The Gaza Kitchen book tour in the Washington DC metro area is off to a fantastic start. The Palestine Center hosted the cookbook’s authors, Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt, on Friday for a discussion and catered lunch of dishes from the book. Rumaniyya, dagga, and ujjit zahra were featured and devoured with approval by attendees. The event was livestreamed online as well. Later that evening, Laila and Maggie spoke to students at American University as a finale to their Israeli Apartheid Week series.

Laila and Maggie explain the political situation in Gaza to the full house crowd at the Palestine Center
On Saturday morning Laila was invited to speak at a plenary session of Amnesty International’s annual Human Rights Conference where she was well received on the panel entitled “Dignity and Discrimination Against Women as Drivers of MENA Resistance.” Conference-goers responded enthusiastically to Laila’s remarks and were eager to learn more about the cookbook. That night, the Dar Al-Taqwa Islamic Center in Ellicott City, MD graciously hosted a presentation by Laila and Maggie along with a delicious dinner meal of rumaniyya, dagga, and halawit smid.
Interest in The Gaza Kitchen is soaring among diverse audiences, and the remaining events in the area are sure to be very popular as well. Still to come this week are launch activities at the Middle East Institute, Darna Restaurant, One More Page Books, and Busboys & Poets. Check out the events calendar or our Facebook page to learn more!