Ashkelon: Encyclopedia II - Ashkelon - History of the modern city

Ashkelon - History of the modern city

The Arab town of Al Majdal (Arabic: المجدل, Hebrew: אל-מג'דל; also spelled Majdal and Migdal) was described as a large village in the 16th century. By the time of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, it had grown into a substantial town of about 11,000 residents. It was especially famous for its large weaving industry.

Soon after Israel declared its independence, the Egyptian army occupied a large part of Gaza including Majdal. During the next few months, the town was subject to repeat Israeli attacks including air-raids and shelling. All but about 1000 of the town's residents had fled by the time it was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav on November 4, 1948. General Yigal Allon ordered the expulsion of the remaining Arabs but the local commanders did not do so and the Arab population soon recovered to more than 2000 due mostly to refugees slipping back. During the next year or so, the Arabs were held in a confined area while a secret debate took place about their fate. Some, such as General Moshe Dayan and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion wanted them expelled, while others, such as the left-wing minority party Mapam and the Israeli labor union Histadrut, wanted them to remain. The government decided that the Arabs should be expelled, but that they would not be expelled without their consent, which last the government might have conceded because of growing international pressure. A carrot-and-stick campaign was carried out. Positive inducements included favorable currency exchange, and negative inducements included "black propaganda" and harassment such as night-time raids. Eventually most of the Arabs agreed to leave, though it was alleged that many never gave their consent. The majority were taken on trucks to the Gaza Strip where they joined their fellows in the refugee camps there. By October 1950, only 20 Arab families remained; most of whom later moved to Lydda or Gaza.

The Israeli national master plan of June 1949 designed Al Majdal as the site for a regional urban center of 20,000 people. Mass repopulation of the vacated Arab houses by Jewish immigrants or demobilised soldiers began in July 1949 and by December the Jewish population had increased to 2,500. During 1949, the town was renamed Migdal Gaza, and then Migdal Gad. Soon afterwards it became Migdal Ashkelon. In 1953 the nearby neighborhood of Afridar was incorporated and the current name Ashkelon was adopted. By 1961, Ashkelon ranked 18th amongst Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000.

Current population numbers 117,000. Ashkelon is currently a thriving city which has a newly built sports complex and a culture hall, making it currently the 8th largest city in Israel.

In 2005 the world's largest water desalination plant opened at Ashkelon.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History of the modern city", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki