As the Israeli parliament dissolved this week and we are now headed to our fourth round of elections in two years, I'm happy that my guest today is a professional politician: Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament Heba Yazbak (Joint List).

Yazbak belongs to the National Democratic Assembly, known as the “Balad” party, a Palestinian nationalist party that supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the territories Israel occupied in 1967 and opposes Israel’s definition as a Jewish state.

It’s members have been targeted by the Jewish right wing and they see constant attempts to block them from running for office. Yazbak herself was almost disqualified for past statements on social media where she was accused of supporting terrorists, but the Supreme Court eventually let her run.

We talk about those efforts, about the upcoming elections of course, and the situation that the Joint List is in these days, and a whole lot more.

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My guest this week is an activist for Palestinian rights from East Jerusalem. Kefah Abukhdeir is a Palestinian-American who co-directs and teaches at EduReach, a local Palestinian educational and learning organization, and I had the honor of speaking with her about her family’s deep roots to the holy city, her American roots, and what she thinks about the end of the Trump era.

But what I’m really thankful for in our conversation is, first of all, the glimpse that Kefah gives me about life in East Jerusalem, which I’m not sure is really known to most people who think they have an understanding of this conflict.

And I’m also grateful for her willingness to share a bit of her connection to Mohammed Abukhdeir, her 16 year old cousin, who was brutally murdered in 2014 by Jews. It was a murder that horrified this region, and it was part of the chain of events that eventually led to the 2014 Gaza war. Last year, HBO produced in Israel a show called "Our Boys," based on the events of those days.

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My guest this week is someone I am very excited to talk to, being the foodie that I am. Ronit Vered is a researcher of food culture, she’s a journalist, an author of food and travel books. Since 2007 she’s been writing a weekly column about food in Haaretz. It’s a wonderful column, with photographs from an amazing photographer named Dan Peretz. Together they document people, food, disappearing preparation methods that they encounter every week, as they crisscross the country looking for good stories.

She also writes for international culinary magazines and books, she gives lectures and moderates international panels about cuisines and identity, food and politics, the Jewish kitchen, Israeli cuisine, and so much more. She really is one of the best in her field. 

We talk about food and identity in Israel and Palestine, about what covid-19 is doing to the food business, about hummus, sabich - even schnitzel! It was, if I may say so myself, a delicious chat.

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