The restriction on the import of foodstuffs and other supplies for the civilian population of Jerusalem under the truce terms arranged by Count Folke Bernadotte, U.N. mediator, today created considerable resentment among the 100,000 Jews here.
Under the terms of the truce, “relief to populations of both sides in municipal areas which have suffered from the conflict, as in Jerusalem and Jaffa, shall be administered by an International Red Cross committee in such a manner as to insure that reserves of stocks of essential supplies shall not be substantially greater or less at the end of the truce than they were at the beginning.”
The Palestine Post, English-language daily, editorially denounced this condition today, and protested that the truce, aimed at a military standstill to Palestine, by this provision sought to create a “civilian standstill” as well “Jerusalem,” the paper declared, “is not a part of Israel but is to be placed under direct United Nations rule.”
The paper added that “if Bernadotte intends restrict civilian traffic, he is recognizing the right of the Arab League, even during a truce, to besiege a civilian population which is outside of Israel. This is an unnatural development to which the Jerusalem Jews, at least, will refuse to reconcile themselves.”
Meanwhile, a Jewish Agency spokesman here told correspondent that “there is no doubt that a section of the Egyptian force near Isdud is cut off.”
Isaac Bendor, Jerusalem correspondent of the Tel Aviv newspaper Davar, died during the night of wounds received during a recent bombing of the house in which he lived.
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.
