Indignation Mounts in Palestine over Yellin’s Death; Shertok Counsels Restraint

MOSHE SHERTOK, HEAD OF THE POLITICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE JEWISH AGENCY, WARNED THE JEWS TODAY AGAINST REPRISALS AS A WAVE OF INDIGNATION SURGED THROUGH JEWISH PALESTINE OVER THE DEATH FROM AN ASSASSIN’S BULLET OF AVINOAM YELLIN, GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR OF JEWISH SCHOOLS.

YELLIN, SON OF PROF. DAVID YELLIN OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY, WAS BURIED THIS MORNING, WITH THE CHIEF RABBI AND ISAAC BEN-ZVI, PRESIDENT OF THE JEWISH NATIONAL COUNCIL, EULOGIZING HIM BEFORE MOURNING CROWDS OF THOUSANDS, INCLUDING REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENT, THE JEWISH AGENCY AND NUMEROUS OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. JEWISH BOY SCOUTS FORMED A GUARD OF HONOR. KINDERGARTENS AND OTHER SCHOOLS HALTED THEIR CLASSES AT TEN O’CLOCK THIS MORNING, AND THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE COUNTRY AT NOON. THE PALESTINE BROADCASTING SERVICE ANNOUNCED ONE MOMENT’S SILENCE IN HIS MEMORY.

MR. BEN-ZVI, IN EULOGIZING YELLIN, SAID THAT RECENT GOVERNMENT MEASURES HAVE PROVED INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPRESS TERRORISM AND A STRONGER HAND WAS NEEDED. “WHILE BURYING OUR FALLEN,” HE SAID, “WE ARE STUNNED BY THE DRAFT OF THE IMMIGRATION ORDINANCE, WHICH NOT ONLY IGNORES OUR RIGHT TO IMMIGRATION, RECOGNIZED BY THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, BUT IS A PREMIUM TO ARAB TERRORISTS.”

THE SCHOOL INSPECTOR, WHO WAS 37 YEARS OLD, DIED YESTERDAY OF WOUNDS SUFFERED THURSDAY MORNING WHEN HE WAS SHOT BY AN UNIDENTIFIED ASSAILANT AS HE WAS ENTERING HIS OFFICES AT MT. ZION. THE AUTHORITIES POSTED A $5,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE CAPTURE OF THE MURDERER YELLIN, A PROMISING SCHOLAR OF ARABIC, HAD COLLABORATED IN PUBLISHING AN ARABIC PRIMER WITH DR. LEVI BILLIG, AN INSTRUCTOR AT THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY WHO WAS ASSASSINATED BY AN ARAB LAST YEAR.

MR. SHERTOK, ADDRESSING THE JOURNALISTS’ ASSOCIATION, EXPRESSED THE BELIEF THAT REPRISALS WOULD NOT HALT TERRORISM. HE DENOUNCED EVEN THE RAREST BREACHES OF SELF-RESTRAINT ON THE PART OF JEWS. THE CURRENT UNREST, HE SAID, IS SERIOUSLY DAMAGING THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE COUNTRY, WITH INVESTMENTS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES DRASTICALLY AFFECTED MR. SHERTOK ALSO DENOUNCED THE NEW GOVERNMENT IMMIGRATION ORDINANCE AS A VIOLATION OF THE MANDATE.

THE JEWISH AGENCY ANNOUNCED IT WILL SUBMIT TO THE GOVERNMENT A PROTEST AGAINST THE ORDINANCE. THE NEW MEASURE, WHICH HAS THE EFFECT OF ABANDONING THE ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY PRINCIPLE IN FAVOR OF POLITICAL LIMITATIONS, WILL BE PROMULGATED NOV. 4, IT WAS LEARNED, WITH NO CHANGES FROM THE DRAFT PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL PALESTINE GAZETTE LAST WEDNESDAY.

THE BRITISH ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED, MEANWHILE, ITS DRIVE ON TERRORISM. IT WAS OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED THAT PUNITIVE POLICE POSTS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED IN EIGHTEEN VILLAGES IN THE JERUSALEM DISTRICT IN THE PAST FOUR DAYS AT THE INHABITANTS’ EXPENSE FOR SPORADIC ACTS OF LAWLESSNESS. SEVEN POSTS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED IN THE GAZA SUB DISTRICT FOR AN ATTEMPT TO BOMB A RAILWAY, AND ADDITIONAL POLICE HAVE BEEN STATIONED AT JENIN AFTER AN ATTEMPT TO DAMAGE THE JENIN-AFFULEH ROAD. A FINE WAS COLLECTED IN THE BEISAN DISTRICT TO MAINTAIN A PUNITIVE POLICE POST. POLICE DEMOLISHED A HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE OF NYN, NAZARETH DISTRICT, FOR THE ATTEMPTED DAMAGE OF A PIPELINE.

A GHAFFIR (SPECIAL WATCHMAN) STATION AT SAFED WAS FIRED UPON. A CHRISTIAN ARAB WAS SHOT AND WOUNDED YESTERDAY MORNING AS HE ENTERED HIS HOUSE IN THE SCHNELLER QUARTER OF JERUSALEM. DAVAR, HEBREW LABORITE DAILY, WAS SUSPENDED BY THE AUTHORITIES FOR ONE WEEK.