On a beautiful, golden autumn day in 1980, a 19-year-old Palestine youth landed at Nội Bài airport on an old commercial aircraft manufactured by the former Soviet Union. He carried the ambitions of courageous Palestinian youths, seeking a path to contribute to the cause of national liberation.

Later, whenever talking to guests visiting his home, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Palestine, Saadi Salama’s favored recounting the subsidy period in Hanoi and clarifying the political issues between Israel and Palestine. Saadi talks tirelessly about the subsidy era - the food shortages, the lack of electricity and water, and the limited material conditions. Yet, these infinitely beautiful memories preserve those first moments of attachment instilled a Vietnamese soul within the Palestinian young man.

“Hà Nội is no longer as pure as it used to be; sometimes we must accept that as natural development. But I still miss the sight of people queuing to carry water, officials carrying tiffin carriers on their bicycles to work, and the sidewalk tea stalls selling a few Cầu River cigarettes, which led to the Vietnam saying: Cầu River is the beginning of the conversation”.

Saadi knows and remembers so much about the subsidy period that his wealth of experience provides enough to enlighten younger generations who are bewildered by the term “subsidy period”, even if they are strictly “made in Vietnam”. In 2023, Ambassador Saadi Salama wrote and published a memoir in Vietnam titled: Câu chuyện Việt Nam của tôi (My Vietname Story), with the dedication: “I am not a transit guest to Vietnam. Within me, there is a very large part of Vietnam”.

Saadi fights tirelessly for the peace and independence of Palestine, across official political and diplomatic forums, in the media, on Facebook, and even in casual social gatherings, despite living far from his homeland for half his life. Descending from the Tomeizy family in Hebron, famous for its patriotic tradition, Saadi began participating in the revolution immediately after graduating high school. He met his true destiny when, that year, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) offered a few scholarships to study in Vietnam. Saadi decided to come to this country - which was already very close to his heart - instead of choosing Romania or Italy.

Looking at film footage of the diplomat from more than 30 years ago feels strange; Saadi looked more like an Italian or Spanish youth, with a romantic flair that surely made many Vietnamese female students steal glances at him during his youth. Years later, entering middle age with the classic beard of Turkish and Middle Eastern men, he looked exactly like someone from the Arab region. Now, Saadi bears a resemblance to a Vietnamese person, which I often joke has happened because he is so addicted to Vietnamese rice and phở that he has suddenly “transformed”.

The subsidy period meant scarcity; it took two months after arriving in Vietnam before the future diplomat tried his first bowl of phở. Since then, phở has made up just as important a part of his diet to him as the Palestine dish Maqluba. Every week, Saadi goes to a “sidewalk restaurant” to eat phở at least once. He shared:

“Regarding food, I am very lucky to still find fish sauce and phở. Vietnam has preserved these two traditional dishes intact. I still remember the first time I came to Vietnam, I couldn't stand the smell of fish sauce. The first meal I was invited to at the school canteen had white rice, sponge gourd soup, pork, and a bowl of fish sauce. But because I couldn't hold chopsticks, I couldn't eat anything. After that, I had to find bread to eat. For three consecutive months, I only ate bread. Until I tried my first bowl of phở, I didn't choose bread anymore. From then on, phở, fish sauce, and other Vietnamese dishes have never been missing from my kitchen, even when I left Vietnam to work in many other countries”.

Saadi has gourmet talents and often goes to the market and cooks for everyone, including a performance in which he makes Maqluba for the wives of other ambassadors at the Melia Hotel. His passionate devotion to introducing Palestine cuisine means serving dishes that most Vietnamese people taste for the first time, such as Hummus, Maqluba, Moutabal, Tabouleh, and Sambousek...

In the past year of 2025, Mr. Saadi Salama, Head of the Diplomatic Corps in Vietnam, received the award for the title of Honorary Citizen of the Capital Hanoi for his persistent contributions to the capital Hanoi in particular, and to Vietnam - Palestine relations in general.

DI LI

Vietnam Destination Review - Special Issue No. 1 (May 2026)