יומנים > יומן - מלא 14/02/1948

[Saturday,] February 14, 1948

Knappen Engineering Cop., 280 Madison Squ.

 

Perlson [Eliezer Peri] brought me two plans for a [Tel Aviv] port - prepared by an American expert who spent the last few days here. One is for a deep port - larger than Haifa's, at a cost of P£ 13-14 million. The second - expansion of the existing [port]. Instead of extending the pier into the sea they propose digging a channel on land. Instead of 18 months it will require 6 months, and will also be cheaper. They're suggesting a channel in the direction of HaTa'arucha [St.] [the Yarkon River], 260 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 2 meters deep - leading to a pool [anchorage] of 16 x 70 meters (2 meters deep). They believe it will cost P£ 750,000 (Perlson says only 600,000). Excavations (100,000 cubic meters - each 50 grush) P£ 50,000. Demolition 6,000, filling 7,000 square meters of concrete, each P£ 15 - 105,000, paving 23,000 sq. meters, each 1.25 - 29,000, warehouses 105,000, loading and unloading machines 105,000 - in total 400,000, unforeseeable [contingencies] (25%) 100,000, engineering management 50,000, forty boats 125,000 tugs, launches etc. 50,000, reparations for dispossessed residents 25,000, in total 750,000. This renovation will save P£ 2 per ton of merchandise; at 400,000 tons per year this is a savings of 800,000 for the first year (the entire investment).

       At present ships drop anchor 2 kilometers from the shore, and the cargo is brought by boats into a pool [anchorage] of 70 x 225 meters (2 meters deep). The port has about 9,000 square meters of warehouses. In 1847, 180,000 tons of merchandise were unloaded at the port, P£ 2 per ton. In January 1948 - more than 30,000 tons were unloaded. It's become more crowded, and ships have waited days to unload or load. A ship of 1,000 tons costs P£ 250 per day, so a 10-day wait costs P£ 2.5 per ton. The crowding in Haifa and difficulties with the railway will place a burden on Tel Aviv, so Tel Aviv's capacity must be doubled immediately.

       The plan for a deep port is based on the following calculations: [We] need a port to load half a million tons of citrus [fruit], which will reach a million tons per year and maybe more. [We] also need to receive a million tons of merchandise per year, and this will double over the course of ten years. [We] therefore need a port that will immediately handle 1½ million tons of merchandise, which over time will reach 3 million tons. Aside from that, it will have to receive half a million tons of oil per year.

       Under this plan, 300,000 square meters will be reclaimed, and of this the port itself will need 100,000 square meters (300 dunam and 100 dunam). The estimated budget:

 

Breakwater

4,000,000

Bulkheading

1,000,000

Dredging and fill

166,000

Warehouses

1,350,000

Cargo handling equipment

500,000

Paving

400,000

Finders

150,000

Dry docks and shipways

1,500,000

Oildock

400,000

Railroad

250,000

 

10,250,000

Contingencies

2,550,000s

Engineering etc.

1,260,000

Interest during construction 6%

840,000

 

14,840,000

 

This port will reduce the port costs by half.

       - According to SHAI the number of "invaders" [from the Arab Liberation Army for Palestine] has reached 3,000 men, including 300-400 Eretz-Israel Arabs who trained in Qatana [Syria]. Rumor has it that another 2,000 (5,000?) will be coming.

       The "fighters" are of two sorts:

The Liberation Army, which is subordinate to the Arab League Military Committee and centered around Nablus. They have a military regime [structure], headed by Iraqi and Syrian officers. Fawzi al-Qawuqji is supposedly at the head. The Mufti's men. These are gangs, which can be divided into three groups: 1) Those of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, centered in the Ramallah area with headquarters in Birzeit (?) [north of Ramallah]. 2) Those of Hasan Salameh. [He's] trying to take control of the Jaffa-Lod area. He also has an Iraqi group. 3) A small group in Shfar'am, now [also] in Kafr Kanna [east of Nazareth].

       Back in December there were already rumors about invasions by not particularly large gangs, under Abd al-Qadir and Hasan Salameh. A large-scale invasion was reported on December 24: 400 men crossed [the border] near Al-Hamma in Transjordan. At the time it was also reported that 220 Syrians had entered around Nablus, and from there [continued] to Haifa, Acre, and Safed. There was also a report about 250 armed men having traversed the Arumish [sp.] - Sa'sa' [sp.] - Safed road and then headed south. In late December it was reported that 200 men had reached Tarshiha from across the border.

       During the first week of January it was reported that 500 men were concentrated in Jdeideh and Khiam [in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon] and planning to cross the border. Around the same time there was a report of hundreds of men concentrated in Tubas-Jenin.

       The clashes with outside forces began with the January 9 attack on Kefar Szold. The [January 20] battle at Yehiam was also based on outside forces. According to one Arab, some 300 men were brought over two days before the attack, by way of the Lebanese border. These were trainees from Qatana, placed under the command of the "great" Abu Ibrahim, who's renowned for the 1936-9 riots. They came in 16 pickup trucks from Damascus to Bint al-Jbeil, and from there on foot to Fassuta, Hurfeish, up to Beit Jann. After a two-day rest, they attacked Yehiam using rifes, [light] machine guns, [heavy] machine guns, [and] two mortars. [They also have a wireless signal] broadcasting station. The commanders: Abu Ibrahim, Adib Shishakli (a major in the Syrian army) and his brother Husni Shshakli, and Akram Hawrani (a member of the Syrian parliament).

       According to the secret police, 800 Arabs crossed the Lebanon border on the night of January 11, rested in Safed, and continued southward.

       Summary:

       24 Dec 47 - about 400 men infiltrated the country near Al-Hamma

       31 Dec 47 - about 200 men infiltrated the country near Tarshiha

       7 Jan 48 - 300 men infiltrated the country near Fassuta

       21 Jan 48 - 715 men crossed the Jordan border and reached Tubas

       29 Jan 48 - about 600 men crossed the Jordan border at Damiyah Bridge

       6 Feb 48 - A company crossed the Jordan border and reached the Nablus-Tulkarm area.