The Associated Press reports that Lebanon has fired the latest salvo in the ongoing battle with Israel over which country can lay claim to hummus, that delicious  and oh-so addictive chick pea-and-tahini spread/dip:

Lebanese chefs prepared a massive plate of hummus weighing over two tons Saturday that broke a world record organizers said was previously held by Israel — a bid to reaffirm proprietorship over the popular Middle Eastern dip.

“Come and fight for your bite, you know you’re right!” was the slogan for the event — part of a simmering war over regional cuisine between Lebanon and Israel, which have had tense political relations for decades.

Lebanese businessmen accuse Israel of stealing a host of traditional Middle Eastern dishes, particularly hummus, and marketing them worldwide as Israeli.

This is all sufficiently absurd, but wait for the punchline:

A similar attempt to set a new world record will be held Sunday for the largest serving of tabbouleh, a salad made of chopped parsley and tomatoes, that Lebanon also claims as its own.

I think all disputes should be settled through the means of heaping piles of indigenous food – who needs the UN when you have the Guinness people?

The Middle East is bananas.