Page 370 - המהפכה הימית

companies in 1934, through the establishment of the Jewish Agency’s
Maritime and Fisheries Department in 1935, to the rioting in 1936–1939
(the Arab Revolt), and until the outbreak of the Second World War and
the closing of the country’s gates to civilian nautical activity in 1939.
One prominent milestone at the time was the 1936 establishment of the
Tel Aviv Port, the first independent Jewish port in the country. At that
time there was a noticeable increase in the involvement of the maritime
departments in sports associations and maritime unions as well as the
groundbreaking for a maritime school, activities that further entrenched
a consciousness and the Jewish hold on the land’s shores. The intensive
activity in the various fields of maritime activity between 1933 and
1939, especially in view of the growing national struggle between
Jews and Arabs in the Land of Israel, expanded the control the Jews of
Palestine had over the sea. In fact, the book’s central assertion is that
this time period constituted the inception of the ‘maritime revolution’
in the Yishuv in the Land of Israel. This was true both of Palestine’s
geographical maritime space and of the Yishuv’s attitude — indeed, the
Jewish world’s attitude — both of which assigned the sea higher priority
in a variety of areas of activity.

The third chapter discusses the Second World War and its
effects on Jewish maritime activity. During this period, most of the
Yishuv’s ships were confiscated, the country’s gates were closed to
civilian marine activity, and traffic at ports was limited to military
activity exclusively; restrictions were also placed on fishing along
the country’s shores. But along with the inactivity imposed on the
Yishuv in the maritime field, the war provided an opportunity for
development. Some hundreds of Yishuv members volunteered for the
British navy, where they gained much professional experience; this,
in turn, helped them integrate in various nautical professions after
the war’s end. Moreover, this experience also contributed — after
the fact — to the Jewish hold on the sea. Finally, the closure of the
country’s ports at the time and the prohibition of maritime activity
in the Mediterranean were among the principal factors leading to
the emergence and development of the fish farming industry; this
eventually became a leading sector in the Palestine fishing industry in
general and in Jewish fishing in particular.