Briefs

BRAZILIAN JEWS AND ARABS HOLD HUMMUS CHAMPIONSHIP TO CELEBRATE COEXISTENCE— AND FOOD

Brazilian Jews, Christians, and Muslims celebrated their peaceful coexistence in Latin America’s largest nation with a competition centered on one of the Middle East’s signature foods.

The Hebraica Jewish club in Sao Paulo organized and hosted an inaugural Abrahamic Hummus Championship last month, timed to the United Nations’ International Day of Peace. Around 150 people attended the event, and yarmulkes shared the room with keffiyehs and other types of Arab scarves.

Ariel Krok, one of the event’s organizers, compared the contest to a “soccer friendly match.” Brazil is home to nearly 10 million people of Arab descent, the largest such population in the Americas, while more than 100,000 Jews call Brazil home, including around 60,000 in Sao Paulo.

Team Sahtein, composed of three Christian Arab women, was declared winners by the technical jury. A popular jury of participants gave the title to a group of Christian Arab men. Both teams represented the Mount Lebanon club of Sao Paulo.

“It is an incredible chance to exchange ideas, experiences, and contacts. Together, making hummus, making peace, making a better future,” added Krok, an inter-religious activist who is a member of the JDCorps delegation, the diplomatic arm of the World Jewish Congress.

Jack Terpins, the Brazilian president of the WJC arm in Latin America, referred to the event in an article he published to mark Rosh Hashanah.

“Bringing Jews, Muslims and Christians around one of the most popular and present dishes on the tables of the Middle East served to refine the relations between the three groups and expand the dialogue between them,” Terpins wrote in Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil’s most influential daily newspaper.

A similar event was held in Buenos Aires in 2017. (JTA)

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER BLAMES PROTESTS ON ISRAEL AND U.S.

In finally addressing the protests against the repression of women that have for weeks roiled his country, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, blamed Israel and the United States for the unrest.

“I openly state that the recent riots and unrest in Iran were schemes designed by the U.S.; the usurping, fake Zionist regime; their mercenaries; and some treasonous Iranians abroad who helped them,” Khamenei said Monday, Oct. 3 in a speech to police cadets in Tehran, remarks which were later posted in English on his official Twitter account.

The protests that have engulfed the country since Sept. 17 were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested for not properly wearing a headscarf. There have been hundreds of arrests and state TV has reported more than 40 deaths of protesters and police.

Khamenei did not offer any evidence to back up his assertion, other than to claim that protests in other countries do not garner as much international attention and condemnation. Khamenei heads a regime that has for decades backed the dismantling of Israel and lends logistical support to terrorist groups and some of Israel’s most implacable enemies.

Simultaneous demonstrations in support of Iran’s protests took place across the world on Saturday, Oct. 1. As in many other countries, Israeli women have recorded online videos in support of the Iranian protesters; at least one set was organized by Israel’s foreign ministry. (JTA)

TRADER JOE’S DROPS THE ‘ISRAELI’ FOR ITS PEARL COUSCOUS, CITING CHANGE IN SUPPLY CHAIN

Couscous lovers who frequent the grocery store Trader Joe’s may have noticed a change in the grain aisle: The chain’s brightly colored purple boxes of “Israeli Couscous” are now simply known as “Pearl Couscous.”

The Nosher, a sister website to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, first reported the label change after word of it spread on the popular Facebook group Kosher Trader Joe’s.

The move raised questions in the group about whether Trader Joe’s was trying to distance itself from Israel, a move that some companies have made for political reasons. But a spokesperson for the company said it “recently switched to a new supplier for this product and it is now sourced domestically rather than from Israel.” The product itself hasn’t changed, according to The Nosher’s report.

Trader Joe’s carries a host of ingredients and products associated with Israeli cuisine. The company sources its date syrup, called silan in Hebrew, from Belgium and its tahini, a Middle Eastern staple, from Greece. But its Bamba, both regular and chocolate-filled, is sourced from Israel and bears the kosher certification of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

Even if the pearl couscous itself is no longer sourced directly from Israel, the method by which it’s prepared is historically Israeli (and is not actually couscous, a semolina product that is North African in origin). The pearl-shaped “ptitim” wheat product came about during a period of intense rationing in Israel in the 1950s, when the country was seeing an influx of more than 700,000 new immigrants. Under orders by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, local food manufacturer Osem created a baked wheat-based alternative to rice, unlike its semolina-based “traditional” couscous cousins from North Africa. (JTA)

JEWISH PROGRESSIVE IS NEW CHAIR OF HOUSE MIDDLE EAST SUBCOMMITTEE

Democrats on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted to name as chairman of its influential Middle East subcommittee Rep. David Cicilline, a Jewish Rhode Islander who is a member of the party’s Progressive Caucus.

Cicilline bested Brad Schneider, a moderate Jewish Illinois Democrat, in an 18-6 vote.

Cicilline and Schneider are both close to the mainstream pro-Israel community and are both endorsed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s affiliated political action committee, but establishment pro-Israel insiders had favored Schneider and lobbied for him because his ties are closer. Schneider held lay leader positions at AIPAC, the American Jewish Committee, and Chicago-area Jewish groups and has taken the lead in advancing pro-Israel legislation.

Cicilline replaces Ted Deutch, the Florida Democrat who is quitting Congress to lead the American Jewish Committee, and who, like Schneider, is close to the mainstream pro-Israel community. Cicilline plans to run again to lead Democrats on the subcommittee in December. The subcommittee shapes policy on Israel and Iran, among other issues of intense focus to the organized Jewish community.

A committee insider says that Cicilline prevailed because of his seniority, usually the most important factor when Democrats choose congressional leaders. Cicilline was elected in 2010 and has served since; Schneider was elected in 2012 but lost in 2014 before being reelected in 2016.

Cicilline stands out in the Progressive Caucus, where he is one of eight vice chairs, for being vocally pro-Israel among a faction of House members who have grown increasingly critical of the country. In addition to being endorsed by AIPAC’s PAC, he is also endorsed by the political action committee associated with J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group; Schneider does not have J Street’s endorsement.

Cicilline did not mention Israel in a statement after the vote but spoke in general terms of unity. “At a time of instability around the world, including in the Middle East, I believe that it is more important than ever that we work together, as members of the committee, to do everything we can to address humanitarian crises, human rights abuses, and political upheaval throughout the region,” he said. (JTA)