It was war in Palestine last week. The
hit-&-run raids, the bombings and the skirmishes were giving way to
something bigger. Now there were pitched battles, between thousands of
men in organized bands, for definite objectives. A prime objective for
both Arabs and Jews: control of Jerusalem.
Ever since U.N. voted partition, Arabs have been tightening their grip
on the lifeline of Jerusalem's 100,000 Jews—the road to Tel Aviv,
which twists from the city through the rocky Judean hills to the
coastal plain. The city's Jewish population, which used to buy 80 to
90% of its food from neighboring Arabs, now depends on food convoys
from the Jewish settlements along the coast. One strongpoint on that
road is the village of Kastel, a cluster of dirty stone huts, one big
house and a mosque. Jewish Haganah fighters, after seizing it, held it
early last week. Then, one morning at dawn, the Arabs counterattacked.
Death at Dawn. Leading the Arabs was Abdul Kader Husseini, cousin of
the ex-Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin el Husseini, and a rival of Fawzi
Bey Kawukji (TIME, March 15) for command of all Arab forces in
Palestine. More like a rash corporal than an army commander, Abdul
Kader charged up the rocky slopes at the head of his men. Behind him
the sky paled, silhouetting his stocky figure. Haganah Bren guns
riveted bullets in a straight line across his body. Abdul Kader fell
dead. As news of the battle reached Jerusalem, Arab reinforcements
streamed out to Kastel in armored cars, trucks and battered U.S.-made
taxis. By midafternoon, 2,000 strong, they occupied the village.
Next day 10,000 Arabs crowded into the lanes of the Old City to bury the
Mufti's general. Crying "Hayyouh! Hayyouh!" (Greet him), the crowds
followed his coffin, draped in the green, red, white and black of the
Palestinian Arabs' flag, to the Dome of the Rock Mosque. "Shaheed,
Shaheed" (He is a martyr) muttered devout Moslems. More Arabs were
enlisting. Others were joining "Learn How to Shoot" clubs.
Perilous Bend. Jews were grim about Kastel. Said one: "We have to attack
it again. This is our Battle of the Atlantic." They had managed to run
a convoy of 40 food trucks through to Jerusalem by another road, the
first supplies in twelve days. In a new push, Haganah fighters retook
Kastel. But Fawzi Bey Kawukji, commanding the Arabs in the north, sent
artillery and armored cars to support the Jerusalem Arabs. By week's
end, Arabs claimed that they again held the village.