Hi everyone — Isabela here with our second-last edition of this autumn’s SPOTLIGHT series. Today, we’re honoured to feature an audio interview with
, a Ramallah-based writer and reporter whose work focuses on culture, gastronomy, and food politics in the context of the ongoing Israeli occupation.This interview is a deep dive into themes from Lama’s work, which we covered in a short feature last May. Today, Lama and I discuss:
Palestinian food culture, particularly its emphasis on communal cooking and eating
The impact of the occupation on food sovereignty in Gaza and the West Bank
The sensitivities of reporting on food culture and heritage when people don’t have enough food to eat
The importance of recognizing Palestinian recipes as Palestinian
What food means to Lama’s identity as a Palestinian woman, and much more.
A note on context
This interview was recorded in late June of 2025. The situation on the ground in Gaza has continued to evolve, but the themes discussed here by Lama remain critical. Over the summer, the world bore witness to devastating levels of starvation architected by Israel, which UN Secretary-General António Guterres referred to as a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment — and a failure of humanity itself”. While a so-called ceasefire came into force on October 10, the violence has not stopped: Palestinian health authorities said 260 people had been killed since the ceasefire began. Bisan Owda, a journalist on the ground in Gaza, reports that Israel is only allowing “junk food” to enter Gaza, and that farmers remain barred from returning to the east and north areas of the strip, which constitutes nearly all of the territory’s fertile land. “A nation that is not independent in its food cannot be free,” she adds. This echoes many of the arguments made by Lama in today’s podcast.
At the time of publishing, the UN Security Council has just voted to approve a US-backed Gaza peace plan, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continuing to insist that there can be no viable path to Palestinian statehood. Even if Palestine is slipping away from the headlines, it’s imperative to continue talking about it, and we’re so grateful that Lama took the time to do that with us. To stay up to date with her work, subscribe to her incredible newsletter,
, where she shares poetry, interviews, fiction, and some of her reporting. - Isabela
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