Airmen Assail Arabs

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 754, 29 August 1929, Page 9

Airmen Assail Arabs

PALESTINE NOW QUIETER

British Troops In Control ATTACK ON BALFOUR DECLARATION (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) (United Service) Received 9.50 a.m. LONDON, Wednesday. A MANIFESTO which has been sent to London from Jerusalem, on behalf of the National Arab League, asserts that the present troubles have arisen from the policy of the past decade in despoiling the Arabs of their political rights, and attempting to build up a non-existent nation upon the ruins of Arab nationality, in pursuance of the Balfour Declaration. Permanent peace is securable only by conceding the just Arab demands, and abolishing the Balfour Declaration, by which in 1917 Britain undertook the responsibility of restoring tbe Jews to the Holy Land.

A message from Jerusalem says 2,000 armed Arabs are reported to be approaching that city. Much bloodshed occurred at Haifa, where British marines fired on the rioters. The American Consul summoned help in order to prevent trouble at a village in the vicinity. Desultory firing continued for 32 hours at Kastina. Fortunately it resulted in but few casualties. A dispatch from Beirut, Syria, says troops were rushed to the Jewish quarter of the capital of that country, Damascus, as a result of a hostile demonstration by 20,000 Arabs. The special correspondent at Jerusalem of the “Dally Express” confirms the news that the position there is decidedly easier. British troops are now stationed in most of the disturbed areas. The news of the arrival of three more British warships off Haifa caused the residents there to experience a marked sense of relief. Nevertheless the Arabs seem to have embarked upon a determined guerilla crusade against the Jews. The principal disturbances have been at Haifa, where a number of Arabs and Jews were killed. Jerusalem as quiet yesterday afternoon, the situation there being entirely in the hands of the British military command. A British Official Wireless message says the Colonial Office states that there is little change in the situation in Palestine. Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Haifa are reported quiet, disorder in the neighbourhood of the last-named place being satisfactorily dealt with by a naval detachment from the warship Barham. Aircraft have been employed reconnoitring the disturbed areas, and fire from the air has been opened on parties of Arabs in the neighbourhood of Haifa, Ramleh and on the hills around Jerusalem. A strong Arab concentration was reported south-east of Gaza, but aircraft have been unable ter locate any parties of Arabs In that neighbourhood, and no attack has so far materialised. Last night continuous attacks on

Beit Alpha, four miles west of Beisan, were successfully repulsed by a detachment of the Transjordanian Frontier Force.

The telephone lines from Jerusalem to Nazareth, Haifa and Tiberian are reported to have been cut. The situation in the Transjordan is reported to be normal. No reinforcements other than those mentioned in yesterday’s statement have been dispatched to Palestine. SEARCHING INQUIRY LACK OF SUFFICIENT FORCES “THE TIMES” DEMANDS ACTION Times Cable. LONDON, Wednesday. Commenting on the deplorable incidents at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, “The Times” says: “The outbreaks have been so numerous as to convey the impression of a premeditated, organised movement which demands a searching investigation, both of the criminals themselves and of those we placed in authority in Palestine. Why were their forces not sufficient to keep the peace, when it was notorious that troubles might arise at any time? "A better time for an armed insurrection could hardly have been chosen, because most of the departmental heads are absent on leave. A repetition of this sordid and cowardly civil war must be rendered impossible. Orientals will construe concessions as weakness and the coreligionists of the Jews and the Arabs will narrowly seek for signs of vacillation. “If we shrink from our plain duty fresh attempts to wrest new concessions are bound to follow not only in Palestine, but on the part of some fomenters of disorder In other lands.” LEAGUE INTERVENTION SITUATION TO BE BROUGHT BEFORE ASSEMBLY (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) GENEVA, Tuesday. Petitions from the Arabs and the Zionists in Palestine demanding the intervention of the League of Nations in the present trouble have reached the Secretariat of the League. It is certain that the situation will be brought before the Assembly on Monday. OFFER FROM TORONTO (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) (United Service) TORONTO, Tuesday. An offer of 1,000 volunteers for immediate service in Palestine was today cabled to the British Prime Minister, Mr. MacDonald, by the Jewish citizens of Toronto. FRENCH WARSHIP SENT (United Service) Reed. 9.55 a.m. PARIS, Wednesday. The French Government, in view of the serious disorders in Palestine, is dispatching the battleship La Motte Piquet to Syrian waters.