A number of immigrants were forcibly removed by police from a ship in Haita last night when they refused to leave the vessel in protest against the housing locations assigned to them by the Jewish Agency. Details of the incident were reported to the Cabinet today by S. Z. Shragai, head of the Agency’s immigration department, who said that the newcomers had refused to accept housing in Kiryat Remez, near Haifa, Holon, Petah Tikva and Afula, demanding instead that they be sent to homes in Ashdod or Batyam.
Mr. Shragai told the Cabinet that, before embarking, every immigrant is given full and precise details about allocated housing, including the areas and prevailing conditions, and is asked to sign an agreement accepting the conditions.
While most of the immigrants disembarked on Friday, Mr. Shragai said that a number of them refused to leave the ship. The Agency arranged for the ship to remain in port until after the Sabbath, and renewed efforts to persuade the immigrants to leave the ship last night. When the newcomers again refused, police were called in to forcibly remove the newcomers from the vessel.
In his report, Mr. Shragai noted that it was usually relatives In Israel who instigate the newcomers to object. He said the Agency was considering means of avoiding such incidents in the future. One Cabinet Minister, who recently traveled aboard an immigrant ship, praised the devotion and patience of Jewish Agency emissaries accompanying the newcomers.
The Cabinet also heard a report by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol on the details of the United States-Israel desalination project agreement. He said the matter of the project’s financing had not been raised by the American members of the joint team of experts. He stressed that the matter would be discussed only after the experts submitted their plans to their respective governments.
Mr. Eshkol also announced the appointment of Maj. Gen. Zvi Tsur, Israel’s former Chief of Staff, as the project’s coordinator. At the present stage, the project is under the direction of the Premier’s office.
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.
