JEWS DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3141, 20 July 1917, Page 5

JEWS DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES

RECENT OUTRAGES LN PALESTINE

A CYNICAL ASSURANCE

Detailed information abnit tho forcsd evacuation of Jaffa by the Jewish population, which has' been received by tho Provisional Executive Committee for Zionist Affairs in New York, was recently made public. Tho evacuation was carried out on 'April 1, after orders issued on March 28, ostensibly as a moasure of military precaution,'but aimed chiefly at the Jewish population. Even the German, Austrian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian Jews were forced to leave the town. Moliamraedans and Christians were permitted to stay, the report says, if they held individual permits, but such permits were consistently refused to the Jews.

"The evacuation order compelled the Jews to leave Jaffa ivithin forty-eight tours," says the committee. "No' means of transport were provided or obtainable, and the Tefugees were compelled to pay from 100 to 200 francs in gold for carriage from Jaffa to Petach Tikwah, a distance of nino miles. A week prior to the ovacuation of Jaffa, 300 Jews were deported in a cruel manner from Jerusalem, 'Djemal Pasha, Military Governor of Palestine, declaring that tho joy of tho Jews at the approach of tho British forces would bo short-lived, as he would make them share the fato of tho -Armenians. '•In Jaffa, Djemal Pasha cynically assured thoyJews that tho order for their evacuation'was for thoir own good. All thoso who liad not left on the first of April and tho. (lays immediately following were permitted to remain in Jaffa for the Passover holidays, but they had to leave the ci'ty on tho ninth, and thus 8000 Jews evacuated their houses and were not allowed to carry off their belongings or provisions. . Two Jews Hanged. "Even before the owners had left,. a swarm of thieving Bedouin women and Arabs arrived on donkeys and camels and proceeded to loot the homes of the Jews and carried off' all valuables and furniture. Tho Jewis"h suburbs were totally sacked 'under tho paternal cyo of tho authority/ By way of moral oxamplo, two Jews from the Yomin wero hanged at the entranco of Tel-Aviv in order to clearly indicate tho fate in. sloro for any Jews who might bo so foolhardy as to oppose the looters. "The roads to tho Jewish colonies to the north of Jaffa are lined with thousands of starving men, women, and children. Appalling scenes of cruelty and rapine are Toported by, absolutely, reliable eye-witnesses. Many cases aro rcn' )d of wealthy Jews who were found in the sand hills around Tel-Aviv. In order to drive off the band of robbers preying on the refugees, tho young meu of tie Jewish villages organised themselves into a militia, taking turns at watching the road and guarding property. "These guards were, however, arrested and maltreated by tho authorities. The Mohammedon population also recently left Jaffa, but they are permitted to live in. tho orchards of the country houses on the outskirts of tho city, and they are permitted to return to tho city daily to look after their property. The Joivs, however, are barred from returning to Jaffa. It is believed that the evacuation order will bo extended to the Jews throughout all tho colonies and cities in Palestine. ' , tho serious state of affairs, it is not believed that any massacre ivill take place, Djemal Pasha being too adroit a politician to antagoniso tho civil forces of tho world, and instead will employ tho simplo method of inciting one part of the population to exterminate tho other. The Palestine Bureau of tho Zionist organisation has been removed from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and an ofSco has boon opened at Petach Tiluvah" to take caro of the refugees. Despite the chaotic conditions, tho Zionist Provisional Committee is in possession of means for the sending of relief to Palestine. It is sending aid to the refugees."