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Another day of turmoil and strife, this April 26, 1948.
The Jewish underground Irgun Zvai Leumi renewed Its offensive against the Arab city of Jaffa in defiance of repeated warnings by the Zionists militia Haganah. The friction between the Irgunists and Haganah over the sudden assault on Jaffa, the big coastal town of Tel Aviv threatened to bring open clashes between the two Jewish groups. The clatter of gunfire and blasts of mortars and explosives broke out again during the morning in the no-man’s land between Tel-Aviv and Jaffa. This has been one of the most persistent trouble spots in Palestine since hostilities broke out after the United Nations voted for partition. Bullets from the battlefield hit high buildings in Tel Aviv. The firing lulled after an hour. There was no report of casualties.
The attack on Jaffa, evidently prompted by Irgunist hope of seizing the city by such a coup as that which gave Haifa to the Haganah the previous week, sent thousands of Arabs fleeing by land and sea. The assault on Jaffa launched from Tel Aviv at dawn Sunday by an organised force of the Irgun Zvai Leumi. The Irgun attackers withdrew to their starting point after day long fighting, featured by a blazing mortar duel. A British official estimated two Arabs and two Jews, killed. He said wounded included two British soldiers 60 Arabs and 20 Jews.
In other news – new rioting broke out in the Japanese port city of Kobe. United States military police arrested hundreds of Koreans today as an aftermath to week-end riots when outbreaks were quelled by American troops after civil law broke down Involving more than 8000 Koreans in Kobe and at nearby Osaka it was the first major outbreak in Japan since the beginning of the occupation One official called it a “minor emergency”.
And finally – The senate this day was expected to confirm without opposition the nomination of W. Averell Harriman to be the roving overseer of the European Recovery program. President Truman nominated his former secretary of commerce for the post the previous week. The nomination was approved by the senate foreign relations committee Friday. Economic co-operation Administrator Paul G. Hoffman has indicated that within two weeks Harriman will be in his new Paris headquarters from which he will direct field operations of the $5,300,000,000 aid program for 16 European nations.
That’s a little of what went on this April 26, 1948 as presented by Douglas Edwards of CBS Radio.
This is from CoPilot, referring to the 1948 Korean disturbances: The incident is known as the Hanshin Education Incident or the 1948 Korean Ethnic School Riots. It occurred in April 1948, when Japanese authorities, under the direction of the US government and the Japanese Ministry of Education, closed down private Korean ethnic schools operating in Japan1. This led to protests across Japan, with significant demonstrations in Osaka and Kobe, where civilians protested the closure of the Korean schools2.
The protests escalated on April 24, 1948, when Koreans stormed the Hyogo Prefecture Office Building in Kobe, demanding the governor rescind the order to close the schools. The situation intensified, and the US military police, along with Japanese police, arrested thousands of protestors and alleged leaders of the League of Koreans2.
The schools had been established by Chōren, an organization for pre-1945 Korean arrivals in Japan, to preserve Korean heritage through Korean language education. However, the fear that communists had infiltrated the schools and were attempting to disrupt the US occupation of the region prompted the closure of the schools.
In the aftermath, a state of emergency was declared in Hyogo, and many Koreans living in the city were arrested. The incident is a significant part of the history of Korean residents in Japan and the post-World War II occupation period12. If you’re interested in more detailed accounts or specific aspects of this event, I can look up more information or discuss its historical context further.
Many thanks for your very useful and appreciated background on this news item. It’s always welcome.
Gordon