Illustration signed by the artist Alfred with the kind permission of the artist.
The article below is part of L’Orient Today’s selection of pieces translated from L’Orient-Le Jour’s special L’Orient des Écrivains (Writers’ edition) on Oct. 23, 2025 edition, produced for the ‘Beyrouth Livres’ Festival (annual book fair), in which the newsroom was opened to a group of writers, in partnership with the Institut français du Liban.In the superb series Mo, created by Mo Amer and Ramy Youssef, the main character — a Palestinian refugee in Houston — accuses Guy, an Israeli restaurateur, of appropriating Palestinian recipes. Mo reminds us throughout the second season: the origins of a dish are deeply political. In 2008, the Association of Lebanese Industrialists threatened Israel with legal action, claiming — among other things — ownership of the local Levantine dishes hummus and falafel. So I’m not going to make many friends...
The article below is part of L’Orient Today’s selection of pieces translated from L’Orient-Le Jour’s special L’Orient des Écrivains (Writers’ edition) on Oct. 23, 2025 edition, produced for the ‘Beyrouth Livres’ Festival (annual book fair), in which the newsroom was opened to a group of writers, in partnership with the Institut français du Liban.In the superb series Mo, created by Mo Amer and Ramy Youssef, the main character — a Palestinian refugee in Houston — accuses Guy, an Israeli restaurateur, of appropriating Palestinian recipes. Mo reminds us throughout the second season: the origins of a dish are deeply political. In 2008, the Association of Lebanese Industrialists threatened Israel with legal action, claiming — among other things — ownership of the local Levantine dishes hummus and falafel. So I’m...