Am I wrong to think the article below from Gulf News is extremely difficult to read and very confusing to understand?
Manama: Kuwaitis expressed mixed reactions to a decision by municipal authorities in the north-eastern Italian town of Citadella not to allow shops to sell kebabs and other “non-traditional” food.
The council of the medieval walled town in Veneto on Friday said that kebab was not part of their tradition and identity. Mayor Massimo Bitonci of the anti-immigration Northern League party said that the ban was made on health grounds against “dishes cooked and then left in the open for a long time”.
Food savvy Kuwaitis reacted by focussing on the quality of kebab and the possible motives behind the decision.
“They are right since kebab is not healthy food,” Bu Msaad wrote on Al Aan news portal. “It is mainly fat and skin that are well spiced in order to fool clients,” he said.
According to “Kuwaiti Citizen”, Italians are “free to decide what should be sold and what should be banned in their country”.
“An appropriate reaction by Arabs for instance is to ban the sale of pizzas,” he wrote.
However for Mohammad Bu Jassoom, the issue went beyond the quality or origin of food. “It is not about food. The problem is that there are some people in that town who want to hurt immigrants and Muslims. They are willing to use all means to achieve their goal,” he wrote.
Kebab generally refers to shish kebab served on the skewer or döner kebab served in bread with a salad and a dressing.
It consisted traditionally of grilled, roasted, and stewed small cuts of lamb meat. However, as it gained global popularity and depending on local tastes and taboos, it may now be beef, goat, chicken, pork, fish or even vegetarian foods such as falafel or tofu.
Bitonci, who also sits as a deputy for the Northern League, made headlines in 2009 when he introduced measures against beggars and street sellers as well as parking restrictions for caravans to dissuade travelling people.
He has also proposed mandatory public service for under-16s found drinking alcohol. The anti-immigration Northern League is part of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, ruling coalition. [Source]
I am curious to know how many Kuwaitis live in Citadella since their whole population is just 20,000…
25 replies on “Arabs should ban pizza”
the Kuwaiti quotes looks fabricated. we should ban Gulf news, pizza. actually we should ban banning, control freaks.
oh for gods sake! Can’t gulf news tell where Manama is located to start with?
This is a simple piece of news in Alaan online news paper. 10 people had commented. How did that get turned into an entire investigation regarding banning kebabs in Italy and retaliation from Kuwaiti in Manama b3d?
Here is the link
https://www.alaan.cc/pagedetails.asp?nid=80154&cid=33
Gulf news should find something better to write about. At least topics with a hundred comments on Mark’s blog deserve more attention than a fleeting sarcastic comment made by a Kuwaiti guy on an online article.
It it’s truly a walled medieval town that wants to preserve its medieval “character”.. then I kind of see their point
And for God’s sake do not ban pizza. Life would cease to be worth living!!
Shda3wa the people (if they really do exist) and the paper reacted as though it was an attack on Kuwait? They’re banning Kebab, it’s not even Kuwaiti. We have a WHOLE lot more banned, like wine for example, is that an attack on them?
Very stupid article, with a stupid argument. And the sources name (e.g. mohammad by jasoom)does not make the paper seem legit.
Heads shall roll (after fu6oor). You have to give it up to ’em for atleast coming up with an original story. Our local English newspapers just state facts.. few stories are produced as comapred to the Arabic papers
i guess they can live without kebabs and Hummos??! anyway how hard is it to make them.. 🙂
pathetic..
I’m as lost as you are on this one Mark. What a weird article…
Surely, they’ve got better things to report about and better writers working there. This was quite appalling, not only because of the content. But, because of the disorganization and awful understanding of writing for mass media.
*sigh*
If they don’t want kebabs in their country, then more for us. Not our problem.
Besides, what’s banning pizza going to do? Solve all the other problems that need attention?
Actually, we should ban talking about food in Ramadan. Eh, I can’t wait for f6ur. 🙁
NOOOO I WANT ME KEBAAABZ … seriously WTF I am in italy having all that amazing pasta’s and ravioli’s and other amazing dishes why would I eat kebab !
hahah nice one!
I dont care much for pizza and pasta. It is just a fashion trend to be “cool”. I am not even Arab, but Id prefer kababs any day.
So confusing to read !
we should banned Lamborghinies and Ferraries as well hahaha
I find it hilarious that the guy feels insulted that the city stopped selling kebabs. I mean some people get offended quickly, please tell me how banning kebabs is insulting muslims around the world. Relax guys this doesn’t affect us AT ALL. And banning pizza’s? Really? I dont think anyone would benefit from that.
who’s incharge of that stupid newspaper?
However for Mohammad Bu Jassoom, the issue went beyond the quality or origin of food. “It is not about food. The problem is that there are some people in that town who want to hurt immigrants and Muslims. They are willing to use all means to achieve their goal,” he wrote.
Hahaha this one made my day 😀
If they banned dewaniyah and machboos, well it’s personal!
the food mentioned above isn’t gulf food.
Should I be worried that I didn’t have a hard time reading this?
Let it be known, the Desi Bros will not stand for this.
Pizza. Can never, ever, be banned.
Mubarak I think they mean that you should understand it because we didn’t have any troubles reading it 😛
Anyone familiar with Italian politics knows that the Northern League party is a fascist, extremist, islamophobic party that only gain’s attention and support from racist Italians who despise anything foreign (Muslims in particular)
I think you shouldn’t give these guys any attention what so ever since they strictly represent a small racist minority in the Italian population, over looking the bigger, tolerant, humble Italian majority who shares more similarities with the Middle East than differences.
If you payed attention to the events after the Tunisian revolution, you’ll notice that after at least 15,000 Tunisian immigrants fleed to the tiny Italian island of Lempedusa (Off of Siciliy) they are welcomed (initially) and treated fairly by the island’s inhabitants. We should focus more on the positive aspects of Italians rather than silly enmities over Kebab?
WHAT!!! THEY’RE BANNING KEBABS!!! THEN I’M NOT BUYING ITALIAN SUPER CARS xD … who’s the idiot that wrote this s%$#?!
How can we call them “writers” with a large chunk of the article that’s lifted from wikipedia’s entry on kebabs?
The article is poorly written. However, there is a rise in islamophobia in Europe and new laws protecting ‘europeanism’ have been emerging across their continent. Now if the same city were to ban say latkes (jewish potato pancakes), the town mayor would be prosecuted, and the italian prime minister would be grilled in the UN and would be made to offer a public apology. I like to call racism when i see it. Also, i have no intention of banning pizza.