The Times · 4 July 1967

CP-1967-065

Refugees Urged Not to Quit Israel

By JOSEPH W. GRIGG

Scan 692 × 2048 pixels

Transcribed from the clipping

ALLENBY BRIDGE, Jordan (UPI)—Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan appealed in person to Arab refugees Monday not to flee from the Israeli-held west bank of the Jordan River. Dayan flew to Allenby Bridge by helicopter. He watched somberly as nearly 1,000 refugees clambered slowly and laboriously across the broken girders in 100-degree heat.

The Israeli government said Sunday that between July 7 and Aug. 10 any residents of western Jordan who fled across the river to the Arab-held east could return if they wished. Israel had been refusing to let Arabs back but relented in the face of mounting humanitarian problems regarding the refugees’ welfare.

It was generally estimated about 20,000 refugees had fled across the Jordan since the six-day Arab-Israeli war ended. Another 80,000 to 100,000 were thought to have crossed during the fighting. TALKS IN ARABIC Talking to scores of refugees in Arabic, which he speaks fairly fluently, Dayan asked why they were fleeing and told them they could return between July 7 and Aug. 10.

He reiterated repeatedly that Israel was doing and had done nothing to drive Arabs out of the occupied west bank territory. Dayan later told newsmen. “I feel very sorry about this flight of thousands of Arabs, particularly from the humane point of view.” “If people do want to leave, I have no objections and I cannot prevent them.

But I have told them repeatedly we are not driving them out nor forcing them to leave and reminding them they can come back if they want.”

How this transcription was made

Transcribed from a scan of the printed column. PUBLICATION NAME CORRECTED AGAINST THE ARCHIVE'S OWN SPELLING: the slide label reads 'The Times (Shreveport)', but the archive already holds twelve records under the bare name 'The Times', and the only one of those carrying a city carries Shreveport. Adding the parenthetical would have created a thirteenth name for a paper the archive already files under 'The Times', and the archive's standing decision on this title (the 'The Times (Trenton, NJ)' entry) rests on exactly that: the bare name IS the Shreveport paper. Note the limit: NOTHING ON THIS SCAN NAMES THE NEWSPAPER - there is no masthead, folio or credit line - so the attribution rests on the label and only the FORM of the name has been settled here. The date is not printed either; it is corroborated from inside the story, which reports Dayan's visit on 'Monday' and the Israeli return-window announcement on 'Sunday'. The announcement was made on Sunday 2 July 1967 and Dayan went to the bridge on Monday 3 July, which fits a Tuesday 4 July paper. Printed as set and not repaired: a full stop where a comma belongs in 'Dayan later told newsmen.' before an opening quotation mark, and the misspellings 'trucsk' and 'familiy' further down the column. Read from crops at page scale and above.

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