. 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).