U.N. mediator Count Folke Bernadotte today proposed to both the Arabs and the Jews that the present four-week truce be extended and that Jerusalem and certain areas of Haifa be demilitarized. The proposal followed the reported rejection by both parties of his suggestions for a solution of the Palestine war.
Bernadotte, who is scheduled to arrive here today for conferences with Jewish leaders, did not suggest a specific period of time for his extension, delaying that phase of the matter until the Jews and the Arabs had agreed to continuation of the cease-fire. He also proposed that the U.S., France and Belgium, which have been supplying military truce observers, supply the U.N. with a force of 1,000 men to supervise the demilitarization of Jerusalem. The refineries and terminals in the port area of Haifa would be demilitarized under Bernadotte’s plan.
As the Jewish armed forces on all fronts stood prepared today to hurl back any premature breaking of the truce by the Arabs, the Israeli Foreign Ministry asked Col. Thord Bonde, chief U.K. observer in Palestine, for permission to immediately resume hostilities against units of Fawzi el Kaukuji’s “Liberation Array” now operating at the Nazareth district.
The request to the U.N. followed the latest attack by Kaukuji’s forces during which they set fire to the famed Balfour Forest last week and a formal statement by ##uim Mustapha, Arab League representative, to Dr. Ralph Bunche of the U.N. staff disclaiming any responsibility for the recent breaches of the truce by Kaukuji’s forces. The Israeli authorities propose to take police action against the estimated 1,000 Arab guerrillas and treat them as bandits since no Arab state nor the Palestine Arabs ##ill assume responsibility for their actions.
A strict blackout of news has been imposed in Haifa for security reasons. Meanwhile, the 4,000-odd Arabs left in the city are being concentrated in one area. The bodies of the late American consul general in Jerusalem, Thomas Wasson, and a ?.S. Navy man — killed in the Jerusalem fighting in May — were placed aboard an American naval vessel for return to the U.S. today.
2,000 REFUGEES SAIL FROM CYPRUS; EXPECTED IN HAIFA TODAY
Dispatches from the island of Cyprus today reported that some 2,000 Jewish ?en, women and children — none of military age — had left the island today aboard the passenger vessel Pan York and were expected to arrive at Haifa tomorrow. Another 2,100 refugees, also of non-military age, are expected to leave shortly aboard the fan Crescent.
An Irgun underground broadcast this morning charged the Israeli Government with enacting emergency statutes which govern the Jews in the same fashion as did the infamous British “Emergency Defense Regulations.” The charge followed the announcement this week-end by the government that it was holding Peter Bergson, chairman of the American Hebrew Committee of National Liberation, and two leading Irgunists on charges of using arms against the Israeli Army and inciting Irgun soldiers to desert from the army. The government has refused to divulge the place of imprisonment of the three for “security reasons.”
Returning from a visit to Jerusalem, U.S. Representative Leo Isacson, who is touring Palestine and the Middle East, yesterday told a news conference that he cabled President Truman and Presidential candidates Gov. Thomas E. Dewey and Henry A. Wallace to publicly declare that they advocate lifting of the arms embargo on Israel. He attacked the British policy in regard to Palestine and urged de jure recognition of the Jewish state by the U.S.
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.
