Although British troops and marines have been landed in Palestine and the armed forces of the Mandatory Power have attempted to cope with the situation, the attacks of the Moslem Arabs against the Jewish population of Palestine have assumed the character of a relentless racial war. The number of the dead and injured is mounting hourly. Over 100 Jews have been killed in the attack and in their attempts at defense. The number of the Arab dead could not be ascertained, as the Moslem Arabs, following their custom, clear away the fallen. It is assumed, however, that the dead among the Arabs is at least equal to those of the Jews.
Monday, the fourth day of the Arab-Jewish conflict, witnessed new atacks in the city of Jerusalem, where the British military reinforcements were rushed in largest numbers, and in other Palestine centers with a considerable Jewish population and in the agricultural settlements of the Palestine Jewish pioneers.
The rumor spreading in New York that Dr. Judah Leib Magnes, formerly Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, New York, and at present Chancellor of the Hebrew University, was killed, is untrue. Dr. Magnes is at present in Switzerland, where he went to attend a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University, held in the middle of August.
MONDAY’S EVENTS IN JERUSALEM
Monday morning three more Jews were added to the growing list of the injured when Arabs exploded a bomb in the Old City.
The dispensary of the Hadassah Hospital at Hebron, maintained by the American Women’s Zionist Organization, was burned.
The Jewish quarter Nachlath Zion, near Jerusalem, is being attacked by the Moslem Arabs as this despatch is being written. Armored cars have been rushed to the spot.
The city is full of refugees from the suburbs and the colonies which have been the victims of attacks during the past three days. There is a scarcity of medical supplies and of food. The Jerusalem Jewish Communal Board has started a fund to maintain the refugees.
Looting was going on by the Arabs. The houses of Dr. A. Levin-Epstein, an American, and Mr. Gordon, director of the Anglo-Palestine Bank here, were totally ransacked during the attack on the suburb Talpioth.
Twenty-five Jewish workers in the Novomejski Dead Sea project were brought safely to Palestine under a military convoy. Four Jewish workers employed in the construction of the Rockefeller archaeological museum in Jerusalem were saved from death by the rapidly constituted self-defense of their comrades against an attack of a Moslem mob.
UNSPEAKABLE CRUELTIES COMMITTED BY MOSLEM ARABS
A group of American Jews, residents and visitors here, took refuge in the house of the American Consulate and in the building of the French Catholic convent. A report reached this city in the morning that a new band of Arabs is concentrating in Nablus, intending to march on Jerusalem.
According to hospital records, there were 80 dead, of whom 59 are Jews. Two hundred and thirty-three injured persons were recorded.
Gruesome scenes occurred during the massacres in various parts of the country. Unspeakable cruelties were committed by the savage Arab assailants when even women and small children were ruthlessly murdered and houses were destroyed.
ALL COUNTRY IS AFLAME
Reports reaching here this morning show that the warfare is extending throughout the country.
On Monday morning the Jewish population of Haifa, the Palestine port city, was attacked by a furious Moslem mob in the center and in the suburbs of the city. Three persons were killed and many were wounded.
The attack on the Jewish suburb of Haifa, Hadar, Ha’Carmel, was repulsed An appeal for help was received from the Jewish pioneer settlements in the neighborhood, situated in the Valley of Jezreel.
Reports were also received that new Arab demonstrations are being held in Ramleh.
THE ATTACK ON TEL AVIV, MANY KILLED AND INJURED
Martial law was proclaimed in Tel Aviv, the all-Jewish city and in Jaffa, the neighboring city with a mixed Arab Jewish population. A troop of 200 soldies was stationed at Tel Aviv. Seventy civilians were drafted into the Tel Aviv police service. The Jewish population was moved from the outskirts to the center of the city.
Six armored cars were ordered from Bagdad and more cavalry and infantry were asked from Cairo.
It was impossivle to ascertain the number of those killed and injured in Tel Aviv during the assaults and the defense on the border of Tel Aviv. The trouble started Sunday when the Moslem Arabs desired to march through Tel Aviv under the pretext of burying an Arab who was killed in the fighting in the cemetery situated on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. A number of the Arabs attempted to break into the city proper. The British police fired. Six Arabs were killed.
Fighting also took place in several quarters of Jaffa.
Saturday night, a mob of Moslem Arabs attacked the government offices at Jaffa. The British police opened fire, repelling the attack. Five Arabs were killed and over thirty wounded.
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.
