יפו ושאלת הכיתור: המאבק על גבולות העיר בתקופת המנדט

Tel Aviv, which the Arab inhabitants of Jaffa viewed as the realization of the
Zionist enterprise during the British mandate period, can be considered to have
fostered the hostility directed against it. As the city developed, it was perceived
as a threat to Jaffa. The British authorities’ approval of the expansion of the Tel
Aviv city limits in the early 1940s, posed a severe challenge to Jaffa’s future, and
triggered a struggle to achieve two goals: preventing the expansion of Tel Aviv and
encouraging the enlargement of Jaffa. Tel Aviv was accused of seeking to expand
at Jaffa’s expense—a plan that was termed a ‘Zionist conspiracy’. Not surprisingly,
the struggle escalated from a local crisis into a country-wide conflict. This episisode described within the historical context of the decline of Jaffa in the final years of
the Mandate and the escalating Jewish-Arab conflict. The struggle for expansion
was a significant component in Jaffa’s attempts to remedy its predicament and
ensure its future prosperity and potential for growth. This article examines the
way the Arab leadership in Jaffa and beyond understood the threat emanating
from Tel Aviv and its attempts to curb the Hebrew city’s encirclement of one of
the most prominent Palestinian urban centers in Palestine.