10/03/2004: "Iron Chef gone horribly awry"

Is there anything involving Israelis and Palestinians that doesn't eventually degenerate into political spitballing?

An international couscous festival billed as a bridge-building event among "cooks for peace" degenerated into recriminations when Palestinian chefs accused their Israeli counterparts of using chicanery to obtain a prestigious prize.

"The Israelis stole my land and my country, now they are even stealing our recipes," Palestinian delegate Mohammed Kebal complained to reporters. "The hand of [the Israeli intelligence agency] Mossad is at work here. We will never take part in the contest again."

An Israeli panelist joined her colleagues in standing to respectful attention as the Palestinian chef, Mohammed Najeeb, proudly held aloft his chicken-based dish. Arab members of the jury, likewise, stood ramrod straight as Israel's Roaz Cohen carried in his creation based on recipes used by Jewish communities in North Africa.

But the good feelings turned sour when a special prize for originality was awarded to Mr. Cohen, prompting Mr. Najeeb and his assistants to storm out in protest.

Mr. Najeeb, a chef at Jerusalem's famed American Colony Hotel, said it was "an insult" to the Arab origins of couscous to declare an Israeli dish the most original. Other Palestinian team members accused the president of the jury of awarding the prize without a formal vote.

I'm sure Mossad sent their best undercover culinary agent to Italy to make sure this happened. How do 4-year-olds get passports to participate in stuff like this, anyway?

(Thanks to Damian Penny for the link.)