278
CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
The next night I saw the Portzim at a Menorah Society
social. Here I saw them play as hard as they had fought. They
danced jigs and horas for hours. Among the girls there were
no wallflowers. They were self-possessed and mature at fifteen.
This was the new Israeli generation—marked by a radical conception of woman's role in society. No longer the retiring,
submissive woman of the Middle East—nor the enslaved,
bullied, chattel Arab woman—but an equal partner of the
man, whether at the front, at home, or at play. In this sorely
besieged city, amid the rain of death and bombs, it was thrilling to see the linking of the hand of man with that of woman.
Here was a partnership that energized both, and gave to each
the fighting faith and strength to level mountains and work
miracles on their native soil.