Two freight trains were blasted today by Jewish extremists a few hours before a military court here sentenced two youths to life imprisonment for rail sabotage.
One train was blown up while travelling between Lydda and Tel Aviv, damaging the locomotive slightly and injuring the engineer. The other was derailed near Benyamina, but there were no casualties.
The two convicted youths, Abraham Madar and Shlomo Mussawari, told the court that Britain was flouting the will of the world by holding military trials during the period of the U.N. inquiry. The president of the tribunal asserted that only their youth, both are under 18, saved them from death sentences. They were captured at the colony of Nachiel with explosives in their possession.
The trial of five Irgunists charged with participation in the Acre prison break on May 4 continued into the second week today. Three of the defendants are offering no defense, but two have pleaded not guilty and their attorneys are presenting their case. Meanwhile, the official committee probing the jail delivery has completed its investigation and will issue a report shortly.
A magistrate in Tel Aviv today acquitted Gad Yishai, 15, and Menachem Yaskola, 14, who were charged with posting Irgun leaflets. The court said that the “prosecution had not produced satisfactory evidence that the Irgun was an illegal, underground organization.”
It is reported that the government is negotiating with the Syrian Government for the extradition of several Sternists believed to have fled across the border. The Syrian press has been carrying scare stories of Jewish terrorists flooding the country, and several suspects have been arrested in recent days.
New Palestine security measures, including the formation of mixed Anglo-Arab-Jewish police patrols, will be discussed in London by Col. Grey, chief of the Palestine police force, who is now en route to England, the press reports today.
Mixed police patrols have already been introduced in Tel Aviv and have proven a success. It is known that Col. Grey also favors an increase in the number of Jewish policement in Tel Aviv.
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.
