The former mayor of East Jerusalem has been expelled to Jordan on charges of provocation, illegal dealings and attempts to organize Arab resistance to Israeli authority, the Defense Ministry announced today. The Ministry said that Rouhi el Khatib was the man behind the Arab teachers’ strikes last year and that he agitated among East Jerusalem merchants to keep their shops closed after the re-unification of Jerusalem last June. According to the Defense Ministry, Khatib maintained contact with Jordanian authorities in Amman and served as a pipeline for the illegal transfer of funds. He was also charged with spreading false reports of Israeli mistreatment of East Jerusalem residents.
The Army last night blew up a three story building here owned by Kamal Nimri, one of the commanders of the El Fatah gang that sabotaged a heavy equipment storage depot and murdered its watchman last Saturday. All tenants were previously evacuated with their belongings. Nimri, who is reported to have a Jewish mother married to a Moslem, was taken in custody shortly after the El Fatah raid on the depot owned by the Mekorot water company. His testimony and that of his co-commander, William Naguib Nasser, led to the speedy round-up of 18 members of the gang and the seizure of large stores of arms and ammunition. Nimri’s family is reportedly living in Kuwait. Nimri is a civil engineer.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
