§ Sir W. Edgeasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can make any statement on the growth of terrorism in Palestine, and what steps are being taken to deal with it.
§ Mr. Emrys-EvansI have been asked to reply. A recent recrudescence of terrorism in Palestine has taken the form mainly of attacks on personnel of the Palestine Police and outrages against Government property. As regards attacks on police, I would invite my hon. Friend's attention to the reply to a Question on this subject by the hon. Member for Peebles and Southern (Captain Ramsay) on 24th February. There have since been further attacks as follows:
On the night of 3rd February an Arab taxi-driver surprised two Jews tampering with a wall near the entrance to Saint George's Cathedral. One of them threatened him with a pistol. He informed the police patrol, and together with another Arab, accompanied the police in pursuit of the Jews. The latter opened fire, fatally wounding the second Arab, and then made good their escape.
At Haifa, on 24th February, a bomb which had been buried in the runway outside the garage of Mr. F. C. Hors-burgh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, exploded under his car as he drove out. The car was wrecked, but I am happy to say that Mr. Horsburgh escaped with superficial injuries. A second bomb planted by the side of a road, connected by wire to a press button some 60 metres 1431W distant, was exploded as a police traffic car containing British Inspectors W. Y. K. Miller and W. E. Frost and British Sergeant D. D. Fairfoul, was passing. The car was damaged, but again I am glad to say that the occupants escaped any serious injury. They are, however, suffering from shock. A third unexploded bomb was subsequently found concealed at the side of another road. These outrages are thought to be attributable to the Stern group.
As regards attacks against Government property, on 29th January explosions at the Government Transport Agency Car Park at Jaffa wrecked one lorry and damaged four others. On the night of 12th-13th February, bomb outrages were perpetrated at Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv, against the Immigration Offices, causing damage to buildings and to the archives at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. There were no casualties, but a temporary policeman on guard duty at Haifa was admitted to hospital suffering from shock. A Jew, arrested at the scene of the Jaffa explosions, admitted to being a member of the Irgun Zvai Leumi (the military organisation of the Revisionists (New Zionist Organisation)), and the Irgun Zvai Leumi have opened admitted responsibility for the outrages at Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv in a letter to the Hebrew Press.
On the evening of 26th February, explosions took place at the Income Tax Offices at Tel Aviv and Haifa, causing extensive damage to the structure of the building at Tel Aviv and slight damage at Haifa. An unexploded bomb was also found at the Income Tax Office at Jerusalem. There were no casualties in any of these incidents, which are evidently further developments in the Anti-Government campaign of the Irgun Zvai Leumi. My hon. Friend may rest assured that active steps are being taken by the authorities in Palestine to round up those responsible for these outrages.