So you want to eat a camel?

So, we found a nearby restaurant that serves camel. Sounds delightful doesn’t it? So naturally everyone wanted to go so Chris Meldrum went ahead and made a sign up sheet and posted it on the bulletin board so we could tell the restaurant how many people to expect (he had so special order it). About 50 people signed up by the dead line at which point we were informed that Camel is actually illegal to slaughter in Israel. Since that is the case our faculty was unable to support the project in any sense of the word. We had to get rid of the sign up sheet since it implied center approval. However, we were told that we could still go, just as a group of friends not as a class field trip or anything.  Well, we still thought we wanted everyone to have a chance to come so I sent the following email to everyone (including the professors and service couples)

Dearest Friends,

Recently it has been brought to our attention that camel meat is not inspected by the State of Israel and thus is under no obligatory regulations. As a result of this the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center (hereafter BYU-JC) cannot endorse, organize, suggest, pay for, prepare, offer assistance, provide, plan, aim, angle, arrange, contrive, deal with, expedite, gimmick, fool around with, intend, layout, machinate, outline, pattern, picture, envision, plot, propose nor undertake any endeavor resulting in the consumption of camel meat in any official capacity. Therefore the heretofore planned activity for the 23rd of June to consume such unclean products is officially canceled. However, BYU-JC also cannot prohibit the consumption of such.

In consideration of the above facts a number of students, acting as free agents, will be leaving the center for a lunch-based activity during the noon hour of the 23rd of June. Any friends or acquaintances who wish to, by some unofficial circumstance, be in attendance at this informal gathering at a restaurant that may, by some reports, serve camel meat are welcome to attend.

Since the before mentioned sign up sheet has thus been disqualified we are now required to take another tally so that we might warn the patron of the establishment that we will be holding our casual gathering there so that he can prepare an appropriate amount of refreshments.

To get your name on this new list please respond, from a personal private email address, to this email by 6:00 pm tomorrow, Wednesday the 16th.

Remember that your participation is based on your free will and choice and divinely given agency and you will be responsible for any fines or ….illnesses that may be inflicted by participation. Cost is estimated at $10-15.

We anxiously await the reply of those informal friends who wish to accompany us.

With warm regards,

Riley Rackliffe and Chris Meldrum

P.S. I did a brief search on Wikipedia and disco

vered that one danger of improperly inspected camel meat (specifically the uncooked liver) is the bubonic plaque. Therefore, as a courtesy to the rest of us, please refrain from ordering uncooked liver. Camel is also unclean under Mosaic law and will render the consumer unclean upon consumption. Purification rituals will be held upon return to the center on an individual basis. Other possible diseases are as follows.

OIE List A Diseases
Foot and mouth disease
Vesicular stomatitis
Rinderpest
Rift Valley fever
Bluetongue

OIE List B Diseases
Anthrax
Aujeszky’s disease
Echinococcosis/hydatidosis
Heartwater
Leptospirosis

Q fever
Rabies
Paratuberculosis
Screw-worm
Bovine anaplasmosis
Bovine babesiosis

Brucella abortus infection
Tuberculosis (M. bovis)
Dermatophilosis
Haemorrhagic septicaemia
Theileriosis
Brucella melitensis infection

Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia
Equine encephalomyelitis (Eastern and Western)
Trypanosomosis including Trypanosoma evansi

Other Diseases of Concern
Epizootic haemorrhagic disease

Borna disease
Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei)
Salmonella Enteritidis
Salmonella Typhimurium DT

We began collecting names once more and got up to 30 people this time (a number were scared away by the list of diseases which I acquired from a bulletin published in Australia. Most of those diseases haven’t occurred within the last century. We called an set an appointment and even met with the restaurant to make a deposit (a good idea on his part) The day we made the deposit our administration sent out the following email at midnight.

Dear students,

The Jerusalem Center administration does not have a specific policy that prohibits the consumption of a camel and we are not planning to introduce one. Nor do we have any specific policy prohibiting the consumption of dogs, cats, rats or snakes.

But before you decide whether to participate in the unofficial camel feast or not, you might want to ask yourself a few questions:

Can I be sure I’m eating a camel? Maybe it’s a horse, a mule, a donkey… How can I tell? After all, this restaurant is not operating under the acceptable health codes.

Do I want to support illegal butchery?

If I get sick as a result of knowingly eating potentially infected meat, how much time do I expect the JC doctors to spend in taking care of me?

If I get really sick, will my insurance cover the costs of my hospitalization?

If I get sick, which trips am I willing to miss: Galilee? Jordan?

Since camels are not grown here for their meat, how did the restaurant get its camel?:

1. They stole one?

2. They were sold an old camel?

3. They were sold a sick camel?

4. They were sold a dead camel?

Will my cultural experience in the Holy Land be somehow incomplete if I don’t eat a smuggled camel?

Is it worth it?

To conclude:  Although we do not specifically forbid this activity, we see it tasteless (no pun intended) and contrary to the JC spirit, and therefore we strongly urge you not to take part in it.

Needless to say, if you choose to disregard our appeal to you, you are doing so at your own risk and will be responsible for any incurred results.

BYU-JC directors

Eran Hayet                  Tawfic Alawi               Kent Brown

This was kind of crushing. We had discussed it before hand and although they could not encourage us in any way we had been given a sort of do-whatever-you-want-but-don’t-tell-us-about- it speech. It appears that they worried further about us actually going through with the experience. We talked it over and I went and discussed it once more with our directors and we decided we would cancel out of respect to them. At which point I sent out the following email.

Dearest Friends,

In consideration of the wishes and concerns of our directors, we regret to cancel to the planned unofficial camel feast. Previously we had weighed the risks and determined that it was okay to do so, but current events and surfacing concerns have led us to reconsider leading to the current stage of cancellation.

Camels are actually affectionate and loving animals and deserve our consideration and respect. For thousands of years human have been cruel in their treatment of dromedaries and their cousins, the Bactrians, ultimately reducing wild populations (of the Bactrians) down to mere thousands. The camels, both species, have been faithful servants to human kind during these years of domestication. Currently the illegal camel trade in Israel is a horrendous exploitation of generations of peaceful, obedient service to mankind.

Indeed, even in the future camels may provide unforeseen service to mankind. The following comes from the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. “The immune system of a single humped, dromedary camel is beginning to yield amazing secrets. For example, an increased ability to resist certain types of diseases including diabetes through the consumption of camel milk.”

We stand in solidarity with our administration and our fellow mammals (the camels) and reject the proposition to consume camels (this week anyway) in a cruel and barbarous manner.

In a serious note, although we were not forbidden to participate in this activity, we respect the wisdom of those who lead us and appreciate their concern for us. For that reason we will withdraw our previous intent.

Thank you.

Riley Rackliffe and Chris Meldrum

This picture was included with the email. I added all other pictures from my database

So that was the end of the adventure to get camel meat. We had to cancel with the restaurant and go through some complicated arrangements with the deposit that I won’t post on the web. Anyway, from a personal perspective the funnest part was the reaction of everyone in the center to the email dialogue. We think the reason it is illegal here is because Camel is not Kosher. It is legal in Jordan though so we may have to visit some restaurants over there and try again. Maybe it will be cheaper too.