The Jewish Community of Acre in Mandatory Palestine

The Story of a Forgotten Community

Anat Kidron, Shuli Linder Yarkony

• Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
• Year: 2024
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9783111257020
• Subtopic: Jewish History
• Index: History

For a brief moment in the history of Acre, there was a Hebrew community that linked old and new settlements. It had a national-Zionist orientation and consisted of Jews of local and Mizrachic origin. This community is no longer visible in the cityscape, and its history has disappeared from the collective Zionist memory - but it played a role in building the Jewish national community in Palestine. The unusual history of Acre shows how it succeeded in attracting new, nationalist settlers.
The book seeks to illuminate the complexity and diversity of the Zionist enterprise in relation to the Arab and mixed towns of Mandatory Palestine by raising questions about the relationship between the "history of a place" and "national history." By describing the failure of the Hebrew settlement in the Mandate territory of Acre, the book views the Zionist project as a fascinating intersection between the dreams of those who created the leading narratives and between local interests and the unique geographical conditions of the region.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction Why Discuss Hebrew Acre?
• Chapter 1 The Aging Sea Bride: Acre in the Late Ottoman Period
• Chapter 2 A New Era for Acre’s Jews
• Chapter 3 A New Era – Acre During the British Mandate
• Chapter 4 “We have now reached the time of revival” – The Jewish Yishuv in Acre during the Mandate
• Chapter 5 The Dream of a Separate Space – Private Attempts to Establish Jewish Neighbourhoods in Acre
• Chapter 6 From Jewish Settlement to Hebrew Community?
• Chapter 7 Urban Coexistence: Relationships with Acre’s Arab Community
• Discussion and Summary Nationality, Place, and the Zionist Interest in Mixed Cities – What May be Learned the Acre Case
• List of Illustrations
• Index of Names
• Index of Organizations
• Index of Places