MORE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 25022, 2 November 1946, Page 9

MORE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Ship Carrying 1400 Intercepted

PRECAUTIONS AT HAIFA (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

(Rec. 7 p.m.) JERUSALEM, Oct. 31. It is officially stated in Jerusalem that a ship carrying a large number of illegal immigrants was sighted off Cyprus. Units of the Royal Navy are escorting the ship, which is approaching Palestine territorial waters. The ship, the San Demetrio, is reported to be sailing under the Spanish flag, says Reuter’s correspondent. The Jewish population of Haifa has declared a protest strike for November 1 against the anticipated deportation of the ship’s passengers. Heavy reinforcements of British troops have been rushed to the port area as a precautionary measure. The ship is reported to have left a Spanish port a fortnight ago, according to the British United Press correspondent in Jerusalem, carrying 1400 immigrants, the largest number yet to attempt to reach Palestine. Reuter’s correspondent quotes an unconfirmed report that the immigrants aboard the San Demetrid overpowered the crew and took command of the ship when the crew refused to enter Palestine territorial waters. It is reported that when she was sighted by Royal Air Force reconnaissance aeroplanes the ship had a list of 30 degrees. It is officially stated in Jerusalem that two British soldiers were killed and two seriously injured when an army truck near the airport north of Tel Aviv was blown up by a land mine.

Other reports say the immigrants are armed with tear-gas bombs. Explosion Near Tel Aviv A heavy explosion occurred to-night near Petah Tikvah, north of Tel Aviv, reports Reuter’s Jerusalem correspondent. It is thought that the airport in the area is being attacked. Fire has broken out, and shots are being fired. -According to the Jerusalem correspondent of the “Daily the immigrants aboard the San Demetrio, after overpowering the crew, put them overboard in the ship’s boats. British naval cutters picked them up. The immigrants retained command of the ship until she was intercepted by British destroyers. Alarmed by a notice “Get out, bombs in the building,” the staff of the Chief Post Office in Jerusalem 16ft hurriedly while security squads searched the building. No explosives were found.

A hunt is now being made for terrorists who blew up part of the central station yesterday Fifty arrests have been made so far. Three policemen were killed in the explosions, and searchers are still looking for 12 persons reported missing. The Jewish National Council has joined in the Zionist Council’s appeal to the population to outlaw terrorist groups. The National Council’s statement described thte bomb attack on the Jerusalem railway station as a heinous, unjustifiable crime. Iraq has declared a day of mourning November 2 to mark the anniversary of the operation of the Balfour Agreement in 1917. This was the agreement that favoured a national home for the Jews in Palestine, but guaranteed to protect the rights of other people in the area. Jewish Agency Statement A Jewish Agency spokesman said in Jerusalem, yesterday that everything within the limits of the agency’s resources was being done to end the present campaign of murder and destruction in Palestine. The Jerusalem correspondent of “The Times” says that the question is what are the limits of official Jewish resources. The correspondents . adds: “The agency has made it clear that it does not intend td work with the police and it cannot appear suddenly to work with the Government on this or any issue, for it would then forfeit more of the community’s confidence. Yet paradoxically the agency -also argues that its first task is to restore publie confidence in the Government, for otherwise none of the indispensable co-operation will come from the public in restraining the terrorists. “The fact is that the official Jewish organisations probably lack the power as well as the readiness to dea] physically with terrorists. They admit that gangs are now attempting to terrorise not only the British but also the Jewish community, and no deeper motive than this should be required to inspire maximum action; but the agency hesitates, partly because it cannot bring itself to pay the possible price in blood and perhaps even more because it doubts whether it could succeed.”