The BBC Arabic Service in Lebanon’s Nada Abdelsamad Tweeted the following news on January 3rd 2013:
BBC audiences in the West will perhaps be pondering over the necessity to inform the world of an Israeli pepper in a supermarket – after all that is exactly where one would expect to find them.
But not in Lebanon, where the discovery by a startled shopper prompted the calling in of the local authorities, the police and even the army to deal with the thirteen bags of offending peppers and an investigation is now underway into this breach of national security.
As Al Arabiya reported under the delightful headline “Red Hot ‘Israeli’ Peppers: Lebanese army combat supermarket veg”:
“Laws in the country stipulate that Lebanese citizens are categorically forbidden to enter into business agreements, direct or indirect, with Israeli suppliers. This applies whether the supplier is a company or individual and whether they live in Israel or simply work for its benefit.
Also banned from Lebanon is any international company that has branches in Israel or commercial agreements with Israeli companies.”
Peace (or even peas) in our time?