The Moslem Sabbath, advent of which had caused grave apprehension, passed without incident and all Palestine breathed easier this afternoon after a week of disturbances which had brought death to an estimated eighteen Jews and twelve Arabs.
The day was quieter than the normal Friday in Jerusalem, the crowds of Arabs that thronged the city for the Moslem services leaving the mosques and dispersing swiftly and quietly.
It is believed in the best informed quarters that the worst is now over and that from now on the situation will gradually return to normal.
Looking worried and grim after a week of stirring events, High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope moved through the Jerusalem streets watching the passing crowds.
Strong police detachments had been patrolling the Old City from early morning and Cameron Highlanders kept a watch from the city walls and from the top of the ancient King David Citadel.
JEWISH QUARTER HEAVILY GUARDED
The Jewish quarter of the city was heavily guarded and police searched all persons wishing to enter. Jews were advised not to enter the Old City, which was full of Arab youths carrying sticks and clubs.
Police picked up Hauranis living in Jerusalem and freed them only after confiscating their daggers.
From early morning small groups of Arabs who had been entering the city were searched by police, who had maintained an all-night watch on roads leading to Jerusalem.
Instead of the expected demonstrations, which rumors the previous day and night had said would be staged today, the worshipers quietly and swiftly dispersed to their homes after making their devotions and listening to short sermons at the city’s mosques.
SPECIAL PERMIT NEEDED FOR WAILING WALL PRAYERS
As the day came to a close, Government forces were still on the alert for a possible recrudescence of disorder, despite the growing feeling that the worst is over. Orders were issued obliging all persons to obtain permission of the authorities before going to the Wailing Wall to say prayers for the victims of the disturbances.
Curfew was lifted in parts of Jaffa and the all-Jewish city of Tel-Aviv. The Government today agreed to broadcast a denial of the official communique it gave out yesterday stating that Jews in Tel Aviv fired on a police patrol when they were discovered violating the curfew.
Late this afternoon, the Government issued a communique stating that reports from all over the country indicated that quiet prevailed. Demonstrations staged in Nablus, Jenin and Beisan were swiftly dispersed. The situation in Amman was normal. Work in the harbor of Haifa proceeded as usual.
A later communique said that a procession at Gaza, following the services, dispersed quietly. It also reported that 18 Jews and 14 Arabs were still in hospitals recovering from wounds.
Indications were today that the general strike, aimed at Jewish immigration and sale of land to Jews, was rapidly crumbling throughout the country. Several influential Arab merchants of Jaffa are understood to have approached District Commissioner Robert Crosbie asking him to initiate a rapprochement with the Jews in order to end the strike and the disturbances, which, they said, was ruining their trade and resulting in economic losses to the community.
At the same time Jewish members of the Chamber of Commerce in Jerusalem approached President Shelley of the chamber with the request that he intervene with the Government for immediate restoration of the Jaffa harbor activities and economic life. Mr. Shelley telephoned to William Johnson, treasurer; Kingsley stead, director of customs, and District Commissioner Crosbie and received their promises that sufficient protection would be accorded Jews engaged in business in the ports of Jaffa and Haifa.
MONTH OF MOURNING PROCLAIMED IN TEL AVIV
The Chief Rabbinate of Tel Aviv proclaimed a month of mourning for Jewish victims of the disorders, during which “yisgor” (memorial prayer for the dead) will be said in all synagogues.
Meanwhile there were growing indications of a resumption of normal relations between the two peoples. Arab notables in the vicinity of the colony of Kiryat Anavin visited local Jewish leaders and informed them they had not joined the anti-Jewish movement and wished to live peacefully with their Jewish neighbors. It was also reported that Arabs aided in extinguishing the fire that swept fields in the colony of Beth Shemen.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned that High Commissioner Wauchope yesterday received the Grand Mufti and Jemal al Husseini, head of the Palestine Arab Party, and addressed them in vigorous terms, warning that they could achieve nothing by force and would not frighten the Government.
After the conversation, it was learned, the High Commissioner gave the Mufti a sealed letter for which he reluctantly signed a receipt. The letter is believed to have contained a warning against disorders.
Later, Sir Arthur transmitted to the Mufti, leaders of other Arab parties, and to Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, a copy of the declaration by Colonial Secretary J. H. Thomas in the House of Commons yesterday in which he voiced the Government’s determination to preserve order in Palestine.
ARAB DAILY REPORTS 3 JEWS WOUNDED
El Liwaa, Arab daily, reported that three Jewish passengers were wounded yesterday, one of them seriously, when Arabs of Silla, near Nablus, attacked a Jewish bus plying between Jerusalem and Haifa.
Arabs set fire late last night to the railway store in Haifa. Other incidents reported to have occurred during the night include the following:
Fire destroyed 100 dunams of crops in the settlement of Tel Yosef. In Jaffa, the offices and warehouse of the Dizengoff Co., shipping agency owned by Tel Aviv’s 75-year-old mayor, were burglarized by Arabs.
Arabs claimed that police injured twenty students slightly when dispersing them. The students did not apply to the hospitals for treatment.
Agitators yesterday were observed trying the novel stunt of bandaging their heads and, when asked what had happened, replied “Jews wounded me.”
WANTED ARAB VILLAGERS BARRED
Headed by Rabbi Moshe Blau of the Agudath Israel, orthodox Jewish organization, a delegation of Jewish leaders called on Chief Secretary John Hathorn-Hall to consult with him on measures of security being taken to guard against expected disturbances today.
The delegation requested Mr. Hall to bar massed Arab villagers from the city. He replied that the Government would find it difficult to do this, because of the religious purpose of the influx, a regular occurrence on the Moslem Sabbath. He said, however, that the Government would disarm the villagers and that instructions would be given to the public and the police to that effect.
Memories of the massacre of 1929 were brought forcibly to the fore during the interview when Mr. Hall, assuring the delegation that the Government had the situation well in hand, was answered by Rabbi Blau that similar assurances had been given by Chief Secretary H. C. Luke in 1929 only one hour before the slaughter began. Mr. Hall made no reply.
Earlier in the day, David Ben Gurion and Moshe Shertok, members of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, had conferred with High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, presumably on a similar mission.
MAYOR ASKED TO INFLUENCE ARAB ALDERMAN
Meanwhile the Government had sent emissaries to the villages neighboring Jerusalem to warn the Arabs to remain at home today.
District Commissioner James Campbell asked Dr. Hussein Khalidi, mayor of Jerusalem, to use his influence with the Arab aldermen to quiet the Arabs and avoid disturbances.
Significant indication of how critical a day this was considered was seen in the return to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv of several police squadrons and military detachments. The Hebrew daily, Haaretz, reported that the greater part of the Trans Jordan frontier force had been transferred to Palestine.
Hebrew newspapers bitterly criticized the form and wording of the official communiques issued by the Government on each day’s developments. Editorials charge the communiques omit important details, resulting in manifold misinterpretations.
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