Following the recent demonstrations by animal rights activists in the Middle East, Joseph Mayton has written an article for Comment Is Free about vegetarianism and Arab culture.

The actions by Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan attracted a modest amount of media attention and, as far as I'm aware, this is the first time anything of the kind has happened in Arab countries.

Given the high regard for meat in the region, it's not surprising that many are sceptical about vegetarianism ever catching on. Mayton notes: "Carnivorous journalists and academics also argue that humans evolved to eat meat and need certain by-products from animals in order to survive."

Even so, I doubt that the meat debate, now it has started, will ever go away: that is one consequence of the globalisation of ideas. Those who talked about gay rights in the Arab countries were in a very similar position less than 10 years ago, but since then – though still very limited – the issue has gradually begun to work its way into public discourse.

The interesting thing about vegetarianism is that it's difficult to portray as a "western" concept: think of India. As far as most Arabs are concerned, the issue is much more about wealth, poverty and class. In the comments below Mayton's article, Khaled Diab writes:

In Egypt, much of the traditional diet consumed by the poor is vegetarian. Egypt's most popular dish is 'fuul' - which is both loved and hated by Egyptians of all social classes. However, there is a deeply ingrained culture that equates eating meet with robustness, good health and affluence.

Besides, there's nothing new about efforts to reduce meat consumption. In the past, meat was rationed and the government ran a campaign to encourage people to eat more vegetables - which was seen by many as a way of making the poor accept their lot. The Egyptian colloquial satirical poet Ahmed Fouad Negm mocked these efforts in his 'Fuul and meat epic' in which he invited a health specialist on government-run TV: "What do you think of a madman who says, let us (i.e. the poor) die eating meat and you (the rich) can live on fuul".

Here is the poem, for those who can read Arabic.