Where the Desert Meets the Sea

by Werner Sonne

“Good of you to come. All hell’s broken loose. People from the Jewish Agency calling every few minutes. They want us to intervene. And our boys at the Antonius House are constantly on the wireless, wanting to know what they’re to do. The Arabs are firing on that Jewish convoy heading to Hadassah with all they have. There’s more and more of them, coming in from everywhere. The general does not wish to intervene. He feels that everything will calm down again soon.” Josef stared at him in disbelief. “He does not wish to intervene? That means we simply watch while those people out there are massacred?” “Looks that way, sir.” “I have to speak with him.” Josef straightened up, smoothed out his uniform, and knocked on the door to the general’s office. He didn’t wait for the reply, just stormed in. McMillan looked up from his files. “Didn’t the sergeant tell you I don’t wish to be disturbed, Goldsmith? You do understand I have a withdrawal to coordinate?” He gave Josef an impatient stare. “Anything else, Goldsmith?” “With all due respect, General, sir, you cannot be serious. There’s a massacre taking place, literally before our eyes, and we’re just letting it happen. As the mandate power, we have a responsibility to maintain order, which means for as long as we are still here.” McMillan looked at his files again. “You know something, Goldsmith? They fired at me this morning. The Jews could think of nothing better than to open fire on me as my car happened to pass by that convoy. T...