Jewish Agency Parley Opens; Hears Martial Law Costing Jews $4,000,000 Weekly

Martial Law is costing Palestine’s Jews $4,000,000 a week, Goldie Meirson, head of the political department of the Jewish Agency, reported today at the opening meeting of the plenary session of the Agency’s executive.

(A dispatoh from Jerusalem published today in New York said that a member of the Agency executive had conferred with United Nations delegates here on the possibility of filing claims against Britain for the damages resulting from martial law.)

The meeting, which has been called to discuss the ramifications of martial law and the British decision to place the Palestine issue before the United Nations, is being held in the Board room of the Hadassah Hospital where David Ban Gurion, chairman of the Jewish Agency executive, is under treatment. He was brought to the conferences room in a wheelchair.

Reviewing the Palestine situation in the light of recent developments, Mrs. Meirson revealed that there has been no contact between the Jewish Agency and the Palestine authorities for the last two months. She reported that one-fourth of all the Jews in Palestine are affected by the martial law.

Ben Gurion, who opened the meeting, analyzed Bevin’s recent speech in the House of Commons and reported on the outcome of the informal talks between Jewish Agency leaders and British Cabinet members in London. Dr. Abba Hillel Silver and Moshe Shertok reported on the activities of the Agency in the United States, while Dr. Nahum Goldmann and Berl Locker submitted reports on the Jewish Agency work in London.

The meeting adjourned until Sunday when it will decide whether to hold a session of the Zionist Actions Committee this month, as scheduled, or whether to postpone the meeting. A meeting of the presidium of the Actions Committee last night urged the convocation of the Committee as soon as possible.