Ten years ago today, the news reports announced the death of Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). After spending two years essentially incarcerated by Israeli forces in his Ramallah compound, Arafat was airlifted to France on a French government jet and fell into a coma at the Hôpital d'instruction des armées Percy in Clamart, a suburb of Paris. He died shortly thereafter.

The controversy over Conflict Kitchen’s Palestinian iteration advanced by pro-Israel institutions demonstrates why initiatives like Conflict Kitchen are so important.

It’s 9am on a Sunday and I find myself walking amongst the tall red brick buildings that make up one of Bogota’s residential neighborhoods on the north side of the city. At a nearby bakery I purchase a chocolate muffin for Maia, filmmaker Maria Gamboa’s three-year-old daughter who I know will be joining us for breakfast. As I reach their building, I spot Ms. Gamboa herself standing by a fruit vendor on the corner.