Food has always played a major role in conflict. Nothing drives unrest or even all-out war quite like hunger, drought or the desire to control fertile, food-producing areas.
Bombs can destroy cities, but weaponising food – or restricting access to it – can be equally destructive.
At the present time, in Palestine, the World Food Programme (WFP) says 96% of the population faces “acute levels of food insecurity." 2.15 million people are at crisis levels of hunger “or worse” – with almost half of this number living in completely catastrophic conditions.
Humanitarian aid is limited by the severity of fighting; meaning food and supplies are not coming into the region at the rate they should be.
Irish Country Living recently sat down with Eman Alkarajeh, who owns and operates Izz Café in Cork with her husband, Izzeddeen (known as Izz, for short). The couple have four children. They are Palestinian, and Izz Café is considered the crème de la crème of Palestinian home-cooking here in Ireland.
The family first arrived in 2016. Two years ago, Eman became an Irish citizen, and the rest of her family followed suit this past year.
Over cups of rich coffee flavoured with cardamom and chocolate-covered medjool dates, it is clear that while food is being weaponised in the Gaza Strip, in Eman and Izz’s space on George’s Quay, it is only used for good.
Eman says the situation in Gaza has left her family and the staff at Izz Café feeling devastated and completely helpless; knowing their loved ones are caught in the crossfires of war.
“It has been hard to drink water,” she says. “They have no water; no food to eat. Taking a shower and seeing the water – I now finish my showers very quickly knowing our people are suffering.”
Direct Provision
Before coming to Ireland, Eman and Izz lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for 13 years. When their time there ended, they needed to find a place where they could all live together as a family.
This is because Eman, while originally from Palestine, grew up in neighbouring Jordan. Izz and the children are Palestinian and, as Palestinians, they could only stay in Jordan with Eman for a limited amount of time.
“We decided Ireland would be our best option,” Eman explains.
“We were so happy that Ireland was aware of our situation in Palestine, and they supported us. We didn’t know about the Direct Provision system in Ireland, though, and when we went to the IPO [International Protection Office], they said, ‘You have to stay in the Direct Provision centre.’”
After a very difficult month spent in the reception centre in Dublin, Eman and Izz were relieved to be reassigned to the Direct Provision centre in Cork, where their family had their own bathroom and a bit more space.
At first, they could only eat the food that was prepared on site, but soon the centre opened a new kitchen where residents could cook their own meals.
“This was a really good thing,” Eman says.
“I bought all my own stuff – pots, pans and ingredients – and I started cooking. We were the only Palestinian family [in the centre], but when I was preparing our meals, others would smell our food and ask: ‘What are you cooking?’ I would always share with anyone who wanted to try it.”
Unable to work during their 1.5 years spent in Direct Provision, Izz and Eman were not used to being idle. With Izz’s background in IT and Eman’s as an interior designer, they were both anxious to start working as soon as they were able.
Eman’s cooking was popular and they considered opening a Palestinian café. They made a business plan and a good friend introduced them to Darina Allen, who provided some sage advice.
“She said [opening a café was] a good idea, but before, if we wanted to see if people like our food, we should join the farmers market,” Eman says.
Izz and Eman started selling two days per week at the farmers market and were thrilled at how popular their food became.
“Every week I had the same customers and they made me feel confident,” she says. “We stayed in the farmers market for one year before we decided to open Izz Café. We had saved some money and were able to open, though finding a [location] was the hardest part.”
Fundraising days
Eman is visibly emotional when she speaks about how supportive their community has been since they opened the café in 2019.
Giving back is important to her because she feels they have given her family so much – especially during these past months of intense conflict in Palestine.
“Three years ago, we did a fundraising day for Gaza,” Eman says.
“We said we would just donate all the money raised from coffee and sweets on the day. The night before, I didn’t sleep – I was just so busy preparing. The next day, the weather was bad and we thought no one would come, but we were shocked at the amount of people who came to lend their support to Gaza. There was a line up down the street. It was amazing.”
This year, Izz and Eman once again set a fundraising day for Gaza and thought they would do the same – donate all sales from coffee and sweets for the day.
However, after the day was once again so successful, they decided to donate their entire day’s earnings, totalling over €11,000.
They donate through an organisation called The Human Appeal; a UK-based charity which lends direct support to those affected by poverty and conflict.
“These people, thank God, find ways to send the money and then they send us photos,” Eman says. “They send blankets, pillows, food – the important things. But right now, there is no way to send anything to the people of Gaza. This is very hard for us.”
Soon after Izz received his Irish citizenship, he was preparing to travel to Palestine to see his family. However, the day he left, the war began.
Stranded in Jordan, Izz waited for two weeks to see if he could get into Palestine, but it was not possible.
Meanwhile, Eman and their staff remained glued to the news; feeling completely frozen. They had no energy for anything else, so they did takeaways for a while and then closed the café.
In the end, though, they found that staying open was the better option. It helped keep their minds occupied. For Eman, cooking has always been how she has shown her love, and food has helped keep her going during the really difficult times.
“Our close friends know this,” she says, “I like to feed people. Food, for me, is love. When you cook something with your heart, you put all of your love in there with it.”
Food-focused culture
In Palestinian culture, food, family and community are central to everything. Eman’s mother always told her to “make extra” – because even if it was just their immediate family eating; they could send food to their neighbours, aunties or friends to enjoy.
“I never remember eating alone,” she says, smiling. “We would always have aunts, uncles and friends eating together. We were always in the kitchen with our mother, just to help, because we were feeding so many people.
She never said, ‘Come, I will teach you,’ but I was always with her to help and that made me interested in food and cooking.”
While Eman and Izz are broken-hearted over the war in Gaza, Eman also feels extremely proud to be Palestinian. “I’m always proud, but I think I am even more proud now,” she says.
“The women in Palestine – they have been making so much from nothing for their families. They [travel] a long way just to find food for their children. They have been able to cook without stoves or ovens; just wood over an open fire.
“We love life; we love to be strong and the Palestinian people – they help each other,” she adds quietly.
“I hear so many stories of how people have been helping each other and I just feel that these people are amazing.”
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