The Holy City
165
Among them was Rashad Y. Sakka, who according to his
card was "Mambe of Municipl Council" of Beersheba. His
English was on a par with his spelling. Sakka looked forward
to the Mufti's seizure of all Palestine. "We have not a better
man. He is a faithful Moslem." Sakka told me that Mr. and
Mrs. Kermit Roosevelt had visited Beersheba for two days,
dined with a sheikh in his tent, and had been impressed with
Bedouin life.
THE BEDOUIN KING OF BEERSHEBA
IN THE morning of the third day Moustafa asked rne to accompany him to the home of a rich Arab who might help us
with money and arms. I went with him to a house built solidly
of stone, with windows heavily barred, the lower half of each
window latticed Turkish fashion to enable the women inside
to peer out yet remain invisible to the passerby. We were
halted at the iron door by a sentry. A half dozen other armed
Bedouins sprawled in the courtyard. Another sentry allowed
us no farther than the porch. There we waited for Sheikh
Salaam, a Bedouin tribal chief. He was a short, wizened man
with a face the color of burnt copper. He had tiny, cunning
eyes and a tight and narrow mouth from which the words
came sparingly. He was draped in a flowing black burnous,
gold-braided at the neck. Around his waist was a cartridge
belt, revolver, and a curved dagger, standard Bedouin equipment. He took Moustafa inside with him.
I learned the sheikh's record. Already wealthy through
border traffic, he had bought land cheaply from Bedouins, and
later sold it at extravagant prices to Jews, amassing even greater
wealth. The vengeful Bedouins demanded an accounting. The
sheikh promptly turned against the Jews, and emerged a top
Arab patriot.
Moustafa came away empty-handed from the sheikh. "He is
rich but he does not give baksheesh. He is not patriotic,"