Jaffa

====1947-48: partition plan and armed conflict====
In 1947, the UN Special Commission on Palestine recommended that Jaffa be included in the planned Jewish state. Due to the large Arab majority, however, it was instead designated as an [[enclave]] of the Arab state in the 1947 [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine]]. The enclave would have excluded the northern Jewish-populated parts of the city, but included the agricultural lands to the south and east of the city, extending to the then-boundaries of [[Mikveh Israel]], [[Holon]] and [[Bat Yam]].<ref>{{citation |quote= The area of the Arab enclave of Jaffa consists of that part of the town-planning area of Jaffa which lies to the west of the Jewish quarters lying south of Tel-Aviv, to the west of the continuation of Herzl street up to its junction with the Jaffa-Jerusalem road, to the south-west of the section of the Jaffa-Jerusalem road lying south-east of that junction, to the west of Miqve Israel lands, to the north-west of Holon local council area, to the north of the line linking up the north-west corner of Holon with the north-east corner of Bat Yam local council area and to the north of Bat Yam local council area. The question of Karton quarter will be decided by the Boundary Commission, bearing in mind among other considerations the desirability of including the smallest possible number of its Arab inhabitants and the largest possible number of its Jewish inhabitants in the Jewish State. |url= http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/5ba47a5c6cef541b802563e000493b8c/7f0af2bd897689b785256c330061d253 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130416002129/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/5ba47a5c6cef541b802563e000493b8c/7f0af2bd897689b785256c330061d253 |url-status= dead |archive-date= 16 April 2013 |title= A/RES/181(II)(A+B), Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine (UN Partition Plan details) |date= 29 November 1947 |publisher= United Nations General Assembly }}</ref>

Following the inter-communal violence which broke out following the passing of the UN partition resolution, the mayors of Jaffa and Tel Aviv tried to calm their communities.<ref>{{cite book |title=The faithful city: the siege of Jerusalem, 1948 |first=Dov |last=Joseph |author-link=Dov Yosef |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1960 |lccn=60-10976 |oclc=266413 |url=https://archive.org/details/thefaithfulcity0000unse/page/24/mode/2up |url-access=registration |page=24 |quote=In an exchange of letters between Mayor Yisrael Rokach of Tel Aviv and Mayor Youssef Haikal of Jaffa, both agreed to call upon the residents to maintain peace and quiet.}}</ref> One of the main concerns for the people of Jaffa was the protection of the citrus fruit export trade which had still not reached its pre-Second World War highs.<ref>'A survey of Palestine', printed 1946–1947. Reprinted ISP, Washington, 1991 {{ISBN|0-88728-211-3}}. Page 474: Exports of citrus fruit total value in Palestine Pounds, 1938/39 = P£4,355,853. 1944/45 = P£1,474,854. Ironically, due to the Nazi conquest of the [[Netherlands]], Tel Aviv's trade in polished diamonds had increased over three-fold to P£3,235,117. Page 476</ref> Eventually the bilateral orange-picking and exporting of both sides continued although without a formal agreement.<ref name="Morris2004p114"/>

[[File:1947 Arab-Israeli War (997008136835005171).jpg|thumb|Jewish fighters on the Jaffa-Tel Aviv front in 1947]]

At the beginning of 1948 Jaffa's defenders consisted of one company of around 400 men organised by the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], almost none of them Palestinian Arabs (the "Arab Brigade"), and the local Arab irregulars of the National Guard.<ref>Pritzke, Herbert (1956). ''Bedouin Doctor&nbsp;— The adventures of a German in the Middle East''. Translated by Richard Graves. Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1957), copyright Ullstein and Co, Vienna (1956). Page 149: "At that time the Arab Brigade in Jaffa consisted of seven Germans, one hundred and fifty [[Jugoslavs]], thirty Egyptians and two hundred Lebanese and Syrians. There were very few Arabs among them as these preferred irregular warfare with the National Guard ..."</ref> As in Haifa, the irregulars intimidated the local population.<ref name="Morris2004p114"/>

[[File:Grand Serai, Jaffa.jpg|thumb|right|Ruins of the 'Saraya' after the [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]] bomb attack]]

On 4 January 1948, the [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]] detonated a truck bomb outside the ''Saraya'', formerly the Ottoman administrative building and now housing the Arab National Committee. The building and some nearby buildings were destroyed. Most of the 26 dead and many wounded were not connected to the National Committee but were passersby and staff at a food distribution programme for poor children that was also in the same building. Most of the children were not present as it was Sunday.<ref>{{cite book |last= Radai |first= Itamar |title= Palestinians in Jerusalem and Jaffa, 1948 |publisher= Routledge |year= 2016 |page= 140}}</ref>

In February Jaffa's Mayor, [[Yousef Haikal]], contacted [[David Ben-Gurion]] through a British intermediary trying to secure a peace agreement with Tel Aviv, but the commander of the Arab militia in Jaffa opposed it.<ref name="Morris2004p114"/>{{sfn|Morris|1987|p=47}}

On 25 April 1948, the [[Irgun]] launched an offensive on Jaffa. This began with a mortar bombardment which went on for three days during which twenty tons of high explosive were fired into the town.{{sfn|Morris|1987|p=95}}<ref>Menachem Begin, 'The Revolt&nbsp;— story of the Irgun'. Translated by Samuel Katz. Hadar Publishing, Tel Aviv. 1964. pp. 355–371.</ref> On 27 April the British Government, fearing a repetition of the mass exodus from [[Haifa]] the week before, ordered the British Army to confront the Irgun and their offensive ended. Simultaneously the [[Haganah]] had launched [[Operation Hametz]], which overran the villages east of Jaffa and cut the town off from the interior.{{sfn|Morris|1987|p=100}} On 29 April, the Irgun commander for the Tel-Aviv & Jaffa district, [[Eliyahu Tamler]], was killed by a British shell.<ref>https://www.izkor.gov.il/%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%94%D7%95-%D7%90%D7%93%D7%99%20%D7%98%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%A8/en_5d5ed699cd3ff5f16d392bda8c0731c9</ref>

The [[Battle of Haifa (1948)|fall of Haifa]] a few days earlier, and fear of another massacre similar to Irgun's [[Deir Yassin massacre]], caused panic across the Arabs of Jaffa, leading most of them to flee.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LILdBDrm-ksC&q=eugene+rogan+history+of+arabs|title=The Arabs: A History – Third Edition|author=Eugene Rogan|page=331|publisher=Penguin|year=2012|isbn=9780718196837 }}</ref> The population of Jaffa on the eve of the attack was between 50,000 and 60,000, with some 20,000 people having already left the town.{{sfn|Morris|1987|p=95}} By 30 April, there were 15,000–25,000 remaining.{{sfn|Morris|1987|p=100}}<ref>Begin, page 363.</ref> In the following days a further 10,000–20,000 people fled by sea. When the Haganah took control of the town on 14 May around 4,000 people were left.{{sfn|Morris|1987|p=101|ps=, "On 18 May Ben-Gurion visited the conquered city for the first time and commented:"I couldn't understand: Why did the inhabitants of Jaffa leave?"}} The town and harbour's warehouses were extensively looted.<ref>Jon Kimche, 'Seven Falen Pillars; The Middle East, 1915–1950'. Secker and Warburg, London. 1950. Page 224 :'the orgy of looting and wanton destruction which hangs like a black pall over almost all the Jewish military successes.'</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Karpel |first= Dalia |title= Wellsprings of memory |newspaper= Haaretz |date= 14 February 2008 |url= http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/952270.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090325111844/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/952270.html |archive-date= 25 March 2009}}</ref> The displacement of Jaffa's Arab population was part of the larger [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight]].

The city surrendered to the Haganah on 14 May 1948 and shortly after the British police and army left the city.<ref>[[Yoav Gelber]], ''Independence Versus Nakba''; Kinneret–Zmora-Bitan–Dvir Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN|965-517-190-6}}, p.104</ref>
The 3,800 Arabs who remained in Jaffa after the exodus were concentrated in the [[Ajami, Jaffa|Ajami district]] and subject to strict martial law.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Goldhaber |first1= Ravit |last2= Schnell |first2= Izhak |title= A Model of Multidimensional Segregation in the Arab Ghetto in Tel Aviv-Jaffa |pages= 603–620 |journal= Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie |year= 2007 |volume= 98 |issue=5 |doi= 10.1111/j.1467-9663.2007.00428.x }}</ref> The military administration in Jaffa lasted until 1 June 1949, at which point, [[Tel Aviv Municipality]] took over the administration; Jaffa Municipality, ''de-jure'' still in existence at the time, had not exercised any authority since 1948 until its dissolution in 1950.<ref name=ytlv1950>{{cite web | url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/ytlv/1950/09/16/01/article/8/ | title=⁨§ייפ1חח חרשםי של יפו לתל־אביב ⁩ &#124; ⁨ידיעות עירית תל אביב⁩ &#124; 16 ספטמבר 1950 &#124; אוסף העיתונות &#124; הספרייה הלאומית }}</ref>
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