GRAVE OUTLOOK FOR PALESTINE WHEN BRITISH GO

Grey River Argus, 23 April 1948, Page 5

GRAVE OUTLOOK FOR PALESTINE WHEN BRITISH GO

(Rec. 9.50) LONDON. April 22. The Times correspondent at Jerusalem says: An outline of the steps which Lieutenant General Macmillan, General Officer Commanding the British troops in Palestine, will take to prevent interference with the withdrawal of British troops- after the end of mandate was given by the Government last night. “Although the troops have no quarrel and seek no quarrel with anybody/" General Macmillan will exercise the same power and authority as are accorded to a General Officer Commanding

troops in the occupation of a foreign territory. He will proclaim, from time to time, the areas his troops occupy and hlis orders to the population of these

areas and will establish military courts to try persons disobeying

these orders. The normal life of the inhabitants will not be interfered with, and local administra-

tion will not be taken over.

Martial law will prevail in whatever areas of Palestine are necessary to complete the British army evacuation between May 15, when the mandate ends, and August 1, the target date for the completion of the British withdrawal, according to an announcement by the British military commander, Lieutenant-General Macmillan.

An army spokesman said the ruling meant that General Macmillan would serve virtually as military governor in some areas.

M. Jasaues de Renier, delegate of the Red Cross International Committee in Palestine, has announced Ihe establishment .of two zones in Jerusalem to accommodate 15,000 refugee women and children should large-scale Arab-Jewish fighting occur in the city. The Jews and Arabs have agreed to apply and respect the Geneva conventions in any hostilities. Jews Fisfht to Rule Haifa Martial Law’When British Depart LONDON. April 21. The British have decided to leave the whole of Haifa, except their headquarters and the port area. This caused immediate tension, and a battle has begun for control of the city. As British troons prepared to leave their posts, the Jews reacted quickly and armed men and Jewish armoured cars patrolled the streets. The Jews are expected to ask the Arabs to evacuate Haifa, also Tiberias. Those Arabs who remain will be granted .full citizens’ rights, but will have to surrender all arms. The Arabs may be forced to accept the evacuation proposals, because the Jews in Haifa outnumber them by four to one, and Haganah-men occupy all the heights overlooking the Arab sections. . Two British soliders were wounded, one fatally, on the Tel Aviv-Haifa road. Apparently they were repairing a jeep when Jews from a passing lorry fired on them. . British tanks fired, on Jewish snipers on Carmel road, which is a link between British headquarters on Mount Carmel and the Haifa port area. , ' , , Arab - guerrillas attacked a police armoured car. transferring six Syrans from the Jerusalem central prison to the Acre prison. The guerrillas stole the armoured car and released the Syrians, who had been sentenced to four years for carrying arms in the Arab liberation army. More Massacres of Arab Women and Children (Rec. 11.5) LONDON, April 22. The Daily Telegraph’s correspondent in Jerusalem says:— Palestine Arab delegations, headed by the Mayor of Nablus, representing the entire Samaria region, have appealed, urgently, to King Abdullah of Transjordan to enter Palestine and to protect the Arab villages from further massacres. ’ A Hhe correspondent aads: Kepoms are reaching Amman from Tiberias, from which an Arab Legion column has evacuated the remaining Arab population, and the reports tell of further brutality against' women and children. , . "There has been an absence ot British intercention,” the correspondent says. “This is bitterly criticised. The reports say that King Abdullah is anxious to avoid intervention while the British authority in Palestine nominally remains.”