Jaffa

Jaffa is an ancient port city situated on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Tel Aviv. It is among the oldest ports in the region and served for many centuries as the maritime gateway to Jerusalem and the interior of Palestine.

The city is built on a small hill that projects into the sea, which forms its natural harbor. Today Jaffa is part of the combined municipal administration of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, established in the 1950s. The old quarters, the antique goods market (Pishpashim Market), and the historic mosques and churches draw visitors.

Geography and harbor

Jaffa's harbor is surrounded by rocky outcrops that once hindered small vessels but presented obstacles to large ships. For this reason, when modern ports were built—particularly Haifa and later Ashdod—the commercial importance of Jaffa declined. Today the harbor is used mainly for fishing boats, recreational vessels, and tourism.

History

Jaffa appears in ancient Egyptian documents and in the records of Near Eastern kingdoms. It passed through various rulers: Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, early Islamic states, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, and the Ottomans. In 1799 Napoleonic forces attacked the city during the campaign in Egypt and the Levant.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jaffa became the center for exporting Shamouti oranges (known internationally as Jaffa oranges) and housed workshops, printing presses, and schools. It was also the entry point for Jewish immigration, and in 1909 immigrants established the neighborhood of Tel Aviv on the open land north of the city—which would eventually surpass Jaffa in size.

During the 1948 war, most of the Palestinian population left or was displaced from Jaffa, significantly changing the city's social fabric. It was subsequently incorporated into the Tel Aviv municipal administration. Today the city is home to both Jewish and Palestinian Arab residents living intermixed, while property turnover and land value increases (gentrification) remain contested issues.