Following the shooting of a woman he cared deeply about by a member of the occupying forces, Nara Khmara – a humble, peaceful and kind-hearted man – decides he has to do something to help free his country from the oppressors. After some thought, his solution is to form a clandestine group of trustworthy volunteers to resist the occupation forces.
Adopting the persona of Che Guevara of Huwara, and tired by the fruitless and never-ending cycle of violence begetting violence, Nara organizes an underground movement dedicated to the principle of non-violent resistance, as befitting his mantra ‘Not a drop of blood.’
His first recruit and his staunchest supporter is his cousin, Mahmud Arab. Between them, they gradually identify more and more associates who share their aims. Some of these are gradually implanted into positions of authority and respect in Israeli society and even in the IDF itself. Exploiting these positions of trust, they form a non-profit organization called ‘Extermination of Exploitation’ and begin to reveal to the people of Israel, and the world in general, the corruption and greed endemic in their government and their reasons for perpetuating the occupation, an occupation that costs Israeli taxpayers many billions of dollars annually to sustain. Their message mirrors that of the 19th and early 20th century proponents of socialism, concentrating on the disparity between the luxurious lifestyles of the wealthy ruling political classes in the Knesset and comparing it to the want and poverty of the downtrodden, exploited lower classes in both Palestine and Israel.
This way, they increasingly erode the Israeli people’s trust and confidence in their government and sow the seeds of discontent amongst that population and, ultimately, demands for change. The climax of the book involves a peaceful kidnapping of the Prime Minister and the Ambassadors of the USA and Germany, an act that leads to the direct intervention of the US forces and the eviction of Jewish settlers and occupying forces from Palestine, and the reestablishment of the pre-1967 borders, leading to a new era of peace and cooperation between the two countries, thus realizing Nara’s dream.
In the West Bank village of Huwara, Muhammad “Nara” is treated as a harmless village fool: poor, dirty, silent, and useful only for odd jobs. Yet Nara notices everything. When Israeli soldiers detain him at a nearby military base, they mock him, use him as a servant, and underestimate his extraordinary memory. By the time he is released, he has absorbed their routines, codes, weaknesses, and surveillance methods.
Then Zainab—the one woman who defended and quietly loved him—is shot by an Israeli soldier while trying to help an injured child. At her grave, Nara vows to avenge her without shedding blood. He abandons the identity of “Nara the fool” and becomes Che Guevara of Huwara, a revolutionary whose weapon will be intelligence rather than bullets.
Che recruits Mahmud Arab, a resistance fighter believed dead, and begins building a clandestine organization based on secrecy, deception, psychological warfare, and the rule that not a single drop of blood is to be spilled. The network expands through messengers, students, academics, engineers, infiltrators, and unlikely allies. Rather than confronting Israel militarily, Che decides to understand it from within. His operatives study Israeli society, bureaucracy, security procedures, media, economics, and political divisions, then exploit those systems against themselves.
Among the movement’s most audacious infiltrators are Nasser el-Nablusi, who assumes the identity of the patriotic Yemenite Israeli “Zion Saadia,” and Rubhi Zeghlullah, who becomes “Noam Nadav.” Zion establishes Café Hannah beside the Paratroopers Memorial, winning the trust of soldiers, bereaved families, and security officials, while Noam helps build a populist Israeli movement against political corruption and social exploitation. Gradually, Che’s Palestinian resistance begins influencing Israeli public life without Israelis realizing who is behind it.
A series of increasingly spectacular operations pushes the country toward political upheaval. At the “Mad Cow” festival, Che’s network demonstrates that it can penetrate a supposedly secure public event, terrify the establishment, and cause massive destruction—while deliberately ensuring that no one is killed. The survivors become known as “the pardoned,” and the absence of casualties becomes the movement’s most powerful message: its goal is not revenge against Israelis, but an end to occupation and to the cycle of funerals on both sides.
As public faith in the government collapses, law professor Rubinstein emerges as the figurehead of a broad peace-and-social-justice movement. Che’s final operation targets the heart of the Israeli state. During a heavily secured ceremony at the Paratroopers Memorial, his operatives release a nonlethal gas, render the security detail unconscious, and abduct the Israeli Prime Minister along with the American and German ambassadors. The hostages are treated respectfully and kept unharmed while Israel, the United States, and Germany mobilize for a confrontation that threatens to ignite the region.
Che remains silent. Under international pressure and growing domestic revolt, Professor Rubinstein is empowered to negotiate. The crisis ends not with an assault but with political transformation: Palestinian prisoners are released, an internationally guaranteed agreement is approved, Israel returns to the pre-1967 borders, displaced people receive rights of return or compensation, and multinational forces replace the occupation forces.
As the last Israeli military convoy leaves Huwara, Che issues a final message: the Palestinians are on the road to independence. The man once dismissed as a fool has defeated a vastly stronger power without firing a shot.
