Lebanese union to sue Israel for 'claiming ownership' of falafel

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Last update - 09:47 10/10/2008
Lebanese union to sue Israel for 'claiming ownership' of falafel
By DPA

A new war between Israel and Lebanon has erupted, but this time the war is not geopolitical, but rather an issue of cuisine-who has sovereignty over traditional Arab dishes and sandwiches. The president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association Fadi Abboud, said he is preparing to file an international lawsuit against Israel for allegedly "taking the identity of some Lebanese foods" and thus violating a food copyright.

"In a way the Jewish state is trying to claim ownership of traditional Lebanese delicacies like falafel, tabouleh and hummus" Abboud said.

According to Abboud, the Lebanese are losing "tens of millions of dollars annually" because Israel is selling and marketing traditional Lebanese dishes. "The Israelis are marketing our main food dishes as if they were Israeli dishes," he charged... "The Israelis are marketing such Lebanese delicacies under the same names and ingredients around the world," he added. "This is harming and causing great losses to Lebanon."

Abboud said he prepared his memo on the subject, based on the case of the Greek "feta cheese precedent" that occurred six years ago. At the time, Greece managed to prove in international institutions that it was the "originator" of feta cheese and won the case.

(snip)

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027016.html

[Bicoastal]

1. This will be the TOP story on the O'Reilly Factor tomorrow.

Bill-O LOVES falafel and the "Lebanese."

[Poll_Blind]

2. !

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

PB

[LeftishBrit]

3. Watch out, the Chinese and Italians will be suing the UK and US...

over all our Chinese takeaways and pizzas!