Governance of Tel Aviv

The Governance of Tel Aviv, حكومة تل أبيب in Arabic or הממשל של תל אביב in Hebrew is an autonomous zone that stretches into the Levant, and Sinai, encompassing Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Suez.

## **Before the Establishment of the Governance**

In the Levant, times were changing. The idea that the Levant and Ottoman Palestine should be a Jewish homeland had become a mainstream idea among some people, and it, known as Zionism began to garner attention. At the same time, the Arabs in the Levant had the idea of a established free Palestine, but others had adopted the idea of Pan-Arabism, the idea that all Arabs in the Arab Peninsula and West Asia should unite under one state, one banner.

## **Partiton of the Ottoman Empire, and the Changes From It**

In December of 1895 Arab rebels took Jerusalem. Although there was Jewish resistance, it was too small to be effective against the Ottomans. After the city and the rest of the Levant fell, there was a looming fear among the Levantine Jews that nationalist Arabs would ensue in anti-semetic attacks, especially in the Holy City. Thankfully, that never happened, and after the Treaty of Baku was signed, the Kingdom of Arabia recognized Jews as autonomous minorities.

## **Anti-semetic Pogroms of the 1900s and the Consequences**

After Kingdom was established, Arab nationalism and Pan-Arabism sored throughout the country for about a decade. But during that time, many anti-semites used Arab nationalism and Pan-Arabism as a way for them to use their anti-semetic views and paint it as Arab nationalism. But this, and the fake fear of Jews taking over the Kingdom was widespread, and tension only increased in Jerusalem. In 1907, a group of Nationalist Arabs took to the streets of Jerusalem, demanding the departure of the Jewish people from their homeland in the Levant. What resulted were brutal pogroms on both sides. Arabs struck Jewish neighborhoods, buildings, schools etc. resulting in 18 Jewish people dead. Some Jews struck back with anti-Arab attacks resulting in 10 Arabs dead. A wave of anti-semetism shook the Kingdom. Baghdad, Mecca, etc. all became victims of these attacks, with an addition of 30 Jews dead. With an international outcry as with many Arabs and Jews alike demanding change, Hussein Ali met with several Jewish delegates in June, in Tel Aviv to discuss what changes should be made. By July it was decided that a new autonomous Jewish Zone would be made. It would encompass Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa. A small but significant strip of land. There, Jews would be able to run affairs on their own, and the state wouldn't interfere with any Jewish affairs so long that the autonomous zone would be loyal to the Kingdom.

## **Changes to the Zone**

Jews finally had a safe space where they could govern themselves, it came, to some extent, to the lives of the Palestinians living in the zone. The Kingdom stated that "no Arab shall be forced to leave their home" many Palestinians were pressured to leave, and many did. Thousands fled a few miles, especially to Nazareth and Gaza. At the same time, Jews from across the world fled to the zone, as it was the most autonomous zone for the Jewish people. The Kingdom's Jewish population severely diminished, but the Jewish population in the Zone skyrocketed. The zone received heavy funding from the Kingdom to support industrialization and expansion of homes and apartments to help with the growing population there. But in 1916, ma s protests across the Kingdom were held, due to the zone's erasure of Muslim and Palestinian architecture  while also the ongoing issue of forcing Palestinians to leave their homes. After 2 month  of protests, Al. yet again met in Tel Aviv, but this time with Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian delegates to finally solve the issue of the Levant that had been ongoing for decades. In the end, the zone would be made autonomous for all the people there, in part due to the growing distrust of the Kingdom by the Palestinians, and Palestinian nationalism. A new flag, and motto was adapted, and finally after everything was in order, and the zone was remade, now being called the Governance of Tel Aviv, peace finally came for Palestinians and Jews. In 1920, After Arabia participated and took the Sinai with the lower half of the Suez Canal, it was decided the Zone would encompass the newly aquired territory. The Zone was not allowed to have their own set of an army or divisions, and since the Zone was very autonomous, it helped stop Egyptian resistance against the Kingdom as well as mended ties between Egypt and the Kingdom, allowing Egyptian influence in the Suez.

## **Moving Forward**

After 1916 and peace came to both communities, Palestinians and Jews alike experienced cultural prosperity. Jewish literature, art, and food was in abundance and changed rapidly throughout the 20s. Palestinians similarly started become slightly linguistically and culturally different from the rest of Arabia. The economy of the Goverance also prospered, and after 1920 it was responsible for a big amount of the Arabian economy, mainly due to land trade, and the ports of Tel Aviv and Suez. Jewish immigration slowed but many still migrated to the Governance, but importantly those jews who settled later on in the 20s/30s actually preferred to settle in the sinai and Suez Canal. This, along with the vast skills of the Jewish diaspora across the world migrating to the Sinai helped the Peninsula improve and modernize.