The Haj - Leon Uris [80]
The fellahin of Tabah did not agree.
They are forever postponing reality and decision, their muktar thought. Despite the favorable signs of enormous pressure by the Arab states, Haj Ibrahim knew quietly that the combination of America and Russia was probably too great to overcome.
Then the votes came in. As nation after nation cast its ballot, the villagers began to feel the despair creep over them. Haj Ibrahim did not even wait for the final tally. He arose morosely, said, ‘It is the will of Allah,’ and left.
At Lake Success, a devastated British Government, which had abstained, watched red-faced as their wartime allies turned on them. The final count was thirty-three to thirteen, with ten abstentions, in favor of partition. His Majesty’s delegate arose and announced that Britain would not cooperate in implementing the partition and would withdraw her forces from Palestine by May 14, 1948. Thus ended the shameful episode of the mandate.
Within moments of the vote the fellahin of Tabah had unearthed their cache of arms and fired angrily into the air, swearing revenge. All over Arab Palestine this was echoed with an eruption of country-wide riots and a general strike. But alas, the night no longer belonged to them.
Tabah’s new and powerful radio receiver was able to get broadcasts from every part of the world. They heard the Arab and Moslem prime ministers, presidents, kings, the Moslem Brotherhood, the Moslem Youth, and the Moslem clergy all spew forth public venom. With each declaration of support the fellahin of Tabah became heartened and shouts of agreement followed every new blood-curdling announcement.
Cairo: ‘The Zionist invasion is like that of the Tartars. If the Jews dare to declare their independence on May 14, they shall be so ravaged that it wilt make Genghis Khan seem like a man of peace. There will be new pyramids of skulls ... Jewish skulls!’
Damascus: ‘Arab weapons will make this so-called partition plan just so much worthless ink on paper.’
Baghdad: ‘Revenge and hatred of the Jews is just and legitimate. We shall proudly uproot this Zionist cancer from sacred Arab soil.’
Kuwait: ‘O Arab brothers in Palestine, take heart. We shall cause history to repeat itself. We have rejoiced over the devastation of the Jews, whose filthy economic cunning led to their massacre in Europe. We shall finish Hitler’s work.’
Saudi Arabia: ‘May the greatest of Islamic dogmas light our way into the battle of the extermination of the Jews.’
Trans-Jordan: ‘The Jews are wild beasts, bloodsuckers, traitors, enemies of mankind. The world has scorned, rejected, and expelled them. If they try to establish a Zionist state, it shall be eradicated by blood and victims.’
Libya: ‘We shall drench Palestine with rivers of Jewish blood. We shall crush Jewish bones and use them for fertilizer.’
Yemen: ‘We live and die with Arab Palestine. We shall strew Jewish entrails over the land.’
Tunis: ‘May the Prophet strike us blind, nay dead, if we permit a Jewish state in the midst of sacred Islamic soil.’
Lebanon: ‘Victory is ours! We shall throw every Jew and every Jewish baby into the sea with its mother.’
Haj Ibrahim alone understood the difference between rhetoric and action. The Arab language was now its saltiest and filled with an overkill of wild phrases. To a listening stranger it could be the most fearful use of language they would ever hear. To the Arab masses it was a siren song from a distant mirage.
Words painted elaborate pictures, but like a mirage, the words were illusions. Haj Ibrahim had long ago realized that fantasy and reality were one and the same thing among his people. The fantasy had to be kept alive at all costs.
He also knew that he alone would have to make a decision for all of them, for none would undertake responsibility.
Each night a fever arose from the café of Tabah. ‘Jihad! Jihad! Jihad! Holy War! Holy War! Holy War!’
Riots and massacres ripped through the Arab world, turning their fury on small and defenseless Jewish populations. Synagogues