and every path wakes memories. In front of us is a ruined bridge. I get out and examine the wadi. It is deep and steep, but we have to get across. Slowly, in the crawling gear, the first jeep drives down, while the soldiers in the second provide cover. At the bottom the first jeep gets stuck at first, then thinks better of it, the engine coughs and shakes, then it drives back up on the other side. The slope is almost fifty degrees, and the men are almost lying down. Pity I don’t have my camera with me. The second and then the third vehicle make it across the wadi. Once on the road again we drive fast. Albert and Dov crouch behind their weapons. This is a dangerous area and we don’t want to be dependent on the careless-ness of the Arabs.
In the distance we see a few Arabs with camels who have strayed into our area. They run away when they see us, but the first jeep leaves the road and races after them. They stop and raise their hands, shaking with fear. Simple Fellaheen2.
Shalom Cohen, our Arabic speaker, searches their clothes for weapons and interrogates them. They tell him something about the region. When we let them go, they run away fast.
* * *
We are approaching the village of Ssajad, a well-known hide-out for Arab fighters. We stop behind a hill, with only our heads and our weapons visible to the enemy. They don’t take the geography of the ceasefire too seriously and open fire without announcement. The bullets whistle over our heads. We are pleased. Finally we have the chance of showing what our weapons can do. Asher gives the sign and we fire away.
"Cease fire!"
We drive back and disappear. It is not worth fighting a long, drawn-out battle. We are supposed to look around the area. So we drive close to the village of Gazaza and position ourselves behind a hill again. The village is quiet. But from Sajad they are still shooting in our direction. Pity about the ammunition.
* * *
We have done our job. We race back along the road to the ruined bridge. Albert Mandler,3 sitting in front of me, looks like a baker after a hard day’s work. He is covered in white dust. Ephraim, our driver, is wearing a sock hat pulled hard down over his forehead, goggles,