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Palestine Population in State of Nerves over Possibility of Trouble on Saturday: Scare Worked Up by

August 14, 1931
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Just two years after the Palestine outbreaks of August 1929, which stirred the civilised world, scare-mongers are again busy here working up a panic over the possibility of the Arabs holding their threatened demonstrations on Saturday against the alleged Government arming of the Jews, (the agitation against the sealed armouries provided in the remote Jewish colonies for defence against attack) in defiance of the Government’s prohibition of these demonstrations, and a good deal of nervousness prevails in the country, in consequence. Although the Government has given assurances that it is in full control of the situation and is able to put down any attempt at trouble, people are on edge and anxious about the outlook. As Saturday draws nearer, the whispering campaign with its suggestions of approaching disaster becomes more intense, and a movement has already started among some Jews to leave the mixed Arab-Jewish quarters where they live, and in the same way, a number of Christian and Moslem Arabs are moving out of the Jewish quarters. Several Arabs are also reported to have stopped work in the Jewish colonies.

The authorities are busy trying to track down the source of the alarmist rumours, with a view to taking action against the authors, but so far without success.

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