The Shield: a novel (25 page)

That evening the couple greeted each other with: “I have news
.
”

“
You go first.”

“
Sima offered me the post of administrator at a new nursing school they’re going to build at our local hospital. They’ll start construction in a couple of weeks. I need to give her my decision soon.”

“
That’s great.” Noam was smiling. “You finally get rewarded for all your hard work. It‘s also walking distance from here. I think that you should take the job.”

“
Not so fast.” Shoshanna was serious. “It is not the same job I have now. The new job means longer hours and all kinds of aggravation, at least until the thing is built and running. What if we have more children? I still want my girls.”

“
Your word is my command, my lady. Shall we start working on that right now?”

“
Can’t you be serious for a moment?”

“
Oh, I am serious. I don’t see how a couple of hours more a week at work will prevent us from having more kids, especially if you’re working closer to home.” Noam was serious now too. “Anyway, the key to success in a job like that is not working harder but deputizing. Let your assistants do the work while you supervise. They will let you hire people right away?”

“
I’ll check on that. If they do, you think I should take the job?”

“
Yes, I think you should. I’ll do my best to help you, though with my news it will be difficult.”

“
News?”

“
Well, I let you go first, now it’s my turn. I was also offered a promotion today; or rather I was promoted without an option to refuse.” Noam was smiling happily. “I was made a partner in the firm.”

“
Hey, this is great.” Shoshanna was smiling now too. “Are we rich yet?”

“
My salary will be half again as much, plus part of the firm’s profits. There’s a catch though; I’m now responsible for a huge project. You remember my speculation yesterday about who’s going to design that new project and the railway extension? Well, the answer is: our firm. Jacobson, Amichai, Keshet and Shaviv. Sounds good, doesn’t it?”

“
Your name will be on the firm’s building? Really?”

“
Yes. They ordered new signs already. Now the catch is that it’s going to be my responsibility to coordinate the different design teams. The other partners will help, but with Jacobson having celebrated his seventy-fifth and Amichai close to it, it will be up to the two younger partners to carry that out.”

“
But Noam,” Shoshanna said, “your firm doesn’t have enough architects and engineers for a project of this magnitude.”

“
You don’t realize how right you are. The new city, or rather complex of cities, is supposed to be in the desert. We don’t even have enough surveyors for the job. We’re hiring right now, but the market is tight. Architecture and civil engineering were never that well-paid, so the pickings are slim. I applied today to the Ministry of Housing to issue temporary licenses to any qualifying architects and civil engineers among the newcomers. According to the immigration statistics I saw today, that should solve the problem. We’ll have to revert to old pencil and paper techniques, but it will be doable.”

“
I wonder why the government chose to give such a big contract to a small firm like yours.”

“
Hey, we’re not small. There are three active partners, with two very experienced architects advising us. The firm employs close to eighty people. Among architectural design firms we’re considered big. Not the biggest, but big enough for the job. And we won the contract. After all, we’re not going to build anything, just design and supervise. They’re going to divide the construction between a number of builders. Maybe even get some foreign companies in on this. Besides, if we need to, we can partner with one of the other firms, or hire them as subcontractors. We’ll see.”

***

Ibrahim knocked on the door in Jenin. His friend and commander pulled him inside: “Allahu Akbar. I see you are back. How did your mission go?”

“
I was taken by the guide to the Sinai and eventually arrived at a German base in Bosnia. I met with the Grand Mufti, may Allah smile on him forever. I completed my mission.”

“
Are you certain you were not followed here?”

“
Yes. The Mufti’s pilot took me into Jordan and landed in the desert not far from the Dead Sea. I walked across the border south of there and then hitchhiked to Jenin. At no time did I see anything suspicious.”

“OK.
I’ll report to the commander. You can stay here for a while. I’ll not be long.”

***

Mohammad al Husseini listened quietly to the report. He was elated – Finally he succeeded in striking at the hated Jews and, hopefully, eliminating them altogether.

“
You say that my great uncle met with Ibrahim. Did he give Ibrahim a message for me?”

“
Ibrahim has a message, but he claims that it is for your ears only and will not tell me what it is.”

“
Stop wasting time then. Bring him here. But be careful - We don’t want the Israelis getting wind of this.”

Less
than an hour later the courier knocked on his door

“
Allahu Akbar.” Mohammad greeted him. “I hear that you bring good news.”

“
Allahu Akbar, sir, and may Allah cherish you forever,” Ibrahim responded. “I have good news indeed. But first I have to give you the message your great uncle, may he be in Allah’s favor forever, gave me. Here is the sealed letter he personally handed me. He also made me memorize a message, in case I had to destroy the letter.”

Moh
ammad carefully inspected the thin, postcard size, rice paper envelope. It was sealed with a gold leaf seal bearing the words ‘Allah is Great’ and the Mufti’s personal crest with an image of the Temple Mount mosques. The top left corner said in German: ‘The office of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Chief Commander of the Muslim forces in Europe”; the right corner had the same text in Arabic. There was a signature across the seal on the flap of the envelope. He sliced the envelope open, without breaking the seal. Inside was a piece of rice paper bearing the imprinted seal of the Mufti as well as the address of his office in Sarajevo. The rest was hand-written and signed in dark green ink – the Mufti’s favorite. He knew the signature from the many family papers he had seen. Being a careful conspirator, Mohammad pulled out a copy of his great uncle’s letter and compared signatures. He had no doubt: both the handwriting and signature were authentic.

“
Did you see what kind of pen my great uncle used to write this?” Mohammad asked.

“
I saw him sign the back with a fountain pen with, I think, a gold nib. I don’t know what make it was. I am sorry but I am not familiar with brands of fountain pens.”

“
That’s fine, I wouldn’t expect you to know that. You did a great job.”

He read the letter. It was short and to the point, just like Moh
ammad expected a communication from the Grand Mufti to be:

My dear nephew, may Allah always smile upon you,

We were handed a unique opportunity to finish the Jews. My friend, Herr Hitler is doing a thorough job on them in Europe but it will be up to us to get the Dar al Islam rid of them. The lands of Islam will be liberated by the numerous Muslim SS divisions being recruited and trained in Bosnia. They will have advanced weapons the Third Reich is building with Allah’s help and the knowledge you gave us.

We must train as many soldiers as possible to join the SS. For this purpose I instruct all the Arabs dwelling in the Jewish state prepare to leave for the Kingdom of Jordan. We are working on establishing our training c
amps there and want everyone to be ready to leave as soon as I give the word. In the meantime you should desist from any activity that may alert the Jews to our plans or cause them to attack us before we are ready.

By Allah’s will your uncle,

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al Husseini

Sarajevo, July 7, 1941

Mohammad looked at Ibrahim: “What was the message you memorized?”

Ibrahim recited his message. It was the s
ame as the letter.

“
Did the Mufti say anything else?” Mohammad inquired.

“
We had a conversation that lasted almost an hour. Mostly he wanted to know about the future and what kind of weapons the Israelis have. He seemed very sure about his plans. He told me that German scientist looked at the books I brought with me - by the way he thought that it was a great inspiration for you to send science books in German. The Germans are sure that they will be able to develop an atomic bomb very soon. That’s one reason he wants everybody to get out of here – he plans on using it on the Jews and doesn’t want any of our brethren to be harmed.” Ibrahim paused, thinking. “That is all I remember, sir.”

“
Ah, that makes more sense. My great uncle is truly a great strategist. Now the order to leave for Jordan makes sense.” Muhammad nodded to himself. “It will have to wait until the Israelis open the borders, but we should make all the preparations now. Tell the commander of your cell that we will have a strategy meeting tonight. He has to notify the others.”

After Ibrahim left, Muh
ammad made a telephone call to Ramallah. “The package was successfully delivered; I need you to set up a meeting soon.”

***

Moshe Cohen, aka Ibrahim al Taibeh, was tired of traveling. He had been transported in German military cars from Turkey to Greece and from there to Bosnia.
Apparently the Nazis were trying to check up on him and were in no hurry to deliver him to the Mufti. Even after he told them to radio the Caliph to verify his identity they were still slow. Moshe suspected that they were bugging the site of the meeting
.
Now, after four days on the road, they were approaching Sarajevo where the Mufti was supposed to be.

“
Major, we have a room in one of the local hotels ready for you. Not the best accommodations possible but not bad considering the barbaric conditions in this country.” The German SS officer smiled as he opened the car door for Moshe.

The hotel looked like it was the fanciest place in town, although that wasn’t saying much. The facade was pockmarked by bullets – a witness to a battle. At least all the windows were glazed, which couldn’t be said of
most of the other buildings in the area. Two huge Nazi flags hung from first floor windows and a couple of SS guards patrolled outside the front door.

“
It looks like this hotel is well-guarded,” Moshe said with fake innocence. “You have problems with criminals?” He knew that this was military headquarter for the Muslim SS.

“
No, sir.” The German made a dismissive gesture. “The Bosnians mostly welcome us, at least the Muslims do. Of course, there are always some malcontents, but this place is guarded because it’s the temporary headquarters of the Muslim Hanjar 13th Waffen SS division.”

“
Oh, I will have the honor of staying in the same building as the Grand Mufti, may Allah always smile on him.”

The room was large and had been expensively decorated before World War I. Now it was a bit shabby but still livable. Moshe had no complaints.

“When will I see the Grand Mufti?”

“
He will see you at supper, in about two hours. You may want to wash up, sir. There is a fresh change of clothes in the closet.” The officer saluted and left the room.

Moshe decided to follow the German’s advice. He showered and changed into a black suit that had been prepared for him. It fit well and he marveled, again, at the efficiency of the Germans.

At a quarter to seven there was a knock on his door. Another officer in a black SS uniform was outside. He saluted and said, in German heavily accented with Arabic: “Major, sir, the Grand Mufti will be in his private dining room soon. I have orders to escort you there.”

They walked along a corridor and down a flight of stairs. To the right was the entrance to the hotel’s main dining room, to the left a short hallway with a double door at its end. The SS officer opened that door for Moshe, announcing in Arabic
“Major Ibrahim al Taibeh, your Excellency.”

The Grand Mufti was seated at a table laid out for two. He rose from his seat and shook Moshe’s hand
. “Allahu Akbar. I heard many stories about you, Major. I hope they are true, otherwise I will be very sad to see you handed over to the Gestapo.”

Moshe smiled
. “May Allah always smile on you, Hajj Amin. I don’t know what stories the infidels told you, but one thing is true: I come from your cousin, the Great Caliph of Jerusalem, with very good news.”

The Mufti sat and gestured for Moshe to take the other seat: “You will have to explain yourself my friend. I was asked by the Germans about a Caliph in Jerusalem but the last time I was there the d
amned British were in control of Palestine. I need proof of your claim.”