At the table: Jerusalem, “corpus separatum”

Miguel Ángel Bastenier, author of the book "Israel - Palestine: The House of War" (Taurus, 2002) and one of the indisputable specialists that speaks of his memories about the conflict in the Middle East, remembers, however, that "dividing the territory" was not the only proposal that the UN had on the table for deciding the fate of Palestine and Israel.

“No. There also existed the alternative of creating a united, binational state where both cultures could coexist, including certain guarantees for the minorities--at that time, the Jews--but the international community ultimately opted for presenting the proposal of division to the Assembly, and that's what they ended up voting on," stated Bastenier, to whom this solution today seems absolutely unthinkable, due to the current levels of conflict. 

However, and even though peace seems far off in the "near East," it's obvious that this solution, which was supported at the time by thinkers such as Hannah Arendt (Jewish author of the "Banality of Evil") still today finds honest followers, not only by Palestinians, but also by Jewish intellectuals such as Jeff Harper, Ilan Pappe (author of "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine") and Joel Kovel, who agree that their own Jewish state has taken the violence against Palestine too far.

But, as in nearly all conflicts, it is precisely the moderate voices, the ones that seek an end to the conflict, that are least heard in the political arena:

"I always say that politicians are players, we citizens are the ball that they play with, and the voices of peace almost always end up sitting on the bench, without participating in the game. Politics can be dangerous, but we, in the kitchen for example, also use dangerous objects, like knives... but we use them to create, not to destroy our neighbor... It all depends on the purpose you give to your work."

Chefs for Peace, the organization founded by Kevork Alemian, was born in precisely the same city that is revered by the three cultures and religions that today inhabit the disaster area: Jerusalem, a "holy" place that the UN's Partition Plan listed as an international city of "corpus separatum," set apart both politically and geographically for those whom today fight for its total control... a statute that has not been fully put in effect during these 60 years that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has lasted.

Good digestion depends on a peaceful conscience

In this special, multiethnic kitchen, the cooks have imposed their own limitations to avoid confrontation. In their letter of intent is written that their primary task is to create flavors that "unite," and with those dishes, travel around the world "to ask the international community and those in charge on each side to be involved in the process of peace." That being said, among each other speaking of politics is a sacred issue:

"We don't talk about politics. Our goal is that the great politicians, the ones that make decisions in this conflict, can one day sit at the same table and share a meal, and that they would speak of politics."

There are those who say that it's difficult to hate that which you know, or that which is at least familiar... The French writer Paul Valery said that "war is a massacre of people who don't know each other for the profit of people who know each other but don't massacre each other.”

In the past, Kevork Alemian has had the opportunity to cook for key figures, like Yasser Arafat, the deceased Palestinian leader, and for other stars of Israeli politics... but always separately.

What he has not yet been able to do--and this is his dream--is to unite the leaders of both sides of the conflict at the same gathering, and offer them dishes created with the express purpose of combining ingredients from the "Holy Land," to find out if, as the Spanish saying goes: "good food creates understanding."

"One day, Kevork hopes to host a large gala for the key politicians and have them sit together at one table to enjoy dishes prepared by Isrealites and Palestinians; in short, he wants them to taste the flavor of peace in the Middle East," states Rana Bullata, assistant to the organization's founder. She has been with Chefs for Peace since its genesis in 2001, working, like the others, as a volunteer.

And then, like know, the world saw the effects of violence and ignored the voices that spoke of peace in the Middle East, as they prepared their own actions.