Israeli Restaurant Gives 50% Discount to Jews and Arabs Who Share a Table

Shalom! Marhabaan! How are you doing today? Pull up a chair... pour yourself a mugful of Arabian coffee and dip your virtual doughnut into a bowl of hummus. Yup, you hear me right...hummus. Read on...

32-year-old Kobi Tzafrir has come up with the perfect peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – bonding over hummus! He’s offering a 50 percent discount to Arabs and Jews who choose to share the universally popular middle-eastern dish at his Tel Aviv restaurant, ‘Hummus Bar’. 

“Afraid of Arabs? Afraid of Jews?” his Hebrew poster on Facebook reads. “We don’t have Arabs here, we don’t have any Jews either… BUT we have humans here! And we have excellent real Arabic hummus! And fine Jewish falafel!” He’s also offering “free refills for all hummus dishes, whether you’re “Arab, Jewish, Christian, Indian, etc.” 

Kobi revealed that lots of Arabs and Jewish people have stopped by his restaurant ever since he rolled out the chick-‘peace’ offer last Tuesday. “If there’s anything that can bring together these peoples, it’s hummus,” he said. But he admitted that his patrons were more supportive of what the promotion stood for, rather than the discount itself. He told Al Jazeera that he wants to show the world not all Arabs and Jews support violence in the region.

“I hear many bad things in the media, and wanted to do something good. I want to represent the good side of my beautiful country. Israel is a wonderful country and much better than is shown in the media. We are people who support peace and justice.” His proudest moment, he said, was when a Muslim and a Jewish officer came in to eat together.

Although he knows more needs to happen to achieve peace between Arabs and Jews, Kobi Tzafrir says sharing food is a start. “Eat hummus! It’s delicious and make you feel happy and peaceful,“ he advises. 

I agree. Hummus is tasty. You have eaten it, right? No? Almost any supermarket carries it. Give it a try...c'mon, it's for world peace. Well, chick-peace, anyway! Breaking bread together is a good start.

See ya, eh!

Bob