A silent stay in general strike was staged today by Palestine’s 450,000 Jews as a mark of protest against the British decree suspending Jewish immigration for six months beginning Oct. 1. The strike started at two p.m. and was officially brought to a close at midnight.
During the entire ten-hour period of the silent demonstration, Jews throughout Palestine kept to their homes, shops were closed and traffic was at a standstill. Orders to the Jewish population, issued by the Jewish National Council in calling the strike, to stay at home and observe silence were scrupulously obeyed. The Council had forbidden meetings and demonstrations.
Up to a late hour tonight there had been no incidents. In all-Jewish Tel Aviv, the streets were deserted except for civil guards stationed at intervals of ten meters with orders to detain pedestrians who had no special permits in public schools set aside for the purpose. In other Palestine cities and towns, only handfuls of Jews were abroad.
The strike had the support of all sections of the Jewish Community, including the religious non-Zionist Agudath Israel, and at least the passive backing of the extremist Zionist-Revisionist organization. The latter group issued a statement promising that it would not interfere with the strike although it regarded the stay-in measure as designed to prevent expression of the Jewish community’s “real feelings.”
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