The Haj - Leon Uris [93]
‘This brings us to the point of the meeting,’ Kabir said. ‘It is a difficult point, a very difficult point. Generalissimo Kaukji has conferred with the chiefs of staff of all the Arab states. We consider that it would be better to remove our people from a number of sensitive strategic locations.’
‘You must evacuate Tabah,’ Kaukji said, ‘in order to give our forces a free run of things.’
So that was it! Oh, Allah, how could you let this befall me! It is madness! It cannot be true! No! No! Evacuate Tabah! On behalf of these fools!
‘You must evacuate,’ Abdul Kadar repeated.
‘But where shall we go?’ Haj Ibrahim mumbled as if in a stupor.
‘You have a great tribe in the desert. They are your cousins.’
‘But the Wahhabis live in privation. They cannot take in and feed two hundred more families.’
‘Let me tell you very confidentially,’ Kabir said. ‘I am negotiating with both the Syrians and Abdullah. They have expressed a definite willingness to take under consideration having you as guests until our armies have completed the job. We are suggesting that a number of other villages, even cities, evacuate. Obviously, we will make suitable arrangements for everyone.’
‘But you said they are only considering taking us. No one has said they will take us. I must hear it from Abdullah himself. Why doesn’t he have someone here? I cannot simply pick up a thousand people and go nowhere.’
‘Haj Ibrahim, this is war, holy war. You have no choice. Now listen, my brother. It will be a short war, a few weeks, a few months at most,’ Kabir oozed. ‘I say, sitting before you in the presence of Generalissimo Kaukji and Abdul Kadar Heusseini of Palestine’s most noble family ... .and I swear to you on Allah’s name that when you return, one third of the land of Shemesh Kibbutz will be yours.’
Haj Ibrahim was numbed and enraged but also wise enough to realize when a decision beyond his control was being imposed. He had neither room to maneuver nor bargaining points.
‘My army will be crossing the border in a few weeks, after the new year,’ Kaukji said. ‘After I have captured a number of settlements and stampeded the Jews, Abdul Kadar’s Army of the Jihad will unite with me and squeeze off Jerusalem. There is no way the Jews can defend all the roads ... unless some of our brothers choose not to cooperate.’
‘We will advise you,’ Kabir said, ‘exactly when to evacuate. You will take your people directly to Jaffa.’
‘Jaffa? Why Jaffa?’
‘To put them first in a safe place. In the event you are unable to get to Gaza by road, you will have an alternative, to leave by sea. Either you go to Gaza or when my negotiations with the Syrians are concluded, you can be shipped up to Syria. I have funds for a boat and instructions for you in Jaffa.’
‘But settlement will cost a fortune,’ Ibrahim protested.
‘I pay, I pay,’ Kabir said.
‘In return for what? Your charity is not exactly legend,’ Ibrahim retorted.
‘I pay for an Arab victory!’
‘Very well, but before I leave for Jaffa, I must have the funds in my hands,’ Ibrahim said.
‘Of course, of course. One thousand British pounds.’
‘To evacuate and resettle over two hundred families? I cannot go with less than five thousand.’
‘We will work out these minor details,’ Kabir said, switching subjects. ‘You will all be back in Tabah in time for fall planting. And most importantly, you can live forever without fear of a Zionist state.’
Here are my leaders. The vanguard of more leaders reeking of personal ambition and greed, maniacal for power. They have their cause now, their noble cause. I am as much to blame, for I have never really thought in terms of peace with the Jews. None of us is capable of even thinking in such terms. But there is no real plan, no organization, no stated set of goals; only to recruit an armed mob and dupe themselves into believing it will overrun the Jews. What donkeys! What fantasy-chasing idiots! They are leading my people into an eternity of suffering.
Haj Ibrahim declined the Effendi’s further hospitality and asked to be returned to Tabah.
When he was gone the other