Media coverage
Shams News · 2021-04-06
The report discusses a job advertisement published by Al-Awda Biscuit Factory in Gaza for a "food taster," which was later revealed to be an April Fool’s joke. The strong public response — including thousands of visits, calls, and inquiries — highlighted the scale of unemployment and poverty in the Strip. Economist Omar Shaban noted that tens of thousands of graduates are competing for a very limited number of jobs, with around 300,000 unemployed graduates in Gaza.
The report discusses a job advertisement published by Al-Awda Biscuit Factory in Gaza for a "food taster," which was later revealed to be an April Fool’s joke. The strong public response — including thousands of visits, calls, and inquiries — highlighted the scale of unemployment and poverty in the…
Although the profession of “food taster” is well-known worldwide, it does not exist in Gaza. This profession has always been associated with tourist destinations visited by people from all over the world, places that have reached a high level of luxury—something the besieged Strip is deprived of.
A “food taster” is a profession linked to the culinary arts, distinguished by abilities that even the chef himself may not possess. The term “gourmet” is originally French, referring to someone concerned with the culture of ideal cooking.
Food tasting is a well-known occupation, entrusted only to a skilled taster who possesses refined sensibility and the ability to connect the arts with foods and beverages. It also refers to a person with a strong and distinctive sense of taste, thus earning the status of a food expert or connoisseur of dishes.
Coming across a job advertisement for a food taster is almost impossible in Gaza, but that actually happened a few days ago, when al-Awda Biscuit Factory announced that it needed a food taster. Despite lacking sufficient qualifications, thousands of citizens tried to apply for the job, “maybe somehow it will work out for us.”
A few hours after the announcement, it turned out to be a joke aimed at teasing the public, coinciding with April Fool’s Day on the first of April.
Atef Hijris, the social media official at al-Awda Factories, said: “The advertisement was a joke, part of the playful content the company presents to the public, and it took advantage of the global occasion to joke with its audience.”
Hijris noted that the promotional post reached more than half a million people within just a few hours, pointing out that it was accompanied by actual phone calls from many citizens inquiring about the job.
Regarding the job link that was posted and its contents, Hijris said: “The link actually exists and is part of the joke,” adding: “There is a question asking citizens what they think of this prank, and the answer was either yes or no.”
He indicated that around 7,000 people entered the electronic link, and more than 60% of them liked the idea of the advertisement.
The scale of interest in the job reveals one aspect of the tragedy the Strip is living through, as tens of thousands of unemployed graduates search daily for any opportunity that might bring them out of the dark tunnel of poverty.
In this context, economist Omar Shaban highlighted the scale of unemployment in Gaza, compared to the scarcity of jobs in the Strip.
Shaban said via his Facebook account that 47,000 university graduates recently applied to compete for 500 jobs in the Ministry of Education in the Gaza Strip—95 graduates for every job.
He added: “They are not, of course, all the graduates, as there are around 300,000 unemployed graduates.”
Text © Shams News — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source