Nadene Goldfoot
In this little space of Israel which is only 10% of the Promised Land, only 17% of it is arable.
When Jews started returning to Eretz Israel in the late 1800s, they had to drain the land as so much was swampy or had become all desert.
They planted eucalyptus trees to soak up the water. They've
invented scientific ways of farming this impossible land for others, just waiting for the Jews' return.
Trees are continually being planted. Never has so much been done to such undeveloped, impossible land.
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as a garden suburb of Jaffa and named after a book. In World War I, the people of Tel Aviv were exiled by order of the Turks, as it was still part of the Ottoman Empire.
It started to grow rapidly under the British Mandate, especially as Arab riots forced most Jews to leave Jaffa which was nearby. By 1921 Tel Aviv became a separate town from Jaffa. As a result of the 1936 Arab riots, a harbor was inaugurated; but had to close down in 1965. In 1947-1948 in the War of Independence, fighting broke out between Tel Aviv and Arab Jaffa which ended with the capitulation of Jaffa on the eve of the Israel's birth: May 13, 1948. The state of Israel was proclaimed the next day, May 14, 1948 at Tel Aviv which remained the seat of the government and the Knesset until 1949.
In the meantime, Jaffa had been abandoned by most of the Arabs and was resettled with new immigrants. The 2 cities were amalgamated in 1949 under the name: Tel Aviv-Jaffa. By 1990 the population was 317,800, but the Tel Aviv with the outskirts contained more than twice that number. It was the major target for Scud missiles launched from Iraq during the 1991 GULF WAR.
Jaffa was known in Biblical days and was mentioned in the Assyrian documents. It was here that Jonah sailed from Jaffa. It had marked the boundary of the Philistines, although in theory it was within the tribal area of the tribe of Judah; Judean territory. During King Solomon's reign, and again after the return of the Jews during the Babylonian captivity, the trees-cedars from Lebanon were floated to the sea of Jaffa on their way to Jerusalem.
Unloading them may have been done north of Tel Aviv. During the Persian period (Iran), Jaffa belonged to the Phoenicians. Judah the Maccabee, our hero in our Chanukah history, had avenged the massacre of the Jewish community there. His brothers, Jonathan and Simon, took Jaffa in the battle and replaced the foreign population with Jews. Then it became an important Jewish port until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Romans.
Jaffa grew in size in the 19th Century from the surrounding Jewish building of homes.
In 1946 the population had grown to 101,000 of which 30% were Jews. Oranges were being exported from Jaffa.
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| 1947 Plan of dividing the remaining land of Israel into a 2-State solution; some for Jews and some for Arabs. The Arabs refused to sign up for this. They wanted all of it. Jews took the deal; something better than nothing.
The Jewish land of Israel is 260 miles long, 60 miles at the widest, and from 3 to 9 miles at
the narrowest. We're talking about a very small piece of real-estate.
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When Jews started returning to Eretz Israel in the late 1800s, they had to drain the land as so much was swampy or had become all desert.
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| Drainage of the Huleh Swamps |
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| One way to get rid of all the mosquitoes Drain the swamps with these thirsty trees |
They planted eucalyptus trees to soak up the water. They've
invented scientific ways of farming this impossible land for others, just waiting for the Jews' return.
Trees are continually being planted. Never has so much been done to such undeveloped, impossible land.
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as a garden suburb of Jaffa and named after a book. In World War I, the people of Tel Aviv were exiled by order of the Turks, as it was still part of the Ottoman Empire.
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| Tel Aviv, a city on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, is marked by stark 1930s Bauhaus buildings, thousands of which are clustered in the White City architectural area. Museums include Beit Hatfutsot, whose multimedia exhibits illustrate the history of Jewish communities worldwide. The Eretz Israel Museum covers the country’s archaeology, folklore and crafts, and features an on-site excavation of 12th-century-B.C. ruins. The area (Metro) population is 3,854,000 Tel Aviv itself has 429,515 |
It started to grow rapidly under the British Mandate, especially as Arab riots forced most Jews to leave Jaffa which was nearby. By 1921 Tel Aviv became a separate town from Jaffa. As a result of the 1936 Arab riots, a harbor was inaugurated; but had to close down in 1965. In 1947-1948 in the War of Independence, fighting broke out between Tel Aviv and Arab Jaffa which ended with the capitulation of Jaffa on the eve of the Israel's birth: May 13, 1948. The state of Israel was proclaimed the next day, May 14, 1948 at Tel Aviv which remained the seat of the government and the Knesset until 1949.
In the meantime, Jaffa had been abandoned by most of the Arabs and was resettled with new immigrants. The 2 cities were amalgamated in 1949 under the name: Tel Aviv-Jaffa. By 1990 the population was 317,800, but the Tel Aviv with the outskirts contained more than twice that number. It was the major target for Scud missiles launched from Iraq during the 1991 GULF WAR.
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| Osmanli Donemi Yafa, Filistin |
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| Jaffa in 1890; a city of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine |
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| From Jaffa one could see Jerusalem |
Jaffa grew in size in the 19th Century from the surrounding Jewish building of homes.
In 1946 the population had grown to 101,000 of which 30% were Jews. Oranges were being exported from Jaffa.
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| Airport in Tel Aviv-Jaffa |
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