University Daily Kansan
Thursday, Sept. 24, 1970
7
'Is There No Balm in Gilead?'
Eight Days in Amman—
Editor's Note: UPI correspondent Wilborn Hampton flew from Anman to Beirut Wednesday with a diary he kept during the civil war in the Jordanian capital.
BY WILBORN HAMPTON
AMMAN, Jordan (UPI) — The cry of muezzins calling the faithful to six o'clock prayers drifts in the second story window of a white-washed stone house built on a steep hill where one of the guerrilla groups are headquartered.
It is Wednesday. Sept. 16
A handsome young man sits behind a battered wooden desk, an empty soft drink bottle containing a cigarette butt on top of it.
HE IS smiling and relaxed, exuding confidence—unlike the brisk young revolutionary who had dealt with hordes of newsmen during the previous days of anxiety about three jet hijackings
"I wonder if this city will ever pass another day without the sound of gunfire."
which netted the guerrillas 300 hostages.
Today the Hashemite King Hussein has appointed a military government in Jordan and despite the guerrillas anger, the young revolutionary says it has been a "historically" great day for the Palestine revolution because it brings their fight with Hussein to a showdown for power.
Thursday. Sept. 17:
The war begins at 5 a.m. with the sharp reports of fire throughout the city. Dawn is breaking and red and white tracers streak across the pale blue sky like Roman Candles.
The heavy thud of artillery is heard around the city followed by the boom of 75mm fire.
THE HOTEL is hit by occasional fire and one 50mm shell slams through the bathroom wall of a room on the fourth floor tearing a gaping hole in it.
Fires break out all around the city sending black columns of smoke rising above the white stone buildings on the slopes of the hills.
For more than eight hours, the sound of heavy artillery punctured by the chatter of machine
gun fire pervades the city from every side.
I wonder what is going on in the city, or in the houses.
At every newscast we huddle around the few radios to try to find out what is going on here.
We hear the guerrilla radio claim the guerrillas control Irbid district and have set up their own peoples council there. There is now no doubt it is civil war.
Friday, Sept. 18:
At dawn, the heavy artillery again awakens us and within an hour the city is again ablaze with fire from all directions. Except today, there is more heavy stuff
AS THE FIGHTING rages through the afternoon it becomes increasingly frustrating not to be able to get any news out. We all admit it is impossible for anyone here to know who is winning, or even if there is fighting in the city center itself.
Perhaps the army and the guerrillas know as little as we do.
Saturday, Sept. 19:
Throughout the night the army has moved columns of armor and men past the hotel toward the direction of town.
At the back of the hotel, on the north side, the garden drops to a deep valley and the upward slope of the other side is dotted with small stone houses, stairstep fashion. It is an area where many snipers operate.
THE EVENING news says the army has called a unilateral cease-fire but from the sounds of shootings outside the city, the guerrillas have got some fight left. Sunday, Sept. 29.
The day begins as all the others. Heavy fire rumbles across the hills shortly after dawn.
Around noon, heavy guns and machinegun fire slams away in one district on the northern Webdeh Hill. Guerrilla leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters is in that neighborhood and it is obvious the army is attacking it.
In the afternoon the army lifts the 24-hour curfew for three hours on the southern hills and some of us walk into the streets which are almost paved with spent machinegun shells of various calibers.
After the curfew the fighting resumes on the same savage scale. From the radio we hear the fighting has mostly stopped in Amman. They should be here.
Monday, Sept. 21;
Like some inner clock, wired by an alarm of mortar and artillery explosions, I awake again at
5 a.m. Today the city is quiet.
For the first time since the war began five days ago, I hear a rooster crowing.
Throughout the day there is some scattered fire, both from heavy guns and machineguns. It is sporadic and the lulls are longer.
AT DUSK we hear on the radio an announcement of a cease-fire by the king. The cooks and staff at the hotel start cheering and clapping and for some reason their exuberance spreads to the journalists.
When the king finishes speaking, a long spurt of 50 caliber machinegun fire rattles across the valley and isolated sniper fire starts up again.
Tuesday, Sept. 22:
Another day begins with heavy shelling at dawn.
But within half an hour the guns fall silent. That rooster crows louder than ever. Shortly, a dog joins in the general celebration with a fit of barking.
In announcing the cease-fire the night before there had also been the announcement of a lifting of the curfew at 7 a.m. Across the valley, people are moving on the street. Perhaps, after all, this is the real end.
VERY HEAVY fighting breaks out again in the same valley at the back of the hotel around noon and continues until nightfall.
I wonder if this city will ever pass another day without the sound of gunfire.
Wednesday, Sept. 23:
In the morning about 20 of us unload 6.5 tons of food the Red Cross has ferried in and then clamber aboard the plane to try to get the story of the devastations of Amman to the world. We pass under a regal photograph of King Hussein and cheer at take-off.
Among the last sounds we hear are more machinegun bursts from the town.
On the flight back my mind wanders to the plea of the prophet Jeremiah.
"Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?"
Office Candidates Learn Rules
Freshmen candidates for class officers were informed of campaign rules and procedures Wednesday night in the Kansas Union by Mary Jane Logan and John Friedman, both seniors and Student Senators.
Friedman told the freshmen that the elections committee operates under the Student Senate Code and serious violations would be dealt with by the University iudiciary.
Campaign rules were read and candidates were warned against violations and told punitive enforcement for violations would be enforced.
Logan and Friedman addressed the candidates specifically on the matter of campaign publications, informing them about the necessity for proper signatures and identification of party affiliations.
Also candidates must regard the proper placement of any poster or publication. Friedman stressed that no publication may appear on any University building unless approved. This does not include the living facilities.
Friedman pointed out that there will be billboards provided in several places on the campus designated for campaign posters.
Friedman discussed voting procedures, saying, "We are trying to make this election as fair as possible." He said that position on a ballot seemed to be important in an election, and explained a rotation system is used so each candidate's name will appear on a ballot in each position the same number of times.
Freshmen were warned against using inflammatory language on campaign publications, and against defacement of publications.
The dates set for the freshmen elections are Oct. 7 and 8, and results of the election should be available late Oct. 8th. Polls will close at 6 p.m. that evening.
This year there are 10 candidates running for president, six running for vice-president, five running for secretary and five running for treasurer, Friedman said.
Friedman was questioned about the percentage of freshman students who actually have voted in past years. He said approximately 20 per cent have voted in previous elections, but in the past only two or three persons ran for each office.
"If the number of freshmen running for a class office is indicative of the freshman class enthusiasm, voting turnout should improve in percentage," he said.
Friedman and Logan encouraged the candidates to ask if they need any information or guidance during the campaign.
Stop in Today 1404 W.23rd.
Power Station Burn Victim Listed in Fair Condition
Mehrdod Meskoub, Gorgan Iran, sophomore, who was severely burned Sept. 3 in Shawnee, was listed in an improved condition last night at the University of Kansas Medical Center, official there reported.
Meskoub suffered burns over
40 per cent of his body when he came in contact with a 161,000 volt power sub-station at 12606 W. 51st St., Shawnee. He remained in critical condition until Tuesday night when his condition was listed as fair.
STUDENT HEALTH INSURANCE
ENROLLMENT FOR FALL SEMESTER WILL END OCTOBER 1, 1970
Take advantage of this low-cost medical insurance plan by calling today.
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