Talks were opened in Tel Aviv this morning between the Jews and British military and civilian authorities on a solution of the problem of Jaffa, from which the British apparently intend to withdraw this week. The British are reported seeking a solution which will provide for a complete evacuation of the Arab population of the port city.
Although peace reigns in Jerusalem where a cease-fire agreement has been in effect since noon yesterday, a sharp battle has developed on the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Five Jews were killed and many injured when a Haganah force came under Arab attack while attempting to demolish a 600-foot long roadblock near Babel Wad.
In Jerusalem, meanwhile, an expected meeting between Palestine High Commissioner Sir Alan G. Cunningham and Jewish leaders on the establishment of a more permanent truce did not materialize today because Jewish Agency leaders David Ben Gurioion Goldie Meirson and Eliezer Kaplan are still absent from the city.Meanwhile, an Agency spokesman asserted that the Jews would never accept a settlement which would leave the supply road from Tel Aviv in the hands of the Arabs. He said that the Agency is ready to accept an arrangement carried out by a United Nations agency.
Semi-official Jewish circles today advanced three basic reasons for continuing with plans to establish a Jewish state on May 16, regardless of outside pressure. They pointed out that in the event of a probable invasion there was no outside force to defend the Jews and they must be organized from within to repulse the assault; that the Irgun and Stern Group which have agreed to surrender their arms to the Haganah when the state is proclaimed have threatened to attack the Jewish leadership if the government is not established; and that except in name, the Jewish Government already exists.
It was reported here that the Arab Legion has seized control of the Allenby Bridge, between Palestine and trans jordan, directly east of here. Despite a denial by the Egyptian Ministry for Defense that an Egyptian “volunteer” army invaded Palestine from the south yesterday, new reports of the alleged activities of the unit have been received from Cairo. An Agency spokesman warned that if Trans jordan’s King Abdullah “invades Palestine we will consider that a hostile act.”
The Haganah claimed the capture of two dominating police forts in the battle for control of the Upper Galilee town of Safad, from, which Irish Guards and British policy withdrew a fortnight ago. Haganah said that the purpose of the operation was to secure the safety of 1,800 Jews in Safad.
New Jewish postage stamps–including one with a map of partitioned Palestine–went on sale in emergency post offices throughout the Jewish areas of the country today as the national postal system was inaugurated. Thousands of persons stood in many queues to obtain copies of the new stamps.
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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.
