The Haj - Leon Uris [32]
‘Kaukji,’ Haj Amin said instantly.
‘Kaukji,’ Bockmann concurred.
The Mufti did not like it. Kaukji had been an officer in the Turkish Army during the war and had won an Iron Cross. Since the war he floated about as a mercenary. He had been involved in an abortive rebellion against the French in Syria and had fled. He turned up here, in Saudi Arabia, as an intelligence adviser, there, in Iraq in a military college. The German agents in Iraq were undoubtedly sold on Kaukji. He spoke fluent German, had a German wife and an Iron Cross. He had friends at court in Berlin. Haj Amin did not like the man personally; he was too ambitious. He fancied himself a German field marshal complete with a personalized uniform and a field marshal’s baton.
But Kaukji was on the make and Haj Amin knew it. The so-called coalition of Palestinian Arab moderates had already contacted Kaukji. A secret meeting had taken place in Baghdad called by Fawzi Effendi Kabir, the Mufti’s enemy. Kabir represented many businessmen and investors in Palestine whom Haj Amin wanted to eradicate. The Mufti also knew that Kabir had made secret investments in Jewish enterprises and wanted Palestine to retain much of its Jewish community. If he, Haj Amin, did not agree to take Kaukji, then certainly Kabir and his crowd would get him.
‘If I agree to Kaukji,’ Haj Amin said.
‘You must agree to Kaukji,’ Herr Bockmann answered.
‘I see that all of this has been carefully thought out.’
‘It has.’
‘I will agree only to a meeting with Kaukji,’ the Mufti said. ‘He is to receive his orders from me. That must be clearly understood in advance.’
‘But of course, Your Eminence. There is another matter. We want you to start sending your boys to Germany for training. Not only is military and sabotage training vital, but your people must learn government operations to be able to move into key positions.’
‘You are saying we are incapable of governing ourselves?’
‘We only wish to assist you in areas where we can be helpful.’
It was utterly clear that the price for German help would be high, damnably high.
‘We also feel,’ Bockmann finalized, ‘there is a great new value to the use of propaganda. It can be an extremely useful tool against the Jews and we are creating new techniques.’
‘Anything else?’ Haj Amin asked.
Bockmann held his arms apart to indicate he had delivered all the messages. ‘It would not be terribly wise for us to continue meeting in the open.’ He turned at the door. ‘By the way. It is no trick smuggling arms into Jerusalem, but we are concerned with a place to hide them.’
‘The Crusaders used the Al Aksa Mosque as part of their headquarters,’ Haj Amin said. There are large underground areas where they stabled their horses. These have been incorrectly described as Solomon’s stables. The arms will be safe there.’
‘Ingenious, but the British could well become aware.’
‘My dear Gustav Bockmann, the British would never profane a Moslem holy place.’
At last they managed a laugh together as the Mufti saw the German out.
11
Jaffa—April 19, 1936
BETWEEN THE ANCIENT ARAB port city and the new Jewish city of Tel Aviv stood a wasteland of hovels peopled by downtrodden oriental Jews, Arabs, and a purgatory of mixed marriages.
In the middle of evening prayers agents of the Mufti ran into the mosques of Jaffa, on signal, screaming that the Jews were slaughtering Arabs in Tel Aviv. The timing was exquisite, with every mosque in the city receiving the libel at the same time. The short fuse that every Arab carries in his guts had been ignited with consummate ease. Enraged mobs poured into the streets. The Mufti’s operators were waiting to drum up a chant and lead them to the no-man’s-land neighborhood between the cities. It was a maddened swarm that fell on the wretched quarters of oriental Jews and slaughtered nine, grievously wounding scores more. Within hours this always smoldering rabble had been ignited into a wildfire that swept over Palestine.
A day later, Haj Amin al Heusseini declared the formation of a new Arab Higher Committee with