don “Jewish Chronicle” in July, that the Farhi Synagogue in Aden was broken into, Holy Books desecrated and the furniture smashed, that the native police as well as the armed police, both composed of Arab units, were inefficient and could not check the riots, that acts of violence and looting were committed before them and that they simply stood by and watched the outrages and that several cables despatched abroad were detained by the Government.
He wanted to know why cables had been detained.
He also wanted to know whether there had been any exodus of Jews from Aden in consequence of the panic and the feeling of insecurity prevailing among them.
Mr. Metcalfe replied that no official report had been issued because all information of interest had appeared in the press.
Twenty-three Jewish shops had been broken into, and property taken, but in only three or four cases had the property been of any considerable value. Twenty-three Jews had been injured. The only person seriously injured was a Moslem.
A small synagogue had been entered by Moslems and a certain amount of damage done.
The fact that no Jews were fatally or seriously injured and that more Jewish premises were not broken into was due to police protection. The police had made about 120 arrests and about 60 or 70 Arabs were deported as a result of their action.
The accusation that some police had stood by and watched the outrages may be founded on the fact that the police guard at the Treasury and a policeman who had been posted specially to guard the house of one of the principal Jews were under orders not to move from their posts under any circumstances.
Some cable messages had been detained by the Government in consequence of the censorship imposed by the Chief Commissioner of Aden under the provision of the Indian Telegraph Act, which authorized the detention of messages on the occurrence of any public emergency or in the interests of public safety.
“Some of the messages, I understand from the Chief Commissioner of Ade# he said, “contained a great amount ### untrue and inciting matter.”
The Government is not aware, he concluded, of any exodus of Jews from Aden.
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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.
