The Twitterverse was shocked Thursday by US Secretary of State John Kerry’s decision to snack while on a visit to Ramallah, not on the traditional chicken or lamb shwarma, but on turkey, a type of shwarma one Twitter user said was “probably an illusion, like the peace process.”
Foreign Policy confirmed Friday that Kerry had indeed chosen turkey over other, more authentic variants by contacting the owner of the eponymous Samer restaurant directly and asking him what the American envoy had indeed eaten.
Owner Samer said “chicken” at first, then remembered his restaurant didn’t serve chicken shwarma, although West Bank Palestinians often refer to turkey as chicken — though they prefer the former.
“No, turkey,” corrected Samer. “We have lamb and we have turkey. He ate the turkey and really enjoyed it.”
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