: 221 5574, Fax: 223 3747 • Sabeen Travel Tourism, Telefax: 229 4775, sabeenco@yahoo.com
Ramallah (02) Al-Asmar Travel Agency, Telefax: 295 4140, 296 5775, asmar@p-ol.com • All Middle East
Pilgrimage and Tourism Coordination Office, Tel:  289 8123, Fax: 289 9174, ameptco@gmail.com, www.
ameptco.com • Amani Tours, Telefax: 298 7013, amanitr@p-ol.com • Anwar Travel Agency, Tel: 295 6388,
295 1706, alaa@anwartravel.ps • Apollo Travel & Tourism Agency, Mob: 0568 038 536, 0568 038 534, Tel:
241 2510, Fax: 251 2567, apollotravel1@gmail.com • Arab Office for Travel & Tourism, Tel: 295 6640, Fax:
295 1331 • Arseema for Travel & Tourism, Tel: 297 5571, Fax: 297 5572, info@arseema.ps • Atlas Tours
& Travel, Tel: 295 2180, Fax: 298 6395, www.atlasavia.com • Darwish Travel Agency, Tel: 295 6221, Fax:
295 7940 • Golden Globe Tours, Tel: 296 5111, Fax: 296 5110, gg-tours@palnet.com • Issis & Co., Tel: 295
6250, Fax: 295 4305 • Jordan River Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: 298 0523, Fax: 298 0524 • Kashou’
Travel Agency, Tel: 295 5229, Fax: 295 3107, kashoutravel@hotmail.com • Mrebe Tours & Travel, Tel: 295
4671, Fax: 295 4672, info@mrebetours.ps • The Pioneer Links Travel & Tourism Bureau, Tel: 240 7859,
Fax: 240 7860, pioneer@pioneer-links.com • Travel House For Travel & Tourism, Tel: 295 7225, Fax: 296
2634, www.travelhouse.ps • Rahhal Tours & Travel, Tel: 242 3256, Fax: 242 9962, info@rahhaltours.ps, www.
rahhalyours.ps • Raha Tours and Travel, Tel: 296 1780, Fax: 296 1782, www.rahatt.com, www.rahatravel.
com • Reem Travel Agency, Tel: 295 3871, Fax: 295 3871 • Royal Tours, Tel: 296 6350/1, Fax: 296 6635 •
Sabeen Travel Tourism, Telefax: 240 5931, sabeenco@yahoo.com • Salah Tours, Tel: 295 9931, Fax: 298
7206 • Shbat & Abdul Nur, Tel: 295 6267, Fax: 295 7246
Jenin (04) Asia Travel Tourism, Telefax: 243 5157, www.asia-tourism.net • Al Sadeq Travel & Tourism,
Tel: 243 8055, Fax: 243 8057, email: amr_jarrar@yahoo.com
Nablus (09) Almadena Tours,
Tel: 239 3333, Telefax: 239 3366, travel@almadena.ps, www.almadena.
ps • Cypress Tours, Telfax: 238 1797, info@cypress-tours.com, www.cypress-tours.com • Dream Travel &
Tourism, Tel: 233 5056, Fax: 237 2069 • Firas Tours, Tel: 234 4565, Fax: 234 7781 • Hittin Travel & Tours,
Tel: 238 2298, Fax: 233 8092 , www. hittin-travel.com • Top Tour, Tel: 238 9159, Fax: 238 1425, toptourandtravel@
yahoo.com • Yaish International Tours, Telefax: 238 1410, 238 1437, yaishtrl@palnet.com • Zorba’s Travel
Show, Tel: 234 4959, Mob: 0569 282 726
Tulkarem (09) Faj Tours, Tel: 2672 486, Fax: 2686 070, fajtours@hotmail.com
Gaza Strip (08) Al-Muntazah Travel Agency, Tel: 282 7919 Fax: 282 4923 • Halabi Tours and Travel
Co., Tel: 282 3704, Fax: 286 6075, halabitours@email.com, www.halabitours.ps • Maxim Tours, Tel: 282 4415,
Fax: 286 7596 • National Tourist Office, Tel: 286 0616, Fax: 286 0682, shurafa@mtcgaza.com • Time Travel
Ltd., Tel: 283 6775, Fax: 283 6855, timetravel@marna.com
Air France and KLM, Tel: 02-628 2535/6 (Jerusa­lem), Tel: 08-286 0616 (Gaza) • Air Sinai – Varig, Tel:
02-627 2725 (Jerusalem), Tel: 08-282 1530 (Gaza) • Austrian Airlines Tel: 09-238 2065, Fax: 09-237 5598
(Nablus) • Apollo Travel & Tourism, Tel: 02-241 2510, Fax: 02-241 2567 (Ramallah), Mob: 0568 038 536 •
British Airways PLC, Tel: 02-628 8654, Telefax: 02- 628 3602, (Jerusalem) • Cyprus Airways, Tel: 02-240
4894 (Al-Bireh) • Delta Airlines, Tel: 02-296 7250, Telefax: 02-298 6395 (Ramallah) • Egypt Air, Tel: 02-298
6950/49 (Ramallah), Tel: 08-282 1530 (Gaza) • Emirates Airlines, Tel: 02-296 1780 (Ramallah) • Etihad Air
Ways, Tel: 02-295 3907 / 02-295 3912 / 02-295 3913, Fax: 02-295 3914, info@etihad.ps (Ramallah), Tel: 02-295
3912/3 (Ramallah) • Iberia, Tel: 02-628 3235/7238 (Jerusalem) • Lufthansa, Tel: 09-238 2065, Fax: 09-237
5598 (Nablus) • Malev-Hungarian Airlines, Tel: 02-295 2180 (Ramallah) • Middle East Car Rental, Tel:
02-295 2602, Fax: 295 2603 • PAL AVIATION, Tel. 02-296 7250 Telefax: 02-298 6395 (Ramallah) • Palestine
Airlines, Tel: 08-282 2800 (Gaza), Tel: 08-282 9526/7 (Gaza) • Qatar Airways, Tel: 02-240 4895 (Al-Bireh),
Tel: 08-284 2303 (Gaza), Royal Jordanian Airways, Tel: 02-240 5060 (Ramallah), Tel: 08-282 5403/13 (Gaza)
• SN Brussels Airlines, Tel: 02-295 2180 (Ramallah), SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Tel: 02-628 3235/7238
(Jerusalem) • South African Airways, Tel: 02-628 6257 (Jerusalem) • Swiss International Airlines, Tel:
02-295 2180 (Ramallah) • Tunis Air, Tel: 02-298 7013 (Ramallah), Tel: 08-286 0616 (Gaza) • Turkish Airlines,
Tel: 02-277 0130 (Bethlehem)
Airport Information Gaza International Airport, Tel: 08-213 4289 • Ben Gurion Airport, Tel: 03-972 3344
Consulates
East Jerusalem (02) Apostolic Delegation, Tel: 628 2298, Fax: 628 1880 • Belgium, Tel: 582 8263,
Fax: 581 4063, jerusalem@diplobel.org • European Community - Delegation to the OPT, Tel: 541 5888,
Fax: 541 5848 • France, Tel: 591 4000, Fax: 582 0032 • Great Britain, Tel: 541 4100, Fax: 532 2368, britain.
jerusalem@fco.gov.uk, www.britishconsulate.org • Greece, Tel: 582 8316, Fax: 532 5392 • Italy, Tel: 561 8966,
Fax: 561 9190 • Spain, Tel: 582 8006, Fax: 582 8065 • Swedish Consulate General, Tel: 646 5860, Fax:
646 5861 • Turkey, Tel: 591 0555-7, Fax: 582 0214, turkcons.jerusalem@mfa.gov.tr, www.kudus.bk.mfa.gov.tr •
United States of America, Tel: 622 7230, Fax: 625 9270
Representative Offices to the PNA
Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Argentina Representative Office to the PA, Tel: 241 2848/9, Fax: 241
2850, repal@mrecic.gov.ar • Australia, Tel: 242 5301, Fax: 240 8290, austrep@palnet.com, ausaid@palnet.
com • Austria, Tel: 240 1477, Fax: 240 0479 • Brazil, Tel: 241 3753, Fax: 241 3756, admin-office@rep-brazil.
org • Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Tel: 240 58 60/1, Fax: 2405862, representacionenpalestina@
yahoo.com, representacionenpalestina@hotmail.com • Canada, Tel: 297 8430, Fax: 297 8446, rmlah@
international.gc.ca • Chile, Tel: 296 0850, Fax: 298 4768, chileram@palnet.com • Representative Office of
the Republic of Cyprus, Tel: 241 3206, Fax: 241 3208 • Czech Republic, Tel: 296 5595, Fax: 296 5596
• Denmark, Tel: 242 2330, Fax: 240 0331 • Egypt, Tel: 297 7774, Fax: 297 7772 • Finland, Tel: 240 0340,
Fax: 240 0343 • Germany, Tel: 298 4788, Fax: 298 4786, gerrprof@palnet.com • Hungary, Tel: 240 7676, Fax:
240 7678, humisram@palnet.com • India, Tel: 290 3033, Fax: 290 3035, roi_ramallah@palnet.com • Ireland,
Tel: 240 6811/2/3, Fax: 240 6816, irishrep@palnet.com • Japan, Tel: 241 3120, Fax: 241 3123 • Jordan, Tel:
297 4625, Fax: 297 4624 • Mexico, Tel: 297 5592, Fax: 297 5594, ofimex-ramala@palnet.com • Norway,
Tel: 235 8600, Fax: 235 8699, repram@mfa.no • Poland, Tel: 297 1318, Fax: 297 1319 • Portugal, Tel: 240
7291/3, Fax: 240 7294 • Republic of Korea, Tel: 240 2846/7, Fax: 240 2848 • Russian Federation, Tel:
240 0970, Fax: 240 0971 • South Africa, Tel: 298 7355, Fax: 298 7356, sarep@sarep.org, www.sarep.org •
Sri Lanka, Telefax: 290 4271 • Switzerland, Tel: 240 8360, vertretung@rah.rep.admin.ch • The Netherlands,
Tel: 240 6639, Fax: 240 9638 • The People’s Republic of China, Tel: 295 1222, Fax: 295 1221, chinaoffice@
palnet.com
Gaza Strip (08) Egypt, Tel: 282 4290, Fax: 282 0718 • Germany, Tel: 282 5584, Fax: 284 4855 • Jordan,
Tel: 282 5134, Fax: 282 5124 • Morocco, Tel: 282 4264, Fax: 282 4104 • Norway, Tel: 282 4615, Fax: 282 1902
• Qatar, Tel: 282 5922, Fax: 282 5932 • South Africa, Tel: 284 1313, Fax: 284 1333 • Tunisia, Tel: 282 5018,
Fax: 282 5028
United Nations and International Organisations
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Jerusalem (02), Tele: 533 9400, 532 2757,
Fax: 540 0027, fao-gz@fao.org, www.fao.org • IBRD - International Bank for Reconstruction and De­vel­
opment (World Bank), West Bank (02), Tel: 236 6500 Fax: 236 6543, Gaza (08) Tel: 282 4746 Fax: 282 4296,
firstletterofsurname.familyname@worldbank.org • IMF, - International Monetary Fund, www.imf.org, Gaza
(08), Tel: 282 5913; Fax: 282 5923, West Bank (02), Tel: 236 6530; Fax: 236 6543 • ILO - International Labor
Organization, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 626 0212, 628 0933, Fax: 627 6746, Khaled.doudine@undp.org, Ramallah
(02), Tel: 290 0022, Fax: 290 0023, Nablus (09), Tel: 237 5692 - 233 8371, Fax: 233 8370 • OHCHR - Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Gaza (08), Tel: 282 7021, Fax: 282 7321, ohchr@undp.org,
West Bank Office, Telefax: 02-296 5534 • UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization, Ramallah (02), Tel: 295 9740, Fax: 295 9741, unesco@palnet.com • UNFPA - United Nations
Population Fund, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 581 7292, Fax: 581 7382, unfpa.ps@undp.org, www.unfpa.ps • UNICEF
- United Nations Children’s Fund, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 584 0400, Fax: 583 0806, Gaza (08), Tel: 286 2400, Fax:
286 2800, Jerusalem@unicef.org • UNIFEM - United Nations Development Fund for Women, Telefax: 628
0450, Tel: 628 0661 • UN OCHA - United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Tel: 582
9962/02 - 582 5853, Fax: 582 5841, ochaopt@un.org, www.ochaopt.org • UNRWA - United Nations Relief and
Works Agency, Gaza (08), Tel: 677 7333, Fax: 677 7555, unrwapio@unrwa.org, West Bank (02), Tel: 589 0401,
Fax: 532 2714, firstletterofsurname.familyname@unrwa.org • UNSCO - Office of the Special Coordinator for
the Middle East Peace Process, Tel: 08-284 3555/02-568 7276, Fax: 08-282 0966/02-568 7288, UNSCO-Media@
un.org, www.unsco.org • UNTSO - United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 568
7222 - 568 7444, Fax: 568 7400, DPKO-UNTSO-admin@un.org • WFP - World Food Programme, Gaza (08), Tel:
282 7463, Fax: 282 7921, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 540 1340, Fax: 540 1227, pablo.recalde@wfp.org • WHO - World
Health Organization, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 540 0595, Fax: 581 0193, info@who-health.org, Gaza (08), Tel: 282
2033, Fax: 284 5409, who@palnet.com • World Bank, Tel: 236 6500, Fax: 236 6543
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP)
4 Al-Ya’qubi Street, Jerusalem, Tel: 02 6268200, Fax: 02 6268222
E-mail: registry.papp@undp.org / URL: http://www.papp.undp.org
84
85
Ramallah (02) Quds Bank
East Jerusalem (02) Hospitals Augusta Victoria, Tel: 627 9911 • Dajani Maternity, Tel: 583 3906
• Hadassah (Ein Kerem), Tel: 677 7111 • Hadassah (Mt. Scopus), Tel: 584 4111 • Maqassed, Tel: 627 0222
• Red Crescent Maternity, Tel: 628 6694 • St. John’s Opthalmic, Tel: 582 8325 • St. Joseph, Tel: 591
1911 • Clinics and Centers Arab Health Center, Tel: 628 8726 • CHS Clinics, Tel: 628 0602/0499 • Ibn
Sina Medical Center, Tel: 540 0083/9, 532 2536 • Jerusalem First Aid Clinic, Tel: 626 4055 • Medical
Relief Womens, Health Clinic, Tel: 583 3510 • Palestinian Counseling Center, Tel: 656 2272, 656
2627 • Peace Medical Center, Tel: 532 7111, 532 4259 • Red Crescent Society, Tel: 582 8845 • Spafford
Children’s Clinic, Tel: 628 4875 • The Austrian Arab Commu­nity Clinic (AACC), Tel: 627 3246 • The
Jerusalem Princess Basma Center for Disabled Children, Tel: 628 3058
Bethlehem (02) Hospitals Al-Dibis Maternity, Tel: 274 4242 • Al-Hussein Government, Tel: 274
1161 • Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation, Tel: 274 4049-51, Fax: 274 4053 • Caritas Baby, Tel:
275 8500, Fax: 275 8501 • Mental Health, Tel: 274 1155 • Shepherd’s Field Hospital, Tel: 277 5092 • St.
Mary’s Maternity, Tel: 274 2443 • The Holy Family, Tel: 274 1151, Fax: 274 1154 Clinics and Centers
Beit Sahour Medical Center, Tel: 277 4443 • Bethlehem Dental Center, Tel: 274 3303
Hebron (02) Hos­pi­tals Amira Alia, Tel: 222 8126 • Al-Ahli, Tel: 222 0212 • Al-Meezan, Tel: 225 7400/1
• Mohammed Ali, Tel: 225 3883/4 • Shaheera, Tel: 222 6982 • St. John’s Opthalmic, Tel: 223 6047 • The
Red Crescent, Tel: 222 8333 • Yattah Governmental Hospital, Tel: 227 1017, 227 1019 Clinics and
Centers Red Crescent Society, Tel: 222 7450 • UPMRC, Tel: 222 6663
Jericho (02) Hospitals Jericho Government, Tel: 232 1967/8/9 Clinics and Centers UPMRC, Tel:
232 2148
Nablus (09) Hospitals Al-Aqsa Hospital and Medical Center, Tel: 294 7666 • Al-Ittihad, Tel: 237
1491 • Al-Watani, Tel: 238 0039 • Al-Zakat Hospital (TolKarem), Tel: 268 0680 • Aqraba Maternity
Home, Tel: 259 8550 • Rafidia, Tel: 239 0390 • Salfit Emergency Governmental Hospital, Tel: 251 5111
• Specialized Arab Hospital, Tel: 239 0390 • St. Luke’s, Tel: 238 3818 • UNRWA Qalqilia Hospital
(Qalqiliya), Tel: 294 0008 Clinics and Centers Al-Amal Center, Tel: 238 3778 • Arab Medical Center,
Tel: 237 1515 • Hagar (Handicapped Equipment Center), Tel: 239 8687 • Red Crescent Society, Tel:
238 2153 • UPMRC, Tel: 283 7178
Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Hospitals Arabcare Hospital, Tel: 298 6420 • AL-Karmel
Maternity Home, Tel: 247 1026 • Al-Mustaqbal Hospital, Tel: 240 4562 • AL-Nather Maternity
Hospital, Tel: 295 5295 • Ash-Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Tel: 298 8088 • Birziet Maternity Home,
Tel: 281 0616 • Care Specialized Dental Center, Tel: 297 5090 • Khaled Surgical Hospital, Tel:
295 5640 • Ramallah Government Hospitals, Tel: 298 2216/7 • Red Crescent Hospital, Tel: 240
6260 Clinics and Centers Arab Medical Center, Tel: 295 4334 • Arabcare Medical Center,
Tel: 298 6420 • Emergency & Trauma Center, Tel: 298 8088 • Harb Heart Center, Tel: 296 0336
• Modern Dental Center, Tel: 298 0630 • National Center for Blood Diseases “Hippocrates”
Thalessemia and Hemophilia Center, Tel: 296 5082, Fax: 296 5081 • Patients’ Friends Society
K. Abu Raya Re­ha­bili­tation Centre, Tel: 295 7060/1 • Palestinian Hemophilia Association-PHA,
Telefax: 297 5588 • Peace Medical Center, Tel: 295 9276 • Red Crescent Society, Tel: 240 6260 • UPMRC,
Tel: 298 4423, 296 0686
Gaza Strip (08) Hospitals Al-Ahli Al-Arabi, Tel: 286 3014 • Dar Al-Salam, Tel: 285 4240 • Nasser, Tel:
205 1244 • Shifa, Tel: 286 2765 Clinics and Centers Arab Medical Center, Tel: 286 2163 • Beit Hanoun
Clinic, Tel: 285 8065 • Dar Al-Shifa, Tel: 286 5520 • Hagar (Handicapped Equipment Center), Tel: 284
2636 • St. John’s Opthalmic, Tel: 284 8445 • UPMRC, Tel: 282 7837
(Al-Masyoon), Tel: 297 0014, (El-Bireh), Tel: 298 3391 • National Bank,
(Hebron), Tel: 221 6222, Fax: 221 6231, (Ramallah: HQ), Tel: 294 6090, Fax: 294 6114, (Al Masyoun Branch),
Tel: 297 7731, Fax: 297 7730, (Al Irsal Branch), Tel: 297 8700, Fax: 297 8701, (Nablus), Tel: 238 0802, Fax: 238
0801 • Arab Bank, (Al-Balad) Tel: 298 6480, Fax: 298 6488 • Arab Bank, (Al-Bireh), Tel: 295 9581, Fax: 295
9588 • Arab Bank, (Al-Manara) Tel: 295 4821, Fax: 295 4824 • Arab Bank (Masyoun Branch), Tel: 297 8100 •
Arab Land Bank, Tel: 295 8421 • Bank of Palestine, Tel: 296 5010, Fax: 298 5920 • Bank of Palestine,
(Al-Irsal) Tel: 296 6860, Fax: 296 6864 • Arab Palestinian Investment Bank, Tel: 298 7126, Fax: 298 7125
• Beit Al-Mal Holdings, Tel: 298 6916, Fax: 298 6916 • HSBC Bank Middle East, Tel: 298 7802, Fax:
298 7804 • Jordan Ahli Bank, (Ramallah Branch), Tel: 298 6313, Fax: 298 6311, (Nablus Branch), Tel: 04-238
2280, (Bethlehem Branch), Tel: 277 0351, • Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: 298 3500, Fax: 295 5437 • The Center
for Private Enterprise Development, Tel: 298 6786, Fax: 298 6787 • Commercial Bank of Palestine,
Tel: 295 4141, Fax: 295 4145 • Cooperative Development Unit, Tel: 290 0029, Fax: 290 0029 • Deutsche
Ausgleichsbank (DTA), Tel: 298 4462, Fax: 295 2610 • The Housing Bank, Tel: 298 6270, Fax: 298 6276 •
International Islamic Arab Bank, Tel: 240 7060, Fax: 240 7065 • Jordan Bank, Tel: 295 8686, Fax: 2958684
• Jordan-Gulf Bank, Tel: 298 7680, Fax: 298 7682 • Jordan-Kuwait Bank, Tel: 240 6725, Fax: 240 6728 •
Jordan National Bank, Tel: 295 9343, Fax: 295 9341 • Palestine International Bank (PIB), Tel: 298 3300,
Fax: 298 3333 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 298 7880, Fax: 298 7881 • Palestine Islamic Bank, Tel:
295 0247, Fax: 295 7146 • Union Bank, Tel: 298 6412, Fax: 295 6416
Gaza Strip (08) Quds Bank (Al-Remal), Tel: 284 4333 • Arab Bank, Tel: 08-286 6288, Fax: 282 0704 •
Arab Bank (Al-Rimal), Tel: 282 4729, Fax: 282 4719 • Arab Bank, (Khan Younis) Tel: 205 4775, Fax: 205 4745
• Arab Bank (Karny), Tel: 280 0020, Fax: 280 0028 • Arab Land Bank, Tel: 282 2046, Fax: 282 1099 • Bank
of Palestine Ltd., Tel: 282 3272, Fax: 286 5667 • Beit Al-Mal Holdings, Tel: 282 0722, Fax: 282 5786 •
Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: 282 4950, Fax: 282 4830 • Commercial Bank of Palestine, Tel: 282 5806, Fax:
282 5816 • The Housing Bank, Tel: 282 6322, Fax: 286 1143 • Jordan Bank, Tel: 282 0707, Fax: 282 4341 •
Palestine Development Fund, Tel: 282 4286, Fax: 282 4286 • Palestine International Bank (PIB), Tel:
284 4333, Fax: 284 4303 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 282 2105, Fax: 282 2107
Nablus (09) Quds Bank, Tel: 235 9741, (Nablus Aljded) , Tel: 239 7782 • Arab Bank, Tel: 238 2340, Fax:
238 2351 • Arab Bank (Askar), Tel: 231 1694, Fax: 234 2076 • Arab Land Bank, Tel: 238 3651, Fax: 238 3650
• Bank of Palestine Ltd., Tel: 238 2030, Fax: 238 2923 • Bank of Palestine (Al-Misbah), Tel: 231 1460, Fax:
231 1922 • Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: 238 1301, Fax: 238 1590 • Commercial Bank of Palestine, Tel: 238
5160, Fax: 238 5169 • The Housing Bank, Tel: 238 6060, Fax: 238 6066 • Jordan Bank, Tel: 238 1120, Fax:
238 1126 • Jordan-Gulf Bank, Tel: 238 2191, Fax: 238 1953 • Jordan-Kuwait Bank, Tel: 237 7223, Fax:
237 7181 • Jordan-National Bank, Tel: 238 2280, Fax: 238 2283 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 238
5051, Fax: 238 5057 • Palestine International Bank, Tel: 239 7780, Fax: 239 7788
City
Fire
Ambulance
Police
Jerusalem*
CHS (Old City Jerusalem)
Bethlehem
Gaza
Hebron
Jericho
Jenin
Nablus
Ramallah
Child Helpline Palestine
Tulkarem
Qalqilia
02-6282222
101 / 050-319120
02-274 1123
08-2863633
102/22 28121-2-3
02-232 2658
04-250 1225
09-238 3444
02-295 6102
(121) free line
09-267 2106
09-294 0440
101
100
101 / 02-274 4222
101 / 08-2863633
101
101 / 02-232 1170
101 / 04-250 2601
101 / 09-238 0399
101 / 02-240 0666
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
101 / 09-267 2140
101 / 09-294 0440
100
100
Telephone Services
East Jerusalem (02) Quds Bank (Al-Ezzarieh), Tel: 279 8803 • Arab Bank (Al-Ezzarieh), Tel: 279 6671,
Fax: 279 6677 • Arab Bank (Al-Ram), Tel: 234 8710, Fax: 234 8717 • Center for Development Consultancy
(CDC), Tel: 583 3183, Fax: 583 3185 • Commer­cial Bank of Palestine, Tel: 279 9886, Fax: 279 9258
Bethlehem (02) Arab Bank, Tel: 277 0080, Fax: 277 0088 • Arab Land Bank, Tel: 274 0861 • Cairo-
Amman Bank, Tel: 274 4971, Fax: 274 4974 • Jordan National Bank, Tel: 277 0351, Fax: 277 0354 • Bank
of Palestine Ltd., Tel: 276 5515/6, Fax: 276 5517 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 277 0888, Fax: 277 0889
Hebron (02) Quds Bank, Tel: 221 1357 • Al-Ahli Bank, Tel: 222 4801/2/3/4 • Arab Bank, Tel: 222 6410,
Fax: 222 6418 • Bank of Palestine Ltd., Tel: 225 0001/2/3 • Cairo-Amman Bank, (Wadi Al-Tuffah) Tel: 222
5353/4/5 • Cairo-Amman Bank, (Al-Balad) Tel: 222 9803/4 • Cairo-Amman Bank, (The Islamic Branch)
Tel: 222 7877 • Islamic Arab Bank, Tel: 2254156/7 • Islamic Bank, Tel: 222 6768 • Jordan Bank, Tel: 222
4351/2/3/4 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 225 2701/2/3/4 • The Housing Bank, Tel: 225 0055
86
Bezeq
Wake up calls
Talking Clock
Time around the world
Vocal Information
Pager Service
Repeat call
Last call
Call waiting
Call forwarding
General information
Services
Corporate services
1475
1455
1975
1705
*41
*42
*70
*71
199
164
166
Paltel
Wake up calls
Free fax service
Follow me
(forwarding calls)
Phone book
Maintenance
Information
Internet maintenance
175
167
Tourism and An­tiq­uities
Police
72*
144
166
199
167
Border Crossings
Calls from Overseas
Dial access code, international
country code (972) or (970),
area code (without the zero),
desired number
87
Bethlehem
Gaza
Jericho
Nablus
Allenby Bridge
Arava Border
Eretz Crossing
Rafah Border
Sheikh Hussien
02-277 0750/1
08-282 9017
02-232 4011
09-385 244
02-994 2302
08-630 0555
08-674 1672
08-673 4205
04-609 3410
As Palestine continues its struggle for independence, it has already begun to acquire sovereign cyberspace recognition.
A difficult three-year international debate resulted in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory” being officially assigned the
two-letter suffix, “.ps,” in the ISO 3166-1 list for the representation of names of countries or territories. The successful
struggle to attain country code 970 led the way for the Internet Corporation for Associated Names and Numbers
(ICANN), the international corporation that manages the country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) system on the
Internet, on 22 March 2000, to assign Palestine its unique country identifier, “.ps,” in line with other sovereign nations
such as .fr for France and .ca for Canada.
Arts and Culture: Al Rowwad Theatre Centre www.alrowwad.virtualactivism.net, A.M. Qattan
Foundation www.qattanfoundation.org, Ashtar Theater www.ashtar-theatre.org, Al Kasaba Theatre and
Cinematheque www.alkasaba.org, Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art www.almamalfoundation.
org, Al Mathaf www.almathaf.ps, ArtSchool Palestine www.artschoolpalestine.com, Baha Boukhari www.
baha-cartoon.net, Educational Bookshop www.educationalbookshop.com, Family Net www.palestinefamily.net, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (Ramallah) www.sakakini.org, Paltel Virtual Gallery (Birzeit
University) www.virtualgallery.birzeit.edu, Rim Banna www.rimbanna.com, RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural
Conservation www.riwaq.org, Sunbula (fair trade/crafts) www.sunbula.org, The Popular Arts Centre
www.popularartcentre.org, Sumud www.sumud.net, Pal­es­tinian Pottery www.pal­es­tinianpottery.com, The
International Center of Bethlehem (Dar Annadwa) www.annadwa.org, The Musical Intifada www.
docjazz.com, El-funoun www.el-funoun.org, Sabreen Association for Artistic Development www.sabreen.
org, The Virtual Gallery www.virtualgallery.birzeit.edu
Business and Economy: Arab Pal­es­tinian In­vestment Com­pany www.apic-pal.com, Hebron Store
www.hebron-store.com, Jawwal www.jawwal.ps, Massar www.massar.com, The Palestinian Economic
Council for De­vel­opment and Re­con­struction (PECDAR) www.pecdar.org, Pal­es­tinian Securities
Ex­change, Ltd. www.p-s-e.com, Pal­es­tine Development and In­vestment Ltd. (PADICO) www.padico.
com, Paltel Group. www.paltelgroup.ps, Tatweer Information Technology & Business Solutions www.
progress.ps, Wataniya Palestine www.wataniya-palestine.com
Directories, ISPs and Por­tals: Jaffa Net www.weino.com, Hadara www.hadara.ps, Al-Quds Network
www.alqudsnet.com, Masader, the Palestinian NGO Portal www.masader.ps, Palseek www.palseek.
com, Paleye www.paleye.com, Al Buraq www.alburaq.net, The Palestinian NGO Portal www.masader.ps
Government: PLO Negotiations Affairs Department (NAD) www.nad-plo.org, PNA www.pna.gov.ps,
Ministry of Higher Edu­cation www.mohe.gov.ps, Min­is­try of In­dus­try www.industry.gov.ps, Ministry of
Education www.moe.gov.ps, Min­is­try of Health www.moh.gov.ps, Government Computer Center www.
gcc.gov.ps, Orient House www.orienthouse.org
Health and Mental Health: Augusta Victoria Hospital www.avh.org, Gaza Community Mental Health
Programme www.gcmhp.net, Ministry of Health www.moh.gov.ps, Palestinian Counseling Center
www.pcc-jer.org, Red Crescent Society www.palestinercs.org, Spafford Children’s Clinic www.spaffordjerusalem.org, UNFPA www.unfpa.ps, Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees www.upmrc.org,
Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation www.basr.org, Palestine Medical Council www.pmc.ps
Human Rights Organisations: Al Haq www.alhaq.org, Defence for Children International Palestine
Section www.dci-pal.org, Human Rights and Good Governance Secretariat in the oPt www.humanrights.
ps, LAW - The Pal­es­tinian Society for the Pro­tection of Human Rights and the Environment
www.lawsociety.org, The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights www.pchrgaza.org, BADIL www.badil.org,
Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) www.pal-watc.org; www.pcc-jer.org
Research and News: Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem www.arij.org, Gaza News www.
gazanews.com, JMCC www.jmcc.org, PASSIA www.passia.org, MIFTAH www.miftah.org, AMIN www.
amin.org, Al Quds www.alquds.com, Al Ayyam www.al-ayyam.com, WAFA www.wafa.pna.net, Palestine
Wildlife Society www.wildlife-pal.org, 93.6 RAM FM www.ramfm.net, Ramallah on line www.ramallahonline.
com, Ramattan Studios www.ramattan.com, Palestine Family Net www.palestine-family.net, Palestine
Mapping Centre www.palmap.org, The Palestine Monitor www.palestinemonitor.org, The Palestinian
Center for Rapprochement between People www.imemc.org, OCHA- The United Nations Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.ochaopt.org, Englishpal www.englishpal.ps, Ma’an
News Agency www.maannews.net/en
Tourism: Ministry of Tourism www.travelpalestine.ps, Arab Hotel Association www.palestinehotels.
com, Holy land Incoming Tour Operators Association www.holylandoperators.com, Diyafa Hospitality
Management Consultants Group www.diyafa.ps, Ramallah Tourist Information Center tic@ramallah.
ps, visitpalestine www.visitpalestine.ps
Travel Agencies: Al­ter­native Tourism Group www.patg.org, Atlas Aviation www.atlasavia.com, Awad
Tourist Agency www.awad-tours.com, Aweidah Tours www.aweidah.com, Blessed Land Travel www.
blessedland.com, Crown Tours www.crown-tours.com, Daher Travel www.dahertravel.com, Guiding Star
www.guidingstarltd.com, Halabi Tours and Travel Co. www.halabitours.ps, Jiro Tours www.jirotours.com, Mt.
of Olives Tours www.olivetours.com, Pioneer Links www.pioneer-links.com, Raha Tours www.rahatravel.
com, Ramallah Travel Agency www.kaoud.org, United Travel www.unitedtravelltd.com, Universal Tourist
Agency www.universal-jer.com
Universities: Birzeit University www.birzeit.edu, An-Najjah University www.najah.edu, Al-Quds
University www.alquds.edu, Al-Azhar University (Gaza) www.alazhar-gaza.edu, Arab American University
www.aauj.edu, Bethlehem University www.bethlehem.edu, Hebron University www.hebron.edu, The
Islamic University (Gaza) www.iugaza.edu, Palestine Polytechnic www.ppi.edu
88
Map Source: PalMap - GSE
© Copyright to GSE and PalMap
Map source, designer and publisher:
GSE - Good Shepherd Engineering & Computing
P.O.Box 524, 8 Jamal Abdel Nasser St.,
Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine
Tel: +970 2 2744728 / Fax: +970 2 2751204 (Also +972)
map@palmap.org / www.gsecc.com / www.palmap.org
89
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91
92
93
94
95
96
97
Hope, Pride, and Selfconfidence
Referring to Ben Gurion’s infamous saying, “The old
will die and the young will forget,” Jareer Kassis posted the following comment on
Facebook the night Mohammad Assaf won the Arab Idol singing competition: “…
So no, Mr. Ben Gurion, the young did not forget.”
By the time you read this column, a week or so will have passed since the night
Palestine rocketed itself back into the Arab world; this time though, with its head
raised in pride and confidence. I am certain that the euphoria of winning Arab Idol
has waned by now; however, it is important to document the moment because of
its significance, not only socially and culturally, but also politically.
In my opinion, it will take Israel years to erase the increment in the sense of
nationalism that Palestinians have gained from such an apolitical event. In fact,
I doubt that it will succeed at all since this feeling is simply irreversible. Much
to the chagrin of right-wing Israeli politicians and strategists, Mohammad Assaf
has unequivocally proved that Palestinians are one people, whether they live in
Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, 1948 Palestine, Lebanon’s refugee camps,
or even Chile. Short of a few who insist on living in the Middle Ages, almost all
celebrated Palestine’s win as if Mohammad Assaf were their next-door neighbour.
Throughout the night, Palestinians took to the streets, cheering Assaf and
Palestine, and cars honked in jubilation. Kassis later posted, “No people surpass
the Palestinian people in the art of car-honking!”
Similar to all other Palestinian cities, towns, villages, and refugee camps last night,
Jerusalem was up and about wearing its Palestinian regalia, reminiscent of the day
Faisal Husseini passed away, and the Knesset annexation of the eastern part of
the city was rendered null and void. Jokingly, Sam Bahour also posted the following
comment on Facebook: “Breaking News: Israeli Prime Minister holds emergency
press conference to announce that tonight the Palestinians have crossed a red
line, they are now in possession of Weapons of Mass Celebration, and as such,
the military occupation must continue.”
Amira Hass wrote that Palestinians want “a national hero whose name and actions
are associated with happiness, success, and life, not pain, suffering, and mourning.”
Last night, Palestinians got their hero. Khaled Elayyan went so far as to say that,
effectively and inadvertently, Mohammad Assaf has started a third Intifada; an
Intifada against depression; an Intifada of hope, joy, and strength, and an Intifada
of the poor – enabling them to break the siege and communicate with the world.
The late President Arafat once said, “Our revolution is not just a rifle, it is a painter’s
brush, a poet’s poem, and a singer’s voice.” He would have been proud last night.
The celebrations are over and now the twenty-three-year-old star has to carry the
yoke of celebrity and the torch of Palestine, which is not an easy task. For starters,
I wonder how he will get the Chevrolet he won into Gaza. Ship it from Beirut to
Rafah through Cairo, and then smuggle it through the tunnels? It’s never easy for
us Palestinians, I suppose. Nevertheless, last night Palestine won a major battle
that added much-needed qualitative arsenal in the war of attrition that has been
forced upon it; the arsenal of hope, pride, and self-confidence brought about by a
young and talented singer from a refugee camp in Khan Younis.
The Harvest; oil on canvas, 1977,
by Suleiman Mansour.