It is not clear if the tabloid set up the recording or if Mrs. Janes made it herself and gave it to them 

The prime minister has the decency to send personal hand-written letters of condolence to all the parents of troops who have lost their lives, but this one contained several spelling errors, including a misspelling of the dead soldier’s name. Mr Brown tried to make amends by calling Mrs Janes to apologise, but that too backfired when the transcript of their conversation, which consisted of Mrs. Janes condemning the prime minister for failing to provide adequate equipment for the army while he emm-ed and ahh-ed, was published in a popular tabloid newspaper.

I feel very sorry for this poor woman; especially since the British, like everyone else involved in Afghanistan, have not defined precisely what they want to achieve there, and therefore what exactly Mrs. Janes’s son died for. To lose a son in a foreign country defending what seems to be a corrupt government must be unbearable.

It is not clear if the tabloid set up the recording or if Mrs. Janes made it herself and gave it to them. Either way the paper is deeply involved in the controversy, and has been criticized for exploiting a mother’s pain.

But does anyone think it is normal for a grieving mother to tape the conversation when the prime minister calls to offer his apologies? The saddest thing of all is that the headlines have already moved on but Mrs. Janes is alone again with her grief.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man accused of plotting 9/11, will face a civilian trial in Manhattan, near Ground Zero. KSM, as he is sometimes known, and four others face the death penalty. Americans are divided: some believe a public and civilian trial will prove American justice is fair and strong, while others would prefer a closed military tribunal.

If Mohammed, who has also confessed to beheading the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl with “my blessed right hand”, is allowed to speak in his own defense he will no doubt use the courtroom as a platform for the usual diatribes about the evils of America.

His original plan for 9/11 was to hijack 10 planes, and from the one on which he flew give a speech denouncing Israel, America and, unaccountably, the Philippines. This would happen after all the male passengers were killed. All terribly dramatic.

 The Lebanese are fighting back 

But then Mohammed has always been conscious of his public image. After he was arrested in Rawalpindi in March 2003 he was furious about the photo of him that was flashed around the globe: the moustached, overweight, hairy figure looked as if he’d worked too many late-night shifts at the kebab shop.

The other photo of him with the keffiyah and bushy, Osama-style beard is meant to suggest an awe-inspiring fighter, but the effect is comedic. With those big brown eyes, he looks like a koala in need of a trim.

Few issues stir the passions of my Arab friends and colleagues more than Israelis claiming an Arab dish as their own. Lebanese businessmen have been particularly vocal in accusing Israel of marketing falafel and hummus to the world as Israeli national products.

The Lebanese are fighting back. Chefs in Beirut made a plate of hummus weighing two tones and an even larger dish of tabouleh, earning two spots in the Guinness world records book.

With the Middle East peace process stalled, maybe it’s time for the Palestinians to play the culinary card.

This summer cooks in Nablus created the biggest ever dish of kunafe, the sweet and cheesy pastry peculiar to their town. Perhaps Hamas and Fatah chefs should head to Bethlehem and make a gigantic vat of apricot jam; then onward to Gaza to cook umaghiyyeh, made of ground sumac and tahini; then Jenin for musakhan, the delicious roast chicken baked with onion and spices and served on taboon flatbread.

They could do this in every Palestinian town, making every known national dish until they force the Israelis to come to the food table. From there, surely it’s only a short step to the negotiating table.



*Published in the UAE's THE NATIONAL on Nov. 17, 2009.