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New Colony Opened Despite Police Ban; Jew Slain; Curfew Lifted; Censorship Imposed

July 20, 1938
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In the face of continuing disorders which added another Jewish death to the mounting toll, and with special police protection refused, a band of 150 Jews early this morning established a new colony on Jewish National Fund land about eight miles west of this city.

The site of the new settlement is near the colony of Kiriat Anavim, where five Jewish workers were slain last Fall in an Arab ambuscade. Police having refused permission for the occupation because of the current terrorism, the settlers took possession of the land secretly at four A.M.

While the situation in Jerusalem had eased sufficiently for the authorities this afternoon to lift the two-week curfew, sporadic terrorism continued in other parts of Palestine. Arab terrorists this morning killed Mendel Lichtenstein, 23, a native of Poland, near Kfar Saba.

The Government today clapped down a strict censorship on outgoing press wires and restricted the hours of filing. News sent after 11 p.m. (4 P.M. Eastern Standard Time) will not be transmitted until the following morning. The censorship followed a recent ban on the publication with in Palestine of news of military movements. Last night the Government radio station broadcast a warning against the spreading of inciting rumors.

At the same time a special issue of the official Palestine Gazette, signed by the Government censor, announced a prohibition on publication of a letter by Col. Josiah Wedgwood, British pro-Zionist Member of Parliament, to the Jewish Union of Army Officers in Tel Aviv, urging on the Jews a policy of non-cooperation with the British authorities.

Despite the lifting of curfew, there were still signs of unrest in this city. This morning soldiers with fixed bayonets suddenly occupied Jaffa Road, in the heart of the Jewish business section, halting traffic and driving passersby into side streets at bayonet point. The purpose of the action was not immediately disclosed.

The Tel Aviv municipal council, at a closed meeting on the question of security, adopted a resolution condemning acts of revenge against the Arabs, calling on the Jewish community for the most rigid discipline, and demanding increased protection.

Sheikh Aref-el-Younis, chief preacher of the Mosque of Omar and an enemy of the exiled ex-mufti of Jerusalem, escaped the third attempt on his life since the outbreak of the current disorders. Terrorists made a daylight attempt to assassinate him by firing into his car near Herod’s Gate. The Sheikh’s bodyguard returned the fire, but none of the assailants was hit.

Arab terrorists late yesterday blew up a railway bridge between Lydda and Haifa, causing traffic to be suspended. Two bombs exploded harmlessly in Arab-Jewish quarters of Haifa.

Four Jerusalem and four Tel Aviv Revisionists, who have been under arrest in connection with the disorders, were released on bail. They include Dr. Ephraim Washitz, leader of the Jerusalem Revisionists, and E. Steimatzky, prominent bookseller.

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