PALESTINE DISTURBANCES

Taranaki Daily News, 3 September 1929, Page 9

PALESTINE DISTURBANCES

INDIGNATION IN ENGLAND

JEWISH PROTEST MEETINGS

ADMINISTRATION BLAMED

By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Australian Press Association. Received Sept. 2, 7.30 p.m. London, Sept. 2.

Jewish ex-servicemen assembled in Trafalgar Square and marched to the cenotaph, placing a wreath thereon inscribed: “From British and Jewish exservicemen in reverent memory of all faiths who died ,in the liberation of Palestine.”

Thousands of Jews thronged Hyde Park, where from many platforms impassioned speeches inspired emotional outbursts. Speakers proposed to raise purely Jewish battalions, whereupon hundreds responded. It is understood the authorities forbid recruiting. A telegram from Riga states the central committee of the Jewish organisation Trumpledor sent a telegram to Lord Passfield offering 3000 volunteers for Palestine under British orders. Jews from all parts of London queued ten abreast to attend the Zionist Federation’s protest meeting at the Albert Hall in connection with the disturbances. Three thousand who were unaccommodated vainly stormed the entrances, necessitating police intervention. Overflow meetings in the neighbourhood relieved the pressure. “ADMINISTRATION BREAKDOWN.” Lord Melchett, presiding over a meeting of 10,000, declared the breakdown of British administration in territory under the British flag was almost unequalled since the Indian Mutiny. Such an incredible state of affairs filled Hebrew hearts with indignation and woe. The conflagration broke without knowledge or warning and those responsible for the safety of Palestine were without any method of dealing with trouble in a territory about the size of Wales, inhabited by a few hundred thousand Arabs. This filled all Jewish organisations with indignation and amazement.

“I do not criticise the present Government, who took what steps they could the moment the trouble started,’’ he added, “but the position which has allowed to rise this disgrace to any British administration. Unless the Balfour Declaration is carried out there will be a repetition of these scenes, which might have been avoided if one strong man had been governing the country.” Dr. Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organisation, moved a motion expressing indignation. In the belief that the Government would protect life and property, Jewish people from throughout the world had poured in their millions and settled thousands of people in Palestine, he said. The whole manner in which the mandate had been administered must be adequately investigated. Chief Rabbi Hertz, in supporting the motion, which was carried, expressed his confidence in the Government. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Balfour, General Smuts, Sir Robert Waley Cohen, the Lord Mayor of London and the Lords Provost of Edinburgh and Glasgow forwarded letters'sympathising with the object of the meeting. RIOTING IN WARSAW. A meeting arranged by the Warsaw branch of the Zionist Workers’ Federation ended in a fight in which knives and revolvers were used, 40 being wounded. Communists distributing pamphlets stating that the Arabs were fighting against the Jewish bourgeoisie, not the proletariat, apparently started the trouble. Sir John Chancellor, High Commissioner for Palestine, who has just returned to Jerusalem from England, has issued a proclamation in which he declares: “I learned with sorrow of the atrocious acts by ruthless, bloodthirsty evildoers, and the savage murders perpetrated upon defenceless members ol the Jewish population, regardless of age or sex, accompanied by unspeakable' savagery. These crimes have brought upon their authors the execrations of all civilised people.

“My first duties are to restore order and inflict stern punishment upon all the guilty parties. I initiated discussions with Lord Passfield, whilst in England, concerning constitutional changes in Palestine, but in view of recent 'events I shall suspend the discussion.” A Jewish telegraph agency reports that three Jewish barracks were burned at Haifa.

The special Jerusalem correspondent of the Daily Express had a conversation with a Moslem authority, who said: “This is not a Wailing Wall affair; it is a serious national revolution, the reverberations of which may soon be heard in every corner in Moslem Arabia. We will not oppose British bayonets, but ultimate peace is impossible whilst Britain persists in the illegal Balfour declaration.”

An Air Force machine dispersed Bedouins who crossed the Jordan. Two of their emirs were arrested. The disorders are spreading to Beirut, Damascus and the Jewish colonies in northern Galilee. Yessodhamala’ has been looted.