334
CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
trying to rush out of the hated city. They are crowding the
narrow exit (everything is narrow and tight in this Old
World) and are leaving at the proverbial snail's pace. There
are some who do not want to go: the women especially seem
unwilling. A few paces away I see a father literally dragging
his wife with one arm, and a child by the other, both of whom
are wailing and kicking and do not want to leave. These ugly,
ancient streets and ugly ancient hovels are home to some
people, as sweet-smelling and comfortable as homes in Garden City and Forest Hills, U. S. A.
The shouts of the soldiers mix in with the wail of the women
and the anguished cry of the men, and the eternal whimpering
of the children. The cries of the children and the agony of the
very old tug most at the heartstrings, for these are the most
innocent and the most blameless. What sin has this child and
this old old Jew committed to deserve this wrenching away
from a home in which he was born, as were his father and
grandfather before him?
A burst of four shots has just crackled from a machine-gun!
They echo back, redoubling the terror. My first instinct is to
jump off and seek protection, but I must write what I see. I
am sure that what has just raced through me has terrorized
these people equally. Why the sudden shots? Is it the beginning of a pogrom now that all the Jews, separated from the
Haganah, have been herded in one tiny square with most of
them conveniently lined up against the wall? This was an old
Turkish technique, dreaded by the Armenians. Is it now to
become an Arab technique of extermination?
The crowd huddles, tightens up, glues itself together, like a
wave washing back on itself. The children have set up a pitiful wail. A rifle shot has just rung out! Its effect is electrifying.
Half the mob surges toward Zion Gate, trampling those in
front. The other half, in a wild stampede, tries to run the
other way, back to the ghetto whose safety they had just left.
It looks as though there'll be a panic—a panic that could be
stopped only by Arab gunfire. Was this the intent of those