City of Oranges: An Intimate History of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa

LeBon, Adam. "City of Oranges". W.W. Norton, 2007. Living Together Amos Lassen Some of the most memorable experiences of my life took place in the city of Jaffa, Israel. It is a fascinating place occupying its own little area outside of the thriving metropolis of Tel Aviv. Jaffa sits as a city within a city much like the French Quarter of New Orleans, Jaffa has great restaurants, art galleries, shops and a port but above all, it is a historical site. The streets are narrow as they have always been and the people are a mix of Arabs and Jews, also just as it always been in Jaffa. Adam LeBon's "City of Oranges" is a balanced look at the history of modern Jaffa and the birth of the State of Israel. LeBon looks at the lives of six families and by doing so makes the Israeli/Palestinian conflict more personal. Jaffa is a city of layers of people, events and times, of Arabs and Jews living peacefully together, sharing lives and experiences. LeBon looks at the history of Jaffa by looking at Jewish, Christian and Moslem families to show that the struggle in the Middle East is a human struggle. It is the story of longing for a homeland and fortunes that changed and also the history of a multi-ethnic city that was changed by what was happening in the area. LeBon emphasizes the needs of the Jewish people to have a state and shows the tragic consequences this has caused for Arab neighbors. He names neither villains nor heroes but shows us people, like you and me, trying to find a way through what is going on. Adam LeBon, celebrates the capacity for endurance as we read about the ways people come to terms with themselves and each other. The families that LeBon writes about are Christian Arab notables, Muslim aristocracy, Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi refugees from Europe. We see the story of Israel told in a microcosm, the struggle for land and the fight for political supremacy and the Jewish ambivalence to fight with their neighbors. We also see Jew and Arab helping each other through the years. Many of the aspects of the Israel-Arab conflict are captured here. We see the proletarian Jews of Tel Aviv defeating the rich Arabs of Jaffa with their nationalism and we see how violence separated a community that was once solid. It is extremely poignant to read how refugee Jews were chased out of Arab countries and then lived in the lands that once belonged to Arabs who themselves became refugees when the Jews chased them out. Throughout the book there is an interweaving of history with what was going on in everyday life. This is an intimate history and to me, at least, I did not feel the author's biases as I read. He attempts to understand without judgment and this is not an easy task. He looks at one town and from it gives the history of the State of Israel and the catastrophe of Palestinians by using the lives of Jaffa's Arab and Jewish residents. LeBon has a wonderful knack for detail and allows individual opinion to be expressed without any type of judg

OK if the title is too cryptic for you...for something to begin something else has to end or it would just be continuation. Zionism and the establishment of a "Jewish State" in the Middle East would by definition be the signal for the end of the Ottoman Province of Palestine (including parts of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt). The new state by definition would be a 'western' style democracy with socialist overtones. So there would have to be a drastic change in how and who ran things. This book by Adam LeBor does a remarkable job of looking at the changes to Jaffa and Tel Aviv as a microcosm for the who Middle East problem. By looking at the long term (beginning at the end of the nineteenth century) effect of Zionist immigration to the 'Holy Land' (HL, has less of a stigma or side to it). After having lived in relative harmony (as long as the Moslems were the top of the pyramid) for many centuries the influx of European Jews and their European ways would have to upset the balance. Of the three groups, the Christians were put in the most desperate of positions since they were never in charge or control of their destinies. LeBor does a good job of following the participant families as they go from rulers to ruled, rich to poor, immigrant to ruler, and ruler to emigrant. The best part of the narrative is LeBor's concentration on the effects more than the causes. Causes can be ambiguous but effects are usually straight forward. Needless to say this is as objective a story as can be written by anyone of the history of the HL over the last one hundred years, and that it will takes decades if not centuries until there is anything like a final settlement of the issues. Just like the scars that remain from the Partition of India, or the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans (from the Czech lands) after WW2; it will take more than the changing of the names of the towns and cities to heal up the wounds and for the scars to fade.

City of Oranges is a refreshingly balanced account of the modern history of Jaffa and the birth of the Jewish state. LeBor's eye for detail and the rich family accounts bring the story to life, turning a historical account into a thoroughly enjoyable read. Reading about the lives of the six families and their truly amazing experiences manages to personalize the Isreali-Palestinian conflict. It's an innovative approach that makes this book worth reading for anyone interested in Israel/Palestine.

In this vividly written book the tale of the lives of 6 families from Jaffa is told through the events in Palestine and Israel from 1920 to 2000. The families include Christian Arab notables, Muslim aristocracy, a large Sephardi clan and Ashkenazi refugees from Europe. This is the tale of Israel in microcosm as told through this community and its sister city of Tel Aviv. The book is strong on understanding the inner workings of the Arab and Jewish communities, the many cleavages and changes coming about in this period. Here we see Muslim and Christian Arab women shedding the veils and housework to become independent, we see Arab notables visiting Jewish prostitutes in Tel Aviv, we see the unending struggle for land and political supremacy and then we see the great folly of 1948, the Arab aggression and subsequent flight. The tale examines the lives of Arabs who became refugees, those who fled and returned and those who refused to flee. We see the inter-Arab infighting and accusation of collaboration. We see the Jewish ambivalence to the flight of their neighbors, but we also see poignant stories of Arabs and Jews helping each other down through generations. This book captures well many of the aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It also captures the spirit of the times and changes in society. It shows how the rich Arabs of Jaffa were defeated in their nationalist rhetoric by the proletarian Jews of Tel Aviv. It shows how mob violence drove these communities apart. It shows how the post war era in Israel shaped up, how poor immigrant refugee Jews were driven from the Arab countries and housed in the former lands of Arabs who themselves became refugees. The author does a great job of interweaving history with the simple events of everyday life. The greatest drawback of this book is that it is a tad popular and journalistic in its historical telling. However it means at times the explanations for events are biased or inconsistent. However it appears the author is as unbiased as he could be given the circumstances and does not get bogged down in the Arab-Israel endless debate/rhetoric as is common in many publication on the subject. The book tries its best to understand with minimal judgment. A class A read, very insightful and well written. Seth J. Frantzman

If you are interested in Jaffa, or planning a trip to Israel, I recommend "A City of Oranges" as your bed-time read. It's well worth taking the time to delve into this well-written and interesting book. Jaffa is a fascinating place, and not just because of the restaurants, art galleries and port that draw the tourists in, but because it still lives and breathes its history. Despite all the renovation and rebuilding that is going on, the streets are still narrow, the trees ancient, the people an interesting vibrant mix of Arabs and Jews. I live in Israel and the book "A City of Oranges" was a revelation for me because as I wander around Jaffa, the names and stories from the book now resound in my mind. I have a much better understanding now of the history, how the Jews and Arabs living in Jaffa and environs interacted. In Jaffa there's a sense of the layers of people, events, times, and as I gaze at crumbling walls of once-elegant mansions I feel a new intensity, a glow of enlightenment, because I can now almost hear the voices from the book in my mind, and imagine the families who once lived there. The book tells both sides of the story, while elaborating on the background, and historical events taking place at the time. It's not a light easy read because it's a detailed tapestry of stories, background and history. It's a book to be savored, not devoured. It's a book to read and reread. That's what I'm doing.