These Papers are Intended to Mislead: Soldiers and Freedom Fighters in Mubārak Rabī`’s Comrades in Arms... and the Moon

This article addresses the misleading nature of the rewrite of the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war as portrayed in Moroccan Mubarak Rabl''s 1976 novel Rifqat al-Silah ...wa-l-Qamar (Comrades in Arms... and the Moon). Papers partially burned by are treating Moroccan officer lure the 'enemy' into attacking a fortified position, thus leading to an Arab victory. The fantastical nature of the war narrative informs a different reading of the novel, focused on Rabf's critique of and skepticism toward the possibility of unity among Arabs that such a victory would require. Rabf's critique centres on the distinction between jundi, regular soldier, and fida freedom fighter; he explores Arab culture's relation to the two archetypes and redraws the fida'i in order to provide a broader and more progressive understanding of the goals and behavior of those who desire