It was learned today that the text of a nation-wide martial law declaration has been completed and will be issued in a few days if Arab anti-Jewish and anti-Government terrorism, now in its seventh week, does not diminish.
The military garrison was further increased this morning by arrival of a battalion of the Bedfordshire guards. Additional military forces are expected shortly. A number of British military experts flew to London after a four-day conference here.
Police in Jaffa and Haifa were ordered to stand ready to quell disturbances which may arise in connection with the celebration of the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday today. Machine guns were mounted on rooftops in Haifa.
Omnibuses of the Eged Co. — in one of which a Jew was killed yesterday by Arab snipers — began to run today in caravans convoyed by British soldiers and machine guns. The funeral of the Jew, Rachman Kolontarev, 29-year-old Hebrew University student, passed quietly.
POSTERS URGE ARMED REBELLION
Unsigned proclamations and placards inciting Arabs to armed rebellion were found in several cities. A call to revolt was issued in Jaffa, Nablus and other cities. A proclamation bearing the slogan, “Beat the drums of revolt,” was posted in Jaffa urging youth to rise up.
Thousands of leaflets were distributed in Nablus urging rebellion. A joint meeting of seventeen Arab villages near Jaffa proclaimed a strike, revolt and boycott of the Jews as a direct reply to the Government’s demand for order.
Sniping at busses, bombings and arson continued in various parts of the country.
A train from Tel Aviv was derailed this morning fifty-four kilometers from Jerusalem. The engine was thrown off the track and damaged. No casualties were reported.
8 ARAB MUNICIPALITIES STRIKE
Eight Arab municipalities went on strike today. The Government health department took over the cleaning of streets. British sailors of Haifa assumed the duty of guarding the harbor.
Arab telephone workers on the Petach Tikvah line also joined the strike. The striking cities include Jaffa. Hebron, Ramleh, Nablus, Tulkarem, Bethlehem, Acre and Lydda. The Jaffa water department alone failed to join the strikers.
Two Jewish busses were fired on at Haifa and Mount Carmel. Snipers shot at one bus at Ramleh. No injuries were reported.
A police station at Nazareth was bombed and its windows broken, but no casualties reported. Three bombs were thrown at Tulkarem and two at Ramleh.
Police at Ben Shemen exchanged shots with Arabs attempting to set fire to property. Police suffered no casualties and it was not known what casualties the Arabs had. Other fires caused damage at Tel Adashim and at Yavneel.
Shots were fired at the Shemen Soap factory at Rehoboth. No damage or casualties were reported.
STRICTER CENSORSHIP ENFORCED
Stricter censorship was enforced today. Hebrew newspapers received written warning not to publish news about possible resignations by Arab police and other matters. Three Arab newspapers were suspended for a fortnight.
A conference of high British police officials last night considered the situation after a delegation of Arab policemen had told Roy G.B. Spicer, Inspector-General of Police, they would resign if within five days their demands, including equality with British soldiers, were not met.
More than sixty persons have been killed to date in Arab disorders, including twenty-nine Jews.
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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.
