The 'Spies of No Country'

There is so much discussion in the late decade in Israel about the need to insert the fate and story of Jews from the Arab lands into the national narrative. It is a topic which creates polemics, unusual approaches and passion, a lot of it. Although right now, the situation is naturally improving, with a higher rate of inter-marriage between European and 'Mizrahim', as well  as a co-existence in the larger, religious realm - especially in the 'settlements' the academic and factual research is still half-way. There are so many stories and histories that need to be told and recollected. It is a long and delicate process that will probably require a serious reconsideration of the original state narrative. The only condition is to be considered on an academic, less emotional and more realistic perspective. Discrimination - it was an probably persists. Alienation - it was there too, especially for the first generation relocating to Israel. Frustration and misunderstanding where as well. However, besides various political and social stereotypes, the things moved in a direction that doesn't necessarily correspond to the initial plan of the founders of Zionism.

Matti Friedman, in his latest book Spies of No Country. Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel expressed very clearly this new reality: 'Israel in this century makes sense only through a Middle Eastern lens, which is one reason that Westerners find it harder and harder to figure out. Trying to navigate today's Israel with stories about Ben Gurion and pioneers will work only slightly better than trying to navigate today's Manhattan with stories about Thomas Jefferson and pilgrims. New stories are needed to better explain this plan'.

The book - based on intensive documentation, interviews and new declassified files at Israel's military archives - is mostly about the fate of 4 different Jews from Arab lands that in their early 20s become spies for Israel. They were the 'mista'aravim' - the ones who become like Arabs, initially part of a section created by the Palmach. 

One might expect secret encounters, special transmission tools and a lot of adventures. In fact, they were the most 'atypical' spies you've heard about: most of the time, they were selling school supplies from a kiosk in Lebanon. Some even visited the family members left in the towns they were sent. Their work is taking place in a time when neighbouring Arab armies invaded the then 'Palestine'  - an aspect willingly obliterated from the contemporary discussions about the pre-1948 Israel. At the same time, they were also keeping an eye on the Germans that at the end of the war found refuge in those countries -  especially Syria and Egypt were safe heaven for many members of the Nazi scientific  establishment. 

Why the stories of those four 'mista'aravim' are important? Matti Friedman doesn't want to demonstrate anything, to support or reject any theory. He offers information about facts and situations that may help a better understanding of Israel and the complex political and social layers of life in the Middle East. I've seen lately a lot of 'theories' trying to demonstrate how the state of Israel was created because of the Shoah. But after WWII was over, Jews from the Arab lands were forced to leave their homes in Bagdad, Tehran, Beirut, Aleppo and Damascus following violent pogroms against them. They used to share bread together, but the situation changed and the new state had a 1% growth of the population every 10 days following this exodus (according to Friedman). The longing for Zion was not an 'invention' of the Shoah survivors, it was an everyday life reality of the holy prayers of Jews from all over the world.

Jews from the Islamic world brought to Israel a completely different approach to religion - especially compared to the fierce atheists of the kibbutzim - but also a perspective on co-existence which deserves further development.

The Spies of No Country has opened the door to a serious fact-based academic-driven discussion at the end of which one might figure out a completely different reality and a more complex history of Israel and the Middle East in general.