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Troops Invade Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem; Raid Synagogues During Services

September 24, 1947
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Several hundred British troops invaded the Yemenite quarter of Mea Shearim at dawn today and screened 600 persons in an attempt to uncover hidden arms. Five persons were held for further questioning.

The raiders entered two synagogues and compelled the worshippers to leave until their searches were completed, interrupting pre-Yom Kippur services. They are reported to have unrolled Holy Scrolls and pulled religious books from cabinets.

An unofficial report today said that one of the two Jewish women arrested in Jerusalem on Sep. 13 as alleged top-ranking extremists is on a hunger strike in a government hospital. The prisoner, Shulamit Shamir, the wife of Israel Yesternitzky, second-in-command of the Stern Group, is reported to be undergoing forcible feeding. She is the mother of a two-year-old child. Her husband has been a fugitive since he escaped from an Eritrean concentration camp last Summer.

A statement issued last night by the Haganah said that it had taken “stern measures” against dissidents in the Rehovoth area, who had attempted to intimidate local youths into joining their ranks.

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