The Government took the offensive against terrorists today as Arab disorders began their tenth week with bombings, arson, sabotage, attacks and sniping continuing throughout the country.
A detachment of Seaforth Highlanders carried out successful operations at Mount Ebal near Nablus, surrounding an Arab hideout and capturing armed bandits. Four Arabs were arrested and one seriously wounded. Three rifles were seized. No casualties were reported among the troops.
Two British soldiers were severely wounded and another slightly injured when Arabs ambushed a convoy at Nur Shemesh en route to Haifa from Tel Aviv. Military authorities launched an investigation into the attack.
A determined attack on the Jewish settlement of Kfar Baruch near Nahalal last night was reported today. Arabs stormed the colony from three sides. They were repulsed by police guards.
The Arab Supreme Council telegraphed High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope protesting against new regulations extending the death penalty and life imprisonment to persons convicted of carrying firearms, bombs and incendiary materials, with five years’ imprisonment set where intention to use them is not prevent.
Sir John Hathorn-Hall, chief Government secretary, replied for Sir Arthur that the Government has decided to take even further measures 11 they are necessary to end terrorism.
ARAB SHOPS OPEN IN JAFFA
Many shops on strike in the Adjami quarter of Jaffa opened today. Merchants in the Manshieh quarter were waiting for each other to make the first move to break the nine-week old strike against the Jews and Government.
A joint meeting of the Arab Council and local strike committees was summoned for Tuesday to discuss continuation or abandonment of the strike, newspapers reported today.
A military patrol was fired on near Jenin, an official communique said, and the patrol replied. No casualties were reported. Snipers fired on patrols on the Hebron road and near Bitar, drawing police fire.
Buses were fired at near Beth Hakerem and at Motza. Some shooting was reported in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Tel Litwinsky, Beit Vegan and Montefiore.
A Jewish bus was set afire near Haifa and slightly damaged, the communique stated. A fire slightly damaged a bridge between Semakh and Naharaim, but traffic was not interrupted. Fire destroyed a Jewish hut and workshop near Haifa. Nursery trees were set afire near Migdal, but police extinguished the blaze.
Cutting of telephone wires and shooting were reported at Haifa Bay and Beisan. A marble workshop was set afire near Beit Vegan and slightly damaged. Telephone wires were cut near Jerusalem, Khan Luban and at Hebron.
Two bombs were thrown at a railway line near Kalkillia, one at Tulkarem, one at Khanyunis, two at Gaza and two at Beersheba.
PROBE SLAYING OF 39TH JEW
Police were investigating today the circumstances surrounding the slaying of Eliezer Liser, a German emigrant, in an orange grove near Kfar Saba by Arabs yesterday. He was the thirty-ninth Jew to be killed since April 19. It was at first believed he had been accidentally shot, but police investigation revealed Arab responsibility.
The statement of William Ormsby-Gore, British Colonial Secretary, in the House of Commons that Arab terrorism would be suppressed, evoked from Arab circles the defiant declaration that the fight against the Government was only beginning.
Persons close to the Grand Mufti, Haj Amin el Husseini, the principal Arab leader, told the Hebrew daily, Haboker, that events until now were only a joke in comparison to what would follow.
The authorities were asked today in appeals signed jointly by the Palestine Manufacturers Association and the Histadruth, Jewish general federation of labor, to prevent further slayings and sabotage by invoking the newly-proclaimed regulations fixing penalties of death and life imprisonment for terroristic acts in all places where crimes had been committed or where criminals were hiding.
The appeals, which were addressed to High Commissioner Wauchope, Colonial Secretary Ormsby-Gore and important Government officials, protested the slaying of a Jew and wounding of six others in a bus bombing last Friday near Yazur, the scene of several previous terroristic acts.
The appeals also asked promulgation of all measures necessary to suppress terrorist bands by enlisting Jews into police and army unit and changing the present defensive policy into one of aggressive action. In addition, they requested stationing of adequate guards at danger points to provide public conveyances with sufficient armed British and Jewish police.
“We will continue our work despite all destructive forces,” the appeal said, “and we hope Your Excellency will fulfill the promise to facilitate the work of law-abiding citizens of the country.” It was signed by M. Shenkar of the manufacturers group and David Remez of the Histadruth.
Earlier, an official communique announced the town of Yazur was fined $1,000 as collective punishment for the bus bombing. Troops and police searched the town and took livestock and grain with them to Jaffa as security for the fine.
BLOODHOUNDS TRACK WATER-MAIN BOMBERS
Arabs fired 100 shots yesterday at a home for convalescents at Motza. They were routed by police fire. A home for babies in the Upper Bakaa section of Jerusalem was set afire by Arabs and extinguished by troops.
Rifles of two special Jewish policemen were stolen at Ness Ziona. Police searching for the thieves found an Arab with an automatic revolver in his possession.
Police were investigating today the shooting of a Jew of Migdal near Tiberias yesterday. He was suffering from a leg wound. A bridge between Jerusalem and Jericho was damaged by explosives.
Using bloodhounds, Government forces tracked Arabs responsible for damaging waterpipes at Ras-el-Ain supplying Jerusalem, to the village of Saris, where they found a sack containing an instrument used for the bombing. Inhabitants of twenty Arab villages were forced to repair the damages.
The new secretary of the Arab Supreme Council, Izzat Deruza, was confined in a concentration camp at Sarafend, as were Samis Aradj, one of the reputed chief instigators of Arab disorders, and Dr. Chlil Budeyry, a leader of the party of Mayor Hussein el Khalidi of Jerusalem.
MILITARY PATROLS AMBUSHED
Military patrols were ambushed twice yesterday on the road to Nablus, one soldier suffering bullet wounds, and two others injuries when the lorry they were riding in accidentally overturned. Soldiers extinguished a fire in the residential section of Jerusalem. Fire destroyed a group of Jewish-owned cabins in Ruchama.
Telephone and telegraph wires were cut at Afuleh, Beisan, Jenin, Atlith, Madjal, Yabneh and Lydda. Obstructions on the railroad tracks between Kalkillia and Kakun were being removed by soldiers when they were fired on by snipers. There were no casualties.
A train between Jerusalem and Lydda was fired on, but no injuries were reported. A bridge between Ramallah and Batrun was slightly damaged by explosives. A military trolley was damaged when a bomb exploded between Gaza and Khanyunis. Police stations at Hedera, Gaza, Beit Vegan, Beisan, Karkur, Beth Alpha, Sedjera and Safed were attacked by snipers, police replying without effect. A customs guard was stoned at El Nekura.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
