Samir Ibrahim, son of the mayor of Tulkarem, and Rashid Hanoun, son of a rich landowner, were sentenced by a Tulkarem court to six months’ banishment today for instigating Fellahin Bedouins to commit agrarian crimes against Jewish settlers in Nathania. Ibrahim was banished to Acre, and Hanoun to Nazareth. Each man also was required to put up 250 pounds as security for his good behavior for a whole year.
At the trial it was brought out that the two defendants had for a long time blackmailed Jewish planters in Nathania into paying them 20 pounds a month to keep squatters off their field. Finally the Jewish planters refused further payments, and as soon as no more money was forthcoming, Ibrahim and Hanoun revived the agrarian crimes, encouraging squatters to menace the lands of the Jewish settlers around Nathania.
The case is typical of the situation of the whole Sharon plain. Thousands of pounds are paid annually for “protection” against squatters to men like Ibrahim and Hanoun.
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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.
