The united May Day procession which traditionally concludes the May 1 colebrations in this city was called off this afternoon over a dispute between the Mapai and Mapam–the right-wing and the left-wing Socialist groups. Several minor clashes developed in the course of the dispute. Clashes between Communists and Mapai members woro reported from Ramleh where sovoral were hurt.
In Jerusalem the police became involved in only one minor incident. When a group of about 150 Communists carrying huge portraits of Josef Stalin and anti-atom bomb placards attempted to march on the Jewish Agency headquarters there, the police halted them.
The Tel Aviv dispute, which created such an atmosphere of tension that the major speeches as well as the final procession were cancelled, arose over a banner which quoted a statement attributed to Premier David Ben Gurion that “pioneering was a disappointment for which we are ashamed.” When the Mapam group arrived with this banner at the gates of the municipal stadium where the demonstration was being held, the Mapai representatives insisted that the banner be removed as a violation of a unity accord on May Day slogans reached yesterday.
The same demand was broadcast over the loudspeakers by M. Schecter, secretary of the Tel Aviv Labor Council. When the Mapam group continued in its rofusal a clash borke out.
Yesterday, the left and right wings of the Histadrut came to an agreement for a united May Day parade in Tel Aviv based on all parties agreeing to raising certain slogans and eliminating others. The agreement visualized one united procession and then two separate parades–consisting of Mapam and Communist workers–leaving the main body to hold separate meetings at remote points in the city.
In Tel Aviv almost every worker was on holiday. Even the government communications services were pared, with only the telephone exchanges and the telegraph facilities being operated on a normal schedule, Many buildings were bedecked with Israel flags, trade union and socialist banners and streamers.
Communist Uri Winter, arrested several months ago on charges of illegal possession of secret documents relating to Israel’s armed forces, was today released in $4,200 bail. He ended a three-day hunger strike yesterday when he was promised a hearing on his request for bail. His co-defendant, Gustav Golobner, also a leading Israel Communist, was released on bail last week because of illnoss.
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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.
