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Palestine Jews Denounce Threatened Deportation of Exodus Refugees; Extremists May Act

August 22, 1947
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All sections of the Jewish community of Palestine toay bitterly denounced the British decision to transport the Exodus refugees to many unless they disembark in France tomorrow evening. It is feared that the exmists will "react" to the announcement tonight.

It is understood that shortly before the decision was made public, High Commissioner Sir Alan G. Cunningham communicated it to Goldie Meirson, head of the politcal department of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, suggesting that the Agency dispatch an envoy to France to plead with the visaless immigrants to leave the British transports. However, Mrs. Meirson said the Agency would not assist Britain in the ##ntion of Jewish immigration into Palestine.It is expected here that the Exodus Jews will not be sent to Germany before today, since the ultimatum runs out tomorrow evening aftor the beginning of the Sabbath and there is every reason to believe that the government will not force the Jews desscrate their Sabbath.

Haganah circles today declared that the decision to deport the refugees to Germay is a "new link in the long chain of provecations which hinder the Haganah and the major national institutions in their fight against extremism." However, these same circles stressed that this action would not halt the flow of visaless immigrants Palestine.

Declaring that a "crime would be committed against humanity if the Exodus re##gees were taken to Hamburg and compelled to disembark," a Jewish Agency spokesman today asserted that only a few months ago "no one would ever have thought that Britain was capable of such an action."

TWO BRITONS WOUNDED IN EXPLOSION; ARAB SHOP BLASTED BY ARABS

It was established today that last night’s 50-minute alert in Jerusalem during which anti-tank guns, machine-guns and rifles were fired by British police and troops in various parts of the city was not the result of an extremist attack. Jewish circles charge that the heavy and indiscriminate firing, first thought to have started with a raid on the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Division in the Russian Compound, was touched off by a group of policemen seeking "revenge" on Jews for extremist actions in the past. Once started, the aimless firing was joined by trigger-happy patrols throughout the darkened city.

The government banned the most influential Arab newspaper for two weeks for a breach of censorship rules. The paper, Ad Difaa, published an "inflammatory" article on Arab youth and military organizations.

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