Ted Turner removes all doubt; Hummus (1873) and Syrian Food

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TED TURNER OPENS HIS MOUTH AND REMOVES ALL DOUBT

CNN chief accuses Israel of terror

Oliver Burkeman in New York and Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem
Tuesday June 18, 2002
<A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/">The Guardian</A>

Ted Turner, the billionaire founder of CNN, accuses Israel today of engaging
in "terrorism" against the Palestinians, in comments that threaten to lead to
a further decline in the news network's already poor relations with the
Jewish state. "Aren't the Israelis and the Palestinians both terrorising each
other?" says Turner, who is vice-chairman of AOL Time Warner, which owns CNN,
in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. "The Palestinians are fighting
with human suicide bombers, that's all they have. The Israelis ... they've
got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians
have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make a case that both sides
are involved in terrorism." His remarks were last night condemned by Ariel
Sharon's government, which called them "stupid". Andrea Levin, director of
the American pro-Israeli media watchdog Camera, said the comments were a
"reprehensible" attempt to "blur the line between perpetrator and victim". In
his first British interview since the September 11 attacks, Mr Turner - who
broke philanthropic records in 1997 when he donated $1bn to the UN - argues
that poverty and desperation are the root cause of Palestinian suicide
bombings. But Daniel Seaman, a spokesman for the Israeli government, said:
"My only advice to Ted Turner is if people assume you are stupid, it is just
best to keep your mouth shut rather than open your mouth and confirm everyone
in that view." Mr Turner also admits that he was wrong to call the September
11 hijackers "brave" in a speech in Rhode Island that sparked outrage. "I
made an unfortunate choice of words," he says.. (...)

   ASK YAHOO! discussed this on January 15, 2001 (http://www.ask.yahoo.c
om/20010115.html).  Variously given as "It is better to stay silent and have
people think you a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt," it's
been attributed to Abraham Lincoln, George Eliot, Mark Twain, Albert
Einstein, Groucho Marx, and SIlvan Engel.
   A check of the Making of America database didn't turn up anything, but I
could have used the wrong terms.  We all await Fred Shapiro to remove all
doubt on the origin of this famous phrase.

(OFF TOPIC:  So this guy gives one billion dollars to the United Nations,
where the head of the Security Council is Syria...)

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HUMMUS AND SYRIAN FOOD

   Politics, however, should not get in the way of food.
   I had previously cited SYRIAN HOME-LIFE (1874), compiled by Rev. Isaac
Riley based on materials by Rev. Henry Harris Jessup.  I noticed that THE
WOMEN OF THE ARABS (1873) by Henry Harris Jessup is on the MOA-Mich. Books
database, and it appears to be almost the exact same book.  "Hummus" is given
there as "peas."  Take a look.  I did not expect this book on "Making of
America."  (Merriam-Webster has 1950 for "hummus.")

YOUR GUIDE TO SYRIA
by Nina Nelson
London: Alvin Redman
1966

   This has a late date, but I like the food section.  The same author also
wrote YOUR GUIDE TO EGYPT (1964), YOUR GUIDE TO LEBANON (1965), and YOUR
GUIDE TO JORDAN (1966), but the NYPL doesn't have all of those to compare.
   FWIW, no "falafel" is here.

Pg. 67:  SYRIAN FOOD, RECIPES AND DRINKS
Pg. 68:  KEBAB...BURGHAL...KIBBEH.
Pg. 69:  MAHSHI...KIBBEH in a tray.
(OED for "mahshi"?--ed.)
Pg. 70:
   RIZ BEL FOUL (Rice with beans)...
   MECHWI
      This is minced roast meat mixed with onions and tomatoes.
   KHAROUF MECHOUT
      This is stuffed roast lamb.
   SHAWARMA
      This is also a Lebanese meat dish and a great favourite.  _Shawarma_
consists of thin slices of mutton or lamb marinated in a mixture of vinegar,
onion and cardamom seeds (ground together with salt).  The meat is then
speared on a spit with a slice of fat in between each of f(Pg. 71--ed.) our
slices.  The top of the spit is decorated with a tomato or lemon.
(OED doesn't have "shawarma"??  Don't worry.  Nobody's heard of this.  It's
not like they serve it in _five_ restaurants around the block from the NYU
library--ed.)
Pg. 71:  MEZZA...LEBAN
Pg. 72:  HOMOS...TABBOULEH SALAD...AWAMEH
Pg. 73:
   NAMORA
      This is made of brown sugar, pin kernals and pistachios.
   HALAWET AL JUBAN (Sweet of cheese)
      This is a specialty of Hama and is white cheese mixed with fine rice
beaten together with lemon juice until it looks like unbaked pastry.
(I don't remember eating it during my visit to Hama--ed.)
   BAQLAWA...
   ARABIC BREAD...
Pg. 74:
   DRINKS...
      Some people prefer more sugar than others but the medium sweet type
called "Mazbout" is what suits most tastes.  This is made in the following
way...
Pg. 75:  SALTED PISTACHIO NUTS.