Life in the Besieged City
275
charges on their back. As they withdrew behind protective
fire, an earth-quaking explosion ripped the giant gate from its
moorings, shattering sandbags, blowing wire, stone, and scrap
metal sky-high.
The Portzim stormed their way past the inner ring of Arabs
and established contact with the ghetto Jews four hundred
yards inside Zion Gate. For the next hour reinforcements,
food, and medicine poured in, and the wounded were brought
out. Water and ammunition were the greatest need. Eyewitnesses found the morale within still excellent. Only the aged
orthodox Jews wanted to surrender.
As the dawn broke over the walls, the Portzim retired and
the Arabs dared to mount the walls again, spitting their fire
over the breached Gate.
The sun burst forth over the crest of the Mount of Olives,
accompanied by an uneasy wind. A flaming orb showed for a
minute, then buried itself in the gray cloud banks that encircled the embattled city. The Arab flag was still flying from the
Citadel. Over the Dormition Church on Mount Zion and
the adjoining property we now saw the Vatican flags. One of
the flagpoles was grotesquely bent. Was this, too, a symbol?
The Vatican flag had provided little immunity. Who cared
about anybody's flag at this time? The Arabs made fortresses
of the Pope's property until driven out by the Jews who, in
turn, used the property the same way, looting what the Arabs
had not. C'est la guerre. War makes the Christian and the
Moslem savage. Why should the Jew be different?
EMERGENCE OF THE "NEW" JEW
I HAD guessed that five hundred Portzim had assaulted Zion
Gate. To my astonishment—and I verified the figure carefully—not more than 125 had taken part. Superbly trained,
armed to the teeth with new Czech rifles, grenades, Sten