Misplaced Pages

Tel Aviv

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jtdirl (talk | contribs) at 00:54, 29 December 2005. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 00:54, 29 December 2005 by Jtdirl (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
File:Tel Aviv coatofarms.jpg
Tel-Aviv Coat of arms
File:Telaviv founding 1909.jpg
Tel Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. This photograph is of the auction of the first lots. By coincidence, the first kibbutz, Degania, was founded the same year.

Tel Aviv-Yafo (Arabic تَلْ اَبِيبْ-يَافَا Tal Abīb-Yāfā Hebrew תֶּל אָבִיב-יָפוֹ (without niqqud: תל אביב-יפו)); is an Israeli city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Tel Aviv is also part of the largest and most populous metropolitan area in Israel, known as Gush Dan (“Dan Aggregate”). Tel Aviv is located at 32°5′N 34°48′E / 32.083°N 34.800°E / 32.083; 34.800 (32.08333, 34.8).

The larger metropolitan area comprises a number of separate municipalities with around 1.8 million people living in the 14 km sprawl along the Mediterranean coast. Tel Aviv-Yafo itself has a population of 365,000 and a land area of approximately 50,500 dunums (50.5 sq. km), making it the second largest city (in terms of population) in Israel. Bat Yam, Holon, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva, Rishon LeZion, Ramat Ha-Sharon and Herzliyya are the other major cities in the area known as Gush Dan .

Some states regard Tel Aviv as the legitimate capital of Israel, due to disagreements over the status of Jerusalem in international law. Most base their consulates and embassies in the Tel Aviv area, without expressing an opinion on the status of either city. Israel rejects their claims and insists that Tel Aviv ceased to be capital in 1948.

Origin of the name

Tel Aviv at night
Dizengoff Center

The name Tel Aviv in Hebrew means "Hill (tel) of Spring (aviv)", the title given by Nahum Sokolov to his Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl's book Altneuland (German: "Old-new-land"). The Hebrew word aviv means spring (the season).

There is an account that Sokolov designed the book title Tel Aviv to suggest the destruction of the ancient Jewish state and the hoped-for restoration of a new Jewish state: aviv = "spring" to symbolize renewal; and tel to symbolize the destruction of the ancient state, following not the usual Hebrew meaning of the word "tel" but a modern European meaning "mound of accumulated ruins".

The name "Tel Aviv" was taken by Nahum Sokolov from the Book of Ezekiel, 3:15 : "Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days." The place called Tel Aviv in the Hebrew Bible is usually spelt Tel abib or similarly in Bible translations. The Aviv referred to may have been the season of Spring directly, or it may have referred to a god or goddess in Mesopotamian belief of the time who caused Spring to come.

History

Corner of Allenby and Rotschild Street

The settlement in the area of modern southern Tel Aviv (the neighbourhoods of Neve Shalom and Neve Tsedek) was started in the 1880s as a substitute for the rather expensive Arab neighbourhoods of Jaffa. However the city of Tel Aviv itself was established only in 1909 as Ahuzat Bayit and was later renamed to Tel Aviv. At its founding, Tel Aviv was intended only to be a suburb, a bedroom community, with the workers commuting to Jaffa. However, a dispute broke out between the Jews of Tel Aviv and the Arabs of Jaffa in 1921 or thereabouts, which led the denizens of Tel Aviv to create a new central business district. Owing to its proximity to the port of Jaffa, and its status as the first Jewish community that immigrants saw when coming into the country, Tel-Aviv quickly grew to become the centre of Israeli urban life, and it remains so to this day.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, for a period of eight months (May-December 1948) during the Arab blockade of Jerusalem it also served as the temporary capital of Israel. Tel Aviv and the coastal area of Israel house embassies of most countries that maintain relations with Israel, some always remaining in the region and others moving there in the seventies. Only some of these states regard Tel Aviv as the country's capital, others regard Jerusalem as the capital or have not made a decision either way.

In 1950 Tel Aviv and Jaffa were united in the single municipality Tel Aviv-Yafo.

Culture

File:Tlvpride.jpg
Tel-Aviv Pride Parade, 2004

Tel Aviv University (TAU), the second largest university in Israel. TAU has an excellent reputation internationally, mostly famous for its physics, computer science and chemistry departments.

There are many cultural centers in Tel Aviv, including the Opera House and the Culture Hall (with a 3,000 seat concert hall). Tel Aviv also has many theatre companies and theatre halls, HaBima ("The Stage") is the most recognized.

Tel-Aviv has many museums and art galleries.

  • The Eretz Israel Museum is known for its rich collection of archeology and history exhibits.
  • The major art museum in Israel is the Tel-Aviv Arts Museum.
  • Batey Haosef Museum is a museum for the military history of the Israel Defense Forces. It is regarded by many experts and arms collectors as a real jewel, containing rare exhibits and authentic pieces from Israel's history as well as a wide variety of firearms and pictures.
  • The Palmach Museum near Tel Aviv University offers a unique multimedia experience, as well as vast archives, depicting the lives of young self-trained Jewish soldiers who eventually became the first defenders of Israel.
  • Near Charles Clore's garden in north Jaffa, Israel, there is a small museum of the Etzel Jewish millitant organization, one of whose achievements was conquering Jaffa into Israeli control in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
  • In the campus of TAU is the Jewish Diaspora Museum, dedicated to Jewish history throughout the world. Carrying both historical documents and art, the museum tells the story of Jewish prosperity and prosecution throughout the centuries of exile.

In July 2003, Tel Aviv's White City was announced unanimously by the UNESCO council as a World Heritage Site, due to its massive assemblage of the Bauhaus International Style buildings, the city's most precious architectural style.

Tel Aviv hosts the largest Gay Pride Parade in Israel, drawing upwards of 100,000 people. Tel Aviv is known for its openness as well as superlative nightlife.

Sports

Tel Aviv holds some of the top sports teams in Israel, and in one case even in the world. Tel Aviv is the only city ever to have 3 clubs in the Israeli football premier league.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Sports Club was founded in 1906 and houses over 10 sports, such as Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club (45 times Israeli champion, 35 times Israeli cup holder and 5 times European Champions cup holder), Maccabi Tel Aviv FC soccer club (18 times Israeli champion, 22 times Israeli cup holder, twice Israeli Toto cup holder and twice Asia cup holder), and a Judo club (Yael Arad of Maccabi Tel-Aviv won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympic Games), to name just a few.

Hapoel Tel Aviv Sports Club was founded in 1923, and over the years has included over 11 sports, including Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball club (5 Israeli championships, 4 Israeli cups) and Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer club (13 Israeli championships, 10 Israeli cups, one Toto cup and once Asia champion), kayaking Club, women's basketball club and more that have always been amongst the top Israeli clubs.

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv's soccer club (once Israeli champion, twice Israeli cup holder and twice Israeli Toto cup holder) is the only Israeli soccer team in the top division (Ligat Ha'al) that represents only a neighbourhood - Shechunat Hatikva ("The Hope Neighborhood") in Tel Aviv - and not an entire city.

Other soccer clubs which used to play in the 1st division were Shimshon Tel Aviv and Beitar Tel Aviv, which are now merged into one team that plays in the 3rd division (Liga Artzit). Maccabi Yafo is another former 1st division team that currently plays in the lower divisions.

Transportation

The main access route to Tel Aviv is Ayalon Highway, which goes through the city - north to south - on Ayalon River route, which had been ordered between the 2 lanes.

Tel Aviv has 4 railroad stations along the Ayalon Highway. The stops are from north to south: Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv Merkaz (Tel Aviv Central Train Station, near Masof 2000 Bus terminal), Tel Aviv Hashalom (near Azrieli Center shopping mall) and Tel Aviv Hahaganah (near the Tel-Aviv Central Bus Station). It is estimated that about 1 million people use the train from Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, and Petah Tikva to Tel-Aviv and back, per month.

The Tel-Aviv Central Bus Station, among the largest central bus station in the world, is located in the south. The main bus network in Tel Aviv is operated by Dan Bus Cooperative. Egged Bus Cooperative, the world's second-largest bus company, also has a bus network in the city.

Tel Aviv's airport is Dov Hoz Airport Sde Dov (code: SDV), located at the north of the city and serves as a major airport for domestic flights.

Ben Gurion International Airport (code:TLV), Israel's main international airport, is located 15 km southeast of Tel Aviv near the city of Lod.

Tel Aviv Subway is expected to be completed by 2012, improving public transportation in the city dramatically.

Mayors of Tel Aviv

Twin cities

Footnote

  1. Ramat Hasharon and Herzliyya, though neighbouring Tel Aviv, are not considered part of Gush Dan, but rather of an area named Sharon.
  1. Jerusalem is fully accepted as Israel's capital by three countries, the United States of America, Costa Rica and El Salvador. Other countries assert that Israel's control of the entire city of Jerusalem is illegal under international law and therefore its granting of capital status is invalid. Most states avoid taking a stance on the issue and so de facto locate their embassies in Tel Aviv. These states leave the issue of the status of Jerusalem open until the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Others regard Tel Aviv as Israel's "political capital" (United Jewish Communities website). Tel Aviv was controversially listed at the capital of Israel on the official website of the Athens Olympics. After protests the listing was removed and no city listed as capital of Israel. See also the CRS report of the Congress of the United States for the background from United States foreign policy perspective.

External links

Category: