Brazilian Jews, Muslims, and Christians compete in Hummus contest for peace

Brazilian Jews, Christians and Muslims marked their peaceful coexistence last Wednesday with a friendly hummus competition in Sao Paolo

Taking place on the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, around 150 people attended the inaugural Abrahamic Hummus Championship, organised by the Hebraica Jewish club in the Brazilian city.

Ariel Krok, an inter-religious activist and member of the JDCorps delegation, the diplomatic arm of the World Jewish Congress, compared the competition to a “friendly soccer match”.

Krok, who helped organise the event, said: “It is an incredible chance to exchange ideas, experiences, and contacts. Together, making hummus, making peace, making a better future,”

Team Sahtein, composed of three Christian Arab women, was declared winners by the technical jury, while a popular jury of participants gave the title to a group of Christian Arab men. Both teams represented the Mount Lebanon club of San Paulo.

Jack Terpins, Brazilian president of the World Jewish Congress’s arm in Latin America, wrote in Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil’s most influential daily newspaper, “Bringing Jews, Muslims and Christians around one of the most popular and present dishes on the tables of the Middle East served to refine the relations between the three groups and expand the dialogue between them,”

Brazil, Latin America’s largest country, is home to nearly 10 million people of Arab descent, and over 100,000 Jews, 60,000 of which call San Paulo home.

A similar event called The First World Championship of Hummus was held in Buenos Aires in 2017.