From Beirut to Jerusalem
Chapter One
Prelude: From Minneapolis to Beirut
In June 1979, my wife, Ann, and I boarded a red-and-white Middle
East Airlines 707 in Geneva for the four-hour flight to Beirut. It
was the start of the nearly ten-year journey through the Middle East
that is the subject of this book. It began, as it ended, with a
bang.
When we got in line to walk through the metal detector at our
boarding gate, we found ourselves standing behind three
broad-shouldered, mustachioed Lebanese men. As each stepped through
the metal detector, it would erupt with a buzz and a flashing red
light, like a pinball machine about to tilt. The Swiss police
immediately swooped in to inspect our fellow passengers, who turned
out not to be hijackers bearing guns and knives, although they were
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