Inspired by stories he heard in the West Bank as a child, the author of this biook uncovers here a hidden history central to the narrative of the Israel-Palestine conflict but for the most part willfully ignored until now. This book was initially published in Israel to high acclaim and intense controversy and tells the story of Arabs who, from the very beginning of the Arab-Israeli encounter, sided with the Zionists and aided them politically, economically, and in security matters. Based on newly declassified documents and research in Zionist, Arab, and British sources, the book follows Bedoui ... More

Inspired by stories he heard in the West Bank as a child, the author of this biook uncovers here a hidden history central to the narrative of the Israel-Palestine conflict but for the most part willfully ignored until now. This book was initially published in Israel to high acclaim and intense controversy and tells the story of Arabs who, from the very beginning of the Arab-Israeli encounter, sided with the Zionists and aided them politically, economically, and in security matters. Based on newly declassified documents and research in Zionist, Arab, and British sources, the book follows Bedouins who hosted Jewish neighbors, weapons dealers, pro-Zionist propagandists, and informers and local leaders who cooperated with the Zionists, and others to reveal an alternate history of the mandate period with repercussions extending to this day. The book illuminates the Palestinian nationalist movement, which branded these “collaborators” as traitors and persecuted them; the Zionist movement, which used them to undermine Palestinian society from within and betrayed them; and the collaborators themselves, who held an alternate view of Palestinian nationalism. This book offers a new view of history from below and raises profound questions about the roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict.