Michelle Campos Presents: The ‘Other Jew’ ‘Between Jaffa and Tel Aviv

Yosef Eliyahu Chelouche grew up within a notable Sephardi family in the tiny but flourishing Jewish community in Jaffa. Born in 1870, he became a prominent entrepreneur, a founder of Tel Aviv, and a fierce critic of the Ashkenazi Zionist leadership, of Arab nationalism, and of British colonial sectarianism. In his final decade, however, he emerged as an anguished public figure struggling to repair Arab-Jewish relations. Chelouche was ‘othered’ by his fellow Jews for being a native of the Orient and by his fellow native Jaffans for his commitment to the Zionist project, both of which he confronted in his published memoir. The memoir offers ambiguous answers, however, about the real possibilities of bridging between Jaffa and Tel Aviv, highlighting issues which we struggle with to this day.

Michelle Campos is Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University. Campos coedited with Or Aleksandrowicz Between Jaffa and Tel Aviv, 1870–1930: A Memoir by Yosef Eliyahu Chelouche (Brandeis UP, 2025). Previously, she authored the award-winning book, Ottoman Brothers: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Early Twentieth Century Palestine. Campos is currently completing a book on neighborhood life and intercommunal relations in 19th and early 20th century Jerusalem. She also served as co-director on an NEH-funded international collaborative research project, “Reimagining Jewish Life in the Modern Middle East: History, Society, and Culture.”

Cosponsors: Department of History, Department of Political Science, Institute for Global Studies