. ISH NE S
THA :E w i R,W
'Humor
in the
Talmud'
.
By David Schwartz
of Jewish Events'
Pictorial
Record of
AL JOLSON'S
Sensational
Career
—Page 18
Page 4
—
2114 Penobscot Bldg,
VOLUME 12—NO. 17
34
Detroit 26, Michigan, January 9, 1948
22 $3.00 Per Year; Single Copy, 10c
Agency Seeks to Avert Zion's
International Complications
Special Cable to The Jewish News
JERUSALEM. (JTA).—British police on Tuesday began evacuating all
areas in Palestine designated for the partitioned Arab state, but it is unknown
whether they will be concentrated in Jewish areas or confined to barracks
until evacuation which reportedly will commence in February.
The Jewish Agency took steps to avert international complications and
called upon the Yishuv to observe the practice of guaranteeing the inviolability
of all Consular officials. The Agency was visited by delegations representing
several Consuls who also called upon the government and
, the Arab Higher Corn-
mittee's executive to demand safety guarantees. The death of the Spanish consul
in the Haganah blast in Jerusalem motivated these actions.
JANUARY 24-FEBRUARY 22,*43
Spoosortd or
National Jewish Welfare Board
This replica of a poster by Ezekiel Schloss, depicting the
continuity of Jewish music from ancient times to the present,
is being distributed by the National Jewish Music Council to
the 309 Jewish Community Centers affiliated with the National
Jewish Welfare Board, synagogues, fraternal and cultural groups,
to aid them in observing Jewish Music Festival, to be held in
this country and abroad, from Jan. 24 to Feb. 22.
David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, was summoned by
High Commissioner Cunningham to meet with him as soon as possible, but it is uncertain
when the Jewish leader will be able to arrive in Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
Moshe Shertok flew back to the United States on Monday.
Fighting on the Jaffa-Tel Aviv front was fairly heavy Monday night, with the Sternists
blasting and heavily damaging the rail line between the two cities. Haganah fired on Arabs
looting deserted Jewish homes in the border area, killing two looters.
It was officially announced that the toll in the blasting of the Jaffa Arab headquarters
has reached 21. Seven more bodies were removed from the debris of the hotel which was
blasted Monday in Jerusalem. -
Haganah killed two Arabs in a battle in Jerusalem's outskirts Monday night.
Two young Jewish women who were arrested Dec. 1 during the beginning of the Arab
riots in Jerusalem, while defending the Jewish quarter, were. fined $1,600 by a military court,
with the alternative of serving a three-year jail sentence, for illegal possession of arms. -
In Jerusalem, a strong Arab attack on the walled Jewish quarter of the Old City was
beaten back by Haganah troops after penetrating a distance into the Jewish quarter through
two holes blasted in a concrete defense wall.
The Jewish quarter, which lies in the center of an Arab neighborhood, has 1.:.en cut
off from the remainder of Jerusalem for three days and has had no communication with the
outside world since the Arabs cut the main telephone lines. The Arabs laid siege to the six
gates of the quarter on Friday, and the British have made no attempt to force entry for
supplies of food and medicines for the surrounded Jews.
Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog has issued an appeal to the British authorities to rush food
to the beleaguered Jews who are in dire circumstances.
A British charge that the bombing of the Jerusalem hotel was an unspeakable out
rage was countered with a challenge from the the Jewish Agency whose spokesman asked
why murders of Jews by Arabs never were condemned by the mandatory power.
hi, a Haifa Prison: Meyer Levin's Palestine Report
By MEYER LEVIN
(Copyright, '1948, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Editor's Note: Meyer Levin, well-known
novelist, who has covered the situation in
Palestine at various times for the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, was taken off the
blockade runner, "You Can't Frighten Us,"
. by the British and imprisoned, pending de-
portation, in Haifa, despite the fact that he
had a valid visa.
HAIFA (by wireless)—From the compara-
In our cell, two 17-year-old youths are awaiting trial on charges
of carrying arms. They are typical of the situation.
(At this moment, a passerby at the cell door says that on
Shapiro Street near. here a girl was just killed.) Our Haganah
youths raised their heads, muttered curses and returned to their
reading. They were here because they had been stationed to pro-
tect' a Jewish house in a narrow street bordering on the Arab
quarter. In the curious Palestine tangle these home-defenders were
arrested for carrying arms.
•••• •
... „
71M.-1
tively safe vantage-point of the Haifa jail, I
have been assimilating the Haifa situation.
I was locked up here by the British for arriv-
ing with a film of the crew on an illegal ship.
(The vessel bore a Hebrew name -meaning
You Can't Frighten Us.)
The jail is in the Jewish center, halfway up
Mount Carmel, amidst a strategic area for
Arab snipers. The British occupy the sur-
rounding rooftops, shooting into the Arab
section near the port area. Therefore, rifle-
firing and short bursts from automatic
weapons are going on all round us.
Nevertheless, the most cheerful atmosphere
prevails in the jail. The friendly police stop
at my cell door and give the latest news.
.
Meanwhile, riflemen in a neighboring build-
ing were firing. I asked how they knew where
the target was. They don't, replied the police,
they fire at random in the air.
It is impossible to arrive at a wholly ac-
curate description of such a situation. How-
ever, stray bullets killed a woman hanging
out the washing on the roof block of our jail.
Charges and Counter-Charges
Other police explain that they are only
shooting at Arabs who are shooting at the
Army while Haganah (the Jewish unofficial
militia) is in the 'middle shooting at both.
This scarcely illumines conditions. Haganah
asserts that their men have been shot at by
both Arabs and the British.
—International Photo
Two Haganah officers are shown here receiving telephone
orders at a Tel Aviv communication center.
Perfect Sabra and Brave Women
They are the perfect Sabra (Palestine-born)
type, six-footers with undisturbed souls. By a
coincidence the father of one of them, a dock
worker, was brought in the next day, charged
with possession of a revolver which was found
in a truck in which he was riding, to help
Jews move from an Arab area.
At noon the wife and mother arrived for a
visit, but not as the traditional wailing Jewess.
This Palestinian woman was brisk and cour-
ageous, her face radiant with pride in her
sturdy son and the brave, muscular father.
Under the regulations against terrorists, it
would be possible to receive life sentences,
even execution, for conviction of carrying
arms, but the British Summary Court is at
least appreciative of the difference between
these home-defenders and the terrorists. The
father, as a test case, was fined $200. His son
is still awaiting trial.
Jewish Arms Passed to Arabs
The complaint of Haganah is that the
British do not make an effort in behalf of
sufficient protection, while centering on self-
protection. The situation is doubtless most
difficult for the British soldiers who are not
to be blamed for a dislike of risking their
lives a few months before their evacuation
from Palestine. However, ugly tales persist,
such as the report that a Sten gun was taken
by the Army from the Jews and recaptured a
few days later by the Jews from Arab hands.
The Jews also tell how a special type of
grenade know to belong only to Jewish forces
had passed to Arab possession after being con-
fiscated by the British.
The Jews generally declare that they are
amply able to take care of the situation but
"meantime we are bleeding with our arms
tied. It is certain the British hope to weaken
us in the next few months so that we will beg
them to remain to protect us."
(Continued on Page 1.5).