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Jaffa ( Hebrew '''יָפוֹ''', Standard Hebrew '''Yafo''', Tiberian Hebrew '''Yāp̄ô'''; Arabic '''يَافَا''' ; also '''Japho''', '''Joppa'''; also, ~1350 B.C.E. Amarna Letters , '''Yapu'''), is an ancient Port City located in Israel on the Mediterranean Sea . It is mentioned twice in the s, it was the County Of Jaffa , a stronghold of the Kingdom Of Jerusalem . The city is now part of the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo in the Tel Aviv District ; the '' Tell '' ("mound") of ancient Jaffa in "Old Jaffa" is part of a park in south-western Tel Aviv. HISTORY Name sources Jaffa (or ''Yaffo'') is one of the most ancient port cities in the world. Some claim that Jaffa was named after Japheth , one of the three sons of Noah , who built it after the Great Flood . A Hebrew etymology indicates that the city is called Jaffa because of its beauty (''yofi'' in Hebrew). The Hellenist tradition links the name to "Iopeia", which is Cassiopeia , the mother of Andromeda . However, the Hellenist accounting for the name dates from hundreds of years after the original naming. Ancient period The ancient site of Jaffa is now a 40-meter (130 ft) high hill ('' Tel Yafo'', or "Jaffa Hill"). The hill is suitable for Fortification s and defense, and at its foot lie springs which supply fresh water. The accumulation of debris and landfill has over time increased the original strategic advantage of the hill by augmenting its wide field of view over the adjacent coastline. Jaffa's natural harbor has been occupied since the Bronze Age . It is mentioned in an Ancient Egypt ian 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 Canaan ite 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 in their war. King David and his son King Solomon conquered Jaffa and ruled it, and via its port the Cedar s which were used in the construction of the First Temple arrived from Tyre . The city remained in Jew ish 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 (חזקיהו). 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 Gallus and eight thousand inhabitants were massacred (according to Josephus ). Pirate s 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. Medieval period According to the New Testament it was at Jaffa that St. Peter resurrected the widow Tabitha , a name interpreted Dorcas ( Acts , ix, 36-42), whose tomb is still the object of popular pilgrimage. Unimportant during the first centuries of Christianity , Jaffa did not have a Bishop until the fifth century AD. In 636 Jaffa was conquered by Arabs. Under Islamic rule, it served as a port of Ramla , then the provincial capital. Jaffa was captured during the Crusade s, and became the County of Jaffa and Ascalon, one of the Vassals Of The Kingdom Of Jerusalem . One of its counts, John Of Ibelin , wrote the principal book of the Assizes of the Kingdom Of Jerusalem . During the period of the Crusades, the Jewish traveller Benjamin Of Tudela (1170) sojourned at Jaffa, and found there just one Jew, a dyer by trade. Saladin took it in 1187 . The city surrendered to King Richard The Lionheart in 1192 . In 1268 Jaffa was conquered by Egyptian Mamluk s, led by Baibars . In 14th century they completely destroyed the city for fear of new crusades. According to the traveler Cotwyk, Jaffa was a heap of ruins at the end of the 16th century. The Ottoman period Napoleon captures Jaffa On March 7 , 1799 Napoleon I Of France captured Jaffa and his troops proceeded to kill more than two thousand Albania n captives. Rabbi Kook becomes Jaffa's chief rabbi was Chief Rabbi of Jaffa from 1904 - 1921 .]] In 1904 Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook ( 1864 - 1935 ) moved to Palestine and took up the position of Chief Rabbi of Jaffa: In 1904, he came to the Land of Israel to assume the rabbinical post in Jaffa, which also included responsibility for the new secular Zionist agricultural settlements nearby. His influence on people in different walks of life was already noticeable, as he attempted to introduce Torah and Halakha into the life of the city and the settlements. In 1921 Rabbi Kook moved to Jerusalem when he was appointed as the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine and is still regarded as Israel's first chief rabbi as well. End of Ottoman rule Jaffa was well known for its cash crops such as Citrus and Banana s. In 1945, Arabs planted 146,316 Dunam s (146 km&2) of citrus, and Jews planted 66,403 dunams (66 km&2). Until the establishment of Tel Aviv and the era of the British Mandate Of Palestine , Jaffa had the most advanced commercial, banking, fishing, and agriculture industries in Palestine. It had many factories specializing in cigarette making, cement making, tile and roof tile production, iron casting, cotton processing plants, traditional handmade carpets, leather products, wood boxes for Jaffa oranges, textiles, presses and publications. The majority of all publications and newspapers in Palestine were published in Jaffa. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the population of Jaffa had swelled considerably and new suburbs were built on the sand dunes along the coast. By 1909, the new Jewish suburbs north of Jaffa were reorganized as the city of Tel Aviv . In 1917 , the Ottomans banished all of Jaffa's residents as they feared the British army would occupy the city. The British did indeed occupy the city (see Sinai And Palestine Campaign ), but let its residents return after a year. Under the British mandate During 1917-1920, there were thousands of Jewish residents in Jaffa. A wave of Arab pogrom attacks during 1920 and 1921 caused many Jewish residents to flee and resettle in Tel Aviv . The 1921 Riots (known as the ''Meoraot Tarpa'' by the Jews) began with a May Day parade 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 Great Arab Uprising The 1936-1939 Great Arab Uprising inflicted great economic and infrastructural damage on Jaffa.
The 1948 Arab-Israeli War Prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War , the UN 's Special Commission on Palestine in 1947 recommended that Jaffa become part of the planned Jewish state. However, due to the large Arab majority it was instead designated as an Arab enclave in the Jewish state in the 1947 UN Partition Plan . The Arabs rejected the plan and on to Jerusalem , killing five Jewish passengers. Half an hour later a second bus attack left a Jewish passenger dead. Later in the day a twenty-five-year old Jewish man was shot dead in Jaffa, where wild rumors spread about alleged attacks on Arabs by Jews. In Jerusalem, the Arab Higher Committee called a three-day general strike from Tuesday, 2 December to be followed by mass demonstrations after Friday prayers. From the beginning of the strike onwards, Arab and Jewish clashes escalated and by 11 December the Jerusalem correspondent of ''The Times'' estimated that at least 130 people had died, "about 70 of them being Jews, 50 Arabs, and among the rest three British soldiers and one British policeman". On April 25 , 1948, Irgun launched an offensive on Jaffa, then the largest Arab city in Palestine, during which many of its Arab residents fled through the harbor. Haganah units took the city on May 14 . From a population of about 70,000-80,000 Arabs, only about 4,100 did not flee. To commemorate the Jewish soldiers who died in the battle for Jaffa, the "Conquest Garden" was planted in the city. MODERN JAFFA With the massive arrival of many Jewish immigrants from Bulgaria, Morocco, Romania, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and other countries, they were settled all over Israel, Jaffa included. Severely damaged during Arab uprising and the 1948 War, Jaffa's Al Ajami neighborhood slowly turned into a slum. Jaffa in those days had the reputation of a "crime city". In 1954, Jaffa became integral part of the municipality 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. Modern Jaffa has a heterogeneous population of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Jaffa's Arab population now numbers around 10,000 people. Jaffa is a major tourist attraction with an exciting combination of old, new and restored. It offers art galleries, theaters, souvenir shops, exclusive restaurants, sidewalk cafes, boardwalks and shopping opportunities and a rich variety of culture, entertainment and food. Restoration of the Old City The poverty of the population threatened the continuation of active life in Jaffa as a thriving city. In 1961, the government of Israel and the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality established ''The Old Jaffa Development Corporation'', entrusting to it the task of averting the total destruction of Old Jaffa's glorious past. 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 . Jaffa beyond the Old City Most tourists visit only Jaffa's Old City, Port and the Flea Market, being completely unaware of the rest of Jaffa: Al Ajami, Yafo Gimmel, Yafo Daled, Neve Ofer and Lev Yafo. Jaffa, with its proud 5000 year old history as a town of importance and cultural center, has become a poor district of Tel Aviv. Although there has been some gentrification in Al Ajami and Lev Yafo (as a result the housing prices in Ajami have soared and young families are unable to obtain housing), Jaffa is characterised by poverty. The public education system for Arab speaking children has a 53% drop out rate. Quite a few of those who finish high school, do so without a matriculation certificate (''bagrut''), some unable to read and write. The Hebrew-speaking public educational system is not much better. As a result, parents who can afford it send their children to schools in Tel Aviv or to the private Christian schools (Terra Santa, Frères, the Greek Orthodox school and Tabitha). Some new and fairly good schools have been established: the Democratic School (Hebrew) and the Jaffa School (Arab speaking, run by Jaffa's "Alrabita"). Jaffa's Arab population allegedly experiences severe problems when looking for a job and those qualified are often discriminated against. Many, due to poor schooling, do not qualify in the first place. As a result, unemployment and poverty rates sore. Many Arab residents of Jaffa are dependent on welfare. Today's Jaffa is characterised by severe drug problems, high crime rates and very high violence rates. Jaffa's Jewish population includes the "old timers", mostly the 2nd generation of the migrants settled in Jaffa during the fifties and sixties of the last century, and newcomers. Some of the newcomers are extrmely well to do. They bought and renovated old houses. Others, in Yafo Gimmel, Daled and Neve Ofer, are more recent immigrants, mostly from former Soviet States. More than a few are rather poor and live in cramped, bad quality, public housing. PLACES TO SEE
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