Friday, April 4, 1980 41 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS A Timely Telephone Call Stopped 1936 Jerusalem Pogrom By BORIS SMOLAR (Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.) to attack the Jews. This was supposed to be a "Bloody Friday" when the "Holy War" against the Jews was to take place. The Hagana secret agent also reported that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem had sent agitators to or- ganize the Jordanian lead- ers, who were then to arouse and inflame Jordanian Arabs to carry out the pog- rom on the streets of Jerusalem. He revealed further details of the pog- rom which indicated that the situation was very seri- ous. Palestinian civilians were not allowed to bear weapons, but the Mandat- ory Government did allow Arabs in Jordan to carry guns and other weapons on the street. In Jerusalem, there were not enough British soldiers to prevent armed bands of Arabs from carrying out a pogrom. There wasn't much time before Friday. At a secret emergency meeting, the leadership of the Jewish Agency immediately re- solved that Moshe Shertok — then the political secre- tary of the agency who was later to become foreign minister and premier of the state of Israel and change his name to Moshe Sharett would call Dr. Chaim Weizmann in London and have him alarm the Colo- nial Officer. He was to ask that British military di- visions be sent overnight from Egypt to Jerusalem so that the bloody catastrophe would be avoided. (Editor's note: This is another chapter from Boris Smolar's forthcom- ing book, "In The Service Of My People.") It is no longer a secret and can now be made public. During the Arab riots, which began in 1929 and re- curred in 1936, the under- ground Jewish defense organization, the Hagana, -+ up its own network of s in the surrounding Arab countries. For the Je-:is in Palestine it was im- portant to know how their Arab neighbors were think- ing. Hagana members-who spoke fluent Arabic and looked like Arabs would don traditional Arab clothing and slip across the border into Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and sound the Arabs out. They mixed with the Arabs at bazaars, teahouses and mosques. On one of those tense days in 1936, one of these spies hurried back from Jordan with unsettling news. It was Wednesday morning when he reported that a large group of armed Jordanian Arabs were planning a bloody pogrom. They were ostensibly coming to Jerusalem on Friday to pray ___ at the Great Mosque — the second holiest spot in the Moslem world — but under their flowing robes they were to carry the necessary weapons for the pogrom. The pogromists were sup- posed to meet at the mosque (which is next to the West- ern Wall), say their Friday * * * prayers, hear an inflam- matory harangue by the Shertok and Weizmann Grand Mufti, and then rush spoke in Russian, in the ex- out of the mosque with pectation that even if some- rifles, revolvers, and knives body was listening in, he wouldn't understand their conversation. It turned out, however, that their conver- • • • sation was heard by an Arab — by a member of the Nashashibi family who had studied in Turkey and learned Russian there! This Arab also had an important incumbent & experience post in the Mandatory Gov- to the JEWISH SINGLES ernment. A Jewish friend, who was PR1L 10, 1980 —7:30 pm an official in the Mandatory 10 M ile Jewish Community Center Government, too, but had 15110 W. 10 Mile Rd., Oak Park, Mi. no contact with the Jewish Re-ELECT H uLL DAVID 1. LOSE 17-25 POUNDS Men Lose 28-35 Pounds) -‘- uickly, Safely, Permanently in just 6 weeks No Shots No Drugs No Contracts 1 '1 '77 • 41 Individual Daily Counseling because it's harder to lose weight alone . Call Today Southfield 642-5665 Cranbrook Centre 30233 Southfield Rd Suite 112 ,04 AT THE LOSIN G Troy 879-2222 Sunset Plaza 81 E. Long Lake Rd. at Livernois BORIS SMOLAR Agency, secretly informed me that Shertok and Weiz- mann's conversation had been overheard and also gave me the substance of their talks. I telephoned Shertok immediately. I was a friend of his and we were on a first-name basis. "Moshe!," I said to him quickly on the telephone. "I must see you urgently about your call today!" I did not tell him on the telephone that' meant his call to Lon- don, but he immediately understood what I meant. "Come over right away. But come quickly because the curfew begins in an hour and you won't be able to go out on the street." I explained that I had a curfew pass that allowed me to be on the street at any hour. Every member of the Jewish Agency Executive had such a pass too, but he asked me to come over right away. I sensed the uneasi- ness in his voice. When I arrived at the Jewish Agency building, I found that not only Shertok was waiting for me, but the entire Executive of the Jewish Agency, headed by David Ben-Gurion. I gave those present the substance of the tele- phone call as I had re- ceived it myself and then added: "I am not asking you whether such a call was actually made. The story that such a call was made will not go out be- cause I =don't want to cause a panic in the Jewish world at large and certainly not among the Jews of Jerusalem. I only felt it necessary to inform you that your most secret telephone conversations are being bugged, no matter what language you speak. Per- sonally I am sure that the call was made — and bugged — because the in- formation comes from a very reliable source." When I had finished, the members of the Executive remained seated around the table in a deadly silence. The first to break the si- lence was Shertok. "I want you to know," he said to me, "that every word you quoted from my conver- sation with Dr. Weizmann was actually uttered. I also want to thank you on behalf of the entire Executive for your sense of responsibility in assuring us that this news will not leak out as long as we keep the entire matter a secret. I also want to thank you for telling us that we have been bugged by the Arabs. We suspected this, but we did now know all the details as you gave them to us!" Shertok finished and then Ben-Gurion turned to me. "Moshe has already ex- pressed our thanks for your action," he said. "Now I would like to ask you a few questions. First, would like to know whether the man who gave you this in- formation, and who appears to be well-informed, is a Jew, Arab, or British?" "He is Jewish and holds a post in the Mandatory Gov- ernment. He is not close to the Jewish Agency, how- ever," I replied. "Did he give you this in- formation so that you would tell us that our conversation was overheard?" Ben- Gurion was curious to know. "No! . . . He gave me the story as a friend who wants to help me in my work as a correspondent. He did not tell me what to do with the story and I decided not to use it, but to report to you instead." "Do you pay him for such stories?" "No! . . . He often gives me important stories, but never for money . . . He does it only out of a feeling of friendship! . . ." "Do you think he would be willing to meet me and talk to me? . ." "I'm not sure . . . . But I'll ask. If he agrees, I would be only too happy to bring you two together! . ." "Do you think we have to lodge a complaint with the Mandatory Government that our telephone calls are being overheard? . ." "I don't think such a com- plaint should be lodged. You would only make the Man- Sect Attacks Holocaust Unit NEW YORK — The fanatical Neturei Karta Or- thodox sect has issued a -press release denouncing President Carter's Commis- sion on the Holocaust and its chairman, author Elie Wiesel. The Neturei Karta called the commission "highly commercialized" and labeled Wiesel an atheist, "a denier of those very val- ues he pretends to encour- age everyone else to re- spect." Jewish Teachers Honor Katsh NEW YORK — Prof. Ab- raham I. Katsh, president emeritus of Dropsie Univer- sity, received the Jewish Teacher's Association 1980 Avodah Award at a recent dinner in his honor. In 1933 at New York University Katsh intro- duced the first course in modern Hebrew in any uni- versity in America. Many of Katsh's former students attended the award dinner. datory Government suspect innocent Jewish people who work for the telephone com- pany. They could be sus- pected of being in contact with you and this could only lead to their dismissal, which you certainly don't want. I didn't get my infor- mation from someone who works at the telephone office." After a few more ques- tions, Ben-Gurion assured me that he appreciated ev- erything I had done. "You could have sent the story abroad without even asking us!" he said as we parted. * * * From that time on the Jewish Agency never used the telephone in com- municating with London. Another communications system was set up for con- tacting people abroad — a system that neither the Mandatory Government nor the Arabs could bug. The Jerusalem pogrom did not take place because at Dr. Weizmann's request, the British governmeri+ ur- HOUSE of SHUTTERS gently sent military units to Jerusalem. They came overnight, in time to be on the streets Friday morning. "YOU'RE NUMBER ONE WITH ME! AL KLINE • DALGLEISH CADILLAC 6160 CASS AVE. TR 5-0300 SINCE 1959 Call Now For Free Home Estimates RESIDENTIAL-COMMERCIAL f 40% OFF CUSTOM WOVEN WOODS by Joanna, Delmar, Graber CUSTOM SHUTTERS by Joanna, Pinecrest 40% OFF 40% OFF many decorator colors by LEVOLOR aluminum decorator cloths & suedes, P.V.C., macrame, wood HORIZONTAL 1" blinds \r, 40% OFF HOUSE of SHUTTERS VERTICAL BLINDS 559-4668 25511 SOUTHFIELD RD., SOUTHFIELD' LET US SHAPE UP YOUR WARDROBE Don't throW out last year's clothing just because the lapels are a little wide or the slacks have a larger flare than this season. Encore Men's Clothier can alter any garment and make it up to date. It's a real inflation fighter. We can: • Taper lapels • Taper slacks • Close up vents • Narrow ties • Make old clothes like new • Alter men & women's clothing ENCORE Men's Clothier Ltd. All major credit cards Racquetime Center, 26400 12 Mile Rd. 353-0018