In a surprise move at dawn today, several thousand Jewish veterans and other youths took possession of a tract of land 200 yards away from the settlement of Biryah, which has been occupied for two weeks by British troops. The troops were stationed there following an attack on a nearby Arab Legion camp.
The arrivals immediately set to work laying the groundwork for a settlement for demobilized Jews. Some began ploughing the fields, while others started erecting temporary living quarters.
The officer commanding the garrison at Biryah immediately contacted the British commander-in-chief in Jerusalem for orders, while the executive committee of the local Council of Jewish Settlements was hurriedly summoned to the office of the Assistant District Commissioner for the Galilee district.
Later, police and troops arrived to displace the settlers, but the Jews refused to move.
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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.
