To the Editor:
Thanks for the article, “Hummus options added after SJP protest,” March 8. As a Mizrahi Jew, it was enlightening to read that “‘(my) ancestors have been eating hummus, (and) they have been eating hummus for their whole lives.’” This came as a shock, mostly because I don’t remember tasting the stuff until I arrived on Brown’s campus almost 20 years ago when hummus was seen as the trendy alternative to spaghetti and meatballs.
This Mizrahi Jew is empathetic to the plight of Palestinians in Israel. The conflict is deep-seeded and traces itself back to long before daily college newspapers and computers (but maybe not hummus?). So I can understand boycotting Israeli products … but why single out hummus? Does SJP boycott other, likely more impactful products that were manufactured or invented in Israel, like Pampers diapers and Victoria’s Secret undergarments, or SMS-enabled devices (like your iPhone) and computers with anti-virus protection (software developed in Israel)?
We all know there’s no easy solution to the Middle East conflict. However, let me try bridging the two parties by agreeing on one simple fact: Nutella is a much better spreadable snack.
Jeff Mizrahi ’01
