JAFFA

An ancient port on the central coast of the eastern Mediterranean, south of modern Tel Aviv, Israel.

Jaffa, known as Joppa in biblical times, became an important entrepôt in the nineteenth century when the local rulers constructed walls, planned markets, established a central mosque, and built a road leading to Jerusalem. Occupied by the Egyptian Ibrahim Pasha in 1831, Jaffa prospered because the Egyptians encouraged trade, immigrated to the city, and relaxed restrictions against minorities. With the return of Ottoman rule after 1840, the port became a stop for steamships plying the eastern Mediterranean and, after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, for oceangoing liners. The port was expanded to accommodate grain, olive, and citrus exports. Jaffa was linked to Jerusalem by road and rail to serve pilgrims and tourists. German Templar and American colonies were established near the city.

The population expanded from 5,000 in the mid-nineteenth century to nearly 40,000 in 1914, of whom 15,000 were Jews. They made Jaffa the center for the first and second aliya until the development of Tel Aviv just to the north of Jaffa. The city was deserted during World War I because the port was closed, citizens were conscripted into the Ottoman army, and the Turks forced many of the inhabitants to leave the city. Under the British mandate, as Tel Aviv developed into an almost exclusively Jewish city, Jaffa expanded. Its population, the majority of whom were Palestinians, reached more than 30,000 in 1922.

A center of opposition to Zionism, Jaffa suffered during the strike called during the 1936 to 1939 Arab rebellion. The rebellion paralyzed the port; it did not recover, and the port of Tel Aviv replaced it. Most of the Jews left Jaffa at that time.

Riots broke out after the United Nations decision to partition Palestine in 1947 and, in the fighting that ensued, the Jews took the city (May 1948). Most of the 65,000 Palestinians abandoned the city—only 4,000 remained. A large number of Jewish immigrants were housed in the city, and in 1950, Jaffa was incorporated into the Tel Aviv municipality, officially called Tel Aviv-Yafo. Jaffa remains a religiously mixed section of the larger metropolitan area.

In 1968, a plan to reconstruct Jaffa and renovate its old buildings was undertaken. The city is noted for its gardens, artists' studios and galleries, the old fishing harbor and ancient site of the original port, and modern boat docks. The city is also known for its export of oranges.

see also aliyah; ibrahim ibn muhammad ali.

Bibliography

Kark, Ruth. Jaffa: A City in Evolution, 1799–1917, translated by Gila Brand. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Press, 1990.

reeva s. simon

Jaffa , Heb. Yafo, part of Tel Aviv , W central Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea. Originally a Phoenician city, Jaffa has been historically important largely because of its port (which was closed in 1965, when the port of Ashdod was completed). It was captured by Egypt in 1472 BC and made a provincial capital. In 701 BC the city was besieged by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. It was often held by Philistia, and not until after the Captivity in Babylon (6th cent. BC) did it become Hebrew territory. Alexander the Great took Jaffa in the late 4th cent. BC The city changed hands frequently in the fighting between the Maccabees and the Syrians (2d and 1st cent. BC) and was destroyed by Vespasian in AD 68. The rebuilt city of Jaffa was conquered by the Arabs in 636. The Crusaders took it in 1126, Saladin recaptured it in 1187, and Richard I retook the city in 1191. In 1196 the Arabs again captured Jaffa, and in the 16th cent. the city, then in decline, was annexed by the Ottoman Empire. In the late 17th cent. Jaffa began to develop again as a seaport. It was captured by Napoleon in 1799. In World War I British troops took Jaffa, which became part of the British-administered Palestine mandate (1922-48). In 1947 and 1948 there was sharp fighting between Jaffa, which was largely inhabited by Arabs, and the adjoining Jewish city of Tel Aviv. On the day (May 14, 1948) that the state of Israel was proclaimed, the Arabs in Jaffa surrendered and were joined with Jews in a religiously mixed city. Jaffa has an old fishing harbor, modern boat docks, and a tourism center. The city is noted for its export of oranges. The usual Bible spelling is Joppa.

Jaffa (Yafo) City and port in w Israel, a suburb of Tel Aviv. Mentioned in the Bible, Alexander the Great captured it in 332 bc. The Jews regained Jaffa during the Hasmonean revolt, but Roman Emperor Vespasian destroyed the city in ad 68. It changed hands many times in the Middle Ages. The Israelis settled Jaffa in 1948, and united it with Tel Aviv in 1950. It became a focus of Palestinian resistance to Jewish settlement. Pop. (1995, Tel Aviv-Jaffa) 348,570.

Jaffa (Yafo), Israel Joppa Now part of Tel Aviv‐Yafo. According to legend, Jaffa was built just after the Flood by Noah's son, Japhet, from whom it gets its name. In reality, it comes from the Hebrew yafe ‘beautiful’, a reference to its location on the Mediterranean coast.

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