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Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza "Chef Anthony Bourdain's trip to Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in 2013 was perhaps his most contentious. And he knew it would be. He opened that episode with a disclaimer: "By the end of this hour, I'll be seen by many as a terrorist sympathizer, a Zionist tool, a self-hating Jew, an apologist for American imperialism, an Orientalist, socialist, a fascist, CIA agent, and worse." In his description of the area, he said: "It's easily the most contentious piece of real estate in the world, and there's no hope -- none -- of ever talking about it without pissing somebody, if not everybody, off." Nonetheless, Bourdain set out to discover the questions of where felafel comes from and who makes the best hummus. While that was his culinary mission, the episode unraveled as a thoughtful exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We all bring stuff along when we travel -- your preconceptions, your personal belief system, the full weight of your life experience," he said. "It's going to come to bear on the way you experience a place. But whatever you may think, and whatever baggage you may bring to this place, you should see this." Much praise for Bourdain came over his attention to Palestinians in that episode, as well as his words of support for the Palestinain people. Diana Buttu, a Palestinian-Canadian human rights lawyer who has worked on the peace process, tweeted a quote by Bourdain Friday after news of his death: "The world has visited many terrible things on the Palestinian people, none more shameful than robbing them of their basic humanity." It was part of an acceptance speech Bourdain gave for a Muslim Public Affairs Council award in 2014. Buttu told CNN that she appreciated the way Bourdain saw the Palestinians as people, rather than mere numbers in a conflict. "It was very refreshing when Bourdain came here. It was very revealing that after the segment aired and when he talked about Palestinians that he made sure to mention the issue of dehumanization, that Palestinians had been deprived of their humanity," Buttu told CNN. "He saw Palestinians as human beings -- it's sad we have to say this in this day and age, that someone saw us as human beings, but he did and that for me was very powerful." "He not only loved food but all of the things that surround food -- love, humanity culture, tradition. It was powerful because he was bringing his love and passion for food and coupled it with the story about Palestinian deprivation."