BEST OF 2020: The Fake Diving Resort

2021-01-13

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In the 1980s, a brochure was printed across the world, for an idyllic holiday resort called Arous. It was a diving resort on the Red Sea, in the Sudanese desert. The brochure featured pictures of chalets on a bright beach, the sea almost the same colour as the skyBut what guests of the resort didn’t know was that Arous wasn’t really a holiday resort. At least not primarily. And the staff weren’t really managers, or diving instructors, or waitresses. Once the sun went down, those who worked at the hotel were part of a top secret mission, that not even their...

In the 1980s, a brochure was printed across the world, for an idyllic holiday resort called Arous. It was a diving resort on the Red Sea, in the Sudanese desert. The brochure featured pictures of chalets on a bright beach, the sea almost the same colour as the sky
But what guests of the resort didn’t know was that Arous wasn’t really a holiday resort. At least not primarily. And the staff weren’t really managers, or diving instructors, or waitresses. Once the sun went down, those who worked at the hotel were part of a top secret mission, that not even their own families were aware of. And if the Sudanese government found out, it would cost them their lives.

Raffi Berg is the Middle East editor for BBC News Online. He has extensive experience reporting on Israel and the wider region. His book 'Red Sea Spies: The True Story Of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort' was written in collaboration with secret agents involved in the operation and tells the complete story of the case for the first time.

This episode was originally published on June 18th, and is part of our 2020 Best Of series.

CREDITS:

Guest: Raffi Berg

Host: Jessie Stephens

Producer and editor: Elise Cooper

RESEARCH

‘Red Sea Spies: The True Story Of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort’ by Raffi Berg https://bit.ly/redseaspies-book
‘Red Sea Diving Resort: The holiday village run by spies’, Raffi Berg for BBC News, Tel Aviv https://bit.ly/redseaspies-bbc
‘Saving The Forgotten Jews’ BBC News https://bit.ly/forgotten-jews-bbc-news
‘The Daring Rescue of Ethiopian Jews From Sudan’, Israel First TV https://bit.ly/30Q77lR

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