Food for thought

[pizza]

Falafel Sellers in Iraq Face Death
10:39 Jun 07, '06 / 11 Sivan 5766

(IsraelNN.com)

Iraq has banned the falafel and sellers of the deep-fried chickpea food staple face death. The reasoning behind the new law is that falafels did not exist when the Moslem prophet Mohammed lived.

Several falafel vendors already have been shot and killed, UPI reports, without noting a specific number. The news service noted that automatic rifles also did not exist during Mohammed's lifetime.

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=104954

[Madame]

Falafel Sellers in Iraq Face Death
10:39 Jun 07, '06 / 11 Sivan 5766

(IsraelNN.com)

Iraq has banned the falafel and sellers of the deep-fried chickpea food staple face death. The reasoning behind the new law is that falafels did not exist when the Moslem prophet Mohammed lived.

Several falafel vendors already have been shot and killed, UPI reports, without noting a specific number. The news service noted that automatic rifles also did not exist during Mohammed's lifetime.

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=104954

Is this Israel's version of "The Enquirer"? Or "The Onion"?

Seriously, exactly WHO in Iraq? The new government?

I wonder if they used automatic rifles to kill the falafel vendors I suppose they'll be going after U.S. soldiers next!

[Corlyss_D]

This must be a joke.

[Ralph]

Falafel Sellers in Iraq Face Death
10:39 Jun 07, '06 / 11 Sivan 5766

(IsraelNN.com)

Iraq has banned the falafel and sellers of the deep-fried chickpea food staple face death. The reasoning behind the new law is that falafels did not exist when the Moslem prophet Mohammed lived.

Several falafel vendors already have been shot and killed, UPI reports, without noting a specific number. The news service noted that automatic rifles also did not exist during Mohammed's lifetime.

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=104954

*****

Falafel is one of the rare comestibles I can not handle. Every time I've tried a falafel sandwich it feels like I'm swallowing buckshot with each bite.

That unfortunate reality should not be interpreted as my approving, condoning, soliciting or accepting as lawful the killing of any person engaged in the falafel trade, here or elsewhere.

[Barry]

One of the more well-known lunch carts in Center City is one that simply has the word "falafel" posted in big black letters on the side. I don't dislike it like Ralph, but it's something I'm only in the mood for ocassionally.

[Ralph]

One of the more well-known lunch carts in Center City is one that simply has the word "falafel" posted in big black letters on the side. I don't dislike it like Ralph, but it's something I'm only in the mood for ocassionally.

*****

How's about a falafel milkshake?

[pizza]

Falafel Sellers in Iraq Face Death
10:39 Jun 07, '06 / 11 Sivan 5766

(IsraelNN.com)

Iraq has banned the falafel and sellers of the deep-fried chickpea food staple face death. The reasoning behind the new law is that falafels did not exist when the Moslem prophet Mohammed lived.

Several falafel vendors already have been shot and killed, UPI reports, without noting a specific number. The news service noted that automatic rifles also did not exist during Mohammed's lifetime.

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=104954

Is this Israel's version of "The Enquirer"? Or "The Onion"?

Seriously, exactly WHO in Iraq? The new government?

I wonder if they used automatic rifles to kill the falafel vendors I suppose they'll be going after U.S. soldiers next!

You may think it's a joke, but the families of the vendors who were murdered and those vendors remaining who are unemployed don't think so.




Pack up or die, street vendors told
By Aqeel Hussein in Baghdad and Colin Freeman
(Filed: 04/06/2006)

As the purveyors of nothing spicier than the odd dash of hot chilli sauce, Baghdad's falafel vendors had never imagined their snacks might be deemed a threat to public morality.

Now, though, their simple offerings of chickpeas fried in breadcrumbs have gone the same way as alcohol, pop music and foreign films - labelled theologically impure by the country's growing number of Islamic zealots.

In a bizarre example of Iraq's creeping "Talibanisation", militants visited falafel vendors a fortnight ago, telling them to pack up their stalls by today or be killed.

The ultimatum seemed so odd that, at first, most laughed it off - until two of them were shot dead as they plied their trade.

"They came telling us, 'You have 14 days to end this job' and I asked them what was the problem," said Abu Zeinab, 32, who was packing up his stall for good yesterday in the suburb of al Dora, a hardline Sunni neighbourhood.

"I said I was just feeding the people, but they said there were no falafels in Mohammed the prophet's time, so we shouldn't have them either.

"I felt like telling them there were no Kalashnikovs in Mohammed's time either, but I wanted to keep my life."

Why Baghdad's falafel vendors should be blacklisted while their colleagues are allowed to continue selling kebabs or Western-style pizzas and burgers remains a mystery.

Iraq factfile

Some suspect it is because a taste for falafels is one of the few things that unites Jewish and Arab communities in Israel.

It is, however, just one of many Islamic edicts to hit Baghdad in recent weeks, prohibiting everything from the growing of goatee beards to the sale of mayonnaise - because it is allegedly made in Israel.

Even the Arab addiction to cigarettes is being challenged, with insurgents declaring smoking bans in at least one Sunni district.

News of the latest strictures surfaced 10 days ago, when the coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were shot dead for wearing shorts.

The killings, in Sunni-dominated west Baghdad, took place days after militants had distributed leaflets banning the wearing of shorts or T-shirts with English writing on them. They also forbade women to drive or travel on public transport with men - a rule that bus drivers have begun to enforce.

Another group of traders to have felt the Islamists' unexpected wrath is Baghdad's ice merchants, who sell large chunks of ice for storing food and chilling drinks. In a city facing constant power cuts and summer temperatures of up to 50C (122F), the service they provide is little short of essential.

Yet in recent weeks, they too have fallen foul of the claim that their product was not a feature of life during Mohammed's time.

Akram al Zidawi, 19, an ice seller from al Dora, thought the threats were too ludicrous to be true - until it was too late. "Two weeks ago he came back home saying that he had been threatened by the terrorists," said his brother Gassan, 32.

"My mother begged him to quit the job, but he laughed, he thought it was impossible they would kill him. But they came back two days later and shot him dead, along with three other ice sellers nearby."

Meanwhile, barbers have been inundated with young men anxious to shave off their goatee beards. Last month, Mustapha Jawad, 17, was allegedly killed for wearing one, which Islamists deemed a Jewish facial hairstyle.

"After Mustapha's death I received 20 to 30 young men every day, all wanting me to shave off their goatee," said a barber, Sinan al Rubai. "Maybe one day the mujahedeen will insist on shaving all the head - then I will be rich."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... xnews.html

[Ralph]

Simply bizarre.

[Corlyss_D]

Falafel is one of the rare comestibles I can not handle. Every time I've tried a falafel sandwich it feels like I'm swallowing buckshot with each bite.

You're supposed to chew it, Ralph.

I love the stuff. I had falafel pita wraps many times last summer. That's one ethnic dish I can get here. However, even the staff didn't know what it was because hardly anyone ever asked for it. (All these little blond whitebread childred here . . . !)

[Madame]

Falafel Sellers in Iraq Face Death
10:39 Jun 07, '06 / 11 Sivan 5766

(IsraelNN.com)

Iraq has banned the falafel and sellers of the deep-fried chickpea food staple face death. The reasoning behind the new law is that falafels did not exist when the Moslem prophet Mohammed lived.

Several falafel vendors already have been shot and killed, UPI reports, without noting a specific number. The news service noted that automatic rifles also did not exist during Mohammed's lifetime.

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=104954

Is this Israel's version of "The Enquirer"? Or "The Onion"?

Seriously, exactly WHO in Iraq? The new government?

I wonder if they used automatic rifles to kill the falafel vendors I suppose they'll be going after U.S. soldiers next!

You may think it's a joke, but the families of the vendors who were murdered and those vendors remaining who are unemployed don't think so.


Of course I don't think it's funny -- but the article is so unclear -- just exactly WHO issued this edict? It calls it an Islamic edict, and it's being enforced by "militants" (aka "Mafia"?). What is the official Iraqi government's law, you know, the one the US is supporting?

[Corlyss_D]

Of course I don't think it's funny -- but the article is so unclear -- just exactly WHO issued this edict? It calls it an Islamic edict, and it's being enforced by "militants" (aka "Mafia"?). What is the official Iraqi government's law, you know, the one the US is supporting?

Probably the usual Fatwa mill. There are so many militias in Iraq that the government don't have control over; they do what they or their Persian puppet masters tell 'em to do.

[jbuck919]

Of course I don't think it's funny -- but the article is so unclear -- just exactly WHO issued this edict? It calls it an Islamic edict, and it's being enforced by "militants" (aka "Mafia"?). What is the official Iraqi government's law, you know, the one the US is supporting?

Probably the usual Fatwa mill. There are so many militias in Iraq that the government don't have control over; they do what they or their Persian puppet masters tell 'em to do.

Of course, unrestricted ownership of guns doesn't fit into this anywhere.

[Ralph]

Falafel is one of the rare comestibles I can not handle. Every time I've tried a falafel sandwich it feels like I'm swallowing buckshot with each bite.

You're supposed to chew it, Ralph.

I love the stuff. I had falafel pita wraps many times last summer. That's one ethnic dish I can get here. However, even the staff didn't know what it was because hardly anyone ever asked for it. (All these little blond whitebread childred here . . . !)

*****

Ha ha! Yes, I've chewed the cannon balls.

[Ralph]

Zealots 'Talibanizing' Iraq ban falafels, goatees at gunpoint
By Aqeel Hussein
LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Published June 4, 2006

BAGHDAD -- As the purveyors of nothing spicier than the odd dash of hot chili sauce, Baghdad's falafel vendors had never imagined their snacks might be deemed a threat to public morality.
Now, though, their simple offerings of chickpeas fried in bread crumbs have gone the same way as alcohol, pop music and foreign films -- labeled theologically impure by the country's growing number of Islamic zealots.
In a bizarre example of Iraq's creeping "Talibanization," militants visited falafel vendors a couple of weeks ago, telling them to pack up their stalls by today or be killed.
The ultimatum seemed so bizarre that, at first, most laughed it off -- until two of them were fatally shot as they plied their trade.
"They came telling us, 'You have 14 days to end this job,' and I asked them what was the problem," said Abu Zeinab, 32, who was packing up his stall for good yesterday in the suburb of al Dora, a hard-line Sunni neighborhood.
"I said I was just feeding the people, but they said there were no falafels in Muhammad the prophet's time, so we shouldn't have them either.
"I felt like telling them there were no Kalashnikovs in Muhammad's time either, but I wanted to keep my life."
Why Baghdad's falafel vendors should be blacklisted while their colleagues are allowed to continue selling kebabs or Western-style pizzas and burgers remains a mystery. Some suspect it is because a taste for falafels is one of the few things that unites Jewish and Arab communities in Israel.
It is, however, just one of many Islamic edicts to hit Baghdad in recent weeks, prohibiting everything from the growing of goatee beards to the sale of mayonnaise -- because it is purportedly made in Israel.
Even the Arab addiction to cigarettes is being challenged, with insurgents declaring smoking bans in at least one Sunni district.
News of the latest strictures surfaced 10 days ago, when the coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were fatally shot for wearing shorts. The killings, in Sunni-dominated west Baghdad, took place days after militants had distributed leaflets banning the wearing of shorts or T-shirts with English writing on them. They also forbade women to drive or travel on public transportation with men -- a rule that bus drivers have begun to enforce.
Another group of traders to have felt the Islamists' wrath is Baghdad's ice merchants, who sell large chunks of ice for storing food and chilling drinks.
In a city facing constant power cuts and summer temperatures of up to 122 degrees, the service they provide is little short of essential. Yet in recent weeks, they too have fallen afoul of the claim that their product was not a feature of life during Muhammad's time.
Akram al Zidawi, 19, an ice seller from al Dora, thought the threats were too ludicrous to be true -- until it was too late.
"Two weeks ago, he came back home saying that he had been threatened by the terrorists," said his brother Gassan, 32. "My mother begged him to quit the job, but he laughed. He thought it was impossible they would kill him. But they came back two days later and shot him dead, along with three other ice sellers nearby."
Meanwhile, barbers have been overwhelmed with young men anxious to shave off their goatees. Last month, Mustapha Jawad, 17, was purportedly killed for wearing one, which Islamists deemed a Jewish facial hairstyle.
"After Mustapha's death, I received 20 to 30 young men every day, all wanting me to shave off their goatee," said barber Sinan al Rubai.
"Maybe one day the mujahedeen will insist on shaving all the head -- then I will be rich."

[Corlyss_D]

Of course, unrestricted ownership of guns doesn't fit into this anywhere.

Of course it doesn't. If it weren't guns, they'd use the C4, RPGs, shoulder-fired missiles, and shaped charges like they have in unlimited supply, thanks to the Iranians. You have to have 1) a government capable of disarming 2) a supine, peaceful, law abiding public to have gun control. Iraq doesn't have a government police force worthy of the name, and a lot of the citizens are not law abiding in that sense.