With minor outbreaks continuing in Jerusalem and surroundings all day Wednesday and part of Thursday, grave apprehension was held by the Jewish population of Palestine for a possible renewal of attacks on a large scale on Friday, the Sabbath of the Moslems. The rumor has been confirmed that Arab leaders plan another huge assembly at the Mosque of Omar for Friday. It was following such an assembly last Friday that the outrages were started.
With the exception of Haifa, where serious disorders occurred resulting in casualties and wounded which were stopped by the British forces, comparative quiet prevailed. The Jewish settlers of the colony Ekron returned to their homes. The settlements in the Valley of Jezreel resumed work.
The panic has not yet passed in Jerusalem as rumors multiplied that the Moslem Arabs prepare for a new attack on the Old City. From Jericho it was reported that a thousand Bedouins from Transjordania are marching on Jerusalem.
Sir John Chancellor, High Commissioner, who returned yesterday to Jerusalem, on Wednesday evening received a delegation of Jewish leaders consisting of Isaac Ben-Zvi, labor leader, Chaim Solomon, member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council; Mr. Beilinson and Mr. Horovitz. The High Commissioner assured the delegation that he is taking the situation “firmly in hand.”
SEVERE MEASURES PROMISED FOR ARAB MARAUDERS AND LOOTERS, JEWS REFUSE EVACUATION
A Jewish delegation consisting of Mr. Ben-Zvi, David Remez and Mr. Horovitz of the Zionist Executive was received Wednesday night by Brigadier General William G. S. Dobbie, who is in command of the military forces. General Dobbie told the delegation that the evacuation of Jewish settlements will be stopped except in such cases where the danger of the loss of life is great. He has sufficient troops to cope with the situation. Looters and maurauders will be severely punished. This has already been commenced, he stated. The military officers stationed in the Valley of Jezrcel, at Haifa and
at Jaffa were instructed to keep in touch with the representatives of the Jewish communities there, he added.
TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION REOPENED, CITY FACES LACK OF FOOD
A sign of the expected return to normal conditions was seen in the order of the authorities to open telephone communication for private use. Some of the shops, mostly Christian, have reopened. Some Jewish enterprises were also opened, by their owners. Transactions are being conducted timidly.
The general condition of Jerusalem is very depressing. The city faces a lack of food and 2,500 persons, particularly in the Old City Jewish quarter are starving. Three hundred and fifty Yemenites who resides in the village Kfar Hashiloach left their homes for Jerusalem, fearing that the village, which is just outside Jerusalem, is unsafe.
The Chaluzim colony, Ein Harod, one of the most successful pioneer cooperative colonies in Lower Galilee again started to work in the fields. It has sent the first consignment of food for the Jerusalem population.
The attacks by the Moslem Arabs on the Jewish colonies in the Valley of Jezreel were repelled. No loss of Jewish life occurred in the Valley colonies.
The Palestine press is still muzzled. News despatches of the Reuter Agency transmitted here for the Palestine Telegraphic Agency are not being delivered by the telegraphic officials. (A dispatch from London states that Jacob Landau, publisher of the Palestine Bulletin and managing director of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, addressed a cable request to the High Commissioner to permit the reappearance of the Palestine Bulletin, the only English daily in the country, which carries no editorials, and to ensure the delivery of the Reuter despatches for the restoration of contact with the outside world.)
JEWISH BODY APPEALS AGAINST ACTS OF VENGEANCE
As reports continued to arrive about the increasing number of deaths among the Jewish wounded, and individual cases of new attack and assault, the Vaad Leumi, National Council of Palestine Jews, issued an appeal to the Jewish population of Palestine to refrain from acts of vengeance against Arabs, notwithstanding the population’s justified indignation.
Wednesday night the Jewish labor colony, Kalendia, was again attacked, but the attack was repulsed. Two Arabs were killed in the defense. An Arab was killed on a Jerusalem street.
NEW DEATHS AND ASSAULTS
Wednesday night, two Jews were killed and a Jewish girl and a child were wounded between Ludd and Tel Aviv. Cases of rape were also reported.
Moses Mitovsky, one of the Jews wounded during the Hebron massacre, died last night of his wounds.
The following five died of wounds received during the Jerusalem attacks:
Nachman Segal,
Moses Brandes,
Hana Batya Mimoza,
– Wilnai,
David Leib Ruben.
Dr. Korkidi, a Sephardic Jew, a physician, is among the wounded. He was fired at while performing an operation on one of the victims at the hospital Misgab L’dach in Jerusalem.
An 80-year-old Jew in Haifa was stabbed.
SEARCHES AND ARRESTS CONTINUE, SELF-DEFENDERS TO BE TRIED
Searches and arrests among Jews and Arabs are being continued. In Jerusalem the searches among Jews are being conducted under the direction of the Arab police officer Kemal Irani. Fewer arrests are made among the Arabs than among the Jews. Those arrested are being tried for carrying arms and on charges of attack and murder. Until now several slight cases were disposed of, in which the prisoners were sentenced to fine or imprisonment.
A deputation representing the Zionist Executive and other Jewish organizations discussed the matter with Brig. Gen. Dobbie. The delegation asked that the rioters be punished severely. He replied that the matter is being considered. As to the evacuation of Jewish settlements, he stated that it will not be proceeded with unless it will be found necessary.
ARAB MAYOR NOT KILLED
The report which emanated from Beirut that the Arab Mayor of Jerusalem, Nashashibi, was killed, is untrue.
Three more houses were destroyed by fire in the Old City of Jerusalem last night.
An impressive scene was the transference of forty Scrolls of the Law under military escort. These Scrolls were taken from the Talmudical Academy Etz Chaim, where they were presented by Rabbi Joseph Schneursohn, famous Chassidic Rebbe of Lubawitsch, who recently visited here, to the house of the Palestine Chief Rabbi, A. J. Kook.
CHULDAH COLONY DESTROYED FOLLOWING EVACUATION
Additional details were received here concerning the courageous defense put up by the settlers of Chuldah, in the Judean hills, a Jewish National Fund settlement. The colony was under attack for eight hours, and the settlers, less than 100, put up a vigorous defense until the arrival of the British troops. When the troops arrived, they ordered the settlers to give up their arms and to evacuate the colony. The settlers protested the evacuation order, but were compelled to obey it. After it was evacuated the Arab marauders set fire to the colony, undisturbed.
Similarly, the settlers of the colony Ekron were ordered to evacuate their homes by the military authorities. The settlers attempted several times to return to watch over their colony.
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.
