Good Arabs

Synopsis

a Fascinating Story. . . . With The Publication Of This Book, We Can Abandon Several Accepted Clichés.—ha'aretz

while Many Israelis—jews And Palestinians Alike—already Had A Sense That These Shadowplays Were Part Of The State's History, aravim Tovim (good Arabs) Supplies The Evidence. Case After Case Is Summoned To Illustrate How Collaboration Permeated All Aspects Of Palestinian Society.—the Nation

the Impressive Achievement Of This Timely Book Is Its Equal And Honest Treatment Of The Explosive Issues Involved In Spite Of An Often Agonizing Conflict Of Interests—and Its Articulation Of The Author's Findings With Empathy, Boldness And Fairness.—jerusalem Post

publishers Weekly

israeli Writer Cohen (army Of Shadows) Makes Extensive Use Of The Thousands Of Recently Declassified Israeli Government And Police Files To Argue That Israel Has Attempted, From Its Earliest Days, To Control And Co-opt The Lives Of Its Palestinian Citizens (roughly 20% Of The Population) And Has Utilized Classic Tools Of Social Control—informants, Censorship, Offers Of Reward And Threats Of Punishment—to Neutralize A Potentially “seditious” Faction And To Turn The Community “from Members Of The Imagined Palestinian Community/nation... Into Members Of Israeli Civil Society.” He Explores How Deeply Israel Infiltrated Palestinian Communities, Political Groups And Refugee Camps To Secure Informants And Create A Veritable “collaborator Class” To “ensure A Maximal Control Over The Political And Social Behavior Of Israel’s Arab Population.” Stressing That The Behavior Of Both Sides Is Typical Of National Majority-minority Relationships Everywhere, He Shows The Extent To Which Israel Has Treated Its Arab Citizens As One-dimensional Characters Open To Manipulation, And Shrewdly Observes That The Irony For Israel Is That Because The State Couldn’t Offer Non-jewish Citizens “a Real Path To Participation... The State Actually Reinforced Arab Identity Among Its Arab Citizens.” (jan.)