How did falafel come into focus in the US presidential race?

Falafel, the famous traditional Middle Eastern food which is made from ground chickpeas or fava beans (or both), and served in a pita with vegetables and tahini sauce, has for a long time stirred controversy regarding its origin.

However, regardless of where it came from, falafel has become a famous dish across the entire world.

It recently came into focus on social media in the run-up to the recent US presidential elections debate.

During the second presidential debate on October 9 between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, the hashtag ‘Muslims Report Stuff’ went viral on Twitter in response to Trump’s statement that Muslims must “report when they see something going on.”

Twitter user Hend Amry tweeted in response: “Falafel actually means ‘kill all the infidels’. We’ve kept that a secret all this time."

Since then, Amry’s tweeth has been retweeted over 4,000 times and received more than 11,700 likes.

Many Muslims and Americans interacted with her tweet, with one user called Solomon Hykes tweeting: “I think they should start selling Freedom Falafels in the US congress cafeteria.”

Another named Elizabeth Angell wrote: “But it tastes so good! I'm going to keep eating it anyway.”

*The Arabic version of this article is avaliable in AlArabiya.net.