Mayor Bassam Shake of Nablus who lost both legs in Monday’s bomb attack, was flown to Amman, Jordan for further treatment today after refusing to be treated in an Israeli hospital against possible gangrene. Shaka was taken to the Allenby Bridge early this morning and from there by helicopter to a hospital in Amman. The arrangements were mode at the direct orders of Premier Menachem Begin who is acting Defense Minister.
Earlier, Begin offered to have Shaka admitted to any of Israel’s top hospitals for treatment of his wounds, but the West Bank mayor angrily spurned the offer.
Israeli soldiers and police continued for the third successive day to force East Jerusalem Arab merchants to keep their shops open despite a general strike called to protest Monday’s bombings. The merchants were threatened with imprisonment if they refused to comply. Heavily armed troops stood guard at their premises to make sure they, kept open and to prevent harassment by Palestinian nationalists.
That policy drew protests from two senior members of Begin’s Cabinet today. Deputy Premier Simcha Ehrlich of Likud’s Liberal Party wing and Interior Minister Yosef Burg of the National Religious Party maintained that Israel should not interfere in the commercial strike as long as it remained peaceful. But Begin is determined to break the strike in East Jerusalem, if not in the various West Bank towns, and is prepared to force Arab shopkeepers to serve tourists and other visitors.
Israeli troops were visible in unusually large numbers throughout. Jerusalem today in anticipation of possible terrorist acts on the 13th anniversary of the Six-Day War.
Meanwhile, Mayor Rashad Shawa of Gaza and Mayor Elias Freij of Bethlehem met in Gaza today and announced that they will not rescind their resignations tendered earlier this week in protest against the West Bank bombings. They declared that they could not function properly under conditions which they likened to house arrest. They said they were not permitted to talk to the press and were restricted in their actions.
However, both officials hinted that they might be persuaded to return to office if conditions were eased. This seemed to be a signal that they would respond to pressure from Israeli authorities and their own citizens.
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