All but the Government Buildings Are Destroyed Before Troops Arrive.

PLANES GO TO HALT SYRIANS

Grave Situation Is Reported in Haifa and Acre-Riots in Scattered Towns.

BALFOUR BACKS ZIONISTS

In Letter to Weizmann He Declares British Empire Will Keep Its Pledge.

Arabs made an attack on the ancient city of Safed Thursday night, killing twenty-two Jews, wounding scores and burning the whole town except the government buildings. Fighting proceeded for eight hours before British troops arrived from Tiberias. Sporadic outbreaks occurred in Palestine yesterday. Troops continued raids on Arab villages and made scores of arrests. Hampered by bad roads, they arrived too late at scenes of disorders to prevent damage.

An official communiqué issued in London said a large force of Arabs had crossed the Syrian border and British planes had been sent to check their advance into Palestine. A force of 1,500 Arabs moving to attack the town of Ramleh was dispersed by troops. Serious disaffection among the Arabs is reported from Haifa and Acre, where recent attacks are said to have been more serious than at first reported. Fighting between police and Moslems occurred in Damascus and Beirut, in Syria, and a big concentration of Moslems is reported in Deraa, Syria.

Troops Raid Arab Villages.

London Times Dispatch by Cable. JERUSALEM, Aug. 30.– British troops early this morning carried out further raids on Arab villages harboring bands of marauders, who had made night time attacks on Jewish settlements, looting and burning. The casualties to date are reported at 164 killed and 272 wounded in hospitals. These figures do not include the casualties inflicted by troops and the wounded who have not been taken to hospitals.

After repeated warnings, the village of Qulonia was singled out for disciplinary measures and at 4 o'clock this morning troops, accompanied by police, surrounded it and arrested the male inhabitants, including some natives from neighboring villages. It is believed they were implicated in an attack on a Jewish settlement and the burning of a mill. In making the arrests there was only spasmodic fighting and no casualties among the British troops, though three Arabs were reported wounded.

Sir John Chancellor, High Commissioner, who is now on duty again in Jerusalem, has declared that there has been no bombing of Arab villages by aircraft during the disturbances and that reckless firing by troops and special constables is strictly forbidden.

Arab Emissaries Detained.

Messages of sympathy with the Arabs have been received from the disaffected section occupied by the Ben Sakhr tribe in Transjordania. The emissaries who brought the messages have been detained in Jerusalem pending inquiries. Attempts have been made to send arms and ammunition from the tribes in Transjordania to Palestine Arabs. These have been frustrated.

Officially, the country is reported as generally quiet. Some isolated attacks have been checked, while others which have been threatening have not materialized. About 1,500 Bedouin Arabs, after concentrating in South Palestine, move on Ramleh, but were dispersed by civil authorities. They returned to the Beersheba district. Transjordania was reported quiet today.

It is stated that nine Jews were killed and twenty-one wounded in the latest Arab attack on Safed. These figures have not yet been confirmed. The attack opened yesterday at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and lasted until 2 o'clock this morning, when troops arrived. The city was burned, only the Government Building being saved by the troops.

Safed Dead Now 22.

By The Associated Press. CAIRO, Saturday, Aug. 31.– Reports to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency from Jerusalem early today said twenty-two Jews were killed and scores wounded in the massacre at Safed.

1,500 Bedouins Dispersed.

By The Associated Press. JERUSALEM, Aug. 30.– The recurrence of the Moslem Sabbath today did not bring in its wake a fresh outbreak of Arabian-Jewish disorders, as was feared, although there was sporadic violence in the country.

ARABS BURN SAFED; KILL 22, MANY HURT Continued from Page 1, Column 1.

It was just a week ago that the rioting began which resulted in deaths of more than 150 and the wounding of hundreds. Thirteen British military airplanes circled above the Mosque of Omar, one of the holiest of the Moslem antiquities in Jerusalem and adjoining the Wailing Wall, but no disorder was reported.

A group of twenty-nine high school Jewish students, including fourteen Americans, was reported near the Syrian frontier on an outing and the American Consul was appealed to for protection for them in view of the Arab advance. The students in danger are from the Haifa secondary high school. They started a week ago on a bicycle trip to Syria.

Suggestions for a rapprochement between the Jews and Moslems were made on the initiative of prominent Arabs today. The Zionist Executive asked the National Council of Palestine Jews to inquire into the situation and determine whether the proposals were made in good faith.

One Arab was killed in Jerusalem today. He was said to have picked a quarrel while passing through a Jewish crowd. Troops last night foiled an attempt by Arabs to break into the home of Dr. Judah Leib Magnes, former rabbi of the Temple Emanu-El, New York, and now chancellor of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. Dr. Magnes is in Switzerland.

The Palestine Arab Executive announced this morning that it would present certain demands to Sir John Chancellor, the High Commissioner, as follows:

1. Establishment of a Parliament in Palestine.

2. The revocation of the Balfour declaration pledging the British Government to facilitate establishment of the Jewish national home in Palestine.

3. Non-admission of Zionists into Palestine.

The secretary of the Palestine Arab Executive told the correspondent for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the Executive and the Moslem Supreme Council have dispatched pacifying messages to the villagers in the vicinity of Jerusalem asking the villagers not to come to the city.

Arabs today again attacked the Jewish colony in Telpioth, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The attack was repulsed by a platoon of British troops from the South Wales Borderers. A grave situation also was reported to have developed in Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee, where the Arabs were restless. Trials began today at Tel Aviv of Jews and Arabs charged with illegally bearing arms.

Original Source

August 31, 1929 | © The New York Times

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