Relaxing in Jaffa

Relaxing in rooftop garden of Old Jaffa Hostel

I am taking three days off in the ancient port of Jaffa, supposedly founded by one Noah's sons. It is the city from which Jonah set sail on his ill-fated voyage. Now it is part of Tel Aviv. Israel expelled most of the Palestinians in 1948.  Historian Ilan Pappe says that the people of Jaffa were “literally pushed into the sea” to board fishing boats destined for Gaza as “Jewish troops shot over their heads to hasten their expulsion.” By the end of the war, no more than 4,000 of Jaffa’s 70,000 Palestinians remained. 



Two of Jaffa's landmarks are the clock tower, built in 1900, and the St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, built a few years earlier on remains of a Crusader fortress.

Clock Tower

Interior of St. Francis Church

Port of Jaffa

Jaffa lighthouse

Traditional site of Simon the Tanner's house,
where Peter stayed

Suspended orange tree in Artists' Quarter

Hotels (left), offices (right), and the beaches of Tel Aviv

Alas, no swimming allowed today