The Jewish National Council today called for a one day strike throughout Palestine tomorrow to protest the continued detention of about 2,000 Jews confined in the Raffa and Latrun camps. The strike will begin at 9 A.M. and last until midnight.
The three members of the Jewish Agency executive detained in Latrun–Moshe Shertok, Issac Gruenbaum and Dr. Bernard Joseph–and others held there announced tonight that they have gone on a hunger strike. The 1,642 persons detained at Raffa have been on a hunger strike since last night.
The Raffa strike, which precipitated tomorrow’s demonstration, was called to protest the British delay in releasing prisoners. The camp authorities had promised that internees would be released within forty-eight hours of establishing their identity and proving that they were not terrorists. However, less than 100 of 550 whose identity has been checked since last Tuesday have been released.
For an unexplained reason, perhaps connected with the strike, the camp officials announced today that visits by relatives to the two camps would be prohibited as of today.
BEGINNING OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE CAMPAIGN SET FOR JULY 23
The starting date for the campaign of non-cooperation with the government, which has been postponed in the hope that the Agency leaders would be released, was set for next Tuesday, July 23, at a joint meeting today of the executive of the Jewish National Council and the unarrested members of the Agency executive, attended by Dr. Weizmann and representatives of Jewish settlements.
It is learned that at the most recent meeting between Dr. Weizmann and High Commissioner Sir Alan G. Cunningham, the latter pressed Weizmann to calm the Jewish community and call off civil disobedience, but the Zionist leader replied that the detention of the Agency members weakened his influence.
An authoritative source said that the Haganah has agreed to go along with the non-cooperation campaign and will refrain from taking any action for the present. The Irgun has also agreed to cooperate provided civil disobedience is instituted without delay. The Stern Group, however, has declared that what is needed now is not civil disobedience but rebellion.
The Arab Higher Committee announced today the formation of a “Central Boycott Committee,” which will set up sub-committees throughout Palestine to tighten up the boycott of “Zionist goods” which has been in effect since Jan. 1 of this year. The announcement said that the boycott would be extended from the economic to the social and cultural fields. A blacklist of Arabs dealing with Jews will be published.
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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.
