British mandatory rule created a new infrastructure of urban life in Haifa and attracted a large number of Arabs to the city. But while the development of Zionist economic enterprises was facilitated and the Jewish immigrant population grew, the spheres in which the Arab population could develop were limited. May Seikaly considers the social and economic structure of Haifa before 1918 and examines the process of change which took place. She looks at the attempts made by the Arab community to cope with increasingly unfavourable economic and political conditions, showing how the impotence of the leadership, hardship and dislocating conditions, caused popular grievances and frustration and culminated in the revolt of 1936-39, which had its breeding ground in Haifa.

This text looks at the process by which the Arab community of Haifa was transformed during a crucial period in the history of modern Palestine by British mandatory rule, the advent of Zionism and internal dynamics. The author considers the social and economic structure of Haifa before 1918 and examines the process of change which took place. She looks at the attempts by the Arab community to cope with increasingly unfavourable economic and political conditions, showing how the impotence of the leadership and hardship caused popular grievances and culminated in the revolt of 1936-1939 which had its breeding ground in Haifa.