Latest news with #Hebron
BreakingNews.ie
11 hours ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi: I want to bring the spotlight to the food and people of my country
Chef and author Sami Tamimi says his mission is to 'keep talking about Palestine', its food, culture and people. 'It helps it not to disappear,' says the 57-year-old, 'as a Palestinian who has a voice, as a food writer, I feel that we must use all the tools we have to keep it alive.' Advertisement Palestinian food is 'very important' to promote, he believes, 'because we've been erased'. Israel's military campaign since October 2023 has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It came after the Hamas group's attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. 'It's horrific, it's totally heartbreaking what's happening. I feel slightly helpless in a way,' says the chef, well known for co-founding the Ottolenghi restaurant and deli group, and writing several books with Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi. (Ola O Smit/PA) He hopes the publication of his new cookbook, Boustany – translating to 'my garden' in Arabic, and focussing on vegetable dishes of Palestine and the dishes of his roots – will help in a small way to 'bring some spotlight on the country, the food, the people and the place'. Advertisement Born and raised in Jerusalem (Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since the 1967 war while Palestine claim the city as their capital), he says: 'A big chunk of the Tamimi family in Palestine as based in Hebron [in the southern West Bank], my mum's side,' he explains, and his grandparents' house was surrounded by a large 'boustan', a garden filled with fruits and vegetables that his grandmother meticulously tended to. Born in 1968, Tamimi says: 'My parents didn't talk about what happened a year before. I didn't speak Hebrew until 16 or 17 because there was no interaction between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem.' He was one of seven, plus another five half siblings from his father's second marriage after his mother died in childbirth when he was just seven years old. Tamimi later lived in Tel Aviv for 12 years working in restaurants, before moving to the UK in 1997 – 'It was a bit weird for a Palestinian in Tel Aviv at the time,' he notes. Advertisement (Ola O Smit/PA) Tamimi happened to be visiting Jerusalem when the October 7 attacks occurred. 'I was on a work trip, everything happened two nights after I arrived. I was stuck there for a few days and I managed to [get] to the border to Jordan and get a flight back to London,' he says, 'I couldn't see my family, I had to leave because it was kind of unsafe.' And so, 'The responsibility of writing these recipes and stories has weighed heavily on my shoulders,' he writes in the book. Food and shared meal times is an enormous part of Palestinian culture, he explains. Known for their warm hospitality and strong community bonds, 'Palestinian homes are like, doors open and people are welcome to [care]. Before mobile phones, people just show up and it's really nice. [You] cook more than they need, because you never know if somebody's going to show up. You will always have to offer them food, even if they just come for a short visit. 'Everyone's kind of invited.' Advertisement And although his father cooked too, 'It's mainly females who cook in my culture so I wasn't exposed to cooking as a child – I had to train myself and learn how to cook. 'When I established myself as a chef, I realised that I wanted to cook Palestinian because it's really important to keep it alive first of all, and this is the food that I enjoyed eating as well and cooking. It's my culture, it's people, the place that I came from, it's my family, it's all of that.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sami Tamimi سامي التميمي (@sami_tamimi) Like the Middle Eastern cuisines of surrounding Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, Palestinian food is 'heavy on vegetables, grains, pulses, herbs, it's very connected to farming, to seasons, it's connected to the surroundings – people tend to forage quite a lot.' 'If you want to compare Lebanese to Palestinian cooking, Palestinian cooking is a bit more robust, and the flavouring is slightly more earthy.' Advertisement Grains and vegetables are transformed using ingredients including olive oil, garlic, lemon, sumac, zaatar, tahini, and different molasses, like grapes, dates and pomegranate. While sage, mallow, chicory, purslane, carob and cactus fruit are often foraged – a deeply traditional practice. While 'mooneh', translating to 'pantry' in Arabic, is the process of preserving seasonal goods, typically through drying and pickling. 'Summer is quite hot there so the season of vegetables and fruit is really short, so people find ways to preserve in the form of pickles, or nowadays they freeze quite a lot to keep things going for the rest of the year.' Couscous fritters with preserved lemon yoghurt are based on a dish his mum used to cook – 'Most recipes are based on memories' – and you're never too far from a dip in any Middle Eastern cuisine. Tamami transforms turnip tops by fermenting them for a creamy dip, and shows how to make green kishk, a fermented yoghurt and bulgar dip. Breakfasts are 'a treasured communal tradition,' he writes, and you'll still find the likes of olive oil, zaatar and tahini in the first meal of the day – 'in almost every meal' in fact. Big plates are traditionally laid out and shared, and he celebrates that with recipes like aubergine and fava beans with eggs, or cardamom pancakes with tahini, halva and carob. And sweet dishes – making use of the available fruit (think apricot, orange and almond cake, and sumac roast plums – are eaten all through the day. He smiles: 'I was lucky enough to grow up in Jerusalem where you can snack all day!' (Ebury/PA) Boustany by Sami Tamimi is published by Ebury. Photography by Ola O Smit. Available now
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Israel ramps up strikes on Iran, as Trump reportedly vetoed attack on Ayatollah
Streaks of light from Iranian ballistic missiles are seen in the night sky above Hebron, West Bank, as Iran resumes its retaliatory strikes against Israel. Source: Getty / Wisam Hashlamou Israel and Iran trade deadly strikes, risking wider war and global economic fallout. Donald Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Khamenei, warns Iran not to hit US targets. Benjamin Netanyahu says regime change in Iran may follow strikes on nuclear sites. Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other on Sunday, killing scores of civilians and raising fears of a wider conflict, and US President Donald Trump said it could be ended easily while warning Tehran not to strike any US targets. In Washington, two US officials told Reuters that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we're not even talking about going after the political leadership," said one of the sources, a senior US administration official. In Israel, rescue teams combed through rubble of residential buildings destroyed by Iranian missiles, using sniffer dogs and heavy excavators to look for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, raising the two-day toll to 13. Sirens rang out across the country after 4pm on Sunday in the first such daylight alert, and fresh explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv. In Iran, images from the capital showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against Iran's oil and gas sector - raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state. Iran has not given a full death toll but said 78 people were killed on Friday and scores more have died since, including in a single attack that killed 60 on Saturday, half of them children, in a 14-storey apartment block flattened in Tehran. Trump said the conflict - which has raised fears of a wider conflagration - could be ended easily, while also warning Iran that the US could get involved if Iran hits any American targets. When asked about the Reuters report on a plan to kill Khamenei, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I'm not going to get into that." "We do what we need to do," he told Fox's "Special Report With Bret Baier." Regime change in Iran could be a result of Israel's military attacks on the country, Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would do whatever is necessary to remove what he called the "existential threat" posed by Tehran. Israel's military spokesperson has said the current goal of the campaign is not a change in regime, but the dismantling of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and removing its capabilities "to annihilate us". Israel launched "Operation Rising Lion" with a surprise attack on Friday morning that wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will continue to escalate in coming days. Iran has vowed to "open the gates of hell" in retaliation in what has emerged as the biggest ever confrontation between the longstanding enemies. The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate. "Iran will pay a heavy price for the murder of civilians, women and children," Netanyahu said from a balcony overlooking blown-out apartments in the town of Bat Yam, where six people were killed. An official said Israel still had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Those attacked on Saturday evening included two "dual-use" fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said. Israel also said it hit an aerial refuelling aircraft in eastern Iran in its longest-range attack of the conflict. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran's responses will grow "more decisive and severe" if Israel's hostile actions continue. Israeli skies have been streaked with barrages of Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptor rockets. Some 22 of Iran's 270 ballistic missiles fired over the past two nights breached Israel's anti-missile shield, Israeli authorities say. Trump has lauded Israel's offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the US has taken part in it. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said in a message on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." Trump had earlier said the US had no role in Israel's attack and warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US targets. The US military has helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel, two US officials said on Friday. Trump has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but Western countries say could be used to make a bomb. The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States, due to be held on Sunday, was scrapped after Tehran said it would not negotiate while under Israeli attack. Israel has said its operation could last weeks. Netanyahu has openly urged Iran's people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers.
Reuters
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Israel says missile launched from Yemen fell in Hebron; at least 5 Palestinians hurt
CAIRO, June 13 (Reuters) - The Israeli military said on Friday a missile that was launched from Yemen towards Israel fell to earth inside the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, adding that no interceptors were involved. At least five Palestinians, including three children, sustained injuries from the missile's sharpnel that fell in Hebron, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a later statement. The incident occurred amid an ongoing Israeli military campaign targeting nuclear sites in Iran that wiped out that country's entire top echelon of military commanders and also killed nuclear scientists. Yemen's Houthis, who usually claim responsibility for missiles launched towards Israel from Yemen, are allied to Iran.
LBCI
10-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Britain sanctions Israeli far-right ministers over Gaza comments
Britain and four other nations on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway joined Britain in freezing the assets and imposing travel bans on Israel's national security minister Ben-Gvir - a West Bank settler - and finance minister Smotrich. "Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. These actions are not acceptable," British foreign minister David Lammy, along with the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said in a joint statement. "This is why we have taken action now to hold those responsible to account," the statement said. Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said that the sanctions included targeted financial restrictions and travel bans. Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the move was "outrageous" and the Israeli government would hold a special meeting early next week to decide how to respond to the "unacceptable decision." Smotrich, speaking at the inauguration of a new settlement in the Hebron Hills, spoke of "contempt" for Britain's move. "Britain has already tried once to prevent us from settling the cradle of our homeland, and we cannot do it again. We are determined God willing to continue building."
The National
04-06-2025
- General
- The National
Eid al Adha preparations around the world
Sellers wait for customers at a livestock market on the outskirts of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. AFP
