Fifty shades of kosher: negotiating kashrut in Palestinian food spaces in Israel

In this paper, I argue that the negotiation over kashrut in Palestinian food businesses in Israel reflects Palestinian citizens’ attitudes toward Israel and Israeli Jews. I illustrate my argument by demonstrating practices in which Palestinian food business owners adjust or merely present their foods according to the Israeli-Jewish dietary laws, tastes, and culture. I also offer an interpretation of the meanings they attribute to serving dishes with certain shades of kosher. By closely examining the negotiations held in food spaces in Kafr Qasim, a Palestinian town in central Israel, the following questions arise: How do business owners perceive the concept of kosher? What meanings do they attribute to their actions? And what can we learn about the relationship between Jewish and Palestinian citizens in Israel from this behavior? I will answer these questions by suggesting three typical patterns of negotiations as they manifest in Palestinian food businesses: Interceding Kashrut, Declarative Kashrut, and Official Kashrut. Lastly, I suggest that these patterns–especially the third–create new hybrid foods representing the roots of an innovative and controversial “Palestinian-Israeli food.”.