(CHAPTER IX)
THE HOLY CITY
"I pray to Allah to destroy the Jews. I pray to Allah
to punish President Truman because he has been
on the Zionist side. I used to pray against President
Roosevelt, a very bad man. . . . May Balfour and
Roosevelt take the first place in hell. Allah, Allah,
may
this
be
done."
"You sound like a Moslem Republican," I said.
Interview with Sheikh Ismail el Ansary
BEERSHEBA marked the southernmost limits of Biblical
Palestine ("from Dan to Beersheba.") Most of its two thousand inhabitants now were Bedouins, or former Bedouins
turned to the comforts of town life. Within a year it was to
become an almost all-Jewish town, as the Arabs fled and
Jewish refugees from Europe were settled there.
Here, in this green, extremely picturesque frontier post and
supply oasis we remained for a few days, to raise funds and arrange for transportation to Jerusalem, fifty miles to the north.
It was a pleasant respite. The wide, dusty main street was
lined with trees. Here passed coffee vendors, porters with
stacks of dried skins, and innumerable bronzed Bedouins on
camels. A trading and smuggling center, Beersheba trafficked
in arms and hasheesh, and also boasted several rifle factories,
at this moment working at top speed.