Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel, by Matti Friedman (2019)
This book focuses on the beginning of the Israeli intelligence force that began before the creation of the State of Israel. The book focuses on four spies who were born and grew up in the Arab countries and were familiar with Muslim customs, culture and language. They were of families who had lived in the Middle East long before the European Jews began to migrate to what would become the Land of Israel.
Gamliel Cohen was the most educated of the four spies. He was a Syrian Jew from Damascus. Isaac Shoshan was also Syrian, from Aleppo. Havakuk Cohen was a Yemeni Jew and Yakuba Cohen was a wild “street child” from Jerusalem. They were recruited by Palmach to be a part of the Arab Section ~ Jews who could “pass” for Arabs while gathering intelligence. They were deep undercover in Syria and Lebanon for a country that had yet to exist.
The author emphasizes that the State of Israel could not have been built without the Middle-Eastern Jews. It is hubris to believe that Israel was solely the creation of European Jews. After Israel became a State, Jews from around the Arab world were suddenly expelled from their homes and found their way to Israel. Today over 50% of Israeli Jews have roots in the Arab world. This is what makes Israel so unique and so difficult for Western countries to fully appreciate and understand Israel.
The author carefully researched this book, poring over archival materials and oral histories. Isaac Shoshan was an old man in his 90s when the author wrote this book. He met with the author several times and provide his recollection of his days in Palmach’s Arab Section.
This book was very enlightening on the beginnings of the State of Israel. The author, Matti Friedman, also wrote the Aleppo Codex, which I read in February 2013.
Read: April 29, 2019
4 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment