Chapter Thirty Four: The sympathisers. He would make contact with his sympathisers and ensure the scheduled meeting takes place as planned. The meeting must be complete before mid-day or we will miss our chance. ‘May I borrow the phone?’ ‘Yes Rabbi, use my sat phone, it is encrypted and will be safe; do not use the hotel system’. He called the governor directly, in person; and then the Minister of defence, and finally the Ayatollah. Each phone call proceeded with a short introduction in Arabic that he could understand, followed by a brief statement: ‘Mother is ready’ 10 AM at the shrine of John the Baptist, in the main prayer hall of the Umayyad Mosque. Sol thought about this for a moment and realised the advantages of such a location. The shrine is shielded from onlookers but allows occupants to see anyone approaching. This was good, his confidence started to return once more. He had rescued the Rabbi and saved the pilgrimage; he felt confident they may now proceed with phase one of Mothers plan. He would logon and leave a message for the Master Mason; he would be more than pleased with his actions.
After leaving a message for the Master Mason Sol turned to the Rabbi and raised a conversation to express his feelings as to why he was here; and to find out why the Rabbi’s was risking his life for the cause. The reason the Rabbi was helping mother? Anger: at Syria’s support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza strip and the Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Both groups have claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed hundreds of Israelis. The president and his puppet Baath party must be stopped from funding these terrorist groups. They have also killed thousands of their own people in an attempt to oppress the Arab rising here in Syria. The regime was struggling to stay in power. U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Syrian peace talks broke down in the year 2000 over final border and peace arrangements. Syria demanded the full return of the Golan Heights, the territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. And now in 2011 the ‘Arab League has suspended Syria’s membership and imposed sanctions against Damascus over its failure to end the crackdown on protestors and engage in talks with the opposition. It really was the beginning of the end for President Bashar al-Assad.