As the first group of Israeli hostages were being released from Gaza last Friday, a new Palestinian/Israeli restaurant was preparing for its first evening of business in Vancouver. Bar Haifa is owned by a group of friends, Palestinian and Jewish. A larger, more upscale offshoot of their Toronto establishment The Haifa Room, this downtown Vancouver spot was supposed to open months ago, but the universe (and construction delays) had other plans. Its opening night ended up taking place just shy of seven weeks into the war. “We questioned if we should open at all,” Mark Kupfert told me, as five...