British Destroyers Detain Two Ships with 1,300 Jewish Immigrants off Haifa Harbor

Special precautions were ordered by British security authorities in Haifa today as two refugee ships carrying more than 1,300 Jewish immigrants arrived in the harbor under escort of several destroyers.

The two ships, which were barred from entering the port, are the Yagour, named after a Jewish settlement in Palestine, and the Henrietta Szold, named after the late founder of the Hadassah. The Yagour with 700 passengers aboard was manned by a Turkish crew which was arrested by British naval officers. No trace of a crew was found on the Henrietta Szold which has 650 passengers, including children under 16, and it is assumed that the ship was manned by the refugees themselves.

Jewish leaders here fear that the two ships may be diverted to the island of Cyprus where detention camps are reported to have been prepared for Jewish immigrants seeking to enter Palestine without visas. Officials of the Jewish Agency’s immigration department asked permission to board the ships, but were refused. Several thousand special troops were standing by in the Haifa port area to prevent any contact with the vessels. Two other vessels, the Shertok and the Raffa, were expected tonight.

JEWISH AGENCY DENIES THAT ARRIVING REFUGEES ARE TERRORISTS

A Jewish Agency spokesman today vehemently denied at a press conference the allegation that the Jewish refugees arriving from Europe are terrorists. “On the contrary,” he said, “they are opposed to terrorism in Palestine.”

The Jewish Agency representative estimated that there were now about 3,700 Jewish refugees aboard vessels anchored in Haifa harbor. He said that he believed that an additional 1,300 Jews were en route to Palestine. He also disclosed that the Palestine authorities have unofficially extended the censorship blanketing the country’s press to include mail to individuals and organizations. He declared that letters addressed to the Agency have been ripped open and then forwarded without envelopes being resealed.

Reports from Cyprus today said that port officials at Famagusta have been alerted for the possible arrival of six ships. A former British troopship, the “Wayward,” arrived in Haifa today with its decks covered with rolls of barbed wire.

The Resistance Movement’s underground radio, “Voice of Israel,” continued warning today against the British attempt to convert the “Yishuv into a ghetto” by introducing a blockade against Palestine similar to that imposed upon Nazi Germany during the war. The announcer forecast further curfews, arrests and interrogations aimed at leaders and members of the Haganah as well as sympathizers of the movement.