Palestine Partition Decision Incenses Arabs To Violence

Seven Jews Slain in Holy Land, Four Others in Damascus and American Legation in Latter City Stoned, Flag Ripped Down, Shutters Torn Off, Windows Broken

By the Associated Press

Palestine Partition Decision Incenses Arabs To Violence — The Times Record, 1 December 1947 — The Times Record · 1 December 1947

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“Death, strikes, insults at the United States and grim threats of a Holy War developed swiftly in the eastern Mediterranean today in the wake of a United Nations decision to partition Palestine, a move which incensed Arabs throughout the area. Seven Jews were killed in the Holy Land.

Four other persons were slain at the Syrian capital of Damascus during an attack on Communist headquarters and the cultural center of the Russians, who like the United States supported the move to create a Jewish state in part of the Holy Land. The American Legation in Damascus was stoned, its flag was ripped down, its shutters torn off and some of its windows broken.

Shouts of ‘down with the United States,’ ‘down with the American University’ and ‘give us arms’ rang through the streets of ancient Cairo. Students also cried out against Jews. The threat of Holy War seemed implicit in utterances of Abdel Rahman Azzam Pasha, secretary of the Arab League of seven nations with 33,000,000 Arabs.

He declared the Arabs would never submit to partition. ‘I cannot say where and when I will place my troops,’ he declared. ‘It is a question of life or death. We never wanted violence of war. Now our hands are forced to a definite course for which Palestine Arabs and the whole Arab world have no alternative.’

A Cairo informant said King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia had agreed to give oil revenues paid him by U. S. oil companies, estimated at $18,000,000 annually, to support Arab military resistance. There was no comment from the king. The Arabs called for a three-day general strike throughout Palestine beginning tomorrow and tightened the boycott of Jews.

Sixteen Arabs were wounded slightly at Acre prison when guards opened fire on prisoners attacking Jewish inmates. Hagana, the Jewish underground army, was said to have 50,000 to 70,000 troops ready for battle. It called for mobilization of Jews, women as well as men, between the ages of 17 and 35.

The Jews celebrated throughout Palestine with parades, street dancing and display of national banners. At Beirut, Lebanon, strikes were declared today at all schools here, including the American University, protesting the partition of Palestine. Students demonstrated throughout the day, shouting: ‘Palestine is Arab!’”

Context added by this archive

Everything in one column on the second day: the killings on both sides, the strike, the oil money, the Haganah mobilization, the Jewish celebrations and the students in Beirut.

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"Palestine Partition Decision Incenses Arabs To Violence," The Times Record, 1 December 1947, p. 1. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1947-012. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1947-012