History

The tale of Tel Aviv begins in the time of Bible stories and legends. It was on the shores of Jaffa that the whale spat up Jonah. And at the spot where Andromeda's rock stands, Andromeda of Greek mythology was kept captive until Perseus came on his winged horse to rescue her. At 4,000 years old, Jaffa is the oldest port in the world. Built during King Solomon's time, the materials used for making the Temple in Jerusalem were shipped in through this harbour.

In 1468 BCE, the Israelites lost the port to the Egyptians. However, Jewish sages and scholars remained in the area up to the thirteenth century, when the Mamaluks killed the city's inhabitants. From the eighth century through to 1917, Jaffa was under Arab rule, apart from a short spell when the Crusaders took power. The old city of Jaffa owes much of its quaint charm to the many powers who settled there over the centuries.

Jews began to resettle in Jaffa in 1840 and by the end of the century, because of the birth of Zionism and anti-Jewish pogroms in Eastern Europe, boatloads of immigrants were arriving. The late nineteenth century also saw American, German and Russian Christians establishing communities here.

The overcrowding in Jaffa encouraged some Jews to move out in 1886 and build a new neighbourhood to the north, Neve Tzedek. This historic district became popular with artists and intellectuals and today is a sought after address. The landmark clock tower in the centre of Jaffa was built in 1906 to mark the 25th year of the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid II. However, eleven years later the Turks were driven out by the British, led by General Allenby.

In 1909, sixty families bought a plot of land stretching from Neve Tzedek to the banks of the Yarkon River, some six miles away. The land consisted of sand dunes overlooking the Mediterranean. The families called their new town 'Housing Project'. However, after a year they renamed it Tel Aviv, which means 'Spring Hill'. The first modern Jewish town had been born. Its first mayor was Meir Dizengoff, who remained in charge of the city from 1910 to 1937. Today he has a street, a fountain and a shopping mall named after him.

In 1921, anti-Jewish riots broke out in Jaffa in response to the growing number of Jewish immigrants. This convinced many Jews to leave Jaffa and settle in Tel Aviv. By 1926, Tel Aviv's population had swollen to 40,000 residents and the first town hall had been built. By the 1930s, it was home to over 100,000 inhabitants.

Many of those who arrived in the 1930s were German intellectuals who were escaping from Nazism. Among them were architects who had been influenced by the Bauhaus school of architecture. They were responsible for the look of early Tel Aviv. Along roads such as Rothschild, Bialik and Allenby there are over 3,000 buildings built in the Bauhaus style.

Throughout the war years, Tel Aviv was a center for Zionist resistance against Britain's anti-immigration policy. Shiploads of Jewish refugees fleeing from Nazi occupation were refused entry. Along the beach, there are many plaques marking where immigrants were either successfully smuggled in or where the British opened fire on the boat. The Haganah Museum , The Etzel Museum and The Jabotinsky Institute detail the story of the resistance fighters' struggle against British authority.

In 1947, the UN voted to give Jews a homeland in Israel and on 14 May, 1948, Israel declared its statehood at 16, Rothschild Boulevard, the home of Meir Dizengoff (today known as Independence Hall). The very next day, the British High Commissioner went home. War began, and many of Jaffa's Arab population fled. In 1950, the Tel Aviv municipality united Tel Aviv and Jaffa as joint cities.

The 1950s saw the building of the Mann Auditorium to house the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, and the founding of Tel Aviv University. By the mid-1960s Tel Aviv had a population of 400,000, many of whom were Jewish immigrants. The Diaspora Museum is an interesting place to learn about how Jewish communities, in places as far afield as India, Yemen, Morocco and Zimbabwe, continued their traditions during 2,500 years of exile.

In 1995, tragedy struck when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally outside City Hall, by a student who was opposed to his principles. The spot where he was killed was renamed Kikar Rabin (Rabin Square). There is a memorial and the site is used for weekly and annual memorials.

Tel Aviv is very much the polar opposite of Jerusalem. It is a secular, hedonistic city, more liberal in its politics than Jerusalem and a city which lives on the cutting edge of the here and now. It is here that Israel's celebrities and yuppies live.

If you go to the Azrieli Observatory and look at the sprawling panorama of Tel Aviv, with its skyscrapers and never-ending suburbs, you can take in the miracle that is Tel Aviv, as 100 years ago none of this was here. There were no funky shops on Sheinkin Street, no Carmel Market hubbub and no Azrieli Centre with its soaring glass towers. Just undulating sand dunes and wilderness.