Jews throughout every city, town, and settlement in Palestine today went on a two-hour general strike during the symbolic funeral of Yechiel Schwartz, who was killed in a clash when armed British marines attempted to board the Palmach which brought 600 visaless Jews to Palestine Sunday. His body was hurled overboard when he was hit by a tear gas shell.
The work stoppage, called to protest Schwartz’ killing and the deportation of the other passengers on the Palmach, closed down every Jewish shop and office in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities. Except for vital public utilities, all commercial activities ceased in Tel Aviv, including urban and interurban bus transportation.
Some 5,000 British troops and police today surrounded the Hedera area where yesterday a group of armed and masked men held up a train crew and then blasted a locomotive and ten cars loaded with gasoline and oil. The police used bloodhounds in an attempt to trace the raiders. It was reported that the troops were making preparations to question every resident of Hedera and the surrounding villages.
The train crew told the authorities that they brought the train to a halt after signal torpedoes exploded under its wheels. As the train stopped, the raiders emerged from hiding in the nearby woods and held up the trainmen, placed the charges and fled. The damage resulting from the flames, which blocked traffic between central Palestine and Egypt and could be seen 40 miles away, was estimated to total at least $300,000.
An Arab sentry was killed last night when he challenged a group of armed men approaching a block house near a rail bridge between Jaffa and Lydda.
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.
