3. Jaffa on a Sunny Day

I arrived in Tel Aviv this Sunday morning to be greeted by warm sunny weather and a lot of friendly people.  The hotel is well situated, right on the Mediterranean Sea and right in the center of the city. Tel Aviv is relatively modern, lots of high rise buildings.

Jaffa, called Joppa in the Bible, is an old city located a few kilometers south of Tel Aviv,  an ancient harbor referred to in the Bible as the place where the ceders of Lebanon were brought by sea to build the temple.  Today there is not much left of the ancient city.  Much of what is there was built in the period of the Ottoman empire or later or is an historic district being renovated with modern shops and living quarters.


Tourists here are pretty much on their own.  I walked all over Jaffa looking for the home of Simon the Tanner where, according to Acts, Peter stayed for while in a house by the sea.  The visitor center was closed, the police did not know where it was, the cab drivers, locals, no one could tell me.  I had a map but it was not very clear.  I think I may have walked right by it.

Here is seen how the relatively new (St. Peters Cathedral) is fused with the older (though not ancient) part of the old site.  All around this square in the renovated hostels connected with the cathedral is restaurants and souvenir shops...not quite vigorous preservation in action.


Jaffa is largely Palestinian.  Virtually no Palestinians live in Tel Aviv, where housing is extremely expensive, so the Israeli Palestinians live in the less costly outskirts, of which Jaffa is one.


My first impression of the people is that no one is agnostic or ambivelent   about their religion or their heritage.  The Jews are expremely dedicated to the Jewish cause, the Muslims are  passionate, the Christians are ardent believers.  My best sources so far are cab drivers and I have  already talked with a Russian Jew, an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Arab Christian...who lives in Israel.  They may not see eye to eye on things, but ambivelent they are not.


Everyone knows the political situation, and keeps up with the news.  About one fourth of the private passenger cars on the street are flying Israeli flags.  They may have trouble with locating and preserving Biblical sites, but they know who they are, who they like and who they don't.


Well, there is a first impression of Israel.


Dick