Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

26th Jew Slain by Arabs; Roads Guarded, Trains Get Convoys

May 20, 1936
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

Another Jew was shot dead this morning in Jerusalem, bringing the total Jewish dead to twenty-six as Arab disorders entered their second month. Sixty-seven Jews have been wounded since April 19.

The victim was Feiwel Snitzer, 35, a painter. He was shot down by three bullets on Armenian Street in the Old City.

Two Jews and one policeman were wounded today when Bedouins attacked the Jewish settlement of Kfar Tabor in the Jezreel Valley in an effort to damage the waterworks. The Bedouins escaped. The settlement is facing a water shortage.

With Jerusalem alive with rumors, the Government moved to restore order rapidly, announcing that beginning today certain important roads will be placed under guard and railway trains run under protection of convoys.

All main roads from Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, to the seaport city of Haifa will be guarded. Details of British police will also be placed along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv road. Convoys will accompany trains on the Haifa-Tel Aviv line.

The announcement followed the broadcasting and publication in a special Government bulletin of Colonial Secretary J.H. Thomas’s statement in the House of Commons yesterday that a Royal Commission will be sent here to inquire into recent disorders but that order must first be established.

Meanwhile, Jewish-owned fields in Mitzpah, Sajara and other Jewish settlements in the Lower Galilee were set afire last night by Arabs.

The Government asked Palestine newspapers not to publish reports about the alleged role of Italy in fomenting Arab-Jewish disorders. The authorities banned the Arab newspaper Adifaa and closed its plant.

A Government communique said that Arabs raided Ben Yahuda Street in Jerusalem this morning.

On the appeal of a delegation from the Palestine Motoring and Touring Club, the Arab Supreme Council agreed today to halt the scattering of nails on roads.

BOMB THROWN FROM TRAIN

A bomb was thrown and shots were fired last night from a train passing Tel Aviv. The conductor refused to stop the train.

An official communique reported a Jewish house bombed in Tiberias, a bomb thrown in Jaffa and the attempted bombing of a railway bridge at Zafaria.

Collective punishment was imposed on the Arab village of Ziff, near Acre, for the cutting of telephone wires.

At the funeral of Karl Breitner,45, an Austrian Catholic shot dead when mistaken for a Jew yesterday morning, the 500 participants attempted to break the police cordon and were dispersed by force. None was injured.

The communique adds in regard to the Breitner slaying that a fez was found near his body, which was recognized by his wife as belonging to him.

The murderer has not been caught, the statement said, but the police have a description of two persons suspected of having participated in the assault.

Mistaking a German field as Jewish-owned, Arabs set fire to a hayrick near Ramat Gan. All of them escaped.

At the Jewish settlement of Herzliah, Arabs set fire to a Jewish packinghouse. The police were notified but the Arabs escaped disappearing in the Arab village of Jelil.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement