This week, Laila El-Haddad, co-author of the Gaza Kitchen, joins the Palestine Pod. In honor of the publication of the third edition of the book, Laila shares with us some of the new recipes that she learned on her last trip to Gaza in 2019. Laila paints for us a culinary picture of Gaza and explains how intimately the history and politics, including in particular the Nakba of 1948, affect the local cuisine. Laila and Michael go back in time to recall a rich history of Gaza since Alexander the Great. Laila provides an update on her family in Gaza further to Israel's latest assaults which she notes focused on Gaza's commercial hub and city center unlike previous Israeli assaults which tended to focus on the periphery of the besieged enclave. Lara queries where Gaza's love for the chili pepper came from. Laila recalls that conversations about Gaza's resistance should never lose sight of the fact that resistance itself is not the goal: Liberation is the goal and resistance is the means. Michael instigates bamya-gate part two.