"Don’t judge our women by your own, you pimp. Our women are waiting for us with open arms. Over."
"And when do you think you will see these arms again, you madman? You’ll still be stuck here in ten years’ time. Over."
The Egyptian knows that there is some truth in this. His chances of reaching home soon are slim. There is almost no chance of breaking the siege. And if the war is not over soon, he will either be shot, starved, or will end up as a prisoner of war. He tries to escape through optimism: "I will get out of here. But before you get home your wife will be an old woman. Over."
Everything has its limits. For the sake of entertainment Jamus is quite happy to exchange compliments about parents and siblings. But if his girlfriend is involved, it is a different matter. He has little trust in her faithfulness. And he has no desire to spend five more years on the front. He forgets his Egyptian origins and changes to pure Hebrew. "Yob tvoyu Mat-you dirty Arab!"
"Shut up you Jew, you dog."
* * *
This first radio dialogue was the start of a special relationship between Jamus and Ibrahim. Every morning since then, at around ten o’clock, Jamus and Tucki tune in their radio sets. At ten on the dot they hear loud crackling on the Egyptian frequency, and then Ibrahim’s call comes clearly over the ether: "Hello, hello - Bravo Alpha One, hello - Bravo Alpha One, hello - Bravo Alpha One ..." Tucki hands the headset over to Jamus and the exchange of juicy curses begins.
This daily entertainment gives Jamus’s life new content. He trans-fers most of his duties as squad leader over to me. I take charge of the distribution of food and the organization of sentry duty. Jamus is busy. He sits in his little tent holding what remains of a pencil, busily scribbling down ancient curses on an old piece of newspaper. He sorts through the memories of his schooldays, or he invents new curses. His highest ambition is to formulate the ultimate, final curse. The one that will shake Ibrahim and shock him so much that he won’t be able to find an answer and will have to admit defeat.
But Ibrahim also has talent - and time. Every morning he too has a newly prepared list. Both mothers and fathers to the fifth genera-tion, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, religion, nationality,