The latest battle in the Middle East is not about territory or religion, but food. The Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) plans to bring a lawsuit that aims to essentially copyright the names of prominent dishes served in Lebanon and the Levant. The foods associated with the case include hummus, tabbouleh, falafel, araq and labneh. Fadi Abboud, president of the ALI, said he is bringing the suit because Israel has hijacked the names. “Let them call their hummus Tzipi Livni’s chickpea dip, or call it hummus in Hebrew.” he said. “We were the first country in the world to commercialize hummus, to industrialize the production of hummus, and export hummus, when Israel was barely five years old.” According to Abboud his organization is pursuing internationally recognized cultural rights to the foods similar to ‘Protected Geographical Status’ (PGS) laws in the European Union. PGS laws aim to protect the names of
