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Prologue
On
November 29, 1947, the future of 1.3 million Arabs
and 700,000 Jews living in Palestine rested with
the decision of fifty-six delegates of the General
Assembly of the United Nations. Jewish celebration
and Arab mourning commenced at the moment those
delegates cast their votes in favor of
partitioning the ancient land, thereby fulfilling
the two-thousand-year-old Jewish dream of
returning to their historic home.
From
that day, Jerusalem became a war zone.
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Jerusalem:
Wednesday, January 7, 1948
Moving
swiftly from side to side to avoid sniper fire, a
tense Joseph Gale quickly approached the front
door of his unpretentious block home. Once inside,
he continued his fast pace, giving an alert glance
at his sleeping son before rushing through the
sitting room and into the cramped hallway that had
been turned into a delivery room.
Ester
Gale didn't notice her husband's return. She was
rolling back and forth on the thin mattress,
holding a damp cloth to her chest, making small,
animal-like noises that broke the stillness of the
room.
Joseph's
sister, Rachel, and Anna Taylor, an American woman
who had befriended the Gales upon their arrival in
Palestine, were at Ester's side.
Joseph
glanced at his sister and noticed that her eyes
were fixed with a hopeful stare on the open
doorway. Joseph shook his head and held out his
arms in a gesture of defeat. He whispered, "I
could find no one. Not even a nurse."
Rachel
took a deep breath. She was relieved at Joseph's
safe return, but dismayed that he had been unable
to locate a physician. Rachel exchanged looks of
apprehension with Anna before murmuring,
"Well, we will do the best we can."
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