Demonstrators protested angrily in the streets of Zichron Yaacov last night against the sale of land there and in adjoining towns to a German missionary group. The group purchased 15 acres in Zichron Yaacov proper, one of the earliest Jewish settlements in Palestine supported by Baron Rothschild and now one of Israel’s main convalescent centers. They also bought 25 acres in Binyamina, another of the early Rothschild settlements, and a vineyard in the nearby village of Givat Ada. The missionaries have acquired a three-story building in Haifa as well.
The demonstrators, led by a local rabbi and Knesset member Ben Zion Koshet, railed against the property owners who sold to the Germans because they were “blinded” by the high price offered. They carried posters reading, “Do Not Sell Your Land to Germans. Remember the Holocaust.” But local authorities said the transactions were perfectly legal and the transfer of ownership cannot be prevented.
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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.