No incidents have occurred anywhere, although the feeling of tenseness and apprehension over the coincidence of the Passover, Easter and Nebi Moussa Festivals continues, and the authorities are not relaxing their precautions. This year, however, most of the anxiety of the authorities is not over a fear of clashes between Moslems and Jews, but between the Pro-Mufti Party and the bitterly anti-Mufti Arabs of Hebron, who have gone so far as to refuse the customary hospitality offered them by the Grand Mufti on their pilgrimage to the supposed tomb of Moses, near Jericho. The Hebron Arabs are furious with the Grand Mufti and the Moslem Supreme Council, of which he is the head, because the income of the Hebron Wakf (Moslem Religious Endowment), amounting to about £40,000, goes to the Moslem Supreme Council, while Hebron is becoming increasingly poor since the Jews have fled from the town, the loss of rents alone amounting to about £20,000 annually.
All Arabs entering Jerusalem are being searched for arms. Troops are stationed at the customary positions at the Jaffa and Damascus Gates, and police reinforcements have been drafted into the Jewish quarters and the Jewish colonies.
About 8,000 Arabs went out to-day to meet the Nablus Moslems, numbering only 170, arriving with their banners for the Nebi Moussa procession. According to the police estimate, the crowd was about half that of last year. No speeches were delivered and there were no shouts raised against the Jews, and no reference made to the Wailing Wall.
There is the usual crop of rumours about Arabs here and there having threatened Jews that Sunday will be their day of reckoning. A flag day is to be held on Sunday, probably with the knowledge of the Palestine Arab Executive, to raise funds for providing tombstones for the Arabs who were executed for murdering Jews in the massacres of August 1929.
The police are also concerned about the activities of the Communities. It is stated that they have received instructions from the Communist International to turn Nebi Moussa day into a day of bloodshed, with proclamations calling for a fight against the Government, the Zionists and the Effendis. Three Communists have been arrested while distributing handbills.
Huge crowds of Jews gathered for worship at the Wailing Wall on the first day of Passover, Chief Rabbi Kook being an unexpected and conspicuous figure there, arriving immediately after he had delivered his sermon at the Hurvah Synagogue.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
