Haifa (Getting Israel Together)
Haifa (Getting Israel Together)
There are many sides to Haifa. There is 'Haifa-the-metropolis',
boasting all the attributes of contemporary urban center -
including a lively cultural life, top class hotels, and an
impressive concert hall where some of the world's greatest
artists appear regularly.
There is 'Haifa-the-beautiful-residential-city,' as the upper
slopes of the mountain host beautiful suburbs with spacious
villas, abundant greenery, and panoramic views.
And there is 'Haifa-of-the-workers,' the Haifa of heavy
industry, the Haifa which tourists are only too happy to avoid.
Yet this is the heart of Haifa.
The story of Haifa actually begins with a visit to the
village in 1898 by the German Kaiser. Impressed by
its potential, he announced impulsively that Haifa,
(rather than ACCO, as originally planned) would be
the Mediterranean terminus for the great railway he
was building in the Middle East. This, of course,
necessitated the development of port facilities. And
so, by the beginning of the First World War, the
village had begun to develop into a city.
During the British period, this development acceler-
ated. Haifa's spectacular harbor was built, as were
refineries for oil from the Iraqi pipeline which ran
across the desert. Thousands of Jews and Arabs
began to pour in to the city looking for work.
By 1939, 70% of Palestine's factories were located
in the Haifa bay area, including the great Shemen oil
factory, the Nesher cement works, the Phoenicia
glass factory and the Ata textile works. Thousands o(
Jews and Arabs worked in the harbor, at the refinery,
and on the railroad.
In 1960, one commentator wrote:
Haifa remains the prototype of a workers' com-
munity. Fully two thirds of its inhabitants are
stevedores, longshoremen, sailors, and factory,
refinery and railroad workers. There are, as well,
many thousands of customs and harbor
employees who disdain 'white-collar' classifica-
tion. This proletarian character explains much
about the city.
Howard Sacher
Tourist's Haifa is attractive; workers' Haifa is not. Yet it
is precisely this side - the Haifa of the large factories
and the refineries, the steel works and the port, that
should attract attention. Here at a glance, lies a
major part of the story of the modern national Jew in
Eretz Yisrael.
The settlers who came to Eretz Yisrael, determined to
re-create the Jewish nation in Palestine, were
committed to restoring all the elements which had
fallen away. The most important element was that
of a solid working most important attributes was that
of a solid working class. During the last centuries of
exile, the Jews had been forced into a small range of
occupations. In Eastern and Western Europe, where
the vast majority of Jews had lived at the end of the
19th century, most Jews had made their living by
trading and commerce. They were rarely found in
the centers of industry, where the new wealth of the
modern world was increasingly produced. For the
most part, this was because Jews were simply not
allowed in, either by the government or by the
factory owners. But as the future of the modern
world lay in industry, the Jew could not afford being
left outside.
For this reason, many of the olim felt that the
creation of a strong working-class was an important
priority for the rebuilding of the nation. They knew,
too, that to bring the barren country into the modern
world, industrialization was vital. The British, with
their mandate for Palestine, knew it too. This
convergence of interests came together in the
peaceful bay on the Mediterranean, and turned Haifa
into the central industrial base of Eretz Yisrael.