Jerusalem Diary: Monday 14 April

By Tim Franks
BBC News, Jerusalem

Celebrating salads: The West Bank holds its 14th annual lettuce festival

Some green-eyed, small-minded colleagues have claimed that I often use this diary as an excuse to write about music and food. This week's offering crushes such crude assaults, with barely a mention of music.

FESTIVAL OF LETTUCE

Until the end of last week, I had thought it was difficult to have strong feelings about lettuce.

It is true that Ian, one of the BBC bureau's two Australian cameramen, has always been an open enthusiast.

Lettuce features strongly in his salads, and at times he talks almost emotionally about the leaf.

On Friday, had Ian only been able to accompany us to the Palestinian village of Artas, just south of Bethlehem, he would have - through a translator - been able to share his passion with hordes of like-minded villagers.

When we arrived, mid-afternoon, what struck us was less the profusion of dense lettuces, pouring out of sacks, but the way in which they were being devoured, en masse, by grown men.

They were tearing through them, rather as a young child attacks a melting scoop of ice cream. Conversation was stilled; eyes rolled shut.

It was the 14th annual Festival of Lettuce to be held in the village. Artas, apparently, is famous for the stuff.

Nida Sanad blames the West Bank barrier for a sharp fall in her income

Nida Sanad was standing under the shade of a tree. She was dressed elegantly, in a patterned thob (Arabic dress) and headscarf. Only her blackened fingernails betrayed her work as a farmer.

Before her was a rapidly dwindling pile of large, densely leaved lettuces, some of the 4,000 she and her husband grow, across the two seasons each year.

Nida is immensely proud of her lettuces, but eschews the mystique and jargon that other food and drink producers spray around.

Asked what the secret is of the lettuces of Artas, she says: "The water is very clean, and the soil is special."

What types of lettuce does the village produce? "Ones with flat leaves and ones with wrinkled leaves," I am told.

The lettuces provide the bulk of Nida's income, along with some cucumbers and green beans. But that income has, she says, crashed.

She blames the West Bank barrier, which the Israeli government says it has erected to prevent attacks from the West Bank. Nida says that the barrier has stopped her from taking her lettuces to Jerusalem, where she could sell them for five shekels ($1.40; 70p) a piece.

For the past few years, she has had to sell them locally for 3.5 shekels ($1; 50p).

Nida also says that the route of the barrier has robbed her, her husband, and their five children of much of the land where they used to grow olives, fruit and vegetables.

It is for people such as Nida that, last week, for the first time, the boss of the United Nations Register of Damages (Unrod) visited.

Traditional dancers at the Artas festival

Unrod was set up in December 2006 by the UN General Assembly, specifically to assess what reparations the Israeli government may have to pay individual Palestinians, as a result of the path of the barrier.

Israeli officials refused to meet Unrod's director, Vladimir Goryayev, saying that his mandate was illegitimate, that the route of the barrier was based simply on security needs, and that Palestinians had every right, as it is, to claim compensation through Israeli channels.

Times may be thin in Artas, but as the afternoon wore on, so rose the enthusiasm and passion.

On a stage below the mosque, and across the valley from the majestic Convent of the Hortus Conclusus, 10 men in traditional white tunics and black belts were stomping and leaping to the music of the dabka, a traditional dance.

It was a day later that I understood what had moved them. Up to then, I had thought that the point of most lettuce was to sit at the bottom of the salad bowl, pushing the more interesting ingredients to the top.

At our Saturday lunch, I gave the Artas lettuce nowhere to hide. I served it unseasoned and undressed, just chopped and washed.

It was a triumph: sweet and juicy, with a magical top note of dill. Ian would have been thrilled.

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Here is a selection of your thoughts and comments on Tim Franks' diary:

Tim Franks, why are you never looking at the grave injuries caused by members of the Arab collective in general and specific Palestinians to our people? You belittle and avoid our pain! Have the Arab lands between the Atlantic and Persian gulf not been efficiently cleansed of all Jewish life? Are we not slandered as land thieves and liars? Wolf in sheepskin article --- the lettuce did not fool me. What you are writing is propaganda not journalism.
Al Lavy, Israel

Firstly Great Article!!! Second, it astonishes me that many people from Israel feel they have the moral high ground on this issue. Attacking civilians is unjustifiable in my opinion, but occupying land, forcing off its people and then treating them as second class citizens in completely inexcusable. When will Israel realize its problems are of its own making?? Soon I hope.
Adam Pollard, Sheffield, UK

Showing one-sided remarks on a military confrontation means supporting one of the side's propoganda, a true journalist report would also add a claim "that rapid decrease in the number of suicide attacks made upon Israeli civilians had occured after placing fences and roadblocks". In conclusion, this report shows subtle criticism of Israel's actions by showing the suffering of the Arab side. As an Israeli I feel that an explanation of the need for the hard measures enforced upon Arab population is lacking.
Aexander , Tel Aviv, Israel

In order to have peace between these two communities, the concerns of both sides have to be addressed. There have to be ways, other than erecting a barrier, to guarantee Israel's security without devastating the lives and economic livelihoods of palestinians. The only way forward is through genuine efforts at a lasting and just solution to the conflict.
KK, Ramallah

No matter what is written about Palestinians, you can count on some Israeli readers to write that the BBC has not heard "the other side of the story." What they want is the Israeli spin of the story. Those Israelis have become tiresome professional victims. They have millions of Palestinians under occupation, and yet, Israelis feel like the victims!
Orayb Najjar, DeKalb, USA

Pro-Israeli commentators always say that the argument is always one sided. That's because it is one-sided. But in reality the media is far more pro-Israeli, than not, if you weigh up actual facts. Israel does not think in terms of "Lettuce"(have peace) only "Taketh" (the whole and not just a piece), and cries foul when people object.
Peter Libman, Upminster, Essex

Well, unfortunately the Palestinian death festival of the second intifada (and I don’t mean only the suicide murderers themselves but the whole society that see them as martyrs and heroes), left Israelis as myself, who used to support so-called peace movements, completely indifferent to their everyday hardships – they earned it fair and square.
Yossi, Tel-Aviv

So, the Palestinians of Artas have discovered that they can't have their lettuce and eat it! You can't support attacks on your customers and then expect them to continue as usual. It is too tempting not to mention a Hebrew saying for talking alot about nothing: "talking of growing lettuce in the territories (legadel hassa bashtachim)". In my opinion this sums up Tim Frank's diary.
Sara Cohen-Krausz, Jerusalem

In place of blaming Israel for the barriers which are there to protect Israeli citizens from suicide bombers, Nida should put pressure on Hamas to abandon their murderous activities. Then there would be no barrier and the Palestinians could prosper by open and free trade with Israel.
Peter Bernath, Los Angeles CA USA

I worked in Palestine for 12 months and spent a lot of time in Artas with a mate and his family. Funny how the Israeli commentators interpret any mention of the conflict as a personal 'biased' attack....how can you talk about daily life in Palestine without mentioning the realities of the Israeli occupation?
Owen Powell, Brisbane, Australia

Tim you never give up introducing anti-Israel material in to your reports. Where is the BBC's infamous impartiality? I suggest you walk down the streets in the centre of Jerusalem to see the unprecedented security precautions taken in every major shop, resturant and hotel - then ask yourself why. Ask yourself why the rich oil states have keept their brothers as refugees for 60 years whilst the Jewish refugees slung out of Arab countries are not a burden on the rest of the world.
Sid Emess, Jerusalem Israel

I loved the comment about how the barrier now prevents 40,000 car thefts a year - that's almost 110 cars a day. If we average a car price at $5,000, Israel was losing over 200 million dollars a year to the Palestinian thieves. On these calculations, the Palestinians were doing real well! Stop the propaganda and speak facts. Fact is that if hate continues peace can never be reached. We need Peace to save both the Palestinian kids as well as the Israeli kids.
M.Rustom, Washington DC USA

It's amazing how something so festive can be turned into something so political. Thanks Tim for your articles that shed the light on the "normal" lives of Palestinians and Israelis alike. Maybe if everyone learned to enjoy Palestinian lettuce and Israeli art then people would stop looking towards hatred and more towards peaceful living.
Ruba K, Ottawa, Canada

First of all, I like this article. Looking at the comments below, it seems that the only justification Israelis have for everything bad that has happened to Palestinians is 'security'- a security that has brought good for only one side, not both. This article shows that even the smallest aspects of Palestinian life - like buying lettuce - are affected by this conflict. Instead of using repetitive rhetorical questions about suicide bombings in Israel, why don't you try and actually understand that Israel's policies are doing much damage as well as good? Israelis continually defend policies that inhibit any chance of peace and progress in the region.
Amjad, Tira, Israel

I loved this article. I have just returned from the region, and know well the countryside around Artas. This piece reminded me of the character of the landscape and the people. I recognize the farmers' difficulty in making a suitable living, but I also appreciate the window into the cultural life of celebration over adversity - dabka dancing and lettuce celebration! Super stuff!
Emma Cowan, Belfast, N Ireland

No Tim, I never thought that your diary was an excuse to write about music and food. I always thought it was an excuse to criticise Israel. Again - you did not disappoint me. It seems that even with an innocent story of salad leaves you can criticise Israel. Well done.
Jason, Jerusalem, Israel

Tim, we all used to enjoy "Arab" lettuce in Israel too, and at less than 3 shekels each, as well as a full variety of vegetables grown by our Arab neighbours, but the regular infiltration of suicide bombers into our towns removed even this simple item from our markets due to the ugly necessity of erecting the Security Barrier. (And by the way, about 40,000 car thefts a year from Israel have been prevented) We all lost by the cynical encouragement of the "Intifada" launched by Arafat in 2000, and now the Gazans are lamenting the loss of many thousands of jobs in Israel due to the take-over by Hamas which is trying to destroy Israel.
MF, Israel

The Israeli policies, and its version of the Berlin wall, are not causing 'the desert to bloom' but quite the opposite. Israel has purposely destroyed ancient olive and date groves which were the treasured heart of the Palestinian lands, just as the US Cavalry purposely targeted the ancient apricot and peach groves in the Navajo lands. The purpose is the same: utter domination and dismembering of a people land, and culture.
Larry Frey, Boulder, Colorado

Having travelled through many West Bank villages, including Artas and speaking with Palestinians, I see the so-called security barrier has been used as an economic barrier to continue to sublimate the Palestinian population. I was personally harassed by Israeli police at checkpoints - not for any terrorist reasons - they kept asking me if I was a journalist and if I was taking pictures. I think that alone says volumes about the Israeli methodology of trying to reduce tourism by harassing tourists who travel to the West Bank.
Mike Mullenix, Baltimore, Maryland USA

Nice article about lettuce, but once again, you have failed to present both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. I have a very simple question for you. Have you ever had a bomb go off in your street? I have. The defensive measures taken by Israelis will certainly end if the Palestinains will come to their senses and talk peace as if they really meant it. I am sorry that their lives are difficult, but I value the life of my child more than I do their loss of income.
Jonathan Levy, Carmeil, Israel

Lettuce was used to produce oil-seeds for thousands of years in the Near-East before it was used for salads. In countries like Egypt, lettuce oil was used for cooking up to the 1960s, when cheaper imported peanut, maize, and canola oil made lettuce oil too expensive to produce. Oil-producing lettuce is allowed to grow to a tall plant with prickly leaves that are inedible as too fibrous. The large black or white seeds are then harvested and pressed for oil.
Ardeshir B. Damania, Davis, USA

Articles such as this from Jerusalem Diary keep me in touch with my native country of Palestine and its people. I appreciate what Tim Franks is doing because he is reporting about other, more crucial events that celebrate life in Paletine rather than death and mayhem that plagues the region.
Samer Kader, Minneapolis, USA