The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East Read Online Free PDF Page B

of murder and other outrages by gangs of armed terrorists," declared a report of His Majesty's government. British troops responded with baton charges, live ammunition, and a new tactic: demolitions of the stone homes of suspected rebels and their relatives. "This preliminary work of demolition," one British communique declared, "will be punctuated by frequent detonations and crashes of falling masonry . . . the neighbourhood should not be surprised, misled, or alarmed when they hear these noises."
    In the summer of 1936, the entire Khairi clan, along with the rest of al-Ramla, prepared for the annual festival of Nabi Saleh. Despite the rebellion and the British crackdown, thousands of Arabs came from across Palestine to honor this early miracle-working prophet who foretold the coming of the Prophet Mohammad. Delegations from each city in Palestine would come to the ancient mosque at Nabi Saleh, planting their city flags. "Women went to his tomb in al-Ramla to pray for fertility and better health," Ahmad and Zakia's daughter Khanom remembered. "There would be singing and dancing and prayer and picnics. This event was the highlight of the year."
    News of the conflict reached the family sporadically. The rebels were exacting a toll. Many Jewish farmers couldn't get their crops or livestock to market, and those who tried were often attacked and their animals killed. Water projects were suspended as survey crews were attacked. Rural guerrillas had mastered hit-and-run tactics, firing upon British patrols, in some cases retreating to nearby villages to disguise themselves as women. A British report underscored the frustration. Colonial troops "were continually finding themselves shot up on all sides," only to find "that the hostile area was apparently populated by unarmed peaceful shepherds and agriculturalists." On one occasion, "a small party of British troops were bathing near Beisan on the 12th August [and] were subject to a surprise attack by a large Arab armed band. Unfortunately their Lewis gun 'jammed' and those who were on guard were killed by the band, who succeeded in capturing the Lewis gun and some rifles." The rebellion was just as alarming to the Zionists. "On one side, forces of destruction, forces of the desert, have risen," declared Chaim Weizmann. "And on the other side stand firm the forces of civilization and building. It is the old war of the desert against civilization, but we will not be stopped."
    At night, fedayeen fighters moved from house to house, sleeping in their muddy boots in the homes of peasants or city dwellers. Family oral history suggests some Khairis were also sheltering rebels. Organizers in the local committees set up networks for smuggling arms and for collecting "taxes," sometimes by intimidation, to finance the insurgency. Rebel leaders were pressuring urban Arabs to abandon their fezzes and put on the keffiyeh, so that the rural rebels would not stand out. It isn't clear if Ahmad's furniture workshop was a target of such "tax collection," but increasingly, his uncle, Mayor Mustafa Khairi, was facing threats from rebels who saw him as too close to the British. Despite the pressure from all sides, the family tried to continue living normally.
    With the birth of baby Khanom, Zakia and Ahmad now had four daughters. Ahmad still waited for his son, and he had begun to wonder if his wife was capable of bearing one. "We also didn't have any uncles," Khanom said. "So it was even more important to have a male baby." Of her mother, she said, "Of course we thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world." At home Zakia always wore a dress: a housedress for family and fancier dresses with dark stockings for visitors. She smelled of Bombay perfume, which she applied from a special flask shaped like an Indian woman. Most people in al-Ramla in those days used the public baths, but the Khairis had their own; sometimes the girls' schoolteachers would come to use the bath, which shocked the children.