THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, Algot 11, 1978 17
Ancient History, Modern Politics Mixed in Mideast Hijack Thriller
By ARNOLD AGES
(Editor's note: Arnold
Ages is professor of
French language and lit-
erature at the University
of Waterloo, Ontario. He
is also a writer on Jewish
and Israeli affairs and
adult education consul-
tant at Beth Tzedec
Synagogue in Toronto.)
Take two newly acquired
Concorde airliners, an Is-
raeli peace delegation
headed for New York, a
psychotic Palestinian ter-
rorist chief, 150 "Ashbals"
(PLO guerrillas), the head
of Israeli intelligence — and
feed all of this into a compu-
ter.
The result is a riveting
novel of adventure, intrigue
and human courage, "By
the Rivers of Babylon"
(Harcourt) by Nelson De-
Mille, a former army officer
in Vietnam. He has con-
fected what will undoub-
tedly turn out to be the best
Arab-Israeli thriller since
"Black Sunday."
The plot is quite simple.
Ahmed Rish, a fanatical
Arab terrorist succeeds in
having explosive devices
placed in the tail assemblies
of two Concorde jetliners
purchased by Israel. The
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planes are to be used to send
an Israeli peace delegation
to a conference in New
York.
Airborne, the pilot of
one of the aircraft makes
a foolhardy attempt to
outdistance an electronic
signal which detonates a
plastique explosive. All
aboard the Concorde are
killed. The second plane
obeys the terrorist com-
mand to follow a civilian
Lear jet to an unknown
destination.
After traversing a good
portion of territory in the
Mideast the skillful pilot of
the remaining Concorde
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The Arabs attack with
ferocious energy and are
beaten back each time
with devastating casual-
ties. The Israeli defen-
ders are able to make
good use of a high veloc-
ity rifle fitted with an
infra-red scanner —
permitting them to pick
off scores of Ashbals as
they approach the
fortress-like structure
which the Israeli "peace
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manages to land his plane
in a remote part of Iraq near
the site of the ancient
Jewish settlement of Baby-
lon.
A full company of "Ash-
bals" led by Ahmed Rish
and his subaltern Hammadi
do not get the chance to
stage a political event with
hostages because the pas-
sengers in the crippled
airplane organize them-
selves into a disciplined
fighting unit.
With a minimum of
weaponry and a maximum
of imagination the sur-
vivors of the second Con-
corde set up a defense
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NELSON DeMILLE
mission" has chosen to
defend.
The battle takes its toll
and slowly the tide turns.
Sheer weight of numbers
and the fire power available
to Rish's men begin to ren-
der hopeless the cause of the
courageous Israeli fighters.
In his description of the bat-
tle scenes author DeMille
mixes graphic detail with
sound psychological in-
sights into the fanaticism
which drives terrorists. He
is equally adept in explor-
ing the firmness of resolve
among the Israeli battlers.
What raises this story
above the run-of-the-mill is
a contextual matrix in
which the author places be-
sieged Israelis amidst the
faded glories of the ancient
Jewish civilization of Baby-
lon. There is even a Jewish
village that one of the be-
leaguered Israelis repairs in
order to obtain assistance
for his colleagues at the
Concorde perimeter who are
tottering on the brink of de-
feat.
The reader is drawn into
the conflict as he shares
with the Israeli contingent
its modest victories against
the overwhelming force of
the marauding Arabs. At-
trition takes its steady toll
as the heroic defenders are
picked off one by one, de-
spite spectacular quasi
military operations such as
the installation of trip
wires, phosphorescent exp-
losives and tape recorded
sounds of battle (to make
the Arabs think the Israelis
have more ammunition
than they really have).
The Israeli government
becomes involved in an in-
credible rescue mission in
which the grounded Con-
corde liner comes to life
momentarily before going
to a watery grave.
Ancient Tablet
Found in Israel
TEL AVIV (JTA) — A
clay tablet believed to be
3,000 years old was found by
archeologists digging at the
site of a Canaanite royal
city.
The tablet, which is in-
scribed with greetings and a
request for the immediate
dispatch of grain, appears to
be a letter from a Canaanite
city conquered by the
Pharaohs in the 13th Cen-
tury BCE and was later a
Philistine stronghold.
What, besides beef, can
you expect from an ox?
•