THE JEWISH

Friday, January 23, 1948

Page Three

NEWS -

Cadogan Avoids Definite Word on Port Clearance

Britain Tells Commission
To Come to Zion after May 1

Provisional Government Headed by a I5-Man Cabinet
Being Set Up by Jewish ,Agency; Problem of
Arming Palestine AggFavates Issue

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Fritz Bernstein, Eliezer _Kaplan,
Goldie Meyerson and Moshe Sha-
piro, all members of the Agency
executive and David Remez, Zvi
Lurie, J. R. Grabovsky, Mordecai
Shatner, David Zvi Pinkas, and
Dr. George Landauer, all mem-
bers of the executive of the Jew-
ish National Council, a n d Dr.
Abraham Granovsky, head of the
Jewish National Fund.
The first-year budget of the
new state has been estimated at
between $50,000,000 and $60,000,-
000. The site for the capital has
not yet been fixed.

LAKE SUCCESS (JTA)—Sir of the various religious corn-
Alexander Cadogan, chief of the Munities to make \Jerusalem an
British delegation at. the United "open city," but had made little
Nations, Indicated to the UN Im- progress.
Haganah distributed Arabic
plementation Commission that it
would not be adviSable for • it to leaflets warning the Arabs that
arrive in Palestine - before May 1, unless the siege of the Old City
two weeks prior to the termina- was lifted, the Haganah would set
up cordons around Arab quartert
tion of the Palestine mandate.
Speaking at a closed session of Jerusalem.
An Arab . attempt to overrun
of the Commission, the British
representative avoided giving a Kfar Etzion, in the Hebron Hills,
clear answer to the question of south of Jerusalem, was finally
whether Britain will evacuate a beaten back after a fierce battle.
port in the Jewish area of Pales- It was stated that the Haganah
tine by Feb. 1, as provided in a had collected 80 British_and Ger-
General Assembly resolution. man rifles left behind by, dead
The. British Government, he said, and fleeing attackers.
The pilot of the civilian plane
has responsibility up to • the last
minute before termination of the which dropped medical sup-
mandate. However, he added that plies to be-leaguered Jewish
the subject was open for further settlers at Kfar Etzion surrend-
negotiations with the Commis- ered to the Tel Aviv police.
He turned out to be Ezer Weiz-
sion.
(In Jerusalem, a- government mann, nephew of the Zionist
spokesman told a press confer- leader, Dr. Chaim Weizmann.
The British asserted that the
ence that the Palestine Govern-
plane had fired on a British
ment is ready to receive the tech-
reconnaissance plane, but Jew-
nical staff of the UN Implementa-
ish sources denied this.
tion Commission, in order to
Haifa, a fierce battle raged
• hand over files, but would not all In day for domination of the
agree to the arrival of members city's traffic lanes. Four Jews and
of the Commission, fearing "dual seven Arabs were killed and
authority."
many more wounded in an ex-
An international police force change of rifle and mortar fire
for Palestine, arming of the that virtually paralyzed traffic
Jewish militia and opening of the throughout the city. The Hag-
Tel Aviv port to Jewish immigra- anan claimed that in the Jan. 15
tion under Jewish control Feb. 1 action in Haifa 82 Arabs were
were demanded by Moshe Sher- killed and about 106 wounded and
tok appearing on behalf of the 10 Arab-owned buses were de-- .
Jewish Agency before the 'UN
stroyed in a garage
Implementation Commission.
Haganah sappers operating
At an earlier meeting a resolu= along the Tel Aviv-Jaffa border
tion calling the Security Council erected barbed wire entangle-
to provide an international po- ments between' Tel Aviv and
lice force to carry out the UN Salama Village in.Jaffa to pre-
partition decision was placed be- vent Arab attacks, following a
fore the Commission by one of report that a newly arrived gang,
its members, Vincente J. Fran- commanded by a former German
cisco of the Philippines.
officer who 'escaped from a
Shertok took issue with the prisoner of war camp in Egypt,
attitude of the British govern- has set up its base of operations
ment. He urged the Commission in Salama and is planning to at-
to proceed to Palestine as soon tack Tel Aviv.
as possible. British authority in
Another Jewish colony, Neve
Palestine he said, would remain Eilan, about 12 miles east of
unchallenged while the Commis- Jerusalem, was placed under at-
sion would be engaged in the tack by a strong Arab force.
task of setting up the Councils of- Eliezer ;Vlarkovitch, 20, was killed
Government and the poliCe forces. and an unnamed girl inhabitant
The Jews in Palestine, he de- wounded. The colony, which was
clared, are looking with "keenest founded with funds contributed
interest" to the carrying out of by American Zionists, is popu-
the UN plan to open a port on lated by veterans of the French
Feb. 1 in the. Jewish area of Maquis.
Palestine for Jewish immigration.
At a press conference in Tel
This, he said, will be a test case Aviv, Dr. Abba Hillel Silver,
for the UN since it will mark chairman of the American sec-
the beginning of the implementa- tion of the Agency, pledged the
tion of the partition decision.
aid of American Jews to the Pal-
estine Jewish community and
Haganah Routs Arabs
said that American Jewry favors
Near Orthodox Colonies
the dispatch of an international
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A six- police force to Palestine to
hour battle between several hun- plement the UN decision. He add-
dred Arab guerillas and settlers ed that American Jews would
in a group, of Orthodox Jewish like to see a united front among
colonies, midway between He- the Haganah, Irgun and the
bron and Jerusalem ended in a Stern Group.
complete rout of the invaders.
Plan Provisional Government
The - inhabitants of the colonies Headed by 15-Man Cabinet
and their Haganah guards suffer-
A detailed blueprint of the pro-
ed a few casualties, but inflicted visional government for the new
heavy losses on the guerrillas, Jewish state, which will be head-
who were reinforced by Arabs ed by a 15-man Cabinet, is near-
from mountain settlements in the ing completion, it was revealed
Hebron Hills. One report said by t h e Jewish Agency, which
nearly .100 Arabs were killed by said that the current violence has
machine-gun fire and mines but not retarded preparations for the
the Arabs listed 12 dead. The establishment of the state. When
Haganah pursued the fleeing at- the U N Implementation Corn-
tackers for more than five miles, mission arrives, it will find that
breaking through several road- plans have been drafted to meet
any eventuality.
blocks.
The blueprint dealt exclusively
The houst of the ex-Mufti, lo-
cated on a slope of Mount Scopus, with civil functions, the _spokes-
outside the Sheikh Jarach quar man explaining that "army or
ter, was demolished by Sternists. military preparations are ex-
Six Jews were killed in Haifa plicitly excluded from our plan-
when a stolen post office truck ing since they are purely a Haga-
filled with explosives was parked nah job." He also pointed out that
near the Savoy Hotel ty two it will be the responsibility of the
Arabs who fled. A British 'police- UN Commission to outline plans
man was also killed and another for a Jewish militia or other
injured. Later, there was sporadic armed forces.
The plans have been drafted
shooting in the city's commercial
by a 13-member planning com-
center.
A government spokesman re- mittee, he a d e d by David Ben
vealed that the authorities have Gurion, Agency chairman, and in-
been negotiating with the heads cluding: Itzhak Gruenbaum, Dr.

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Resume of Palestine Events
Sir Alexander Cadogan has
been designated as Great Britain's
representative on the UN Pales-
tine Implementation Commission.
He will be assisted by Trafford
Smith of t h e London Colonial
Office and J. Fletcher-Cooke of
the High Commissioner's Office
in Jerusalem. •
Great Britain ha's- indicated in
a statement in London that arms
shipped to Arab countries will be
scrutinized to avoid their use in
Palestine.
In this country, meanwhile, the
State Department • bas declared

that it has no intention of lifting
the arms embargo to facilitate the
shipment of ammunition to Pales-
tine's Haganah. The arrest of five
members of t h e group which
participated in the TNT shipments
.
is aggravating the situation.
French authorities stated in
Paris that they may, expel British
officials who arrived in Paris en
route to joining Palestine's Arab
forces.
In -Canada, a request has been
made to allow Canadian volun-
teers to serve in whatever inter-
national force may be recruited
for Palestine.

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