Isaac Ben-Zvi, in an uncensored telephone message sent on Wednesday at 10:30 A. M., reported that during the preceding night many Jews in Palestine were disarmed and arrested by the military authorities, who do not differentiate between armed brigands and Jewish defenders who risked their lives when the government was powerless to accord protection to the menaced Jewish population. “Notwithstanding the presence of a large British force, the country is not yet quiet. The surviving remnant of the Jewish population of Hebron is panicky, as are the population groups at other points and in the agricultural settlements,” he said. The members of the self-deefnse are being arrested and will be tried like criminals,” he added. “British officials and Arab officials are the only persons permitted to bear arms, while British Jews, officials in the Palestine government, were disarmed,” he said.
The Zionist Executive in Jerusalem vigorously protested against this discrimination in presentations to the Jerusalem government as well as to London.
MOSLEMS DEMAND JEWS GIVE UP ARMS
A Moslem mass meeting was held Tuesday afternoon at the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem. The Grand Mufti presided in the presence of the Jerusalem District Commissioner, Mr. Keith-Roach, who came to the Moslem shrine escorted by 25 policemen.
The District Commissioner was told at the meeting that the Moslems of Jerusalem cannot be quieted unless the Jews will be disarmed. Mr. Keith-Roach undertook to see to it that the entire civil population, including the Britishers, will be disarmed.
Two Jews were arrested by the British authorities in the Jerusalem Jewish quarter, Rechavia.
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.
