Arabs Mark Martyrs’ Day; Israeli Official Raps Rabin

Angry, defiant Palestinians marked “Martyrs’ Day” in the occupied territories today with graveside speeches and stone-throwing demonstrations as they remembered the 61 Arabs killed in clashes since December.

Atty. Gen. Yosef Harish meanwhile released a letter to Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, criticizing Rabin’s policy of allowing soldiers to beat protesters.

“You cannot use force as a means of punishment, abuse or humiliation,” Harish said.

One Palestinian was shot and wounded today in this West Bank town 10 miles north of Jerusalem and another was shot during a demonstration at Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, according to hospital sources. The army said it was checking the reports.

About 1,500 additional police officers, brought in from throughout Israel, flooded Jerusalem in advance of the visit of U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, set to begin Thursday. The reinforcements will back up the city’s normal contingent of 1,000 officers.

Fear Increased Violence

Authorities fear Shultz’s presence will lead to an upsurge in violence by Arabs pressing their case for an end to 20 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, seized during the 1967 Middle East War.

In Kfar Naami, a village of 2,000 inhabitants six miles west of here, about 1,500 Arabs marched through the streets chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans.

In a fiery speech at the graveside of one of the two village residents who have died from army bullets, a speaker denounced the Shultz trip.

“From this grave we condemn the Shultz visit and the United States. These masses,” he said, gesturing to the crowd, “are led by the PLO. We will continue to achieve our goals and not satisfy American policy in the region.”

Graffiti in Kfar Naami read: “No for the visit of Shultz; yes to the Palestinian government. Yes to the PLO.”