Mass Arrests of Arabs As Violence is Renewed in the Old City and West Bank

A new upsurge of violence in the Old City and in the West Bank over the weekend resulted in mass arrests of Arab youths who took to the streets to mark the 39th anniversary of the November 29, 1947 resolution of the United Nations General Assembly to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.

The unrest erupted as passions continued to run high over the fatal stabbing of yeshiva student Eliahu Amdi in the Old City November 15 which was followed by nine days of attacks on Arabs and their property by local Jews infuriated by the murder. Three Arabs were charged Sunday in Amdi’s murder. (See separate story.)

While most of the disturbances Friday and Saturday involved Arabs, a firebomb was thrown early Saturday morning, apparently by Jews, at an Arab-occupied house near the Dung Gate, the entrance to the Western Wall area. Two cars were set on fire at the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus. A third attempt at arson was foiled.

A group of Arab students attempted to force their way to the Temple Mount which was cordoned off by police. A Moslem guard who tried to intervene on behalf of the students was arrested. Arab shopkeepers were forced to close their doors under pressure from young Arab militants. Students managed to temporarily shut off Saladin Street, the main street in East Jerusalem. Five were arrested.

In the West Bank, Arab youths hurled rocks at Israeli vehicles and set up road blocks. Security forces dispersed the demonstrators and confiscated anti-Israel propaganda material at A-Najah University in Nablus.

PROTECTION OF ARAB PROPERTY DISCUSSED

While Jerusalem police set up a special team to investigate the chain of events that led to anti-Arab violence after the murder of Amdi, prominent Palestinians met in the Moslem quarter Friday to discuss ways and means to protect Arab lives and property. The meeting was called by the Supreme Moslem Council, the highest religious authority of Arabs in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

It was attended by two Arab Knesset members, Mohammad Miari of the Progressive List for Peace, and Toufik Toubi of the Hadash (Communist) Party. Several Palestinian moderates also attended, including Hafez Toukan, the Israel appointed Mayor of Nablus, and Anwar El-Khatib who was Governor of Jerusalem before Israel seized the divided city in the 1967 Six-Day War. But extremists seemed to dominate the meeting. Moslem clergymen called for a boycott of any Moslem involved in the sale of property to Jews. Another proposal was to establish an Arab civil guard in East Jerusalem to protect Arab residents of the Old City and their property.