After he said that, he took his new girlfriend by the hand and went towards the boys from Hebron. Since I was still so overwhelmed with surprise that he would meddle and make such fantastic claims about me, I completely forgot to caution him. Thank God, something unforeseen did not happen. The men believed he was serious. They held a brief discussion, then they all bowed deeply as Abdullah said this to me: “Effendi, you are a great and powerful official. Unfortunately, you are also a Christian. For this reason, we are not permitted to invite you to be our guest. The children’s games can only begin when you have left this site.”
Indirectly, this was an invitation to leave only our dust behind. Taking their donkeys with them, the men moved to a more remote spot. A little more peaceable scene was taking place where Thar and Schamah met together with the boys from Hebron. The boys were very excited. Since so many of them were hollering, they shouted something that we didn’t understand. Fearlessly, Thar stood there in front of the boys. As if protecting the girl, he put his left arm around the girl and gestured menacingly with his right—we could not hear what he was saying to the crowd. Schamah’s mother was anxious about the safety of her daughter. I tried to reassure her. We drew closer to the aroused and animated group.
When Thar saw us coming, he called out to us: “Nothing will come of their threat. They want to drown Schamah—in the water close to where you have been sitting. They justify themselves by saying that she is a Christian who has defiled today’s festival. I told them that I won’t allow that, so I’ll fight for her. They are now choosing the ringleader that I’m supposed to deal with. Ah, there he is!”
He pointed to a tall, robust boy who now stepped forward. Following the customary way that the adults had taught him, he gave his pre-battle speech. He struck a pose and called out to Thar, as well as to us: “You are a Christian-dog, and she is a Christian girl, which is even worse than a cur. We will drown her in the deepest part of the well, in a spot where she can not touch bottom. We are true, absolute, and obedient believers of the Prophet. In this celebration of Ishmael’s birthday, we can not endure the sacrilege of a Christian’s feet to touch this ground. So, she must die. But you want to fight for her, because you claim to be a hero. We are game for this, because we too are heroes. I demand that you state your conditions for combat!”
When Schamah’s mother heard all of this, her fear reached its peak. I explained to her that it was probably not a case of violent rage that would actually be carried out—rather, it would be handled as a game. After all, today was supposed to be the “Day of Children’s Games.” She could rest assured that nothing would happen to her daughter. So, it was not necessary to take her away from our boy Thar.
Thar then spoke to Schamah: “You are Queen of the Games; and before your eyes, they are about to begin. Come and be seated!” She sat upon a stone bench, and he took his place beside her. Next, he took his notebook from his vest pocket, opened it, and began to deliver his counter-reply to the ringleader: “You call me a Christian-dog. On the contrary, I’m a Muslim from Jerusalem, and that is far greater that your Hebron sect. Who then are you?” He began to read the following lines: “You are all Canaanites: Hittites, Jebusites , Girgashites, Hivites, people of Arka, Amorites, Sidonians, Phenicians, those from Zemar, Arvadians, Hamathians, and all others dwelling in Zidon. In the refining process of Islam, you were found lacking and were passed over—now, you are simply sediment. If your faith were pure and noble, then your people would not find it so necessary to keep others away from your places of worship!”
He returned his notebook to its vest pocket and continued speaking: “You say that my young girl friend is worse than a dog. A true hero would not say such a thing. By contrast, I’m a hero, I’m civil, and I oppose you. I’ll fight with you, but not on your terms—all of you against only me. Instead, we’ll follow the custom we practice in Jerusalem—one on one. You will find yourselves transformed into Lions, Elephants, Hippos, and Whales. From among you, select the boldest Lion, the most powerful Elephant, the strongest Hippo, and the largest Whale. I will fight all four beasts. When I defeat all four of your fighters, I’ll receive—“
“My Canterbury-bells,” Schamah called out. Her small hand raised the flowers upward.
“Yes, your bluebell flowers,” Thar chimed in. “Palestinian Hebronites, sit down in front of her and me, and I’ll explain to you what all of this has to do with Lions, Elephants, Hippos, and Whales.
With pleasure, they immediately obeyed him. For a few moments, they scurried helter-skelter, crawling over and under each other like crazed insects. A deep silence then took over, broken only by the boy’s clarifying voice. When they all grasped the picture that he was describing, they began to cheer loudly. A thing like this had never happened before. Everyone pressed forward, wanting to be chosen as one of the beasts. In the midst of these would-be-juggernauts who strove for revenge, there sat Schamah, “Forgiveness.” Without any fear of harm, she kept a peaceful smile on her loveable face. Curiously enough, the adult men were just as excited as the boys. They all flocked around. The Hebron men joined their boys in the process of selecting and appointing. They marked out the fight-arena. Abdullah, who was the Secretary of State for the Palestinian Sheik of Balad, even took it upon himself to appoint security police as part of the rules for this fight. What more can be said about hate and disputes among religious people.