170
CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
lets, pistols, rifles, and even larger arms within shadow of
Christendom's holiest shrine, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Lecherous guides certainly inspired no Christian sentiment. Except for isolated spots holy to Christendom, reverentially kept, and truly inspiring to visit, such as the churches,
monasteries, hospices, and mission houses (as well as the centers revered by the Jews), the Old City was basically Islamic
in culture, mode of living, and psychology.
These were my first impressions as Moustafa and I were
ushered into the presence of Captain Fadhil Rashid Bey, Arab
military commander of Jerusalem. He was soft-spoken in contrast to the braggarts I had met so far. An Iraqi, he had been
trained by Germans and, as he told me, had participated in
the pro-Nazi revolt of 1941 in Iraq, which for two desperate
months threatened to turn the entire Middle East into a Nazi
camp.2 Moustafa gave me a flattering introduction as a correspo