Troops withdrew tonight from the vicinity of the Birya settlement, leaving intact a new settlement which was erected today by several hundred Jewish veterans and other youths, who labored in a pouring rain, within a Jordan established by British military unite.
The incident at Birya–which resulted in a four-hour general strike by Jews in Haifa today to protest police and military brutality–began at dawn yesterday, when serval thousand Jews converged on the settlement, which had been occupied by troops once an attack on a nearby Arab Legion camp, a fortnight ago.
Their first attempt to found a new settlement was frustrated yesterday evening, from 3,000 troops forcibly dispersed the settlers, some of whom attempted to cling to sticks and other footholds. Many were beaten and several hundred were arrested and taken to Tiberias. They were subsequently released.
After the troops had destroyed the huts which had been erected by the first group, a second detachment of several hundred young Jews, arrived after dusk, and then re-erecting the buildings. They were also driven off.
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