ABSTRACT
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, sea bathing became a central component of modern popular leisure culture and a significant arena of modernization for large Jewish and Palestinian sectors. In both societies, the rapid spread of this leisure practice since the last decades of Ottoman rule was accompanied by fierce cultural struggles. Such struggles were mainly motivated by the hedonistic aspect of bathing and, in particular, the violation of the norms of female modesty, which made it a symbol of the dangers of modernization in the eyes of both Jewish and Palestinian conservative circles. This chapter offers a systematic examination of the developments, controversies, and clashes in relation to sea bathing in both societies. The fierce objections on both sides against close encounters between Jews and Arabs on the beaches were the byproduct of internal socio-cultural conflicts with rising national tensions. Thus, sea bathing serves as an important lens for reconstructing the interactions between members of the two societies undergoing parallel modernization processes and the tensions and contestation that this encounter elicited.
