"...Those who say 'speak the truth' are the first liars of Damascus. Those who say 'keep pure' are the first to go to bad women...The men here are hungry for women," he went on earnestly. "I myself would like to meet one. But it is very difficult to meet one when she wears a veil: she is afraid to speak to a stranger. It is haram. It is not pure, and she can be punished for it. And every woman is hungry for man. When I see a woman my eyes say: 'I am dying to meet you.' And the girl shows the same picture in her face, but I don't dare speak to her, and she does not dare speak to me...Damascus is a small city. There are no secrets. When I see a man talking to a strange woman, I tell my friends: 'I saw this man talking with this woman ion secret.'"

"Why do you bother to do that?" I asked, curiously.

"Because I am hungry for the woman myself. I am proud to talk against her before my friends. I am hungry, very hungry, and because I cannot have her I do not want them to have her for themselves."

"But they may be talking innocently. Why condemn them both?"

"It is true they may not speak evil the first time. But they will meet again. No man would want to marry a woman who had been touched by another. I would not marry such a girl. Therefore I tell my friends that I saw such a girl talking to such a stranger to warn them against marrying the girl."

The Moslem code of perverted morality is so sever that hand-holding among teen-agers on the street or in the movies is frowned upon. It would be unthinkable for an Arab to be seen walking with his arm around a lady's waist. Innocent kissing in public would instantly land both parties in jail, charged with gross immorality. On the other hand, no odium and no penalties are attached to similar homosexual demonstrations in public.

"Do you think this code of relationship between men and women is normal?" I asked.

"No, it is not normal. It is wrong. But it is custom. The young men here try to change the custom, but the old ones are against every new thing. They say: 'We were raised without these pleasures. Why should we allow you to have them?"...