Hopes for peace in the Holy Land after nearly six months of anti-Jewish and anti-Government disorders rose sharply today with the disclosure that at a meeting of the Arab Supreme Committee, representatives of local strike committees voted unanimously to abandon the general strike.
Observers saw in this development the “beginning of the end” of the Arab rebellion which since April 19 has claimed close to 500 Arab, Jewish and British lives and taken a property toll of an estimated $14,000,000.
Reports earlier this week, emanating from Arab circles, had said the Arab Supreme Committee by Sunday would make public an appeal to Palestine Arabs, signed by the rulers of four neighboring Moslem states, calling on them to abandon the strike.
Presence in Palestine of close to 30,000 British troops equipped with the most modern weapons of war, under the command of Lieut.-Gen. J.G. Dill, coupled with the fact that declaration of martial law had been authorized at the discretion of High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, is believed to have been the chief factor influencing the district strike leaders in voting as they did.
Heavy losses suffered by rebel bands in the mopping-up campaign launched by General Dill shortly after his arrival are also believed to have impressed Arab leaders with the futility of continuing the rebellion.
Meanwhile, reports of violence continued to come from various parts of the country.
British tanks, attacked by a rebel band near kfar Sur, reportedly killed or wounded 15 Arabs. The driver of one of the tanks suffered a slight arm wound in the engagement.
Police today discovered the dead body of an Arab special policeman of Ein Karem, a Jerusalem suburb, near the wall of the Temple. He had been killed by a mob in the Temple area and his body hurled over the Wall.
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.
