Jaffa (Hebrew ֹופָי, Standard Hebrew Yafo, Tiberian Hebrew Yāp̄ô; Arabic يَافَا Yāfā ▶(?); also Japho, Joppa; also, ~1350 B.C.E. Amarna letters, Yapu), is an ancient city located in Israel. It is now part of the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo in the Tel Aviv District, where the Tell ("mound") of ancient Jaffa in “Old Jaffa” is now part of a park in south-western Tel Aviv. Jaffa is a port city on the Mediterranean Sea and the historic gateway into Israel. It is mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible, once as the port-of-entry for the cedars of Lebanon for Solomon's Temple (2 Chronicles2) and once as the place from where the prophet Jonah embarked for Tarshish (Book of Jonah 1:3). It was an important city in the Arab Middle East before Israel was established. During the Crusades it was the County of Jaffa, a stronghold of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. [image]
Jaffa's natural harbor has been occupied since the Bronze Age. It is mentioned in an Ancient Egyptian letter from 1470 BC, glorifying its conquest by Pharaoh Thutmose III, who hid armed warriors in large baskets and gave the baskets as a present to the Canaanite city's governor. The city is also mentioned in the Amarna letters under its Egyptian name Ya-Pho, ( Ya-Pu, EA 296, l.33 ). In 1991, a replica of the Egyptian gate lintels, bearing the titles of Pharaoh Ramesses II, was re-erected on its original site. The city was under Egyptian rule until around 800 BC.
Jaffa is mentioned in the Book of Joshua as the border of the Tribe of Dan's territory. It appears that many of the descendants of Dan, for whom the entire Coastal plain is named (Gush Dan), lived along the shore and earned their living from shipmaking and sailing. This is mentioned in the "Song of Deborah" the prophetess, in her complaint "ןד המל רוגי תוינוא": "Why will Dan dwell in ships?" , for Dan did not help Judge Barak Ben Avinoam in their war.
King David and his son King Solomon conquered Jaffa and ruled it, and via its port the cedars which were used in the construction of the First Temple arrived from Tyre. The city remained in Jewish hands even after the split of the Kingdom of Israel. In 701 BC the city port was used by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, to invade Israel in the time of King Hezekiah (והיקזח).
Jaffa was a Seleucid port until the Maccabean rebel princes took it (1 Maccabees x.76, xiv.5). During the Jewish Revolt, Jaffa was taken and burned by Cestius and eight thousand inhabitants were massacred (according to Josephus). Pirates operating from the rebuilt port incurred the wrath of Vespasian, who razed the city and erected a Citadel in its place. Vespasian placed a Roman garrison in the citadel.
According to the traveler Cotwyk, Jaffa was a heap of ruins at the end of the 16th century.
In 1921 Rabbi Kook moved to Jerusalem when he was apponited as the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine and is still regarded as Israel's first chief rabbi as well.
During 1917-1920, there were thousands of Jewish residents in Jaffa. A wave of Arab Pogrom attacks during 1920 and 1921 (known as the Meoraot Tarpa by the Jews) caused many Jewish residents to flee and resettle in Tel Aviv. The 1921 riots began with a May Day parade (May 1, 1921) that turned violent. The Arab rioters attacked Jewish people and buildings, including the residents of "The House of Immigrants" and the Jewish author Yosef Haim Brenner.
At the end of 1922 Jaffa had 32,000 residents while Tel Aviv had 15,000. However, in 1927, Tel Aviv had 38,000 residents. The Jews of Jaffa lived on the outskirts of Jaffa, close to Tel Aviv. The old city of Jaffa, which was controlled by the Arabs, was almost empty of Jews. During the 1930s both cities had a combined population of 80,000 residents.
The Arabs rejected the plan and the day following November 29, 1947, launched a wave of riots and attacks on nearby Jewish settlements. In December 1947, Arab residents of Jaffa and the nearby Salame village attacked "The Hope Neighborhood" (Shechunat ha-Tikva) in Tel Aviv. As a result, the Irgun launched counter-raids against Jaffa, often also hurting the civilian population. In February 1948, Jewish workers were slain by Arabs in a factory after being disarmed by the British. The killing caused an uprising and Jaffa became a battle ground between Arabs and Jews. On March 13, 1948, the first Davidka mortars were used and the bombardment caused many Arab residents to flee, although the noise created by the mortar was much larger than the damage it caused.
On May 10, 1948, the Irgun (Etzel) paramilitary group began an assault on the city, helping to cause the mass flight of the remaining inhabitants. Many Palestinians had left Jaffa in the previous months due to attacks by the Irgun against Palestinian targets across Palestine. At one point, British forces, attempting to prevent the inhabitants of the town from being expelled, engaged the Irgun in battle. The Irgun retreated at first, but were subsequently assisted by Hagannah fighters. A formal surrender to the Jewish forces was made on May 13, one day before the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel. To comemorate the conquest of Jaffa, the "Conquest Garden" was planted in the city.
Prior to May 1948 the Arab population had fallen from 75,000 to 55,000. On the day of surrender less than three weeks later, only about 4,500 Arabs remained. Most of the Arab population fled, while others, particularly the poor segments living in Jaffa's Old City, remained. They form the basis of the modern Arab population of Jaffa. The refugees have not been allowed to return to their homes and are now scattered over the world, many living in refugee camps. (see more details in the article Palestinian refugees)
However according to Slunuel Toledano, a Jewish intelligence officer, there were other factors as well which caused the Arabs to leave: "The Etzel [Irgun] had been shelling Jaffa for three weeks before the Haganah [regular army] entered, making the Arabs very much afraid."
After the conquest, Irgun forces indulged in widespread looting. Jon Kimche, former editor of the Jewish Observer and Middle East Review, the official organ of the Zionist Federation of Britain reported: "For the first time in the still undeclared war, a Jewish force commenced to loot in wholesale fashion." At first the young Irgunists pillaged only dresses, blouses and ornaments for their girl-friends. But this discrimination was soon abandoned. Everything that was movable was carried from Jaffa - furniture, carpets, pictures, crockery and pottery, jewellery and cutlery.
The occupied parts of Jaffa were stripped. Historian Michael Palumbo wrote of Jaffa: "Not content with looting, the Irgun fighters smashed or destroyed everything which they could not carry off, including pianos, lamps and window-panes. Ben Gurion afterwards admitted that Jews of all classes poured into Jaffa from Tel Aviv to participate in what he called 'a shameful and distressing spectacle'."
Soon after occupation, the Israelis blew up and bulldozed most of Jaffa's (75%) Arab section, and only the al-'Ajami, Old City, and small part of al-Mansheyyah survived demolition. Mostly (if not all) Jaffa's Suqs were obliterated including Suq al-Nahaseen, Suq al-Balabseh, Suq al-Maslakh, etc. In 1954, Jaffa became part of Tel Aviv, and since then both cities are known as Tel Aviv-Yafo. Currently, Jaffa's Old City neighbourhood is being renovated, and is inhabited mostly by artists.
Jaffa's main port has been closed and all its shipping has been diverted either to the Tel Aviv or Ashdod ports. Jaffa's main Clock Square is now named Kikar Hagana ("Haganah Square"). Jaffa's main street Bistress-Iskandar 'Awad is now named Rehev Mifrats Shelomo. Jamal Basha street name has been changed to Jerusalem Street. The al-Manshiyyah area (a densely built salient of Arab Jaffa projecting into Jewish Tel Aviv) which was the center of the fighting and was badly damaged, including by blowing up buildings to dislodge Arab defenders, was mostly demolished after the war and became a public park. Jaffa's Arab population now numbers around 10,000 people.
Modern Jaffa has a heterogeneous population of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The city is now an integral part of the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo.
Jaffa is a major tourist attraction with an exciting combination of old, new and restored. It offers art galleries, souvenir shops, exclusive restaurants, sidewalk cafes, boardwalks and shopping opportunities and a rich variety of culture, entertainment and food (fish restaurants). [image]
Old Jaffa has since become one of Israel's tourist attractions. It is filled with artists' quarters, studios and art galleries. Shops catering for Judaica, archaeology, jewelry and art, line its narrow alleys which are named after the signs of the Zodiac.
Visitors arriving at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel can hear about the old homes in a booklet called "The Opinionated Tourist Guide". The guide is given to tourists, who can read that "the most beautiful homes in the country are the old Arab ones made of stone, built in the early part of the century, that dot the capital and some streets of Haifa and Jaffa. They cost a fortune, however: a price of $1,000,000 is not uncommon and there are not many of them for sale."