Page 375 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

Anti-Palestine disturbances, 1947 363

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which were steep. Some of the Persians put up a fight and
three of them were arrested, but as the police were scattered
in different parts of the town dealing with isolated attacks
on Jewish houses few men could be spared to take over prisoners.
It was more important to clear the houses and to put an end to
the riot than to make arrests. Simultaneously a house in the
Sooq-Al-Arba was attacked and looted, the Jewish occupants had
been hidden by an Arab neighbour and when the police arrived the
Arab led them over roof tops to his house and begged them to
take away the Jews to a place of safety. Here again most of
the Jews were old people and women and children. Attacks were
made on Jewish houses as far separated as Jibla district and
houses close to the West Boys' School. Where more isolated
houses were attacked the people shouted to each other saying
that the Government was allowing Jew houses to be sacked.
Women took as much part in the looting as men. Every house
was completely stripped and in two houses attempts were made to
set them on fire, but police arrived in time to put out the
fires. In one house a large refrigerator had apparently been
thrown down from an upper storey into the courtyard, in two
houses wooden verandahs had been demolished and in another
house a cupboard, larger than the main doorway, had been
dragged to the door, where it stuck, in an effort to remove it.
Furniture, beds, trunks, and cooking utensils were hurled into
the street from upper floors and carried away by people below.
People were seen on the outskirts of Manamah carrying bundles
of loot and, on the following day, reports were received that
stolen property had been taken to villages as far distant as
Budeya.
The riot lasted for not more than an hour. During this
time twelve houses, occupied by Jews, were completely sacked,
three little shops were looted and the synagogue was stripped
so that afterwards it appeared like a building that had been
bombed or gutted by fire. About 40 Jews were taken to hospital
but of these only about 12 went there for medical reasons, the
remainder were relations of the injured persons or persons whose
houses were attacked. During the night an elderly Persian Jewess,
who had been severely beaten and received head wounds, died in
hospital. Three other women were in a critical condition but
afterwards recovered. All the Jews asserted, even in the middle
of the riot, that they had been robbed of large sums of money.
Some of the houses were large and well equipped and it is certain
that their contents, apart from any money that may have been
stolen, were valuable. The people in the looted houses were left
without clothes, food, furniture or cooking pots, everything that
could be destroyed was destroyed and every piece of portable pro­
perty was removed. None of the Jews, except one youth, seemed
to have attempted to defend themselves but they were outnumbered
by a hundred to one and most of them were women and children
/8. During