British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 75. Historical Summary: Period IX: 1945. The agitation for a Jewish State and unrestricted immigration

CHAPTER II.
councillors protested because the Moslem mayor had publicly associated himself with an anti-Zionist resolution passed by the Arab mayors at a meeting convened ostensibly for the discussion of municipal affairs. The breach was temporarily closed but was again openedl in August upon the death of the mayor and the appointment of Mr. Daniel Auster as acting mayor. Both sides demanded the mayoralty and the struggle was watched with interest throughout the country as a test case of conflicting national claims. (See section 9 of chapter XXII).

Sir Harold MacMichael left Palestine at the end of August, 1944, and was succeeded by Field Marshal Lord Gort., V.C., who arrived in Palestine on 31st October.

1945.

During the first four months of 1945 there was a lull in Jewish terrorist activity and security conditions generally were better than for sometime past. In January there was an outbreak of kidnapping which was suspected as being in furtherance of an anti-terrorist campaign on the part of the Hagana. Sentence of five years' imprisonment was passed by a military court during January on a member of the Hagana for carrying a hand grenade while taking part in a tactical exercise culminating in a sham assault on an Arab village in the hill country of Samaria. The sentence was condemned iu the Hebrew press as an unjust and provocative act. The execution in Egypt of Lord Mayne's murderers on 23rd March did not cause any appreciable public reaction. On Z4t.h March a large party of Jews hiking in the isolated area west of the Dead Sea was attacked by armed Arabs and one Jew killed and three wounded.

Following threats by the Irgun Zvai Leumi early in May that V-Day for the world would be D-Day for them, there was a renewed outbreak of Jewish terrotism of which the following are the principal incidents. On 13th May telegraph poles were damaged by explosives and an attempt was made to attack the Police Mobile Force camp at Sarona by locally made mortars; there was a• recurrence of this attack by mortar fire on 15th May; on 22nd May the oil pipe line was punctured in two places and on 25th May a police patrol was fired on. On 12th June mortars aimed at the route for the King's Birthday parade in Jerusalem were discovered and on the following day a similar battery of mortars was found aiming at the saluting box from which Lord Gort would take the salute at the parade. On 17th June substantial quantities of gelignite were stolen by armed Jews from

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