Gazan chefs cook up hope and humanity for online audience

You May Be Interested In:Legendary Colombia cartel drug lord released from U.S. prison after 25 years: “He won’t be retiring a poor man”


Renad Atallah is an unlikely internet sensation: a 10-year-old chef, with a repertoire of simple recipes, cooking in war-torn Gaza. She has nearly a million followers on Instagram, who’ve witnessed her delight as she unpacks parcels of food aid.

renad-atallah-1280.jpg
Ten-year-old Renad Atallah posts videos of herself cooking in war-torn Gaza.

CBS News


We interviewed Renad via satellite, though we were just 50 miles away, in Tel Aviv. [Israel doesn’t allow outside journalists into Gaza, except on brief trips with the country’s military.]

“There are a lot of dishes I’d like to cook, but the ingredients aren’t available in the market,” Renad told us. “Milk used to be easy to buy, but now it’s become very expensive.”

I asked, “How does it feel when so many people like your internet videos?”

“All the comments were positive,” she said. “When I’m feeling tired or sad and I want something to cheer me up, I read the comments.”

We sent a local camera crew to Renad’s home as she made Ful, a traditional Middle Eastern bean stew. Her older sister Noorhan says they never expected the videos to go viral. “Amazing food,” Noorhan said, who added that her sibling made her “very surprised!”

After more than a year of war, the Gaza Strip lies in ruins. Nearly everyone has been displaced from their homes. The United Nations says close to two million people are experiencing critical levels of hunger.

Hamada Shaqoura is another chef showing the outside world how Gazans are getting by, relying on food from aid packages, and cooking with a single gas burner in a tent.

Shaqoura also volunteers with the charity Watermelon Relief, which makes sweet treats for Gaza’s children.

In his videos online, Shaqoura always appears very serious. Asked why, he replied, “The situation does not call for smiling. What you see on screen will never show you how hard life is here.”

Before dawn one recent morning in Israel, we watched the UN’s World Food Program load nearly two dozen trucks with flour, headed across the border. The problem is not a lack of food; the problem is getting the food into the Gaza Strip, and into the hands of those who desperately need it.

The UN has repeatedly accused Israel of obstructing aid deliveries to Gaza. Israel’s government denies that, and claims that Hamas is hijacking aid.

“For all the actors that are on the ground, let the humanitarians do their work,” said Antoine Renard, the World Food Program’s director in the Palestinian territories.

I asked, “Some people might see these two chefs and think, well, they’re cooking, they have food.”  

“They have food, but they don’t have the right food; they’re trying to accommodate with anything that they can find,” Renard said.

Even in our darkest hour, food can bring comfort. But for many in Gaza, there’s only the anxiety of not knowing where they’ll find their next meal.

      
For more info:

       
Story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor: Carol Ross. 

      
See also: 


“Sunday Morning” 2024 “Food Issue” recipe index
Delicious menu suggestions from top chefs, cookbook authors, food writers, restaurateurs, and the editors of Food & Wine magazine.  

share Paylaş facebook pinterest whatsapp x print

Similar Content

Legendary Colombia cartel drug lord released from U.S. prison after 25 years: "He won't be retiring a poor man"
Legendary Colombia cartel drug lord released from U.S. prison after 25 years: “He won’t be retiring a poor man”
2 Indianapolis police officers face trial in Black man's death during mental health crisis
2 Indianapolis police officers face trial in Black man’s death during mental health crisis
Group seeks to address America's deep political divisions
Group seeks to address America’s deep political divisions
Trump chooses Bessent to be treasury secretary, Vought as budget chief, Chavez-DeRemer for Labor
Trump chooses Bessent to be treasury secretary, Vought as budget chief, Chavez-DeRemer for Labor
Michigan is paying $13M after shooter drill terrified psychiatric hospital for kids
Winning numbers drawn in Saturday’s Powerball
Black Friday shoppers hit stores across U.S. with spending records expected to fall
Black Friday shoppers hit stores across U.S. with spending records expected to fall
Vista News | © 2024 | News