Cross-National Collective Action in Palestine’s Mixed Towns: The 1946 Civil Servants Strike¹

This chapter presents the cases of contact between Jews and Arabs in urban centers, primarily Tel-Aviv and Jaffa, of Mandate Palestine. It focuses on the unorganized, everyday spheres of life consumption, residence and leisure, though contact, no less contested, existed in spheres of labor and politics, as well. In June of 1936, shortly after the outbreak of violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in the border area of Tel-Aviv and Jaffa, marking the beginning of the Arab Rebellion. Contested contact is daily interactions growing from spatial proximity in conditions of collective strife. The sea front stretched north from Jaffa along the newly built buildings of Tel-Aviv. In addition to the contextual forces just discussed, direct social control was exerted in numerous circumstances. Much of the documentation used in the chapter stemmed from acts of social control, such as complaints and investigations. Concomitantly, organizational and institutional divisions were established, aimed primarily by the Jewish leadership to consolidate the evolving national boundaries.