The half million Jews of Palestine staged a general stoppage of work and business yesterday as two boatloads of 1,772 European Jewish refugees were forced to leave Haifa port, it was reliably learned here today.
The refugees, including about 1,000 men, 600 women and 172 children, whose arrival at Haifa was revealed on Nov. 11, were refused permission to land and were understood to have left the port yesterday for an undisclosed destination.
The refusal of the authorities to permit the refugees to land caused widespread protest, culminating in the general stoppage, according to messages received in London. Few details of the demonstration were received immediately, but it was stated that all sections of the Jewish community participated.
The refugees, 1,062 on one ship and 710 on the second, were believed to be groups which had been shunted from port to port on the Danube for several months until they finally managed to cross the Mediterranean.
The fever pitch of resentment aroused among Palestine Jews over the treatment of the refugees was indicated by the fact that a special meeting of the Asefath Hanivcharim (Jewish parliament) in Jerusalem on Nov. 11 reached complete unanimity among all parties on a course of action to be taken.
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