The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry spent the week-end visiting the areas attacked during the recent Arab outbreak. The territory visited included Beth Alpha, Beisan, and Safed.
The Commissioners displayed the greatest interest in the Jewish quarters at Safed, scene of one of the bloodiest massacres. They were particularly interested in the courtyard of the police barracks where two Jews were killed several days after the riots occurred.
A reception was arranged in honor of the Commission by Arabs in Safed, in which Sir Boyd Merriman, counsel for the Jewish Agency and the Jewish representatives refused to participate. Members of the Commission conversed with the Mufti of Safed and Arab notables. Following the reception, Merriman, with a map as a guide, led the Commission through the devastated Jewish quarter. During the tour of the Jewish quarter, Arab counsel attempted to point out Arab houses allegedly destroyed, during the attack, but which in actuality caught fire from the Jewish houses which the Arab attackers destroyed.
At Safed, the Commissioners encountered a crowd of Arabs, bearing a black banner with the inscription “Down with the Balfour Declaration.” Two hundred Arabs met the Commission outside of Beisan, shouting attacks on the Zionists and declaring “Long live the Anglo-Arab union.”
The visit to Safed was preceded by stops at Beth Alpha and Beisan. At Beth Alpha, Harry Snell, Labor representative of the Commission, conversed with members of the Jewish colony.
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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.
