Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-02-02
Palestine Police Fail
To Fix Blame for Bomb
Wreeking Newspaper
BY the Assoeroted Press


said today they were still unable
to fix the blame for a bomb blast
which wrecked the Palestine Post
last night, injured at least 20
persons and touched off an $780,
900 fire.
One Arab source said Arabs did 1t
Other informants blamed Jewish
extremists, who have threatened
the pro-Zionist, English-language
daily newspaper because Of its mod
crate stand on Jewish defense.
Still other sources blamed Britons
known for their anti-Jewish senti-
mentS.
Downtown Jerusalem, Zion Square
and Ben Yehuda street were lit
tered with broken glass from win
dows shattered as far as 1000 yards
from the site of the blast.
Dozens Slightly Hurt.
Magen David Clinic, across from
the Post Building-itself badly
damaged by the explosion-reported
it had II injured, 2 critically
Other hospitals reported total OF
eight or nine from the paper. Doz-
ems of other persons walked around
with bandages.
There was no official confirmation
to reports that a woman living In
the Post Building was killed in the
blast.
The paper put out single-sheet
two page edition today. Ted Lurie
New York born assistant editor, said
that would continue until further
notice.
The blast, which occurred just be-
fore midnight, caused a fire which
threatened to engulf an entire city
block. ...
John Adler. business manager OF
the Post, estimated the blaze caused
loss of about 100000.
Jews Reject Blame.
British criminal investigation Off
GERS said the plant of the Post could
have been bombed by either Arabs
or Jewish extremists" A Jewish
Agency official said, II think it i'm
possible that it was done by Jews
of any political leaning"
Physicians said employees on the
ground floor were most severely
hurt by flying metal. They said
several may be blinded.
The impact of the explosion blew
parts of a truck over a two block
area and wrecked building across
the street.
Two American citizens on the
papers staff were uninjured. They
helped rescue seven fellow en-
ployes.
They were Dow Ben Abba, 30
Brookline, Mass, a rewrite man
and Mordecai Chertoff, 20, of New
York City, the makeup editor.
Publisher i'm Tel Aviv.
Gershon Agronsky, founder and
publisher of the paper, was reported
to have been in Tel Ayiv when the
blast occurred.
Earlier, Jews bombed two Arab
owned houses in Jerusalem, which
they said Arabs were using as
sniper nests. An explosion also
wrecked a jewish owned house in
the Jaffa-Tel Aviv area.
During the night, Arabs attacked
the old city of Jerusalem where
l, ZOO Jews are virtually cut off from
aid. The attackers were said tt
have used mortars and machine
guns, but no casualties were re-
ported.
The British Navy intercepted 6
schooner yesterday carrying 2S(
Jews seeking to enter Palestine
without immigration papers.
The refugees, from Central Eu-
rope, were sent to detention camp!
on Cyprus. There were SO womer
and IL children aboard.
An authoritative British source
in London said yesterday that there
were increased attempts to lin.
filtrate Communist agents" into
Palestine.
He said many agents had beer
found among the $4,000 Jewish i'm.
migrants aboard the ships Pan
Crescent and Pan York which sur
rendered to the British Navy in the
Mediterranean last December.
In Milwaukee, Moshe Shertok, po-
litical chief of the Jewish Agency
for Palestine, described the report
as "fantastically and maliciously