392
CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
"That is an unexploded Jewish bomb!" he explained.
The bomb was, in fact, a garbage can, probably filled with
scrap metal and dynamite and its lid soldered down. I saw no
fuse. I bad no idea what detonated these homemade affairs.
I knew what I had seen: the ashcans hurtling to the ground
became lethal block-busters when they struck. It occurred to
me suddenly that this "dud" might well be a time bomb. I had
no means of telling this to the policeman, so I got quickly
away from there.
Psychologically, this terror raid by the Jews on Damascus
had a more devastating effect than that on Amman. It gave
an entirely exaggerated view of Israel's strength. It cowed the
Syrians, who had been given the impression they were winning
decisively in Palestine. Had not their touted chieftain, Fawzy
Bey el Kawoukjy, with a home in Damascus, proclaimed his
personal victories? Arabs in the street couldn't get over the
fact that the once lowly Jew—four thousand of whom were
cooped up in their Damascus ghetto, afraid to venture out—
had used four-engine bombers!
Ill tidings travel fast. What Arab city would be attacked
next? When would it come? Would there be two planes or
twenty four-engine bombers? If two planes could kill twentytwo and injure one hundred and fifty-six, what casualties would
twenty or thirty planes inflict? Syrians asked. A frightened people will believe any myth. Rumors spread that Jews also had
an atom bomb and Einstein was its inventor. Never in their
history had such fears seized the Arab capitals. Little Israel—
with its retaliatory air raids—had struck a decisive blow in the
war against the Arab States.
That afternoon I interviewed Salah Fattah el Imam, D.D.S.,
president of the Arabic Club, to which my friend Sabaa belonged. Its membership included intellectuals, lawyers, physicians, government officials, and engineers of pro-German persuasion. Although the group numerically had always been
small, Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach, on his way
to Baghdad, had stopped off in Damascus to meet with Dr.