ARTHUR KOESTLER, LONDON NEWS-CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT, SAID TODAY THAT HE SAW THE FUGITIVE MUFTI OF JERUSALEM IN THE HOME OF DR. SAMEH FAKHOURY, A BEIRUT SURGEON, BUT WAS NOT ALLOWED TO INTERVIEW HIM.
THE MUFTI, WHO ESCAPED FROM HIS MOSQUE OF OMAR REFUGE AFTER HAVING BEEN DEPOSED AS PRESIDENT OF THE MOSLEM SUPREME COUNCIL, WAS SURROUNDED BY A GROUP OF ARAB NOTABLES WHOM KOESTLER IDENTIFIED AS EMIR SHEKIB ARSLAN, AMIN ARSLAN, MOHAMMED HUSSEINI, A NEPHEW OF THE MUFTI, AND ALFRED ROCK, CHRISTIAN ARAB.
ACCORDING TO KOESTLER, ROCK TOLD HIM THAT THE “PALESTINE ARABS WILL FIGHT TO THE LAST DROP OF BLOOD AGAINST PARTITION.”
A MEMBER OF THE OUTLAWED ARAB SUPREME COMMITTEE AND ONE OF THE ARAB LEADERS BARRED FROM RETURNING TO PALESTINE, ROCK TOLD THE JOURNALIST THAT NEITHER THE MUFTI NOR THE COMMITTEE WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TERRORISM IN PALESTINE.
ROCK WAS QUOTED AS CONDEMNING THE TERRORISM AND BLAMING THE PALESTINE ADMINISTRATION FOR WHAT HE CALLED INCOMPETENT HANDLING OF PALESTINE PROBLEMS THAT WAS HARMING BOTH ARABS AND JEWS.
THE ARAB SUPREME COMMITTEE, ROCK TOLD KOESTLER, WAS PREPARED TO PARTICIPATE IN A ROUNDTABLE CONFERENCE OF BRITISH, ARABS AND JEWS, BUT ONLY ON THE BASIS THAT THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ARAB MAJORITY’S INVIOLABILITY MUST BE RECOGNIZED. THE MUFTI, ROCK DECLARED, HAD TURNED DOWN AN OFFER OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT FOR ASYLUM IN PARIS.
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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.
