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Old Jaffa (, ; ) is the oldest neighborhood in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. It is one of Israel's main tourist attractions, with art galleries, restaurants, theaters, museums, and nightclubs. Old Jaffa is located in the northwest of
Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
, on a hill along the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
. Geologically, the hill of Old Jaffa is the continental north end of a
kurkar Kurkar ( /) is the term used in Arabic and modern Hebrew for the rock type of which lithification, lithified sea sand dunes consist. The equivalent term used in Lebanon is ramleh. History Kurkar is the regional name for an aeolian quartz sands ...
ridge, historically further protected through fortifications and heightened by debris.


History


Ottoman Empire

The Old City was damaged by the
Napoleonic wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
and an earthquake in 1837. When the wall of Jaffa, which was rebuilt in the early 19th century, was dismantled between 1878 and 1888 to allow expansion, both the city and the centres of government shifted eastwards, though the Old City remained the cultural center of the city. During the nineteenth century, the
Christian population A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...
, especially the Greek Orthodox community, grew rapidly and dramatically in the Old Jaffa, and they formed the wealthy
elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...
and the educated class in the city, and emerged as a major force in the increasingly
middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
trade of
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...
.


Mandatory Palestine

During the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...
, links between Tel Aviv and the Jaffa Port were partially severed by the unrest in the Old City. Palestinian fighters in Jaffa also used the Old City which contained a maze of homes, winding alleyways and an underground sewer system, to escape arrest by British security forces. Beginning in May 1936, in response to further Arab agitation in Jaffa, the British authorities suspended municipal services in the city, establishing barricades around the Old City and covering access roads with glass shards and nails. In June 15, the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
used
gelignite Gelignite (), also known as blasting gelatin or simply "jelly", is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or guncotton) dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and Potassi ...
charges to
demolish Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apa ...
between 220 and 240 Palestinian Arab-owned homes in the Old City, leaving an open strip which cut through the center of Jaffa from end to end and displacing approximately 6,000 Palestinians. The British authorities claimed that
house demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apa ...
s in Jaffa were part of a "facelift" given to the Old City. Local Palestinian newspapers resorted to using sarcasm to describe the demolitions, writing that the British had "beautified" Jaffa using boxes of gelignite. Sir Michael McDonnell, then serving as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Palestine, found in favor of Arab petitions from Jaffa and, upholding existing laws regarding house demolitions, ruled against the demolitions carried out by British forces in the Old City. In response, the
Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...
dismissed him from his post.Hughes, M. (2009
The Banality of Brutality: British Armed Forces and the Repression of the Arab Revolt in Palestine, 1936–39
''English Historical Review'' Vol. CXXIV No. 507, pp. 314–354.
The revolt led to the British authorities to encourage the construction of the Tel Aviv Port on the
Yarkon River The Yarkon River, also Yarqon River or Jarkon River (, ''Nahal HaYarkon''; , ''Nahr al-Auja''), is a river in central Israel. The source of the Yarkon ("Greenish" in Hebrew) is at Tel Afek (Antipatris), north of Petah Tikva. It flows west throu ...
estuary to the north of Tel Aviv to reduce reliance on the Jaffa Port.


Israel

Disputes about the merging of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, with the former wanting only to add the Jewish neighborhoods in the north of Jaffa and the latter wanting a total merge led to a gradual unification.Arnon Golan (1995), The demarcation of Tel Aviv-Jaffa's municipal boundaries, ''Planning Perspectives'', vol. 10, pp. 383–398. The Old City was partly added on 18 May 1949 as part of the first Arab-controlled land to fall under Jewish control. The remainder of the Old City would be added in 24 April 1950 when the complete unification occurred. Old Jaffa has increasingly gentrified with the residential population dropping dramatically and an increasing number of art galleries, restaurants, souvenir shops as well as various ongoing archaeological digs. According to Historian Menachem Klein, 70% of structures in old Jaffa have been destroyed between 1960 and 1985, with much of the old city being covered by ''Pisga Park''.Roth-Rowland, Natasha. “Wiping Palestinian History off the Map in Jaffa.” +972 Magazine, June 5, 2016
Link
There is a particular interest on the cultural melange by the relatively rare, in Israel, triple mix of
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
,
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
.


Places in Jaffa


Pisgah Garden

The Pisgah garden, known also as the Abrasha garden was designed by Avraham Karavan. It is located on the top of Jaffa hill. The garden is connected to Kedumim Square and St. Peter's Church through the Zodiac Bridge over the road (Solomon's Bay Street) that borders the hill. The gardens integrate with their surroundings, so they can be reached from different directions. The area features several different actitives and not just a park, there are archaeological excavation areas, restored homes, works of art and cannons from the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
.


Boundaries

Current boundaries of the "Old Jaffa and Jaffa Port" neighborhood, as defined by the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo (clockwise): * North: north and east of Jaffa Beach, Retzif HaAliya HaShniya * East: northbound lanes of David Raziel (putting the Jaffa Clock Tower in Old Jaffa), Yefet Street * South: Yehuda HaYamit, Namal Yafo Street, the southern wall of the Jaffa Port parking lot * West: the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
shore


Attractions

* Subregions: Jaffa Port in the west and Yefet Street on its eastern border * Museums, galleries and studios: Farkash Gallery, Uri Geller Museum, Ilana Goor Museum,
watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...
Itay Noy * Places of worship: Al-Bahr Mosque, Libyan Synagogue, Mahmoudiya Mosque, Saint Nicholas Monastery, St. Peter's Church * Towers: Jaffa Clock Tower, Jaffa Light Immediately outside Old Jaffa: Abouelafia Bakery, Abu Hassan Restaurant


References

{{Neighborhoods of Tel Aviv Neighborhoods of Tel Aviv Populated places established in the 4th century BC Ancient cities of the Middle East Arab localities in Israel Arab Christian communities in Israel Jaffa Old cities in Palestine and Israel