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ABSTRACT
One of the gravest outcomes of the period of the Arab revolt was the heavy economic damage caused to the Arab community. Jaffa, which suffered greatly in the years 1936–1939, sought to rebuild and restore the city to its status as a leading economic center in Palestine. This need intensified still more with the outbreak of the Second World War. Hence, it was in Jaffa's evident interest to bring about an improvement in relations with Tel Aviv and with Jews generally. Problems regarding the proper management of economic life in wartime exercised the Jewish settlement also; therefore, Jewish–Arab cooperation steadily grew in this period. The article gauges the measure of this cooperation and the nature of the ties that consolidated between Arabs and Jews during the war. The situation of Jaffa and Tel Aviv serves as a test case well exemplifying the force of the subsequent change in relations between Jews and Arabs in Palestine.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. On the period of the Arab revolt and its implications for the Palestinians, see Y. Eyal, ‘The Arab Rebellion 1936–1939: A Turning Point in the Struggle for Eretz Israel’, Aley Zait Vacherev Vol.9 (2009), pp.43–82 [Hebrew]; Y. Nevo, ‘The Arabs of Eretz-Israel and the White Paper of 1939’, Cathedra Vol.12 (1979), pp.148–63 [Hebrew]; T. Swedenburg, Memories of Revolt: The 1936–1939 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1995), pp.107–37.
2. Y. Porath, The Emergence of the Palestinian-Arab national movement 1929–1939 (Tel Aviv: Am Oved Publishers, 1978), p.356 [Hebrew]; Y. Arnon Ohanna, The Internal Struggle within the Palestinian Movement 1929–1939 (Tel Aviv: Hadar Publishing, 1989), p.296 [Hebrew]; G. Nevo, Influence of the Second World War on Arab Patterns of Involvement in Palestine, in J. Nevo and Y. Nimrod (eds.), The Arabs, The Zionist Movement and the Jewish Community Facing 1946–1950 (Oranim: Middle East Department, 1987), p.10 [Hebrew]; M. Kabha, The Palestinian Press as Shaper of Public Opinion 1929–1939: Writing Up a Storm (London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2007), pp.218–25.
3. For a description of the economic damage, see Y. Nevo, Hatenuah Haleumit Ha'aravit Hapalestinit Bemilhemet Ha'olam Asheniyah [The Palestinian Arab National Movement in the Second World War], in M. Maoz and B. Kedar (eds.), The Palestinian National Movement: From Confrontation to Reconciliation? (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defence Publishing, 1996), p.97 [Hebrew]; M. Kabha, The Palestinian People: Seeking Sovereignty and State (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2014), pp.16–8. For a description of the damage caused to commerce between the Arabs and Jews in Jaffa at the time of the Arab revolt, see T. Goren, Rise and Fall: The Urban Development of Jaffa and Its Place in Jewish–Arab Strife in Palestine 1917–1947 (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben Zvi, 2016), pp.266–75 [Hebrew].
4. On the economic situation of Palestine at the time of the Second World War, see N. Gross, ‘The Economic Policy of the Government of Palestine during the Mandate Period (continued)’, Cathedra Vol.25 (1982), pp.159–66 [Hebrew]; D. Sharfman, Palestine in the Second World War: Strategic Plans and Political Dilemmas, the Emergence of a New Middle East (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2014), pp.43–50.
5. Nevo, ‘Influence of the second world war’, p.10; Nevo, ‘Hatenuah Haleumit’, p.97.
6. On expressions of cooperation, see J. Nevo, ‘The Political Development of the Palestinian Arab National Movement 1936–1945’ (PhD thesis, Tel Aviv University, 1977), pp.116–8 [Hebrew].
7. On the reasons for the renewal of political activity, see Nevo, ‘Hatenuah Haleumit’, pp.103–4.
8. On the proliferation of contacts that prevailed between the Arabs and Jews in daily life at the time of the Second World War, very little is known. For example, see M. Abbasi, Safad during the Mandate Period 1918–1948 (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 2015), p.168 [Hebrew]; H. Cohen, An Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaborators in the Service of Zionism (Jerusalem: Ivrit – Hebrew Publishing House, 2004), pp.177–83 [Hebrew].
9. The research literature generally contains mentions of instances of cooperation and nothing more. A comprehensive and systematic study of this question has not been undertaken. The research of Mikhael Assaf on Arab–Jewish relations from the end of the Ottoman period to 1948, published in 1970, presented for the first time a detailed list of the types of cooperation that prevailed between the Jews and Arabs in daily life from the ending of the Arab revolt and during the Second World War. This is a short summary of a few pages in a volume of over 400 pages. See M. Assaf, Jewish–Arab Relations in Eretz Israel (1860–1948) (Tel Aviv: Mifaley Tarbut Vehinukh, 1970), pp.105–14 [Hebrew]. An additional and significant tier is the doctoral research of Joseph Nevo. It is special in that it concentrates on the period of the Second World War and proceeds to the political development of the Palestinian Arab national movement. This research, which was completed in 1977, reviews the dimensions of the cooperation that prevailed at the time of the war, but does not expand on the subject. See Nevo, ‘The Political Development’, pp.116–8.
10. The issue of relations between Jaffa and Tel Aviv in the period under discussion has benefited from references in the research literature, but on a limited and partial scale only. See H. Fireberg, ‘Tel-Aviv: Change, Continuity and the Many Faces of Urban Culture and Society during War, 1936–1948’ (PhD thesis, Tel-Aviv University, 2003), pp.45 [Hebrew]; M. Levine, Overthrowing Geography: Jaffa, Tel Aviv and the Struggle for Palestine 1880–1948 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), pp.107–9; I. Radai, Palestinians in Jerusalem and Jaffa, 1948 (London: Routledge, 2016), p.133.
11. Assaf, Jewish–Arab Relations, pp.54–8; H. Ram, The Jewish Community in Jaffa: From Sephardic Community to Zionist Center (Jerusalem: Carmel, 1996), pp.256–7,259 [Hebrew].
12. Y. Shavit and G. Biger, The History of Tel Aviv: The Birth of a Town (1909–1936) (Tel Aviv: Ramot-Tel Aviv University, 2001), p.93 [Hebrew].
13. On the development of Jaffa and its status in the eyes of the Arab public, see Goren, Rise and Fall, pp.31–220.
14. On the hostile acts that occurred in Jaffa in the years 1921, 1929, 1933 and 1936, see ibid., pp.31–4, 120–1, 171–4, 221–6.
15. Ibid., pp.31–220.
16. Ibid., pp.80–98, 141–2, 191–2. Until 1936 the Jaffa municipal council had Jewish representatives as well: three until 1927 and two thereafter.
17. On the scope of the movement and its modus operandi, see ibid., pp.74–5, 161, 204–5.
18. Ibid., pp.50–7, 136–40, 182–5.
19. Most of the Jews of Jaffa were concentrated in the Jewish neighborhoods lying along the boundary between Jaffa and Tel Aviv. In geographical terms, these were two residential blocks, namely Florentine and Shapira. Each block consisted of several neighborhoods that according to their location belonged to the two main neighborhoods of Florentine and Shapira. On the demand for annexation and the measures taken on this matter at the time of the Arab revolt, see T. Goren, ‘The Jews of Jaffa at the Time of the Arab Revolt: the Emergence of the Demand for Annexation’, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies Vol.15 (2016), pp.267–81.
20. On the deterioration of Jaffa port at the time of the Arab revolt and the economic harm caused to the city, see T. Goren, ‘The Struggle to Save the National Symbol: Jaffa Port from the Arab Revolt Until the Twilight of the British Mandate’, Middle Eastern Studies Vol.51 (2015), pp.863–73.
21. On the decline of the condition of Jaffa port at the time of the Second World War, see ibid., pp.873–74.
22. Goren, Rise and Fall, pp.349–53.
23. Yediot Aharonot, 11 Sep. 1940; Davar, 27 Sep. 1940. Since the 1920s, Tel Aviv had served as the hub for the entire Hebrew press; many daily newspapers were published there that reflected the prevalent ideological currents in the Jewish settlements. The debates that ran on the pages of the press regarding the image of the state-in-the-making, the attitude to the Arabs and so on, reflected the ideological line of each and every newspaper. On the Hebrew press at the time of the Mandate, its development and its characteristics, see M. Naor, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Press (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defence Publishing, 2004), pp.33–211 [Hebrew].
24. For example, see Davar, 27 Nov. 1940; Davar, 20 Apr. 1941; Davar, 27 Jan. 1944. On the cooperation in the domain of firefighting between Tel Aviv and Jaffa until the mid-1930s, see Goren, Rise and Fall, pp.95–8, 151–3, 199–200.
25. Mishmar, 10 May 1944.
26. Davar, 20 Feb. 1941; Davar, 21 Feb. 1941; Haboker, 27 Jan. 1944; Davar, 22 Jun. 1944.
27. Ha'aretz, 14 Sep. 1941; Yediot Aharonot, 25 Mar. 1944; Yediot Aharonot, 25 Jun. 1944.
28. Report from the Arab Department of the Jewish Agency, Aug. 1940, Central Zionist Archives (CZA) S25/3872. On Abdul Rauf Al-Baytar at the time of the Arab revolt, see Goren, Rise and Fall, pp.233–5.
29. Haboker, 16 Jan. 1940.
30. Haboker, 23 Jan. 1940; Haboker, 8 Sep. 1941; Ha'aretz, 20 Dec. 1942.
31. Haboker, 9 Jan. 1940.
32. Davar, 13 Nov. 1940.
33. Haboker, 1 Nov. 1940.
34. Report from Eliyahu Sasson, 27 Jan. 1941, Haganah Archives (HA) 105/99.
35. Reports from the Arabic Newspapers, 11 Sep. 1940, Labor Archives (LA) IV250/27/5/156; Report from Eliyahu Sasson, 16 Sep. 1940, CZA S25/6017. On the air raids on Palestine during the war, see N. Arielli, ‘“Haifa is Still Burning”: Italian, German and French Air Raids on Palestine during the Second World War', Middle Eastern Studies Vol.46 (2010), pp.331–47.
36. Haboker, 25 Sep. 1940.
37. Ha'aretz, 15 Oct. 1940; Falastin, 15 Oct. 1940.
38. ‘Announcements on Commiserations’, 30 Dec. 1940, LA IV104/49/2/24.
39. On the Club and its founding, see Reports from the Arabic Newspapers, 25 Feb. 1941, LA IV250/27/5/156. In 1940, Meir Amzalag was appointed by the authorities to the Jaffa municipal council to represent the Jewish neighborhoods. Thereafter, he remained the sole Jewish representative on the city council. Meir Amzalag, scion of the extensive Amzalag Family, which had been involved in the city for generations, was known for his good relations with the Arabs.
40. Reports from the Arabic Newspapers, 25 Feb. 1941, LA IV250/27/5/156; Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 28 Feb. 1941, HA 105/99.
41. Haboker, 8 Jan. 1941.
42. Falastin, 26 Feb. 1941; Falastin, 12 Mar. 1941; Al-Difa, 14 Mar. 1941. At the time of the Arab revolt, Ali Al-Mustaqim belonged to the opposition to the Husayni camp. In 1939, he was appointed by the authorities to serve on the Jaffa municipal council. This man was known for his good relations with the Jews, principally in respect of his business dealings.
43. Yediot Aharonot, 12 Jun. 1941; Davar, 13 Jun. 1941.
44. Falastin, 18 Jun. 1941; Al-Difa, 18 Jun. 1941.
45. Haboker, 18 Jun. 1941. In 1940, for the first time, an agreement was signed between the Jewish neighborhoods of Jaffa and the Jaffa municipality that was intended to settle relations between them. The agreement achieved gave expression to the stance of Abdul Rauf Al-Baytar that a compromise had to be reached with the neighborhoods. The resting of the agreement on foundations of help and understanding in determining matters in the future constituted a breakthrough between the two sides. On the consolidation of the agreement and its content, see T. Goren, ‘Annexation or Separation? The Municipal Status of the Jewish Neighborhoods of Jaffa 1940–1944’, Israel Studies Vol.21 (2016), pp.84–7.
46. Davar, 18 Jun. 1941; Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 19 Jun. 1941, HA 105/200.
47. Davar, 23 Jun. 1941.
48. Haboker, 1 Jul. 1941.
49. Al-Difa, 13 Aug. 1941; Davar, 13 Aug. 1941.
50. Intelligence report of the British Police, 24 Jun. 1941, HA 47/121.
51. Haboker, 26 Jun. 1941.
52. Report on Arabs who sold land to Jews, 5 Jan. 1937, CZA S25/9783.
53. Report on the largest Arab families in Erets Israel, Early 1940s, HA 105/52.
54. Hamashkif, 15 Apr. 1942; Davar, 19 Jan. 1943; Hamashkif, 3 Jun. 1943.
55. Davar, 30 Jan. 1942; Reports from the Arabic Newspapers, 28 Jan. 1942, LA IV250/27/5/151.
56. Haboker, 22 Jan. 1942.
57. Hamashkif, 17 Apr. 1944.
58. Falastin, 1 Jul. 1942; Al-Difa, 17 Jul. 1942.
59. See note 52.
60. Hamashkif, 1 Jul. 1942; Ha'aretz, 1 Jul. 1942.
61. Letter from the Association of House and Land Own of Florentine quarter to Al-Baytar, 13 Jul. 1941, Municipal Archives of Tel Aviv (TAMA) 4/2208; Letter from the Association of House and Land Own of Florentine quarter to Al-Baytar, 10 Mar. 1942, CZA S25/5936.
62. Ha'aretz, 21 Jul. 1943; Al-Difa, 21 Jul. 1943.
63. On the consolidation of the agreement and its content, see Goren, ‘Annexation or Separation?’, pp.91–4.
64. Davar, 15 Jul. 1941; Haboker, 5 Jan. 1942; Yediot Aharonot, 10 Jun. 1942.
65. Davar, 7 Apr. 1942.
66. Hamashkif, 13 Apr. 1944; Haboker, 16 Apr. 1944.
67. Hamashkif, 9 Nov. 1939.
68. Davar, 18 Dec. 1939.
69. Davar, 30 Jan. 1940.
70. Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 4 Aug. 1940, CZA S25/3872.
71. Speech by the mayor of Jaffa, 9 Aug. 1940, Israel State Archives (ISA) 2/489/5.
72. Letter from the District Commissioner to the Chief Secretary, 17 Sep. 1940, ISA 2/215/19.
73. Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 22 Nov. 1940, LA IV250/27/5/56.
74. Intelligence report, 20 Feb. 1941, HA 105/99.
75. Ha'aretz, 2 Jun. 1939; Davar, 24 Jul. 1939.
76. Yediot Aharonot, 14 Aug. 1940. Cited from an article in the newspaper Falastin. On cooperation between the Arab and Jewish orange-growers, see M. Kabha and N. Karlinsky, ‘The Lost Orchard: The Palestinian-Arab Citrus Industry Before 1948’, Zmanim Vol.129 (2015), pp.106–7 [Hebrew].
77. Yediot Aharonot, 15 Jan. 1941; Falastin, 16 Jan. 1941.
78. Davar, 2 Feb. 1941; Hamashkif, 2 Feb. 1941.
79. On the array of the difficulties that encumbered the port, see Goren, ‘The Struggle’, pp.873–4.
80. Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 22 Jul. 1940, HA 105/378.
81. Yediot Aharonot, 8 Nov. 1940. Quoted from an article in the newspaper Al-Difa.
82. Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 18 Nov. 1940, HA 105/99.
83. Haboker, 20 Nov. 1940.
84. Report from the Chamber of Commerce of Tel Aviv, 1944–1945, ISA 78/46.
85. Davar, 23 Jan. 1940; Ha'aretz, 29 Sep. 1940.
86. Haboker, 16 Oct. 1940.
87. Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 15 Dec. 1940, HA 105/99.
88. Davar, 23 Oct. 1940.
89. Yediot Aharonot, 24 Nov. 1940; Davar, 24 Nov. 1940; Ha'aretz, 10 Dec. 1940.
90. Ha'aretz, 20 Oct. 1939.
91. Hamashkif, 6 Nov. 1939.
92. Haboker, 21 Mar. 1940.
93. Yediot Aharonot, 27 Apr. 1943.
94. Davar, 15 Oct. 1943.
95. Mishmar, 26 Oct. 1943. Quoted from an article in the newspaper Falastin.
96. For example, see Haboker, 8 Mar. 1940; Yediot Aharonot, 23 Mar. 1941.
97. Haboker, 6 Nov. 1939.
98. Davar, 6 Nov.1939; Hamashkif, 6 Nov. 1939.
99. Haboker, 16 Jan. 1940; Haboker, 4 Apr. 1940.
100. Ha'aretz, 4 Apr. 1940; Haboker, 4 Apr. 1940.
101. Yediot Aharonot, 21 Mar. 1941.
102. Davar, 19 Oct. 1939; Ha'aretz, 20 Oct. 1939.
103. Davar, 18 Dec. 1939.
104. Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 1 Nov. 1940, HA 105/204; Hamashkif, 21 Sep. 1944.
105. For example, see Haboker, 25 Jan. 1940; Intelligence report of the Hahagana, 1 Nov. 1940, HA 105/204; Haboker, 9 Jan. 1941; Hamashkif, 21 Sep. 1944; Ha'aretz, 28 Nov. 1944.
106. For example, see Hamashkif, 24 Mar. 1940.
107. For example, see Haboker, 6 Nov. 1944.
108. Haboker, 9 Aug. 1940.
109. Ha'aretz, 13 Sep. 1940; Yediot Aharonot, 16 Sep. 1940.
110. Haboker, 19 Nov. 1939.
111. Davar, 18 Dec. 1939; Haboker, 20 Dec. 1939.
112. The City Secretary to the Mayor of Tel Aviv, 14 Jan. 1940, TAMA 4/1.
113. Falastin, 5 Mar. 1941.
114. Davar, 13 Jan. 1941.
115. Davar, 2 Feb. 1941.
116. Reports from the Arabic newspapers, 23 Feb. 1941, LA IV250/5/156; Haboker, 23 Feb. 1941.
117. Haboker, 24 Feb. 1944; Haboker, 9 Apr. 1944.
118. Hamashkif, 8 Apr. 1943.
119. Haboker, 25 Jan. 1940; Haboker, 24 Apr. 1940; Hamashkif, 13 Nov. 1940.
120. Yediot Aharonot, 27 Oct. 1940.
121. Hamashkif, 11 Jun. 1942. Quoted from an article in the newspaper Al-Sirat al-Mustaqim.
122. Assaf, Jewish-Arab Relations, p.105.
123. On the factors in the decline in relations between Jaffa and Tel Aviv from 1945–1947, see Goren, Rise and Fall, pp.360–424.