This past weekend over 5,000 visitors and beer lovers celebrated Oktoberfest in an unlikely place — the small town
of Taybeh in the West Bank. The Taybeh Brewery is a first for Palestinians, and as this
NPR Marketplace piece
reports, Christian owner Nadim Khoury has high hopes that beer can continue to flow in this traditionally dry region to
help the economy flourish.
Khoury started the brewery back in 1994, and has had marked periods of success and trouble building his business
over the past ten plus years. He recently signed an agreement with a small German firm to brew his beer, and has also
found an importer who is helping sell the beer in parts of Europe.
Khoury is developing a non-alcoholic brew too, so that Muslims can enjoy beer in the bank as well. I’m assuming this
means there will be a second annual Oktoberfest in Taybeh, which may be bigger and better than the last.