Defining the Types of Traitors and Spies

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

The phenomenon of spies and traitors has imposed itself on the Arabic language, owing to the ability of the nation’s enemies to recruit many people at various levels to serve them at the nation’s expense. Here I attempt to offer definitions for the various terms circulating in the Arab street, particularly the Palestinian street, since it is the street most harmed by this phenomenon.

I begin with the word “betrayal,” a general word referring to a person’s failure to carry out his duty, or a premeditated breach of trust. This is a general, universal phenomenon, because most people sometimes turn their backs on some of their duties or commitments, and resort to justifying that turning away. A teacher betrays his students if he does not carry out his duties as best he can; a doctor betrays his patient if he does not give his diagnosis sufficient effort and time; a student betrays himself, his teacher, and his family if he does not apply himself to his studies, and so on. Betrayal is a deliberate, intentional breach of trust, and it usually produces bad consequences, which most often fall on the party that placed its trust. From this definition, we can say that all cooperation with an enemy is a breach of trust, and is a betrayal. But betrayal comes in degrees. There is circumstantial betrayal of a simple, everyday nature that does not cause great harm within the sphere of those concerned, and there is great betrayal whose harm extends far. Marital infidelity, for instance, has far-reaching effects that ultimately harm both the social fabric and the moral fabric of the nation, while a student’s failure to prepare his lessons may not extend beyond the student himself.

There are other words that carry betrayal within them, but which are more specific with respect to dealing with, and helping, the enemy: the spy, the agent, the collaborator, and the informer. And sometimes there are colloquial words that refer to this kind of betrayal, such as “qarn,” “dasus,” or “usfur” [“little bird”].

The spy is the entity or person who works secretly on behalf of an external or internal party, with the aim of gathering information on matters of interest to the hostile or rival party, for the benefit of the party that employs him, so as to empower it informationally and morally, or to carry out other activities that qualify it to plan appropriate policies and measures for control, for avoiding harm and injury, for eliminating rivalry, or for achieving military, security, or cultural victory. This type of traitor to one’s homeland is the most common in the world, since states resort to recruiting people from other states to serve their purposes of every kind. The spy is usually an individual, but may also be a company, an institution, or an association. In the Arab homeland, the phenomenon of the recruitment of spies by Israel, America, and other states is widespread, and has always contributed to inflicting defeats on the Arabs and securing victory for their enemies.

In the Palestinian case, the spy is one who works secretly for the benefit of an internal or external party, most often for Israel’s benefit, with the aim of empowering it over the necks of the Palestinian people. The spy gathers information and carries out other activities, such as sowing discord and working to shatter morale.

(The original document is damaged at the start of this sentence.) …whether this leader is recruited by Israel directly or indirectly, he renders it enormous, weighty services that it might otherwise be unable to secure for itself. The agent carries out a general policy and drags every citizen along with him. For example, when a Palestinian leader normalizes Palestinian relations with Israel, he influences broad popular sectors, some of whom then begin to normalize as well, and in this way the normalizing leader becomes a servant of Israel — the same holds for one who recognizes Israel, and so on.

The agent may be an intellectual, a merchant, the director of an institution, a president, a cultured person, a major businessman, a negotiator, and so on. What matters is that he be influential and able to carry out a general policy that Israel desires. For example, Israel once wanted to impose value-added tax on the people in the territory occupied in ‘67; the people rejected the Israeli demand, rose up, and offered up victims, but the owners of capital decided to pay it to the enemy, out of fear for their interests, which were tied to the Israeli will. Agents are the most dangerous of all, because they lead the people under national labels, while the people, at the same time, have no idea how these people reached the seat of leadership. These people reap abundant personal benefits from the enemy, and obtain privileges that allow them to remain on screen, wrapped in national illusions.

Informers are those who volunteer to pass information to the enemy, hoping to gain some particular benefit. They do not exert themselves to search for information, but rather, when it comes to them by chance, they do not withhold it from the enemy. Spies, on the other hand, are those charged with searching for information related to a specific activity, such as national action against the occupation forces. They are active in institutions, gatherings, factions, and parties, and among people generally, so as to be able to obtain precise information, and they are paid a wage, which may take the form of a salary or rewards commensurate with the importance and scale of the information. These are informants who track individuals or groups. Agents, on the other hand, are senior servants who carry out the enemy’s policy by adopting general policies, whether economic, social, political, or otherwise. They do not inform on any particular person, nor track the secret activities of groups, parties, or factions; rather, they work to open the way for the implementation of a particular enemy policy, or to encourage it, and to urge people to accept it under the guise of national, nationalist, or religious orientations. These are the ones who talk constantly of the national interest, in order to conceal the enemy’s interest, and they are the most dangerous of the three categories, because they lead the entire people toward the abyss, not just a particular person or group of persons.

Agents are honored by Israel now, because their roles remain vital to implementing the Zionist project across the whole of Mandatory Palestine. For example, they carry VIP cards — “very important person” — and are able to move about, including inside Israel, in these difficult times, when the Palestinian people are barred from moving along the roads between Palestinian villages and towns. Some of them are even able to use Lod Airport to travel abroad, as well as to move between the West Bank and Gaza. Some receive money from abroad, especially from Europe and America, to fund their association or non-governmental organization, while others continue working within the ministries of the Authority and its various apparatuses. A number of these draw up general policy for the Palestinian people in the name of the national interest and tireless work toward establishing the Palestinian state with Jerusalem the Noble as its capital.

As for the collaborator, he is a traitor, and the word “collaborator” is a softened expression for betrayal. Of course, “cooperation” is a broad and expansive term, but however small or large it is, it remains, one way or another, a help to the enemy. What matters is that the collaborator sees no shame in helping the enemy, and has the willingness and readiness to render services of varying importance to the enemy. The academic who establishes relations with an Israeli university is a collaborator, but he is not as dangerous as the academic who participates in the Herzliya Conference, whose aim is to entrench Israel’s foothold on Palestinian soil.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “تعريفات أصناف الخونة والجواسيس” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.