Resurfacing Jaffa | Heritage Lab

Roch: Oranges, Parties, and Resistance

Alfred Roch was a businessman, a crucial Palestinian politician, and a supporter of culture- and he excelled in all three. While a member of the Palestinian National League and at the height of WWI, a photograph of a masked ball held in his home at Easter in 1942 shows a group of wealthy Jaffans. Contemporary artist Joumana Manna’s “A Sketch of Manners (Alfred Roch's Last Masquerade)” is a short video recreating this photograph.

Alfred Roch, 1882-1942 was one of the biggest citrus exporters, involved also in shipping, and a member of The Citrus Board. Roch was one of the most prominent Jaffan Palestinian leaders during the British Mandate. He was also a renowned figure in the Roman Catholic community in Palestine and firmly opposed Zionism and colonialism.

Image Source: Issa Sawabini -- Alfred and Olynda Roch with their daughter Fortunée, Jaffa, 1911

The Roch family was one of the biggest land and orchard owners as well as owners of numerous houses and well houses. In addition to business and politics, Alfred Roch enjoyed life. In 1911, he established a sporting club in Jaffa known as “Circle Sportive”, and his house parties and soirés were famous. Alfred and Olynda had two daughters Fortunée and Paulette*.

Jean al-Khalidi dressed as a maharaja at Alfred Roch's Mardi Gras party in Jaffa, March 30, 1927

Image Source: G. Eric and Edith Matson -- The Arab Higher Committee Members 25 April 1936
Front row left to right: R. al-Nashashibi, former mayor of Jerusalem and leader of the National Defense Party; Haj A. al-Husseini, mufti of Jerusalem and president of the Arab Higher Committee; A. Hilmi Abd al-Baqi, chairman of the Arab National Bank and affiliated with the Independence Party; A. Salah, chairman of the National Bloc Party; and Alfred Roch, Catholic notable from Jaffa affiliated with the Palestine Arab Party.

Image Source: Scholten -- The Orthodox Church, Jaffa 1921-23

Roch was active, involved, and represented the Orthodox community in Jaffa.

Jaffa’s Mayor Youssef Haikal and members of the last Jaffa City Council, including Alfred Roch and Hassan Arafa. During the elections in Jaffa, both the voting, as well as the vote counting, took place in the Saraya building, where the Department of Social Affairs resided on the Clock Square. In January 1948 Zionist gangs blew up the building during working hours while it was full of people.

Image Source – Alfred Roch’s Home in al-Ajami

Alfred Roch actively campaigned to get public support for the Arab Revolt in 1916 and the Ottoman authorities exiled him to Anatolia. After the end of World War I, he returned to his hometown and became an exporter of Jaffa oranges, especially to Britain. In 1927, Roch participated in founding the Palestine Free Party in Jaffa aiming at "complete independence [for Palestine] by realizing Palestinian national aspirations and sovereignty; defending personal freedoms of all kinds; [and] moving the country towards social and national unity." He was then chosen on 21 January 1930 by the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Arab Congress as a member of the Palestinian delegation that went to London to hold talks with British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald and the Minister of Colonies, Lord Passfield, about the repercussions of that uprising and demanded an end to Jewish immigration to Palestine, the confiscation of lands, and the transfer of their ownership to Zionist organizations. Roch joined the Palestine Arab Party to which he was elected vice-president.

On 20 April 1936, Alfred Roch signed a statement drafted by prominent Jaffa figures, which called upon residents to participate in the general strike and he was appointed to the committee overseeing the implementation of the strike. He became a member of the Arab Higher Committee, which lead the general strike and the Arab Revolt (1936-39).

Palestinian Arab delegations against British policy in Palestine. Source Walid Khalidi, 1984, Before the diaspora, p 105 Front row (left to right): Awni Abd al-Hadi, Haj Amin al-Husseini, Musa Kazim Pasha al-Husseini, Raghib al-Nashashibi, and Alfred Roch.

When the British Mandate authorities dissolved the Arab Higher Committee on 1 October 1937 and exiled some of its members to the Seychelles Islands, Roch was in Geneva, attending the proceedings of the League of Nations and campaigning for the Palestinian cause. He was barred from returning to Palestine for five years. Two years later, Roch was a member of the Palestinian delegation to the London conference held in February 1939 at St James's Palace in London.

Image Source -- London Conference, St. James' Palace, February 1939. Palestinian delegates (foreground), L to R: Fu'ad Saba, Yaqub Al-Ghussein, Musa Alami, Amin Tamimi, Jamal Al-Husseini, Awni Abdul Hadi, George Antonius, and Alfred Roch. Facing the Palestinians are the British, with Sir Neville Chamberlain presiding. To his right is Lord Halifax, and to his left, Malcolm MacDonald

Image Source: Institute for Palestine Studies, Photograph collections
April 1930, London Members of the Fourth Palestinian Delegation in London (from left to right front row): Raghib al-Nashashibi, Musa Kazim al-Husseini, Haj Amin al-Husseini, Alfred Roch (next to the railing).

On 22 April 1942, just after he was allowed to return to Jaffa after 5 years of exile, Alfred Roch suffered a heart attack near the Apollo Cinema in the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, while he was on his way to his office. He was rushed to the city's **French Hospital, where he died shortly after arriving. His funeral procession was held the following day in Ajami, and he was buried in the Latin Cemetery of Jaffa. Roch died young but was saved from the Nakba.

Alfred Roch’s daughter Paulette Roch 1913 - 2002

Born in Jaffa, Palestine in al Ajami 1913. Paulette married Mr. Michel Tadros. Her children are Marie-Claude, Nadim, Nabil, Samir, and Raji. Alfred Roch’s grandchildren from Paulette’s side are Jean-Loup, Julien, Yasmina, Karim, Tarek, Théo, Roch, Hugo, Michel, Marc, Luana, and Marie-Reine, his great-grandchildren are Jana and Maude (all information is from 2002 from Paulettes’ obituary). Paulette Roch Tadros died in Montreal on August 28, 2002, at the age of 88 years and 8 months.

Image Source: Linkedin -- Paulette with her grandchild, Alfred’s great-grandson

**Built in 1887 The French Hospital of Jaffa was one of the best hospitals in the city. The hospital and its chapel were turned into a hotel by Israelis.