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CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
was the Greek Monastery of St. Simeon, whose sanctity had
long ago been violated by Iraqi troops who made it their
headquarters. They were part of an estimated eight thousand
foreign Arabs who had infiltrated into the Jerusalem area.
From the heights of Katamon the Iraqis had been keeping up
a day and night bombardment of a sprawling Jewish settlement, named Mekor Hayim, in the valley below, as well as
Rehavia, and other sections of the New City.
Jammed with Holy Warriors, our trucks roared up in time
to see a group of Iraqis setting up a mortar and begin blazing
away toward Mekor Hayim. While some of our own boys
dashed up to the crest of the hill, Moustafa and others took
positions behind barricades and also began to fire in a wild
and haphazard fashion at the Jewish settlement, which was
minding its own business as far as I could see, and at the
moment wasn't attacking anyone. The Arab Legion troops,
easily identified by their spear-tipped Kaiser Wilhelm helmets,
and