Extensive Damage in Jerusalem Caused by Arab Legion Shelling, NY Herald Tribune, May 27, 1948.

Jews List Religious Buildings Hit or ‘Desecrated,’ Say Bevin Can Stop War Whenever He Wants; Protests Transmitted to U. N. and the Pope

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By Kenneth Bilby By Wireless to the Herald Tribune Copyright 1948, New York Herald Tribune Inc.

JERUSALEM, May 24 (Delayed).-Arab Legion shelling, now in its eighth day, has created widespread damage in Jerusalem.

The Jewish Agency for Palestine issued today a list of churches and religious foundations which have been “damaged or desecrated” by Arab action. They include-

1.The Monastery of St. Claire, occupied by Arab troops, who were fired upon by Jews from the suburb of Talpiyot and the city’s German Colony.

2. The American Church of St. James, occupied by Iraqi troops who “plundered the church and the (Armenian) quarter” despite a strong protest by the Armenian Patriarch.

3. The Abyssinian Church, hit several times by Arab mortar shells, with the clergy barely escaping.

4. The Syrian Orthodox Church in the Armenian quarter, occupied by an Arab mortar unit, which shelled Christian institutions on Mt. Zion.

5. The Anglican Cathedral of St. George, shelled by Arab Legion units in Shoikh Jarrah.

6. The Monastery of Ratisbonne, shelled by Arab mortars. A letter of protest was sent to the Red Cross.

7. The Monastery of Mar Eliss on the Bethlehem Road, converted into a military base from which attacks on Ramat Rehel were carried out.

8. Notre Dame de France hospice, shelled by Arab mortars which killed a priest Jews said the priest had previously protested against Arab occupation and “acts of violence and plunder” by Arab troops.

Priest Is Identified

[The Jewish Agency statement identified the priest as Pere de Sion, Abbot of Notre Dame de France, The Associated Press reported.]

These protests have been transmitted to Pope Pins XII, the United Nations and British newspapers in letters from Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog of Jerusalem.

There was no mention in the agency statement of damage done to religious edifices by Jewish forces. Yet, in all fairness, it should be mentioned that Jewish attacks have also been partly responsible for damage.

An attack on Mt. Zion by Palmach, the Israel Army’s striking force, resulted in damage to the Bishop Gobat School, which this correspondent inspected.

It becomes more apparent daily that so long as fighting continues around them, the holy places must inevitably incur injury.

Jewish failure to remove troops from Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus, placing them under the International Red Cross flag, before the battle began, unquestionably prompted Arab shelling of those institutions. They now face further destruction and possible capture by Legion troops at the base of Mt. Scopus.

Say Peace Is Up to Britain

[A responsible Arab source said Monday, according to The Associated Press, that King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan had been notified of surrender terms for the Israeli units at Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University and had agreed to deliver all Jewish occupants of the two institutions to the Red Cross, provided all Jewish weapons there were turned over the Arab Legion.]

Jewish military and civil authorities in Jerusalem still maintain that only one nation-Great Britain-can bring peace to the Holy City. They view Xing Abdullah’s Legion as a British unit, with British officers and British equipment.

“The British can stop this war in Palestine any time they want to,” a Jewish Agency official said “If Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin would tell Trans-Jordan to stop they would soon have their troops out of here.”

There is no question that the Jews desire a cease-fire. With the State of Israel established under United Nations auspices, the Jews would “welcome an end of the war,” the Agency official said.