By April 17, 2008 Read More →

Clash at Tel Aviv Border, Associated Press, NY Times, Dec. 4, 1947

Arab-Jewish warfare in PalestineJERUSALEM, Wednesday, Dec, 3 (AP)—The bloody armed clashes yesterday marked the first twenty-four hours of an Arab general strike protesting the United Nations decision to partition Palestine.

Fighting raged in Tel Aviv, all-Jewish metropolis, as the fierce Arab mobs apparently shifted the scene of their operations.

Haganah said in a communique that the riots had been inspired by Haj Amin el-Husseini, the exiled Mufti of Jerusalem. “The hirelings of the Mufti have succeeded in turning the first day of the strike into a day of bloodshed and rowdyism,” the communique said.

A group of several hundred Arabs were ranging the border between Tel Aviv and the all-Arab city of Jaffa. The explosion of grenades and the rattle of machinegun fire between the Arabs and defenders of Tel Aviv was heard for a long period during the night and then subsided into an “armed pause” when British police in armored cars routed the combatants.

It was generally believed that the Tel Aviv situation would take a more serious turn today. A Haganah source said, “there’s something cooking.”

Two Arabs and one Jew were reported killed in the Tel Aviv fighting.

An unofficial report from Safad in eastern Gallilee said one Arab was killed and a Jew beaten in a communal clash. Safad is in the proposed Arab state but has many Jewish residents.

Jewish sources in Tel Aviv reported that an “Arab riot” started late at night in Jaffa, Police removed illegal road blocks south of Tel Aviv and along the main roads, believed placed by Arabs in their attacks against Jewish-operated buses. Scores of buses were stoned during the day, and the companies asked the Government to supply armored cars as escorts.

Two Jews were killed and one seriously hurt when a mob of Arabs attacked an army truck as it was leaving an army camp, it was announced.

Two Jews were reported shot dead in Beit Dagan, a suburb of Tel Aviv.

Americans also were targets of hostile action by Arabs. Stones were hurled at the car of The Associated Press correspondent, Carter L. Davidson. Foreign newsmen were warned by Arab friends to keep poof the streets.

The supreme commander of Haganah charged that large numbers of Arabs in the Negeb, in southern Palestine, had been ordered to attack Jewish settlements scattered there.

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