Stocking up on food supplies is necessary for any Bowdoin student still awake by midnight. Inevitably, however much you devour at dinner will not last you more than a few hours, and the place to go for dorm snacks is invariably Bowdoin Express. Stocked with various foods including sushi from Little Tokyo and big bags of chips, the convenience store is an excellent place to furnish emergency provisions. Every time I gaze into the refrigerators in the small shop in Smith Union, I can’t help but notice how racks are stacked with dozens of Sabra hummus containers.

Hummus, whose main ingredient is mashed chickpeas, is a delicious food that I grew up enjoying. One legend claims that the first dish of hummus was prepared by Salahadin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria in the 12th century who fought against the crusaders. Another amusing if dubious story is that chickpeas were fed to the builders of the pyramids of Giza, but when the workers began to grow restless with their work, the menu was changed to include foul (an Egyptian dish made of fava beans), and the workers once again became complacent and obedient. The earliest recorded recipe for a variant of hummus is recorded in a cookbook from 13th century Cairo.

Today, hummus is a dish savored throughout the Middle East. Upon migrating to Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Zionist progenitors of today’s Israelis must have found the Arab dish appealing, as it is recognized to be a favorite of modern Israelis. Adam Sandler’s recent film “Don’t Mess With the Zohan” parodies this cultural adoption when the main character’s character’s father dipped a spoonful of hummus in his mug and drank it with relish.

While the Hollywood film lightheartedly played with Israeli’s penchant for hummus, others do not consider it so innocent. The military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights is considered illegal under international law, and the Israeli army is notorious for its violations of human rights. A survey conducted this year on the eve of Rosh Hashanah by Dialog, self-described “a group of academia-based peace and civil rights activists” headed by Tel Aviv University Professor Camil Fuchs, found that the majority of the Jewish public (59 percent) in Israel explicitly favor discrimination against Arab citizens. Of those polled, 74 percent were in favor of separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians (a policy already predominant throughout the West Bank), and 58 percent believed that the Israeli state already practices apartheid against Arabs.

And with the land stolen from Palestinians, a continuous theft of culture is in effect. Israelis have elevated hummus to a“national food symbol” according to Joshua Mitnick, correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor. This adoption of food is symbolic of an expropriation of Palestinian and Arab culture. Words like “yallah” which in Arabic means “hurry,” or “come on” have been adopted (and butchered) by Israelis into Hebrew slang, as well as a variety of other expressions, including the entire, rich array of Arabic expletives.

In 2008 Lebanon announced that it would file an international lawsuit against Israel for claiming ownership of dishes, including hummus, believed to be traditionally Lebanese. However, attempts such as these to halt cultural theft have largely gone unnoticed.

Sabra Dipping Company, one of the companies that supplies Bowdoin with its hummus, is owned by the Strauss Group, which is one of the largest manufacturers in Israel. It is also a proud supporter of the Israeli army. The Strauss Group touts a special “adoptive” relationship with the Golani Brigade whereby the company supplies the soldiers with food and personal care packages. Even considering the history of human rights abuses within the Israeli army, the Golani Brigade is notorious. 

“Breaking the Silence,” a group of ex-Israeli soldiers, “have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories,” has documented numerous cases of Golani Brigade human rights abuses, according to the group’s website.

In 2005, an officer was convicted for beating a Palestinian detainee and threatening to cut off his penis. In 2008, members of the brigade filmed themselves “forcing a captive, blindfolded Palestinian to sing humiliating songs, some, as BBC News describes it, ‘of a sexual nature,’ and some about the Golani Brigade,” according to an article found on The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel’s website.

When the Strauss Group was criticized for its relationship with the brigade, it removed mention of it from its English website. The proclamation of support is still available on the Hebrew page.

It is bad enough that American tax dollars go to funding the occupation of Palestine and the denial of Palestinian human and civil rights. It is disturbing that Bowdoin College itself does business with a corporation implicit in human rights abuses, and invested in the continuation of a state that  practices apartheid. When I walk into Bowdoin Express and I see Sabra hummus stocked in such quantities, I can’t help but feel disappointed with the College. 

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) has been gaining significant ground throughout the world and the United States. The movement calls for “non-violent punitive measures” against the Israeli government until it “complies with the precepts of international law” by:

“1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the wall;

2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and

3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.”

The time will come when Israel and Israeli companies will have to face the consequences of their actions. That time will come soon, and it is the responsibility of the College to ensure that Bowdoin stands on the right side of history when it does.

Stocking up on food supplies is necessary for any Bowdoin student still awake by midnight. Inevitably, however much you devour at dinner will not last you more than a few hours, and the place to go for dorm snacks is invariably Bowdoin Express. Stocked with various foods including sushi from Little Tokyo and big bags of chips, the convenience store is an excellent place to furnish emergency provisions. Every time I gaze into the refrigerators in the small shop in Smith Union, I can’t help but notice how racks are stacked with dozens of Sabra hummus containers.
Hummus, whose main ingredient is mashed chickpeas, is a delicious food that I grew up enjoying. One legend claims that the first dish of hummus was prepared by Salahadin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria in the 12th century who fought against the crusaders. Another amusing if dubious story is that chickpeas were fed to the builders of the pyramids of Giza, but when the workers began to grow restless with their work, the menu was changed to include foul (an Egyptian dish made of fava beans), and the workers once again became complacent and obedient. The earliest recorded recipe for a variant of hummus is recorded in a cookbook from 13th century Cairo.
Today, hummus is a dish savored throughout the Middle East. Upon migrating to Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Zionist progenitors of today’s Israelis must have found the Arab dish appealing, as it is recognized to be a favorite of modern Israelis. Adam Sandler’s recent film “Don’t Mess With the Zohan” parodies this cultural adoption when the main character’s character’s father dipped a spoonful of hummus in his mug and drank it with relish.
While the Hollywood film lightheartedly played with Israeli’s penchant for hummus, others do not consider it so innocent. The military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights is considered illegal under international law, and the Israeli army is notorious for its violations of human rights. A survey conducted this year on the eve of Rosh Hashanah by Dialog, self-described “a group of academia-based peace and civil rights activists” headed by Tel Aviv University Professor Camil Fuchs, found that the majority of the Jewish public (59 percent) in Israel explicitly favor discrimination against Arab citizens. Of those polled, 74 percent were in favor of separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians (a policy already predominant throughout the West Bank), and 58 percent believed that the Israeli state already practices apartheid against Arabs.
And with the land stolen from Palestinians, a continuous theft of culture is in effect. Israelis have elevated hummus to a“national food symbol” according to Joshua Mitnick, correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor. This adoption of food is symbolic of an expropriation of Palestinian and Arab culture. Words like “yallah” which in Arabic means “hurry,” or “come on” have been adopted (and butchered) by Israelis into Hebrew slang, as well as a variety of other expressions, including the entire, rich array of Arabic expletives.
In 2008 Lebanon announced that it would file an international lawsuit against Israel for claiming ownership of dishes, including hummus, believed to be traditionally Lebanese. However, attempts such as these to halt cultural theft have largely gone unnoticed.
Sabra Dipping Company, one of the companies that supplies Bowdoin with its hummus, is owned by the Strauss Group, which is one of the largest manufacturers in Israel. It is also a proud supporter of the Israeli army. The Strauss Group touts a special “adoptive” relationship with the Golani Brigade whereby the company supplies the soldiers with food and personal care packages. Even considering the history of human rights abuses within the Israeli army, the Golani Brigade is notorious. 
“Breaking the Silence,” a group of ex-Israeli soldiers, “have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories,” has documented numerous cases of Golani Brigade human rights abuses, according to the group’s website.
In 2005, an officer was convicted for beating a Palestinian detainee and threatening to cut off his penis. In 2008, members of the brigade filmed themselves “forcing a captive, blindfolded Palestinian to sing humiliating songs, some, as BBC News describes it, ‘of a sexual nature,’ and some about the Golani Brigade,” according to an article found on The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel’s website.
When the Strauss Group was criticized for its relationship with the brigade, it removed mention of it from its English website. The proclamation of support is still available on the Hebrew page.
It is bad enough that American tax dollars go to funding the occupation of Palestine and the denial of Palestinian human and civil rights. It is disturbing that Bowdoin College itself does business with a corporation implicit in human rights abuses, and invested in the continuation of a state that  practices apartheid. When I walk into Bowdoin Express and I see Sabra hummus stocked in such quantities, I can’t help but feel disappointed with the College. 
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) has been gaining significant ground throughout the world and the United States. The movement calls for “non-violent punitive measures” against the Israeli government until it “complies with the precepts of international law” by:
“1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the wall;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.”
The time will come when Israel and Israeli companies will have to face the consequences of their actions. That time will come soon, and it is the responsibility of the College to ensure that Bowdoin stands on the right side of history when it does.