In the early-morning hours of May 2, six Jewish bodies br

were found in the Abu Kabir section between Jaffa and Tel Aviv. br

They included the famous writer Y. C. Brenner, and the news br

horrified the Jewish community. The six had been beaten to br

death, their bodies stripped and mutilated.

The reaction of the Jews was instructive. Zionist leaders br

Nahum Sokolow, Pinchas Ruttenburg, Meir Dizengoff, and oth- br

ers met and decided to seek conciliation. The Jaffa Arab br

“notables” agreed to accept the offer of peace from the victims, br

but at the meeting held in the Jaffa municipality, and to the loud br

applause of the Arabs, Omar Al-Bittar, the mayor, declared that br

he could not speak for the “Arab nation” and each person would br

have to use his individual initiative to calm passions. Nothing br

daunted, the Tel Aviv Jewish town council announced that “the br

sheikhs have promised us that they will persuade the inhabitants br

to be calm.” Those who had lived in European exile in which br

their safety and security depended on the whim of the Gentile br

felt right at home in the Exile of Ishmael.

The results of the Jaffa massacre were 43 Jews murdered, br

134 wounded, and untold property damage. It was now 27 br

Nisan, May 5. Petah Tikva’s turn.

The news of the Jaffa pogrom encouraged the Arabs of the br

villages near the large settlement of Petah Tikva to cast covetous br

eyes on that thriving Jewish colony. By May 3 all the Arab br

workers had left, a sure sign of impending attack. The two small br

colonies of Ein Hai and Kfar Saba had heard of frenzied meet- br

ings in the nearby Arab villages of Kalkilya, Tira, and Miski, br

where plans had been formulated for destruction of the Jewish br

settlements. The Jews hastily evacuated the two colonies, and br

after being attacked and having part of their cattle plundered by br

the Bedouins of Abu-Kishk, they arrived, fearfully, in Petah br

Tikva.

On the evening of 26 Nisan (May 4), watchmen saw the br

flames of Kfar Saba and Ein Hai, which had been torched by br

their Arab neighbors. Scouts reported that hundreds of Arabs br

from all the villages in the area were now on their way to attack br

Petah Tikva. A group of riders under the leadership of veteran br

Avraham Shapira rode out to meet the attackers and found them br

leading away 700 of the settlement’s cattle. Under a hail of bul- br

lets the Jews had to flee. The Jews in the settlement awaited the br