Evening star. [volume], May 09, 1948, Page A-7, Image 7

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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V Egyptian Volunteers j
[ Report 30-Mile Drive
I In Palestine Invasion
ly Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt, May 8.—The
"Command Volunteers, Southern
Front Palestine” Issued a com
munique today saying volunteer
Egyptian forces had penetrated
about 30 miles into the Holyj
Land.
A spokesman for the Arab League,
said the invasion force consisted of
2.000 men trained along Commando
lines. The spokesman said the force
would not occupy cities but would
concentrate on guerrilla warfare,
paving the way for other troops
fighting in Palestine. He refused
to name the commander, saying it
was a military secret.
Forets Rush North.
, "Our forces penetrated the frontiers
and held their posts without casual
ties,” said the communique. "Some
■forces rushed to the northern part
of the front to help Arabs repuls
ing Jewish attacks on Iraq Suwei
dan, some 50 kilometers north of the
Egyptian border town of Rafa. This
help was successful. f
"The people of Palestine received
our troops enthusiastically and
shouted for Arabism, Egypt and
King Farouk.”
• Jerusalem dispatches said a
traveler returning from a tour
of the Southern Palestine desert
_ confirmed the presence of 500
ft Egyptian volunteers at Falujja
f anc Iraq Suweidan, northeast of
Gaza. The traveler said the vol
unteers were commanded by
"Egyptian army officers,” and
apparently were well trained and
well armed.
• The area is dotted with Jew
ish settlements.
• Maps show Iraq Suweidan is
30 miles northeast of Gaza, and
about halfway between the
Egyptian border and Tel Aviv.) j
A week ago unofficial sources in
Cairo said the Egyptian regular
army had crossed into Palestine.
This was not borne out. The same
sources now say the forces which
crossed the frontier are volunteers.
Regulars Given Leave.
A considerable but unknown num
ber of regular Egyptian army offi
cers and soldiers have recently been
given leave from the army and
joined the volunteers under special
inducements offered by the govern
ment and Arab League.
Unofficial sources recently report
ed about a third of Egypt's military
forces massed at El'Arish military
camp in Sinai Peninsula, Just be
low Rafa. Volunteers have been
In training at the same camp.
The volunteers include Egyptians
enlisted by the Moslem Brotherhood
and Young Egypt Party as well as
Libyans and other North Africans.
Along with the communique the
first order of the day from the j
volunteers’ commander was made
public.
"Before we enter the battlefield
let us believe in the noble aim for
which we are fighting,” he said.
He called for a "crusade" against
Jews and said "let us fight with
strong determination, remembering
that on this territory our grand
fathers fought and recorded glori
ous victories.”
Cease-Fire Protects
Jerusalem and Shrines
JERUSALEM, May 8 i/P).—A
cease-fire, agreed to by Arabs and
Jews, protected Jerusalem and its
shrines today for the first time in
five months. It went into effect at
noon <6 a.m. EDT>, and not a shot
was heard in the first hour.
The arrangement was a, tempo- i
rarv one, designed to prevent hos
tilities until a permanent Jerusalem
truce can'be negotiated.
For the first time in a month
lights came on in Mamillah road,
where there are a number of Arab
coffee shops.
A spokesman for the Jpwish mili
tia. Hagana, said “the cease-fire is
regarded as temporary only, issued I
for a short period of time. We do
not propose to permit this period to
be uspd to consolidate enemy posi
tions."
Permanent Truce Now Topic.
The Jewish Agency said it had
learned that talks for a permanent
truce in the Holy City will begin
tomorrow. The Jews are demand
ing free access from Jewish Tel
Aviv to the Wailing Wall in Jeru
salem's old walled area and the
deportation of foreign Arab fighters
from the Holy City.
Mrs. Golda Myerson of the Jew
ish Agency also said any perma
nent truce depends on agreement
of the Arabs to keep the Jerusalem
TpI Aviv road open.
Gen Sir Alan Gordon Cunning
ham, Palestine high commissioner,!
* negotiated the cease-fire at a meet
ing in Jericho yesterday with Arab
leaders. The Jew's did not attend
th* Jericho talks.
Gen. Cunningham sent word to
the Jewish Agency of the Arab
agreement to halt the fighting if
the Jews did. An agency spokes
man said Hagana was asked to is
sue cease-fire orders at Jewish units
in Jerusalem. The orders reached
thp Jewish troops at 11 a.m., an
hour before the deadline.
Miss Breeding's Recital
Is Postponed by Illness
The recital of Miss Violet Breed
ing. soprano, scheduled for 4:30 p.m.l
today at Barker Hall, YWCA,
Seventeenth and K streets N.W.,
has been postponed indefinitely be
cause of her illness, it was an
nounced yesterday. An announce
ment of Miss Breeding's program
appears in the music section of
The Star, which was printed be-;
fore news came of her illness.
HAGANA RIFLEMEN ESCORT NUNS IN JERUSALEM TRUCE—
Hagana soldiers, armed with rifles, escorted a group of Catholic
nuns on their way to visit St. Theresa’s Convent in the Kata
mon district of Jersusalem, May 4, during the 48-hour truce
in the fighting between Arabs and Jews. Picture made by
Associated Press Staff photographer James Pringle. -
— —AP Wirephoto.
Jaffa Is Caught in Jewish Vise;
Political Disputes Plague Arabs
100 Left of 90,000
Who Inhabited Port
Until 2 Weeks Ago
By Daniel De Luce
Associated Press Foreign Correspondent
JAFFA, Palestine, May 8.—Jaffa,
the largest Arab city in Palestine a
few days ago, now is a forsaken
hostage of the Jewish State.
If it W’ere not for British tanks
and artillery—all due to leave next
Saturday—a corporal's guard of
Jews could march through Jaffa to
day without firing a shot.
Sandbagged Arab gunposts are
deserted. Fewer than 100 Arab
civilians are to be seen dazedly wan
dering in the streets. They are the
hungry, impoverished remnants of
a population which numbered 90,
000 until two weeks ago.
The Jews control the territory
around Jaffa to a depth of 10 miles.
No Arab vehicles can enter or leave
the city without passing within
close range of Jewish machineguns
and mortars.
A few' score Arab refugees are
boarding two small coastal sailing
vessels in the ancient harbors, the
last of an Arab exodus unequalled
in the modern history of the Holy
Land.
22 Arab Looters Shot.
Along docks, where once Lebanese
cedar was brought to build Solo
mons Temple, $10,000,000 worth of
foreign imports are under guard of
Royal Irish Fusiliers. They have
shot 22 Arab looters In the past
two nights.
Six warehouses protected by the
Fusiliers are jammed w'ith every
thing from Australian butter and
English chocolate to American elec
tric refrigerators and German sym
phonic records. Where looters have
broken in cases of food lie spilled in
insane waste, their contents tram
pled into the dirty pacement.
Jaffa's remaining inhabitants, who
now scarcely exceed 2,000, are on
the verge of starvation. At the
French hospital on Jaffa Hill Cath
olic sisters are caring for the sick,
wounded and orphans. Nowhere
else in the city is there apy public
relief for victims of the undeclared
war. *
“The French nuns have been the
only people with guts enough to
stay and carry on.” the Fusiliers
officer declared. “We've sent them
some food from the warehouses
without bothering about paper for
malities.”
Typifies Arab Weaknes.
Jaffa, even more than Haifa, typi
fies Arab military weakness, unpre
paredness and disunity.
British military observers say the
battle of Jaffa pitted 2,000 com
mando-trained Jews of Irgun Zvai
Leumi against 250 Iraq volunteers.
An internal Arab quarrel de
veloped with Jaffa's mayor demand
ing the removal of the Iraq com
mander. Fawzi Bey al Kaukji,
Syrian chieftian of Arab volunteer
forces outside Jaffa, ordered the
commander to leave. He did, but
his men went with him.
To save the territorial status quo
until the end of the mandate next
Saturday the British intervened.
So in the end it was the British,
not the Arabs who kept the Jews
out of Jaffa temporarily.
Biding their time as far as the
city itself was concerned, the Jews
have mopped up Arab resistance
along the Jaffa-Jerusalem highway
virtually to the Lydda airfield.
The Lydda Airport. 11 miles south
east of Jaffa, is deserted. Arab
shepherds graze their flocks along,
the runways.
Easy Prize for Jews.
The air center itself has been
looted. Idling Tommies* watched
from the control tower, but the
field, too, will be an easy prize for
the Jews when the British march
off next week.
Rumors that the Trans-Jordan
Arab Legiqfi would seize the field
for an Egyptian air base appear
to be fantastic.
Motoring across Arab-populated
Palestine from the Jordan River to
Jaffa I have seen no signs that
the Arabs retain any military
punch. Mast Arab roadblocks now
are unguarded. The few Arabs still
seen carrying arms look to be un
happy members of home defense
units.
In the fields Arab peasants are
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Syria and Lebanon
Peoples Demanding
War in Holy Land
(The following story is a com
bination of two dispatches dated
May 5 and May S and received
in London by airmail. The
Syrian government has imposed
a form of censorship called "ad
ministrative regulation’’ on for
eign news dispatches transmitted
by cable.)
By Joseph C. Goodwin
Asiociatpd Press Foreign Correspondent
DAMASCUS, Syria, May 6. (De
layed).—The Arab world, rocked bj
Jewish military successes in Pales
tine and plagued by political bick
ering at home, appears to observers
here to have jockeyed itself into the
position of choosing between all-out
war in the Holy Land or revolts at
home.
The Syrian and Lebanese premiers
now are in Riyad, Saudi Arabian
capital. They apparently are seek
ing King Ibn Saud's support in in
ternal problems as well as aid foi
Palestine Arabs.
Before their departure from Da
mascus the Lebanese premier, Riac
El Solh, told Syrian newsmen thej
proposed to confer with the Saudi
Arabian monarch on “co-ordination
of action against Zionism in Pales
tine.”
Fight on Abdullah Seen Aim.
However, observers in Damascus
generally agree that Syria and Leb
anon are seeking Saudi Arabia's
help in stemming "Hashimite ambi
tions” to unite the Arab lands of the
threshing grain, tilling orchards and
dozing beside flocks, Perhaps 150,
000 Arab townsmen now are refu
gees, but the peasants cling to theii
land regardless of their fear of Jew
ish arms.
Jaffa-Jerusalem Road
Vital Jewish-Arab Issue
BAB EL WAD. Palestine, May t
(iP).—In this valley of death, 15
miles west of Jerusalem, lies the
answer to whether there will be
peace or war in Jerusalem.
It is here that the Arabs have
throttled the lifeline to 100.000 Jew<
in the Holy City. Without this roat
the Jews in Jerusalem will have nt
food, no military support and nc
contact with the Jewish state now
being born on the Palestine coast
The road, linking Jerusalem with
Tel Aviv, now is closed by formida
ble Arab road blocks, mines and
Arab guns. A vital water pipeline
runs alongside the road within easy
reach of the Arabs.
Once a teeming highway through
the Judean Hills, the road today
is deathlike in its silence and sinister
in its dangers.
Jews Blasted Road Open.
The Bab el Wad Gorge already
is one of the bloodiest names in
Palestine’s flve-month-old civil war
The Arabs blocked it first last Jan
uary’ by constant sniper and mor
tar fire and by erecting low stone
barriers.
With the specter of starvation
hanging over Jerusalem's Jews, the
Jewish militia. Hagana, blasted the
road open in March.
The Arabs are dug in on the foot
hills overlooking their^owm road
blocks: Prom one of these hilltops
legend says, Richard the Lion Heart
ed looked toward Jerusalem, calcu
lated the Saracen strength and
turned back without reaching the
Holy City.
British army engineers who have
inspected the road barriers say it
would take weeks of work'with bull
dozers and dynamite to open the
highway even if the Arabs put up
no resistance.
Middle East under a single govern
ment headed by King Abdullah of
Trans-Jordan. Such a unification
would fwlflll Abdullah’s dream of a
‘‘Greater Syria.”
(The Hashimites are an Arab
faction from which the kings of
Iraq and Trans-Jordan were
drawn when those countries were
set up and which fought bitterly
against King Ibn Saud in the
1920's.)
Trans-Jordan and Iraq were re
ported to be unrepresented at the
iRiyad talks, although both coun
j tries apparently are co-operating
I in preparations for the proposed
invasion of Palestine" by regular
Arab armies.
Public Demands Fight.
Besides worrying about Abdullah's
ambitions, the governments of
Syria and Lebanon are chafing
under pressure from the public to
send regular troops to Palestine im
mediately to prevent the formation
, of a Jewish state.
The people long have demanded
ithis. The demand now is intensified
with the arrival of thousands of
Arab refugees from Palestine. Calls
for a firmer Arab stand against the
Jews have been voiced recently at
a number of demonstrations in Arab
; countries.
| Since King Abdullah took the
spotlight in prospective Palestine
invasion plans, Syrian leaders have
grown increasingly nervous. Re
liable official sources said some of
these leaders now are pressing for
the use of regular troops in Pales
tine without waiting for the term
ination of the British mandate next
Saturday.
Egyptians Play Lone Hand.
The- Egyptians, observers said,
may be playing a lone hand in the
hopes of getting the United Nations
nod to take over the proposed
Palestine trusteeship. Some 'Arabs
say the trusteeship proposal might
be acceptable if it is given to an
Arab League country.
^Despite repeated announcements
tfiat regular armies of the Arab na
tions are girding for an invasion of
the Holy Land, there still are virt
ually no regular troop activities
along the southern frontiers of
Syria and Lebanon.
The disposition of the large force
of regular Syrian troops which
moved out of the Katana camp near
Damascus last Saturday is a mili
tary secret. Border residents say
these troops did not pass along any
|of the southern roads. The road
leading through the camp area now
is closed to civilian traffic.
Church Janitor
Gets TO Days
In T8c Theft
* By th* Associated Press
DES MOrNES, May 8.—A church
janitor today was sentenced to 10
days in city jail on charges of steal
ing an 18-cent can of pork and
beans.
The janitor. Walter Long, 50, was
found guilty by a jury and he re
asserted his innocence when he ap
peared before Municipal Judge
Harry Grund for sentencing today,
The Rev. Fred Hoskins ol
Plymouth Congregational Church
where Long is an asistant custodian,
urged leniency. He said Long was
“honest and reliable,” that his
financial situation was “precarious”
and that his wife was ill.
The grocer who brought the
charge also recommended leniency
i Judge Grund said Long /could
serve the 10 days on 10 successive
' Saturdays. The judge said he agreed
with the jury's verditt and added:
“To come in after a two-day trial
and say ‘Judge, slap my wrist’—
that just doesn’t help enforce the
law.”
To the grocer who brought the
charge, the judge said: "I com
mend you highly for having the
nerve to file this charge.”
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Palestine Emergency
Government Reported
Agreed on at U. N.
■y-tha A not ia tad Prtsi
LAKE SUCCESS, May 8.—Top
United Nations delegates were re
ported tonight generally agreed on
creating an emergency regime lor
Palestine.
Sentiment for a provisional ad
ministration for the Holy Land was
said authoritatively to have crystal
lized after long meetings among the
delegates.
The special U. N. Assembly on
Palestine is working against rime.
The British plan to give up the
Palestine mandate at midnight Fri
day. The Assembly is trying to
shape up at least a token organiza
tion to fill the vacuum created by
the British action.
Norwegian to Draft Proposals.
It is realized here such an or
ganization would have only the
moral force of the U. N. to back it
up.
Finn Moe, Norway's delegate to
! the Assembly, was assigned ' the
task of drawing up over the week
end concrete proposals for a 12
nation subcommittee of the Assem
bly to consider.
Mr. Moe said he would list the
points on which the delegates are
agreed and on which they fire not
! agreed so that the subcommittee
will have something definite to work
on at its next meeting Monday at
10:30 a.m.
The Arab Higher Committee,
meanwhile, was reported to have
suggested three names to the U. N.
; for the hot-spot post of neutral
mayor of Jerusalem.
Nominees of Arabs.
An informed source said the Arabs
put up these nominees!
1. A. L. Miller, an American ex
ecutive secretary of the Jerusalem
YMCA.
2. A. P. Clark, British citizen,
head of Barclay’s Bank in Jerusalem
and a resident of that city for 30
years.
3. Father Eugene, an Irishman
and Franciscan monk, who has lived
in Jerusalem for years.
It was said the Arabs feel that the
i mayor must be a man who knows
the city and its problems. It was
said also that the Jewish Agency for
Palestine, has not yet submitted any
| names to the U. N.
The Assembly is trying to find a
man on whom the Arabs and Jews
1 agree for the position of U. N. com
missioner for Jerusalem to adminis
ter the city temporarily after the
British leave.
Other names also have been put
up by other groups by the U. N.
secretariat who clamped a ban of
tight secrecy on them.
It was said, however, that one
; possibility, Clarence E.' Pickett, of
‘Philadelphia, head of the overseas
aid* program, of the Society of
Friends, had refused an offer to take
the post for health reasons.
The 12-member subcommittee, set
up to try to find some way to meet
the situation, Jieard Or. Karel Lis
icky, of Czechoslovakia, chairman of
the TJ. N. Palestine Partition Com
mission, outline the difficulties
facing the U. N. He said there is
no use to set up any kind of an
organization without special instruc
tion unless the U. N. gave it suffi
cient strength to impose its will. The
subcommittee adjourned until Mon
day after giving Mr. Moe his assign
ment.
Truman Asks Agency Heads
To Support Security Loan
President Truman' has asked
Government department and agency
heads to organize person-to-person
solicitation among employes for
America’s Security Loan, Edward
F. Bartelt announced yesterday. He
is Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury and chairman of the In
terdepartmental' Savings Bonds
Committee. t
The President said: “Our Gov
ernment is now asking business and
industry over the Nation to co
operate by making the Payroll Sav
ings Plan available to the millions
of wage and salary earners. • • * It
is needed, .therefore, that our Gov
ernment set the pace and the ex
ample for the Nation in this cam
paign.”
The drive, which began April 15,
will continue through June 30.
Georgetown U. Conducts
Tours to Attract Nurses
The Georgetown University Hos
pital and School of Nursing con
ducted tours between 2 and 5 p.m.
yesterday to interest high school
girls in a nursing career.
The open house program was one
of seven scheduled by the District
Graduate Nurses’ Association for
the benefit of high school seniors.
Tours already haye been held at
Garfield and Sibley Hospitals. Others
will be conducted at Gallinger next
Wednesday. Providence, May 18; St.
Elizabeths, May 21, and Emergency,
May 26.
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ICKARGE IT: 30-Doy or Tri-Pay Plan
To the Members of the United States Senate
Honorable Sirs: We respectfully submit to your consideration the wording of Bill H. R. 4068; or, as it is
listed in the Senate Documentary records S. 1634, concerning the proposed General Accounting O t>
Building. If you vote for this Bill as it stands because of the wording ‘to qonstruct UPON Square o ,
you are voting for the condemnation of St. Mary, Mother of God, Church, School, Convent and Recto y
located on 5th Street, N.W. between G and H Streets. The word UPON sigmffies authorization to take
over the entire square 518. Itye plead with you there-fore, to insist that the amendment which has be
proposed at the Senate Public Hearings on this Bill, and taken under advisement by the Committee, oe
included in the Bill. We have been assured by the Federal Works Administration that the church prop
„ erty will not be taken over, but at the same time they are proposing a Bill which is condcmnatory o
Church. Therefore, we ask you to include the following amendment in the Bill. Insert after line 7 on pag
1 of H. R. 4068 the following words: “Land here tofore acquired in. This will make the entire> context
to read: “The Federal Works Administrator is hereby authorized to construct upon land
acquired in Square 518 in the District of Columbia a building for the use and accupancy of the General
Accounting Office.” ■
WE ESPECIALLY APPEAL TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WORKS
COMMITTEE TO PRESENT THE BILL WITH THE AMENDMENT
i
Hon. Chapman Revercomb, West Va. Chairman
Hon. John Sherman Cooper, Kentucky.
Hon. Harvey P. Cain, Washington.
Hon. Edwar<| Martin, Pennsylvania.
Hon. Arthur V. Watkins, Utah.
Hon. John J. Williams, Deleware.
Hon. George W. Malone, Nevada.
Hon. John H. Overton, Louisiana.
Hon. Dennis Chavez, New Mexico.
Hon. Sheridan Downey, California.
Hon. W. Lee O'Daniel, Texas.
Hon. John L. McClellan, Arkansas.
Hon. Spessard L. Holland, Florida.
THE LAY COMMITTEE
Joseph f. zegowitz,
Past President, The Windtherst Club
RUPPERT CASPAR,
President, The Windtherst Club
JAMES W. McCORMACK JR.,
Vice President, The Windtherst Club
LAWRENCE J. MILLS, SR.,
Chairman, Beard of Directors, The Wmdthorst Club
HELEN B. WALTER, *
Prefect, The Ladles' Sodality
EMILY NEULAND,
Treasurer, The Ladies' Sodality
MARGARET M. STUMPH,
Secretary, flie Ladies' Sodality
TERESA BlCOOK,
Secretary, the Sodality Union, Washington, D. C.
AUGUSTA Df| GELMANN,
President, The ladies of Charity
BARBARA F. DOVE,
Treasurer, The Ladies of Charity
MARY A. WEST,
Secretary, The Ladies of Charity
EMMA A. MALEY,
Post Prefect, The Ladies Sodality
JOSEPH FRANK,
IDA E. MAY,
Secretory, The Sanctuary Society
ANNA M. KRAMER, ' ■■ J'
FREDERICK J. DIEGELMANN,
President, The Holy Name Society
ROBERT A. MILLS,
Chairman. The Ley Committee of St. Mary,
i Mother of God, Church