Jews in this city danced around bonfires last night, concluding a big day here in which numerous Jewish military units in this sector took the oath of loyalty to the Provisional Government of Israel. The dances highlighted a day of solemn ceremonies and pointed up the spirit of good comradeship existing between the officers and enlisted men of the Israeli Army.
“Should fighting be resumed after the end of the cease-fire period, ” 45-year-old Jerusalem area commander David Shaltiel declared today, “the Jewish section of Jerusalem will not be conquered and the Arabs know it.” He said there is sufficient food and water for the civilian population and added that the Provisional Government of Israel “would not neglect the Holy City.”
The first Jewish military trial began today in an Israeli military court here. The case of a Jewish officer charged with the fatal shooting of one soldier and wounding of another during a quarrel is being heard in the chambers of the High Court of the former Mandatory Power. The court president, prosecutor and defense attorney are all dressed in military garb.
Thirty physicians, nurses and patients who have been stranded in the Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus since the institution came under Arab artillery fire during the Arab-Israeli fighting were transferred today to the Jewish sections of Jerusalem under the auspices of the U.N. Truce Commission. Damage caused by shelling of Jerusalem’s biggest and most modern hospital, which is supported by the Hadassah organization in the U.S., as well as of the adjoining Hebrew University compound, is estimated to be well over several hundred thousand dollars, one of the returnees said today.
Dr. Kli Davis, deputy medical director of the Hadassah program, reporting on a recent visit to the hospital, pointed out that severe damage was inflicted by Arab shelling to the departments of internal medicine and skin, as well as to the children’s section. All children were safely evacuated before the shelling began, the hospital’s cancer research and bacteriological laboratories suffered particularly heavy damage, Dr. Davis said. During the present truce period, the Hospital and University area on Mt. Scopus remain out off from the Jewish sections of the city. A Haganah defense guard has been posted in the area, in case Arab attacks should be resumed at a later date.
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.
