IYUNIM BITKUMAT ISRAEL ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN MANDATORY PALESTINE
IYUNIM BITKUMAT ISRAEL Thematic Series
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN MANDATORY PALESTINE 1918-1948
Edited by Avi Bareli Nahum Karlinsky
THE BEN-GURION RESEARCH CENTER ● SEDE BOQER CAMPUS MONASTER CENTER FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH ● BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV THE CHERRICK CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ZIONISM, THE YISHUV AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL - KURT GRUNWALD FUND FOR THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF THE JEWS ● THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV PRESS 2003 Editorial Board: Avi Bareli, Pinhas Ginossar, Nachum T. Gross, Tuvia Friling, Nahum Karlinsky, Moshe Lissak, Jacob Metzer, Jimmy Weinblatt Advisory Board: Meir Avizohar, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Menahem Brinker, Hebrew University; Itamar Even-Zohar, Tel Aviv University; Jonathan Frankel, Hebrew University; Tuvia Friling, Ben-Gurion Research Center; Allon Gal, Ben-Gurion Research Center; Pinhas Ginossar, Ben-Gurion Research Center; Charles S. Liebman, Bar-Ilan University; Moshe Lissak, Hebrew University; Matityahu Mintz, Tel Aviv University; Israel Oppenheim, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Benjamin Pinkus, Ben-Gurion Research Center; Zaki Shalom, Ben-Gurion Research Center; Moshe Shemesh, Ben-Gurion Research Center; S. Ilan Troen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Editorial Assistant: Orna Miller
Style Editing: Smadar Rothmann, Ravit Delouya, Yehiel Kimhi Type Editing: Smadar Rothmann English Abstracts: Shulamit Amir-Zarmi, Moshe Tlamim Production Manager: Shaul Shragai
ISSN 0792-7169 Statements of fact or opinion appearing in this volume are solely those of the authors and do not imply endorsement by the editors or publishers © 2003 All Rights Reserved The Ben-Gurion Research Center Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Sede Boqer Campus
Layout: Sefi Graphics Design, Beer Sheva Printed in Israel in Kefar Habad C O N T E N T S
Editors’ Introduction 1
Historiography Jacob Metzer The Economy of Mandatory Palestine: Reviewing the Development of the Research in the Field 7
Between Ideology and Economy Ya’acov Shavit Why Didn’t the Inhabitants of Tel-Aviv Wear a Red Riding Hood? Idealism vs. Realism in the Interpretation of the History of The Yishuv - Tel-Aviv as a Metaphor 59 Deborah S. Bernstein The Histadrut and the Government Sector: Strategies for the Employment of Jewish Labor and Their Limitations 79 Bat-Sheva Margalit Stern ‘A Queen Without a Kingdom’: Jewish Women Workers in the Labor Force in Mandatory Palestine 107
Immigration and Absorption in the Jewish Sector Hagit Lavsky Nation, Immigration and Settlement: Was there any Zionist Absorption Policy? 153 Aviva Halamish Immigration According to the Economic Absorptive Capacity: The Guiding Principles the Implementation and the Demographic Ramifications of the British and Zionist Immigration Policy in Palestine between the World Wars 179
Banking and Credit Cooperatives Nachum T. Gross Jewish Banking and Economic Growth during the Mandate Period 217 Nahum Karlinsky Private Credit Cooperatives in Mandatory Palestine 239 Economy and Society in the Arab Sector Avraham Sela Palestinian Society and Institutions during thr Mandate: Changes, Lack of Mobility and Downfall 291 Yitzhak Reiter The Waqf in Changing Circumstances: The Economic Management and Political Role of the Waqf in Mandatory Jerusalem 349 Mahmud Yazbak Immigrants, Elites and Popular Organizations among the Arab Society of Haifa from the British Conquest to 1939 367 Joseph Vashitz Social Transformations in haifa’s Arab Society: Merchants and other Entrepreneurs 393
Geographical Aspects Amiram Gonen The Emergence of a Geographical Heartland in Israel 439 Yossi Katz The Jewish National Fund and the Palestine Land Development Company - From Cooperation to Separation: The Establishment of the JNF’s Independent Land Purchasing Office during the Mandate 489
Welfare, Health and Education Avraham Doron Labor and Social Insurance Legislation; The Policies of the Palestine Mandate Government 519 Shifra Shvarts Politics in Health: The Establishment of Sick Funds in Eretz-Israel during the British Mandate 553 Yuval Dror The Labor Trend Workers’ Organization during the British Mandate: An Educational Movement and a Unique Professional Organization 583
Epilogue Moshe Lissak The Society and Economy of Mandatory Palestine in Retrospect 617
List of Participants 627 Abbreviations 628 English Abstracts i