867N.4016/90
The Consul General at Jerusalem (Wadsworth) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 26.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that the outstanding feature of the past fortnight, as far as the matter of public security in Palestine [Page 787] is concerned, has been a tendency of Jewish terrorism, which for a time appeared to concentrate chiefly on sabotage of public utilities (see despatch No. 983 of June 28, 1939), to direct itself against the Arab population. The result has been the greatest number of casualties reported in any similar period in the past three months.
My last despatch on this subject included a report of the bomb explosion in the Arab market at Haifa on June 19th, the first day of the period now under consideration, which killed 18 Arabs and wounded 31 others, four of whom have since died. Several other minor bombings, including one on June 30 in the Mamillah Road in Jerusalem, some 400 yards from the Consulate General, inflicted numerous casualties.
Whereas bombs have until recently been the chief Jewish weapon, firearms have been more widely used during the past two weeks than heretofore. There have been two cases in Jerusalem of murders of Arabs by Jews in broad daylight. And on June 29th six separate attacks with firearms occurred in the course of one hour in and near Tel Aviv, resulting in the death of 13 Arabs and the serious wounding of three others.
Total casualties from terrorist activities during the fortnight amounted to 104, including 53 Arabs and 1 Jew killed, and 48 Arabs, 1 Jew, and 1 British Constable wounded. While about a dozen of these casualties are officially reported to have been inflicted by Arabs, the great majority may be ascribed to Jews. A number of Jewish (chiefly Revisionist) suspects have been arrested, but as yet the authorities appear to have failed to uncover the central source of the campaign.
Responsible Jewish leaders and the Jewish press, which, albeit with reluctance, have come to admit that Jews are responsible for the latest wave of terroristic acts, are unanimous in their public declarations of disapprobation. Several representative bodies and groups have publicly denounced terrorism as a political method; and there appears to be no doubt that the majority of Jewish opinion strongly condemns the policy of violence adopted by the extremist minority—if only because of the unfortunate effects on public opinion abroad which are anticipated. It appears equally certain, however, that the influence of the more moderate Jewish elements has definitely declined since the publication of the White Paper, with a consequently increased difficulty in maintaining that moral discipline of which Palestine Jewry has been proud.
Combined with the public denunciations of terrorism have been expressions of resentment in the Jewish press against the measures of collective punishment, such as fines and curfews, imposed upon Jewish communities. “Collective punishment”, proclaims the Palestine [Page 788] Post, “can be justified only when the circumstances warrant the expectation that it may either have a deterrent effect or lead to the apprehension of the culprit”, or “only if there were conclusive evidence that the Jewish community as a whole supported, encouraged, or even connived at the work of the terrorists.” Non-Jewish comment on such utterances points to the fact that the Jewish press consistently supported and encouraged such collective punishment when it was imposed on Arab communities.
Methodical searches of suspected Arab areas by the security forces have continued, and on June 19 one long-known Arab band was apparently all but wiped out in the Jericho district, eight of its members being killed and one captured. During the fortnight official communiqués report seizures totalling 111 rifles, of which 18 were voluntarily surrendered, 33 pistols, 4 shotguns, and considerable quantities of ammunition.
Voluntary surrenders, I should add, appear to have resulted in large measure from increasingly insistent demands made by the search parties on village communities or individuals, i. e. through threats to hold arrested heads of families or other suspected rebel sympathizers unless their village or relatives produced and surrendered a given number of rifles. One tale which I have from a high British civilian official throws a ray of humor on this practice. A village from which the military demanded 10 rifles had none but sent an emissary to Trans-Jordan where he bought the required number for £P.5 each. These when turned over to the exigent military authorities were paid for at £P.8 each. Net profit to the village £P.30 ($150).
A recapitulation of casualties, as reported in this and preceding despatches for the first six months of 1939, presents the following picture:
| Killed | Wounded | |
| Arabs | 253 | 259 |
| Jews | 69 | 146 |
| British | 25 | 45 |
| Other | 3 | 7 |
| Arab “terrorists” | 240 | 13 |
| 590 | 470 |
Arab “terrorists” captured: 91
A summary published in the Palestine Post of July 3, a copy of which is enclosed,3 places the casualties at a considerably higher figure. The difference may no doubt be ascribed in part to the fact that the Post includes in its recapitulation many very slight injuries, which [Page 789] are not recorded in the figures compiled by the Consulate General. As one instance, it may be mentioned that in the figures given above no account is taken of some 125 persons who were slightly injured on May 17th and 18th (during the Jewish rioting following anouncement of the new Palestine policy) but who did not require hospital treatment. The differences in the number of deaths reported is probably due to the fact that the Consulate General’s figures, prepared each fortnight, do not include persons who died subsequently from wounds received during the period.
From either recapitulation, however, appears the significant, and somewhat alarming, fact that Arab deaths from Jewish violence during the six weeks since the publication of the White Paper are approximately equal to the number of Jews killed by Arabs during the past six months.
There is enclosed the usual recapitulation4 of acts of violence during the past fortnight, to which is added a record of military court trials.
Respectfully yours,