Explosives Bought for Jewish Agency

Northern Advocate, 12 January 1948, Page 3

Explosives Bought for Jewish Agency

NEW YORK. Sun.—A New York businessman, Mr Leonard Weisman, has identified the Jewish Agency for Palestine as the purchaser of nearly 200 tons of high explosives that the police seized while it was beng stored for eventual shipment to Palestine. Mr Weisman, who was questioned by officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told the Press afterward that he had helped to buy the explosives for an agent of the Haganah who arrived in New York from Palestine in December to buy munitions and other war equipment. The explosives he helped to buy, Mr i Weisman added, were seized in the past few days and were not those seized on board the freighter at Jersey City last week. “SUITABLE FOR EXPORT” They had been advertised for sale by the War Assets Administration as “suitable for export,” He said he considered it an honour, as an American and as a Jew, legally to procure the mea/is of self-defence of the Palestine Jews against marauding Arabs armed with British weapons. A Jewish Agency spokesman said steps were taken to arrange legitimate purchases of war surplus material and equipment in the United States, to rush to Palestine, in view of threatened Arab aggression. It had been the agency's understanding throughout that all such purchases and transport were in full conformity with American law. Mr James Auchincloss, Republican member of the House of Representatives for New Jersey, said he was demanding an explanation from the Secretary of War and the War Assets Administration on why explosives were being declared surplus and being sold and transported around the country to citizens. ARMS SHIPMENTS BANNED (The United States a few weeks ago banned the shipment of arms to the Middle East.) The police now claim to have confiscated all but 80 tons of a consignment of 199 tons of surplus Army explosives which, they said, had been gathered by Zionists for illegal shipment to Palestne. In a raid on a warehouse at Asbury Park the police seized 5200 combat knives which had been made originally for the United States Navy. The New York office of the War Assets Administration has ordered the stoppages of all shipment of explosives in the New York area and the freezing of all undelivered orders of surplus explosives.