Scattered incidents of terrorism erupted over the week-end. The most serious, a bomb explosion Friday morning in the crowded Supersol supermarket in downtown Jerusalem, slightly injured three women shoppers. Police detained 130 Arabs for questioning.
No casualties were reported in three other incidents that occurred in outlying areas. A hand grenade was thrown at an Army vehicle about 100 yards from Military Government headquarters in Gaza Friday evening. A booby-trapped wrist-watch containing 200 grams of explosives and a timing device was found Friday and dismantled in the cotton fields of Kibbutz Yad Hanna near Tulkarem. Soldiers in an Army vehicle exchanged fire with terrorists on the Tulkarem-Jenin road in the northern Samaria district.
A terrorist spokesman in Beirut told a cheering crowd Friday that terrorist warfare against Israel was “going to continue all over the world,” Shafik Al-Hout, head of the local office of the Palestine Liberation Organization, promised to “continue what we began in Munich.” The occasion for his remarks was a gathering to mark the second anniversary of the death of President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt.
ARABS DIVIDED ON GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE
Nasser’s successor, President Anwar Sadat, drew a mixed reaction in terrorist circles on Friday for his proposal that the Palestinians establish a government-in-exile, which he promised Egypt would promptly recognize. A member of the executive of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in Beirut, “We reject the Sadat proposal flatly.” A spokesman for the PLO said the Sadat proposal came as a “complete surprise” and “will take a lot of study.”
West Bank and East Jerusalem Arab leaders were divided over the proposal. Sheikh Mohammed Ali el Jaabari, the influential Mayor of Hebron, said it would “split the Palestinians,” adding, “We do not want to be compelled to accept leadership or systems we do not believe in.”
El Kuds, an East Jerusalem Arabic daily, expressed doubts that the suggestion was constructive and proposed instead the establishment of a Palestinian “entity” In the administered territories. But several other Arab personalities, including Mohammed Abu Shilbaya, a journalist, and Aziz Shekhade, a prominent lawyer, supported the idea. Circles in Jordan denounced Sadat’s proposal as an attempt by Egypt to shirk its responsibility to the Palestinian cause.
There has been no official Israeli comment so far. Terrorist leaders appeared to be confused and miffed that Sadat offered the suggestion without prior consultation with them. Observers here believe one reason the plan received a cool reception is that it would require the various terrorist groups to settle their differences and join in a formal structure, something they have been unable or unwilling to do so far. The Sadat proposal also raised major problems for the Arab governments, particularly Jordan, which has battled the terrorists in the past and would probably oppose a government-in-exile that laid claim to the West Bank.
Such a government would in fact have to agree on its territorial claims. El Fatah the largest of the terrorist groups, insists that a Palestinian state should occupy the area of the British mandate prior to 1948, which in effect means the elimination of Israel. Jordan seeks the return of the West Bank and East Jerusalem which it occupied until 1967. Sadat did not indicate what territory he thought a Palestinian exile government should claim.
BEIGIN HITS LAXITY AGAINST TERRORISTS
Menachem Beigin, leader of the Gahal opposition faction criticized the government for alleged inaction against terrorism. Beigin, who is leaving on a speaking tour of the US and Canada on behalf of the Israel Bond Organization and the United Jewish Appeal, accused the government of failure to carry out the Knesset’s decision to constantly hit terrorist bases and those who support the terrorists.
Beigin told a group of Americans on Friday that the war against terrorism would take time but “we shall eliminate them.” Addressing a group representing the Brith Shalom Foundation of Philadelphia, he accused West German authorities of laxity in the deaths of the 11 Israeli Olympic athletes. “Not one serious calculated step was made by the Germans to free the Israelis,” he said.
Israelis were relieved, meanwhile, that the supermarket bombing did not have more serious consequences. The device exploded in the wine and liquor section sending shards of glass flying through the store crowded with pre-Sabbath shoppers. A bomb explosion in the same supermarket in 1970 killed two students and injured 10 other shoppers. The terrorists responsible were subsequently caught and sentenced to life terms in prison.
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.
