Steps to improve relations between British troops and Jews in Palestine were initiated today by the military authorities with the arrival here of Col. Douglas Wilson, a special officer of the educational branch of the British Army, who will seek means of changing the soldiers’ hostile attitude towards the Jews.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learns reliably that the British authorities will very soon release fifty-nine Palestinian Jews held in camps in Eritrea. A Jewish Agency spokesman today told reporters here that he hopes all Palestinian Jews who have been deported to Eritrea will be transferred to Palestine, even if for detention here.
An official spokesman of the Palestine Government today confirmed the report that the government is considering the possibility of transferring visaless Jews from Cyprus to the Athlit clearance camp in Palestine. The transfer, he said, will be made “within the frame of the present immigration quota” which is 1,500 a month.
SHEIKHS APOLOGIZE FOR ATTACK ON JEWISH SETTLEMENT; BLAME AGITATORS
The sheikhs of Arab villages near Neoth Mordechai, which was the scene of an attack on Jewish settlers by Arabs last Sunday, today visited the Jewish settlement and apologized for the incident, declaring that it was instigated by agents sent from Safad by extremist chiefs. They formally presented a peace offer to the Jews.
It was learned today that Jamal Husseini, titular leader of the Arab community in the absence of the ex-Mufti, has been attempting in recent weeks to arouse the Arab population against the Jews. A few days ago he held a long conference with Salim el Sikh, leader of a terrorist band which operated between Hebron and Beersheba during the 1936 disturbances. Husseini is also in constant communication with the commanders of the so called Arab army “Najada.”
That the Arab population does not reflect its leaders’ hostility to the Jews was indicated last night by Aba Chushi, a Histadruth leader who went into hiding on June 29 when a British dragnet went out for him. Addressing a reception for David Remez, who was released from Latrun camp on Tuesday, Chushi revealed that he had been offered shelter by many Arabs. Eleven Druze villages said they would hide him and a rich sheikh offered his harem as a haven, saying that he would send his son to Chushi’s house to reside there as a hostage for the letter’s safety, which is an old Moslem custom. Two Arab states also offered refuge to the fugitive labor leader.
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.
