Polish military authorities in Palestine may be compelled to halt their raids on Jewish colonies as a result of the bitter resentment among the Jewish population of the country, it was indicated by Polish sources here today. Jewish spokesmen have charged that the raids are merely a camouflage to enable the British police to hunt for arms without bearing responsibility for initiating the searches.
Conducted on the pretext of searching for deserters from the Polish army, the raids have so far not resulted in turning up any deserters and have proven that the Jewish settlements are not sheltering them. On the other hand these searches led to a bloody clash in Ramath Hakovesh between the settlers and British police, as well as to so-called “arms trials” such as the one which is taking place now before a military court in Jerusalem, resulting from a Polish raid on Hulda settlement.
Polish authorities today indicated that they are inclined to discontinue their searches in Jewish colonies because they do not wish to become involved in local politics. They said that the searches are the affair of the local administration. Polish military police who participated in the Ramath Hakovesh raid testified that no Polish deserters were found in the colony.
BEDS RANSACKED IN SEARCH FOR ARMS IN HULDA; JEWS EMBITTERED
At today’s session of the military court hearing the Hulda “arms trial” it was established that the British police who followed up the search of the Polish units in the Hulda settlement ransacked pillows and beds in their search for allegedly hidden arms. Testifying before the court, Israel Bernbaum, the head of the settlement, said that the Jews are embittered over the manner in which the search was conducted. He charged that the real aim of the search for Polish deserters was to enable the British police to search for arms.
As first witness for the defense, Bernbaum reviewed the constitution of the Hulda communal settlement. He said that the Kvutzah is generally opposed to any search for arms because of the tragic occurrences there during the Arab riots when the settlement was demolished. He pointed out that Jacob Mass and Jacob Galata, the two of the seven accused who pleaded guilty at the opening session of the court, were assigned by the settlement to prepare plans for the defense of the Kvutzah, but never disclosed their plans to other members of the colony.
COURT REFUSES TO DISMISS CASE AGAINST FIVE JEWS
David Goiten, the attorney for the defense, appealed to the military tribunal to dismiss the case against the remaining five members of the Hulda colony who have pleaded not guilty to the charge of illegal possession of arms. He pointed out that no evidence has been produced to indicate that these five had any knowledge concerning the existence of the arms discovered during the police raid. Since Hulda is
The defense appeal was rejected by the court, however, and the trial continued with testimony by prosecution witnesses. Police Inspector Taylor said that Hulda had been permitted to have thirteen auxiliary policemen and was supplied two years ago by the British military authorities with a number of rifles, revolvers, and 2,500 bullets but not with mortar bombs.
Two other police witnesses testified that the Jewish auxiliary policemen in Hulda were trained in the use of mortar bombs when the German army was in El Alamein and Palestine faced a serious danger of German invasion.
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.
