Jaffa and the struggle to impede Tel Aviv’s expansion 1942–1947

Tel Aviv, which the Jaffa Arabs saw as the realisation of the Zionist enterprise, begot hostility to itself. Insofar as the city developed, it was perceived as a threat to Jaffa. The authorities’ approval of the enlargement of Tel Aviv’s boundaries in the early 1940s was, for the Arab side, a challenge to Jaffa’s future, and spawned the declaration of a struggle to achieve two goals: obstruction of Tel Aviv’s expansion and enlargement of Jaffa’s domain. The article examines the measures taken by the Arab side against Tel Aviv’s expansion, their gains and their implications for Jaffa.