On June 1, 1951, exactly 70 years ago, the Acre Military Government was dissolved, after three years in which the city was under a strict regime based on the Defense Regulations. As evidenced in a letter written by the city’s first Jewish mayor, not everyone was thrilled with the news.
Military Rule in Acre
As newly arrived Jewish immigrants became more established in Acre, and a Jewish majority was formed in the city that was Palestinian before the war, Israel began preparing for the end of the Military Rule that was installed in the city during the war in 1948. Mayor Baruch Noy wrote to the Ministry of Interior to request a reconsideration. “We are still interested in remaining under the Military Government,” the mayor wrote, citing general security concerns, as well as concerns over financial harm to the city as a result of the transfer of the administrative center to Nazareth. Keeping the Military Rule in the city, the mayor added, would allow Israel to carry on with its policies in the city at the time – urban development and the rapid, mass-scale absorption of new Jewish immigrants.
Bi-Weekly Report on Arab Affairs
This dry, matter-of-fact periodic report submitted by the Acre police to the district headquarters describes several current events in Acre and nearby villages and opens a small glimpse at the extent to which Palestinian citizens were monitored. The first event described in this report was an assembly held in the Old City of Acre regarding the end of the Military Rule in the city two weeks prior, which about 300 Jewish and Palestinian residents attended. Along with satisfaction over the demise of the Military Rule, some called for the removal of the city’s mayor over his discriminatory policies against the city’s Palestinian residents. According to MK Tawfik Toubi, a member of the communist party, who spoke at the assembly, the mayor was investing in developing the new city where Israel housed Jewish immigrants while neglecting the Old City where most Palestinians lived.
