Rupture of Christian-moslem Arab United Front Looms over Murder of Christian Editor

A complete break in the hitherto united front of the Christian and Moslem Arabs against the Jews is foreshadowed as a result of the recent affray in the streets of Haifa in which Jamal Bakhri, editor of the Christian-Arab paper, Al Zamer, was killed and six others injured in a clash between Moslem and Christian Arabs over the possession of an old cemetery.

With Rashid Ibrahim, director of the Haifa Waqf and a member of the Moslem Supreme Council, and Ramzi Ammar, secretary of the Moslem Association, formally charged with inciting to murder, and two Moslem policemen under arrest on a charge of assisting Bakhri’s murderers to escape, relations between the Christian and Moslem Arabs are so exacerbated that the Haifa Y. M. C. A. has decided to form a separate All-Christian Union refusing all contact with the Moslems. Earlier in the week the Christian Arab women seceded from the Haifa Arab Womens’ Association and formed their own group. The Catholic community of Haifa has already named representatives to the new Christian body.

DEMAND ARREST OF EDITOR

While the Christian Arabs are demanding the arrest of the editor of the El Yarmouk, a Moslem paper, alleging contempt of court in publishing articles on the Bakhri affair, Moslem bodies in Jerusalem and elsewhere, perturbed over the turn of affairs, have sought the conciliatory efforts of the Christian Arab Bishop, Najar of Haifa, to whose community Bakhri belonged. The Christian Arabs, however, have rejected the overtures of the Arab Executive, have declined to receive a Moslem peace delegation and have turned down an indemnity of $10,000 which the Haifa Waqf has offered to the murdered man’s family. Wadi Bustani, a Nationalist Christian Arab lawyer, has also failed to persuade the Christians to receive the Moslem peace delegation, and for his pains is being denounced by the young Christians as a traitor.

MOSLEM QUARREL AGGRAVATED

In the meantime the quarrel between the Moslem Arabs themselves has become aggravated over another blood feud resulting from the murder last Yom Kippur of Moussa Ahdib, the opponent of the Grand Mufti. Ahdib’s family accuses the Grand Mufti’s party of the crime, claiming that this suspicion was strengthened when the Grand Mufti refused to swear on Ahdib’s grave that he was innocent and ignorant of the crime.

The Mufti’s party has retaliated by charging that Nimar Ahdib, son of the murdered man, had conspired to assassinate the Mufti and Issa Darwish, a high official of the Moslem Supreme Council. On evidence given by Dar-wish today before an examining magistrate to the effect that Nimar had hired assassins to kill the Mufti and Darwish, Nimar was formally charged with an attempt at premeditated murder.