Gazan chefs cook hope and humanity for an online audience

Renad Atallah is an unlikely internet sensation: a 10-year-old chef, with a collection of simple recipes, cooking in war-torn Gaza. She has nearly a million followers on Instagram, who have seen her joy as she delivers food aid packages.

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

“There are many dishes I would like to cook, but the ingredients are not available in the market,” said Renad. “Milk used to be easy to buy, but now it’s more expensive.”

I asked, “What if more people like your online videos?”

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

We sent a local camera crew to Renad’s house as he cooked Ful, a traditional Middle Eastern bean stew. Her older sister Noorhan says they did not expect the videos to go viral. “It’s amazing food,” said Noorhan, who added that her sibling made her “very surprised!”

After more than a year of war, the Gaza Strip is in ruins. Almost everyone has been evacuated from their homes. The United Nations says nearly two million people are facing critical levels of hunger.

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

Shaqoura also volunteers with the Watermelon Relief charity, which makes fun for children in Gaza.

In his online videos, Shaqoura always seems very serious. When asked why he replied, “The situation does not require a smile. What you see in the mirror will not show how difficult life is here.”

Before dawn one morning in Israel, we watched the UN World Food Program load about 22 trucks with flour, crossing the border. The problem is not a lack of food; the problem is getting food to the Gaza Strip, and it is in the hands of those who need it most.

The UN has repeatedly accused Israel of blocking the delivery of aid to Gaza. The Israeli government denies this, and claims that Hamas is hijacking aid.

“For all the actors on the ground, let the humanitarians do their work,” said Antoine Renard, director of the World Food Program 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 proper food; they try to agree with whatever they can find,” said Renard.

Even in our darkest times, food can bring comfort. But for many in Gaza, there is only concern about not knowing where they will get their next meal.

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Story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor: Carol Ross.

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