37

At the Gates of Umm al-Gharib

He remembered that interview he had conducted with one of the settlers from Ofra, the first settlement in Judea and Samaria, as he calls the West Bank most of the time. He wondered if one of them is there. He was surprised that he enjoyed talking to the settlers. He appreciated their love for the place and their notion about the importance of Zionist presence on the land of biblical Israel. He understood what they wanted, but he still had disagreements with them. They believed that the modern state cannot be complete without a soul and a spiritual life. And they were the soul of this state by settling the promised land. He wrote an article back then based on those interviews and was criticized by some because its tone was receptive to the settlers. However, despite not agreeing that their presence there is necessary, he saw them as farmers, determined to fulfill a dream that lived for more than three thousand years. He held on to that idea as he sat in the back seat of the police car trying to see the buses heading to Jaffa. The road took less than five minutes. The policeman didn’t want to make small talk, and Ariel wasn’t persistent in his questions.

The incoming settlers’ buses were blocking the entrance to the main square. Ariel stood behind the throngs at first, watching the spectacle. Then he moved forward slowly. Most of them were young, some pale, others were combing their long beards, as if preparing to devour their prey.

“Good morning all. Good morning to our free and sacred land. We have arrived in Jaffa and our brethren in Jerusalem are standing outside many houses there to enter as soon as the army allows us to do so there and elsewhere in the promised land.”

Voices thanking God for his grace billowed, chief among them that of their red-cheeked, soft-spoken leader. His white shirt and blue blouse couldn’t totally hide the excessive fat he carried. His graying beard bestowed some solemnity.

“What is important now is that I hope you don’t clash with the police. You know the world is watching us. Let’s pray to God for these blessings.”

The security forces had set up checkpoints on many roads and were heavily present around al-Sa‘a Square and Palestinian areas. It was four forty-five in the morning. More than twenty-four hours had passed since the disappearance. During this period the police had searched the houses of many of the disappeared. Some of them and some border security personnel were astonished. Others seemed satisfied. They didn’t find a single drop of blood. They were relieved that the army either wasn’t responsible for the disappearance, or it had executed it perfectly. No trace of anything except the disappearance.

Nothing in those houses indicates that their inhabitants had planned to leave them. TVs were still on in some of them, as if being watched by ghosts. Plates and tables were full of food, but the chairs were empty. When the officer in charge of the security force at the Jaffa gate saw the throngs of settlers heading toward him, he felt anxious and ordered them to stop.

Ariel was finally able to get through the masses and reach the officer to talk to him. He couldn’t get his approval to accompany one of the units. Suddenly, he heard a sharp voice behind him addressing the officer. It was the settlers’ leader. Ariel turned around, like a camera, and absorbed every sound and sight in the place

“Our religious duty in this sacred country obliges us to enter these houses to pray in them and reconsecrate them.”

The officer tried to calm the leader at first, and explained to him that it was a closed military area and it could not be entered without authorization. But the leader’s tone became more aggressive and threatening. The officer yelled and asked them to go back to where they came from, otherwise he will fire at those who disobey orders. He felt this last sentence might cost him a lot. As soon as he finished, some of the settlers’ fingers were gripping the weapons they were carrying.

He hurried to calm things down. He told them they would be allowed to pray there, but without entering the houses. He radioed central command asking for more troops. Some settlers formed rings and danced. A stormy sea of humans, chanting, praying, and celebrating that this land was pure now.

Ariel left Jaffa and the voices and songs of the settlers going up to the sky behind him and went to Tel Aviv on foot.