Paper short abstract:

"Palestinian-Israeli food" is still a rare and almost nonexistent category. It is not surprising due to the fierce debate around local foods in Israel. This paper will ask whether the foods created by Palestinian citizens of Israel can be considered "Israeli-Palestinian cuisine"?

Paper long abstract:

"Palestinian-Israeli food" is still a rare and almost nonexistent category, like water and oil - these do not mix. It is not surprising due to the fierce debate around local foods in Israel about their origin and to whom they "belong"? Based on ethnography in a Palestinian town in central Israel, this paper will ask whether the foods created by Palestinian citizens of Israel can be considered "Israeli-Palestinian cuisine"?

Israel's Palestinian citizens comprise 20% of Israel's population. They are excluded from the Jewish majority society and culture, both formally and informally. Except for a few mixed cities, most Palestinians live in Palestinian towns in which Israeli-Jews hardly visit. If doing so, it is mostly in search of authentic food, cheaper products, and car fixing. Drawing on intercultural encounters in town's food sites such as restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and the local market, I suggest that foods produced in these spaces are hybrid - new and contain components from both Palestinian and Jewish tradition. Some can view this process as an outcome of power relations in which the Palestinian business owners are forced to adjust their food to prosper or even to survive in the Israeli-Jewish oriented economic system. Nevertheless, I would like to argue that these foods may represent the roots of an innovative and controversial "Palestinian-Israeli food" as opposed to Palestinian food outside of Israel that evolves differently.