“I am an expression of the divine just like a peach is, just like a fish is.”

The quote from Alice Walker’s The Color Purple dominated the front page of the menu at 'Busboys and Poets' restaurant. The quote killed my appetite.

Celie, the protagonist and narrator in this epistolary novel, was just 14 when impregnated by the man she thought was her father. Alphonso beats and rapes her regularly.

After the first pregnancy, Celie gives birth to a girl. Alphonso takes her away. She has a boy after the second pregnancy. Alphonso also abducts him.

Celie's ailing mother dies after cursing Celie on her deathbed.

I wondered why the owners of a restaurant chose to highlight this particularly sad story on the front page of their menu.

'Busboys and Poets' is no ordinary restaurant. It is a favourite destination of all left-leaning liberals who come to the US Capital to promote often-lost causes.

The menu also had pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr along with a dedication to peace.

“We will never have to be other than who we are in order to be successful,” said another quote from The Color Purple.

On Saturday, Busboys and Poets had arranged a meeting with Tariq Abu Khdeir, the 15-year-old Palestinian-American arrested and beaten by Israeli police in Jerusalem last month. Tariq’s cousin Mohammed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and tortured to death by right-wing Israeli activists the day before Tariq was detained.

Israeli court hands US teen 9-day house arrest

We, the journalists, were supposed to ask Tariq about his detention and torture and about his dead cousin. Those politically motivated were also looking forward to a discussion on the current situation in Gaza.

I did not because I could not. I wanted to see a 15-year old boy and wanted to discuss with him the things you discuss with a teen. I did not want to discuss politics with him because I did not want Tariq to be anything other than who he was.

So I asked him if he was interested in sports. He was surprised and did not know what to say but a little prodding brought the teenager out.

“Yes, I love soccer, American football and basketball and I am in the school team,” Tariq said. “In Jerusalem?” I asked. “No, in Tampa, Florida. I am an American,” he replied.

“I like to play these games but I love fishing,” he said, warming up to the conversation. “Once, I caught a little shark while fishing in the sea. Then I saw a big shark, perhaps the mother, so I let it go.”

“What were you doing in Jerusalem?” I asked.

“Was visiting our family,” he said quickly and moved back to his favorite subject, the fishing. His father, Salahuddin, interrupted and said the Israelis accused Tariq of carrying a slingshot to target soldiers.

“He had no slingshot, just a twig,” said the father.

“Do you see any hope for the Palestinians trapped in this conflict?” I asked Salahuddin.

“No hope. None. No Palestinian group has the power to persuade Israel to respect our basic rights,” he said. “And there can be no change without power.”

Shahad (honey), Tariq’s 10-year old sister joined the group. Someone asked her if she knew what was happening in Palestine. She did not.

“Where were you when Tariq was detained?” I asked her.

“In Jerusalem, with the family,” she said. Then she said to her cousin, Noor: “When we lived in Baltimore, I loved blueberry and apple pies. I used to fight with Tariq and others over these pies.”

She moved away from the table where the elders were discussing politics. Tariq joined her and they started playing tag.

“Did you fast when you were in Jerusalem?” I asked her when she returned.

“Yes, sometimes,” she said.

“And during the fast, did you sometimes go to the kitchen and drank water while no one was watching?” I asked.

She laughed and said: “I am not telling you.” But when I insisted, she acknowledged that she did but only when she was very thirsty.

Israel-Gaza conflict: Beaten Palestinian-American teenager Tariq Khdeir returns to Florida

“We have halal turkey but can there be halal pork?” she asked me.

“I don’t know,” I said and asked if she had seen halal frogs.

She asked her father. “Yes, sometimes I catch them and put them in your mouth,” said Salah, laughing.

When Salah moved to another table, Tariq’s cousin Noor told us that his elder brother Hassan once caught a baby alligator. “No, he did not. He borrowed it from a friend,” said another cousin.

While the two cousins were still arguing over Noor’s claim, Tariq’s other sister, Jenna, 5, joined the group.

“I think she eats frogs,” said Shahad.

“No, I don’t,” said Jenna, “my favorite is ice cream.”

Shahad said when they lived in Baltimore she loved playing hide and seek with Tariq. “But sometimes I was scared of hiding alone.”

Tariq, who was playing computer games with a cousin, rejoined the conversation.

“I had no interest in politics but now I think a lot about Palestine. Before my detention, I was just a regular kid,” he said.

“We still have a regular family,” said Tariq’s mother, Saha. “The kids get up at 7. I make breakfast for them. The children help me. Then they go to school. Tariq helped me a lot but not any more. He has suddenly matured.”

“We are sandwiched between the settlers and Israeli security forces,” said Salah.

I asked him what did he do. “I run a restaurant, Pitta Republic, in Tampa, Florida. We serve Mediterranean food,” said Salah.

Salah said he has always had a “healthy interest” in politics because, he says: “I want to know what’s happening in the world and an we make it a better world.”

“The world changes us before we can change the world. And then we die,” I said.

In another corner of the table, the discussion moved from the situation in Palestine to Persian poetry. “I like existentialist poetry, like that of Sohrab Sepehri,” said an Iranian guest.

The discussion moved from Sohrab to Hafiz, Firdausi and Rumi before Tariq reminded them that it was time to go home.

“And yes, tomorrow we have to get up early to protest outside the White House against Israeli attacks,” said a man, as the guests were leaving.

“Do you protest?” I asked Jenna.

“Only if I do not get candies,” she said.