Good Arabs: The Israeli Security Agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948-1967

297 Pages·2010·2.93 MB·English

by  Hillel Cohen

Good Arabs
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The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous
support of the Humanities Endowment Fund of the
University of California Press Foundation
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Good Arabs
The Israeli Security Agencies
and the Israeli Arabs, 1948-1967
Hillel Cohen
Translated by Haim Watzman
University of California Press
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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Disclaimer: Some images in the printed version of this book
are not available for inclusion in the eBook.
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University of California Press
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© 2010 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cohen, Hillel.
[῾Aravim tovim. English]
The Israeli security agencies and the Israeli Arabs,
1948–1967 / Hillel Cohen ; translated by Haim Watzman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-25767-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Palestinian Arabs —Israel—Political activity.

2. Israel.Sherut ha-bitahon ha-kelali. 3. Intelligence
service—Israel. 4. National security—Israel. 5. Israel—

Ethnic relations. 6. Minorities—Israel. I. Title.

II. ῾Arvim tovim.
ds113.7.c61513 2009
323.1192΄74009045—dc22 2009010473
Manufactured in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Natures Book, which contains
30% postconsumer waste and meets the minimum
requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997)

(Permanence of Paper).
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To my beloved family (the Cohen-Bars)
in our beloved city, Jerusalem.
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Contents
Illustrations / ix
Preface / xi
Acknowledgments / xiii
Introduction / 1
1 Beginning a Beautiful Friendship:
The Rise of the Collaborator Class / 11
2 Communists vs. the Military Government,
Collaborators vs. Communists / 39
3 Boundary Breakers: Infiltrators, Smugglers, Spies / 65
4 The Land / 95
5 The Battle of the Narrative: Symbols,
Pronouncements, Teachers / 123
6 Minorities within a Minority: Dilemmas of Identity / 159
7 Circles of Control, Circles of Resistance / 195
Conclusion / 231
Notes / 239
Bibliography / 265
Index / 269
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Illustrations
1. The Israeli army enters the Triangle and imposes military rule,
Kafr Qasim, 1949. / 14
2. The Arab inhabitants of the Triangle celebrate the first anniversary
of their annexation to Israel, 1950. / 19
3. Sayf al-Din Zu῾bi during his campaign for the municipal elections
of Nazareth, 1966. / 24
4. A Communist activist distributes leaflets, before the first elections
to the Israeli Knesset, 1949. / 43
5. Israeli president Haim Weizmann with Bishop Hakim, Israel’s
Independence Day, 1951. / 48
6. The Catholic Scouts march in Nazareth on Israel’s Independence
Day, 1954. / 49
7. David Hacohen, of Mapai, with Arab MKs from lists affiliated with
his party: E. Nakhle, D. ῾Ubeid, and A. K. al-Daher, 1961. / 63
8. Many Bedouins helped the IDF prevent infiltration. / 74
9. March in Ramla, 1949. / 76
10. An Israeli bus attacked by Palestinian infiltrators in Meron,
Upper Galilee, 1953. / 90
11. An Israeli soldier, a foreign reporter, and the mukhtar share supper
in the village of Iqrit, before the uprooting of its inhabitants,
1948. / 107
ix
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