The Green Prince Page #7

what's gonna happen

in a few hours,

and we got in the kitchen,

we start cooking,

chopping vegetables,

and preparing food

for everybody.

Actually, I thought that,

that's like a good opportunity

just todosomething good

for the family

before this disaster happens.

When he was ready for bed,

I just hugged him

and I told him,

"Have a good night,"

without, you know,

showing anything.

I went upstairs to my room,

and I got myself ready

for the moment.

My father came up tome,

he said, "We have togo."

I told him, "What's going on?"

He said, "We are arrested."

And they're asking for you too,

soput some warm clothes

and come with me.

A new era begins

in the Middle East

with a sweeping victory by Hamas

in the Palestinian Territories.

The militant group

will be running things now,

and world capitals

are struggling

toadjust tothat reality.

We 're covering

all of the angles,

trying to bring you the reports

from Ramallah, Jerusalem...

I came to the realization

that we were fighting a ghost.

And I was tired already

at that time,

and I needed a break.

Mosab spend

more than six months in prison.

He came back really exhausted.

Mentally, he was exhausted.

He told me,

"It's very hard for me

tokeep working with you."

He was lying tohis family,

he was lying tohis father,

he needed tolie

tothe Palestinian Authority,

toHamas,

he needed tohide things

from the Shin Bet about himself,

and every given second,

he needed tolie tosomeone.

He didn't live his life.

He was living life

where he needs all the time

to process lies.

How can you establish a life,

or a family,

or a relationship of any kind

based on the false identity,

that you know

that this identity at some point

either it gets exposed

or it gets killed?

The Shin Bet expected me

tohandle the situation

and convince him togoon.

You start, you know,

to lie to yourself

and to him, and say,

"Well, you know, but,

let's keep another month,

and see what's happening,

maybe you'll feel

a little bit better.

And let me help you.

Doyou need something?"

You take him maybe somewhere,

you buy him a present.

You know, you try tokeep,

keep it working.

Though you know

that as a person,

you need tolet him go.

I saw Mosab

outside of Shin Bet facilities,

and I let him a few times

to take a break,

to go into Israel

to rest a little bit

for one day.

I rented a car for him.

I found a place,

a hotel that he can rest in,

and then go back.

This was a very important step

to make him understand

how important he is

for me as a person.

For the Shin Bet,

it's very dramatic,

because this is

a violation of the protocol,

a very bad one.

But I thought

that they will understand

that my intentions

were clean and pure.

And they looked

at it differently.

I was told again and again

the Shin Bet is the family,

it's your family.

I never felt

that this is my job.

It was going to the family,

and then suddenly,

the family is against me.

They said I did not work

by the rule,

or by the Shin Bet way,

and they took me tocourt,

and dismissed me from my duty.

All he said was good bye,

and I was like,

"Gosh, this is really bad news."

All the doubt, the suspicion

that I had with the Agency,

I overcame

only through the trust

that I could establish

with Gonen,

and the personal relationship

that I built with him.

Sofor me, he was

really a gift from heaven,

tobe just there

totake care of me.

And when he was like,

"That's it,

I'm going somewhere else,"

I knew that I am not

going tosee him again.

He got a new handler,

and he didn't like

this handler at all.

They had fights.

This guy tried, you know,

toteach Mosab everything

from the beginning.

They decided to put him

on a polygraph test

to show him who is in charge.

It was impossible

for someone like me

to pass the test.

When they asked me,

"Did you plan attacks

against the state of Israel?"

You know, this is

what we did on a daily basis.

You know, that was my job,

topretend that

we are planning attacks.

With that said, you know,

how can you say yes or no?

And now here I am

answering the machine,

and the guy from behind the desk

that I never met before,

and trying toprove tohim

something

that I could not prove.

You trusted me

with the lives of your troops,

with your own lives,

with the secrets of the Agency,

big secrets,

and now you're coming back

tothe first square

for your old suspicion

and old doubt?

That broke bones

between me and the Agency.

And at that moment,

that was a final

decision for me,

that was the last time

I want towork for the Agency

or doanything for it.

They tried by temptation,

giving me

an offer to open a company

to help me achieve, you know,

things that people dream about

and they don't get.

They could not threaten me

because they knew

that I knew the game.

And simply, I kept insisting

for a few months

that I have toleave.

Finally, they agreed,

with twoconditions.

I have to bring a solid cover

how I left.

It was simply

an operation for my jaw.

And I had to go to doctors

and bring these papers.

The second condition was

that I come back

and work for the Shin Bet.

I take just a long vacation.

They preferred

that I gotoEurope.

They did not want me togo

tothe U nited States of America.

Now, Spain and Europe,

and all that,

Israel simply could put me

in a case and send me back

to the Palestinian Territories

if they had to,

but in America,

it was different story.

The American government,

in general,

don't tolerate

any Israeli activity

on the American soil

without cooperation

with the American I ntelligence.

My mom knew that

there was a possibility

that's gonna take a few years

before I come back.

She told me,

"You do the surgery,

if you get a chance

to finish your Master's

in the United States,

just do it."

You know, "I wish you luck,"

and she was just sad

that I was leaving,

but she knew

how much I suffered,

you know, for the family,

and all over the years,

and she wanted me

alsotofind my life,

soshe was kinda

finally okay with that.

And we hugged,

and we said good bye.

To go to a new culture,

to have to build

everything from scratch,

that was

the most difficult thing

for any human being.

I was conflicted

with my own identity.

I was invited toa Bible study.

I started tobuild

a new relationship

with a new community

that had

a totally different faith.

It was fun.

It was a peaceful environment.

And to go

to this kind of community,

and to be loved unconditionally

was very comforting,

it was very important tome.

It filled a very

important gap in my life.

I applied for political asylum

in the first few months

in secret,

and it was rejected

by the Department

of Homeland Security.

The FBI was told

by the Israeli Intelligence

that the son

of a top Hamas leader

is hanging out in California,

and we don't know

exactly what he's doing there,

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