A New Beginning
New life in Our Ancient Land New Life in Our Ancient Land
pened in Yagur for as far back as anyone could remember. We stood on the part of the building that had not collapsed and planned our escape through the rushing water. I hesitated because I did not want to get my orthopedic shoes wet, but someone helped me get to higher ground. The water raged on for perhaps two hours. Then, suddenly, it stopped and everything gradually returned to normal. Deposits of rock and lime, yellow and red from the layers of the mountain, were everywhere and the bridges were destroyed. But by some minor miracle, although some of my furniture was lost, my bed with its custom-made mattress stood untouched. We were always aware of the Arab presence nearby. A large con- tingent of the Arab Legion was located in Jelamy, a British military camp about three miles from us. The Legion had originally been set up to patrol the Hashemite Kingdom, or Transjordan, which the British created when the Palestinian Mandate was divided along the Jordan River. The Legion was led by a British general, John Bagot Glubb, who took the name Glubb Pasha and continued to lead the Arab Legion after Britain left. British officers taught the Jordanians the techniques of warfare that they still follow; they are the best-armed force of the Arab world, even today. During my earliest years in Yagur, we rarely had trouble with the Arab Legion. However, we feared the Arab Legion’s soldiers because they zealously took the Arabs’ side against the Jews. One time, for in- stance, they suspected that we were holding training exercises be- hind Yagur’s vineyards. The Arab Legion soldiers came in armored cars along the main road and fired cannons into the vineyards. No one was hit, fortunately, but from then on, we were very careful because we realized that they were constantly patrolling the area. This disturbed us because they were officially part of the British military. Later on, before the British departed, we had a lot more trouble with the Arab Legion. Fortunately, when the British left Israel, the Arab Legion was also evacuated to Jordan. We had little contact with Arabs, even though the road to Haifa went right through a large Arab village about two miles from the
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