The underground command of the Palestinian uprising has targeted Jerusalem for two weeks of civil disobedience and boycotts.
Communique No. 20, titled “The Jerusalem Communique,” was circulated Wednesday night. It calls for a general strike in the administered territories on June 28 to protest the 21st anniversary of Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem.
It urges residents of the territories to focus their struggle in the next two weeks on efforts to break Israel’s hold on East Jerusalem. It exhorts them to boycott the civil administration and declare “total disobedience.”
Premier Yitzhak Shamir reacted furiously. “Cut off the hands” of those who would hurt Jerusalem, he told a gathering of Jerusalem police officers.
The latest communique also urged Palestinians to continue to damage Israeli property. The day of arson declared by the Palestinian underground against Israeli agricultural assets passed Wednesday with fewer forest and field fires than the recent average.
Some of the fires were due to carelessness by Israelis, especially children and not classified as sabotage, according to Police Minister Haim Barlev.
But the failure of the Palestinian underground in that respect has not induced complacency.
Israeli security forces, fire brigades, the Jewish National Fund and the Nature Preserves Authority remain in a high state of alert against arson attempts.
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.
