U.S. Fatality in Palestine, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 19, 1948.

Brooklyn Divinity Student Killed in Ambush by Arabs

By the Associated Press

JERUSALEM, Jan, 18—The Jewish Agency announced today the death of the first American citizen to be killed in the 50-day-old partition warfare in Palestine.

The American, identified as Mosheh A. Pearlstein, 22, of Brooklyn, N. Y., was one of 35 Jews slain in an Arab ambush on a camel track through the Judean hills Friday, Jewish sources said.

(Pearlstein was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel J. Pearlstein. Graduated in 1946 from Yeshiva University in New York city, he went to Palestine in March, 1947, and was enrolled as a student at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He had studied to be a rabbi at Yeshiva University).

EARLIER RAID

The Jews were ambushed near Jaba, four miles off the Bethlehem Hebron road. Earlier a Jewish party had raided the nearby Arab village of Surif. Six Arabs were slain in the raid and four others were killed at the scene of the ambush.

Today the British Royal Sussex Regiment returned the bodies of the 35 Jews to Kfar Etzion in the heart of the Judean hills battleground. The Jews will be buried there tomorrow.

Jewish-Arab fighting has been in progress in the craggy region between Bethlehem and Hebron for several days. The latest clash began last night. Each side claimed it had inflicted heavy losses on the other.

Two Jews were killed today near the gates to the old walled city of Jerusalem. An unofficial tabulation showed 886 persons have lost their lives in communal fighting in Palestine since the United Nations voted for partition November 29.

ARAB REINFORCEMENTS

Arabs rushed reinforcements to their strongpoint in and around Jerusalem’s ancient walled area after the Jewish extremist group, Irgun Zvai Leumi, broadcast that “the zero hour for a full scale counter-offensive against the Arabs has struck.” Your browser may not support display of this image.

The broadcast came a short time after the police announced that one of their armored cars was missing. Recalling that Irgun had used a stolen armored cars when it made an attack at Jerusalem’s Jaffa gate 10 days ago, the Arabs quickly manned their bastions and dispersed the usual sundown crowds.

The Arab reinforcements came from other parts of Jerusalem since many of the Arab fighters in the old walled city had rushed southward during the last few days to join the fighting in the Judean hills.