The Israel Supreme Court today rejected an appeal in behalf of five leaders of Abu Gosh village which would have forced the military authorities to rescind an order expelling the five to various parts of Israel for periods ranging between four and six months.
The court held that the authorities had sufficient reason, on security grounds, for their action. The Arabs, the government claimed, had refused to cooperate in a search for infiltrators who had thrown a hand grenade through the window of a school for Jewish children situated near the village. The infiltrators were tracked to Abu Gosh.
The case aroused a good deal of controversy in Israel because the Abu Gosh leaders had cooperated during the Mandatory regime with Jewish underground forces and had helped break the Jordan blockade of Jerusalem during the War of Liberation. A citizens committee, consisting of veterans of the Palmach, Irgun and Stern Group, was organized to defend the Arab leaders.
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