Palestine's Oktoberfest

The Christian founded Palestinian Oktoberfest, as reported here, is now able to include Moslems with its new non-alcoholic beer reported here .

Posted by Dave Trippel on October 4, 2009 at 04:10 PM in Beer, Drinking Spaces, Israel, Palestine | Permalink

Wolf Wissotzky and tea in tsarist Russia, Palestine, and Israel

Klonimus Wolf Wissotzky (1824-1904) acquired a reputation as the "king of Russian tea" after he established the Wissotzky Tea company in 1849. In 1936, Wissotzky Tea became the first tea company in Palestine and now is the leading tea company in Israel. For more, see here.

Posted by David Fahey on May 27, 2007 at 12:48 PM in Israel, Palestine, Russia, Tea | Permalink

Smoking in the Ottoman Middle East (article)

James Grehan, "Smoking and 'Early Modern' Sociability: The Great Tobacco Debate in the Ottoman Middle East (Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries)," American Historical Review 111/5 (Dec. 2006), 1352-77. Grehan teaches history at Portland State University in Oregon.

Posted by David Fahey on December 20, 2006 at 01:09 PM in Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Tobacco, Turkey | Permalink

Saudi ambassador serves alcohol

The Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in Ankara, El Husseini broke with the Islamic laws of his country and served his guests alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic drinks were served at a welcome dinner held by El Husseini and his wife (who does not wear a headscarf), for the new arrival of the ambassadors of Yemen, Qatar, Algeria and Palestine in Ankara. In yet another break with the Saudi Islamic tradition, men and women sat and dined together.

Read more.

Posted by Cynthia on February 19, 2006 at 02:14 PM in Alcohol (general), Algeria, Jordan, Palestine, Qatar, Religion, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Yemen | Permalink

Doctors call for fatwa on smoking

A group of British Muslim doctors has called on Islamic leaders to issue religious rulings against smoking as part of efforts to stamp out the habit.

The Australian reports.

Posted by Cynthia on February 4, 2006 at 02:18 PM in Britain, Indonesia, Jordan, Palestine, Religion, Syria, Tobacco | Permalink