Settler Sushi!

Michael L.

{Cross-posted at Jews Down Under.}

Did you know that sushi was gaining popularity among Jews in Judaea and Samaria?  I sure did not until I read the below, but as with so many things Israeli, or perhaps Jewish, even a story as simple as this one quickly becomes something less simple.

The tidbit below was written by Akiva Novik and published by Y-Net:

You will never guess the newest trend to hit West Bank outposts: Prepackaged sushi from flashpoint settlement Esh Kadosh.

The blooming sushi takeout service capitalizes on what has up till now been a solely Tel Aviv trend, considered by some the symbol of its cosmopolitan bourgeoisie life style.

Very nice.  Sushi in Samaria!  But is it so nice, after all?

Esh Kadosh has been in the headlines in recent weeks after a group of settlers left the outpost in an attempt to perpetrate a price tag attack on the neighboring Palestinian village of Qusra only to be apprehended and beaten by Palestinians who later passed them to the IDF.

Tekka maki and price tag attacks.  Oh, joy.

At the heart of the settlement, Maayan Sear is running a very complicated mission of another sort – rolling sushi in all shapes in form for immediate delivery to hungry settlers in the area.

 "It began last Hanukkah. We had a community potluck and everyone had to bring something," that was when she decided to teach her fellow settlers how to roll a sushi roll.

So the story starts off very nice with a bit of human interest around the gaining popularity of sushi, but then immediately becomes a story about those brutal "settlers" who want nothing so much as to hurt perfectly innocent Palestinian-Arabs.

"We always thought there would never be sushi beyond the Green Line, but it turns sushi is not just for Tel Avivians," he proudly adds.

By the way, we never got a chance to taste Esh Kadosh Sushi's menu because just as the camera man came to film Maayan rolling, a group of some 20 masked settlers were making their way to Qusra. By the time the sushi was done, we were documenting the sad result of their Qusra visit.

I still cannot figure out if this is a human interest story about the popularity of sushi or whether it is a story about the sinister Jews of the region?  What is the take-away?  Is it that were it not for the vicious "settlers" the people of the region could enjoy their bento boxes and nigiri, perhaps with a little hot sake, in peace?

And just how does one distinguish a settler from a non-settler in the region?  Are all Jews who live in Judaea and Samaria nefarious "settlers" or only some?  And what of non-Jews?  Are they despicable "settlers," as well?

What if a consortium of Jewish Japanese businessmen were to open a series of sushi joints throughout the region and brought in a crack squad of Jewish Master Sushi Chefs to run the restaurants.  Would those people be looked down upon as the scum of the earth for daring to live in Judaea, where no Jew is supposed to live?

And just what was the "sad result" of their Qusra visit, anyway?  Strangely, the author does not tell us.

From the comments:

1. incitement  

The author should be investigated for incitement and defamation. All settlers carry spray paint cans? Even the 20 'masked men' --which is a lie, they weren't masked--had no spray paint on them. Additionally, it has been proven widely by this point that it is unlikely they were going to carry out a price tag. IF they were, it would have been the first day time one ever, and the first to be carried out by a large group. And you claim this cancelled your sushi experience? Ridiculous. Show the proof. Where is your personal coverage of the "qusra incident"....ya, that incident which didn't even take place NEAR Qusra. \ Demonization, incitement and defamation, the traits of an ISraeli leftist.  

michael, Shomron (01.15.14)

Well, Michael is not happy about this story.

Did twenty masked Jewish miscreants sneak into the town of Qusra for the purpose of causing trouble or preventing the locals from enjoying their sea urchin roe and unagi?

2. stop calling these people "Settlers"  

this is how you marginalize part of the israeli society, and create conflicts inside the israeli society. these people have chosen to live in judea samaria, according to their personal motivations. and by the way, i hope their sushi business will succeed !!  

maurice clebert , israel (01.15.14)

Maurice and I are pretty much on the same page.  We both love sushi and think that we do a terrible disservice to our fellow Jews in Judaea and Samaria when we agree with Abbas and Obama that they should not be allowed to live in the region where the Jewish people have lived for 3,500 years.  I do not know how it is that a simple word like "settlers" suddenly has negative connotations, but it does; as does the word "Zionist," today.

3. So where is the story of the 20

Masked Settlers and the sad results. That should be the story in ynet - not stupid sushi. And as much as I like sushi I would prefer to starve before eating their sushi - As an Israeli - I AM ASHAMED OF THESE SETTLERS.

Debbie , Israel (01.15.14)

Not all Jews are big fans of these so-called "settlers," but we all seem to enjoy sushi.

4. Liar Liar Liar

there was no evidence that the settlers were on their way to cause damage of any kind. they were on a solidarity march /hike. Your type of reporting makes me sick.

Joseph , Petach Tikva (01.15.14)

The problem, of course, as we know from our experience with Pallywood over recent years and decades, is that news reports from the region are highly unreliable and often distorted for the purpose of demonizing and dehumanizing Jews.   There seems to be a continuum of demonization that runs from the most ridiculous to the somewhat plausible and it can become difficult to know just where to draw the line between the two.

When a high-level Egyptian politician claims that Zionist Sharks are cruising off the coast of Alexandria, sent by the Israelis for the purpose of undermining Egyptian tourism, we are well within the realm of stark raving crazy.  However, when a journalist writes a piece based on hearsay and innuendo from Palestinian-Arab sources it becomes almost impossible to know if the story is credible or not.

Pallywood has entirely eroded any faith that we can have in stories of Jewish wrongdoing from the region precisely because Pallywood is based upon lies, distortions, and staged events with the collusion of western journalists.

I think that the next time that I find myself before a plate of delicious sushi rolls, I will lift a toast to my friends who live where neither Mahmoud Abbas, nor Barack Obama, want them to live.

As the recipients of so much unreasoning malice by so many people throughout the world, they have certainly earned it.