According to a report in the online news portal Arabicnews.com, certain Jews of Libyan descent residing in the United Kingdom have called on Muammar Kaddafi to facilitate the return of the Jews to Libya.
In a press conference held in London late last month, Arabicnews.com reported, "the representatives of the Libyan Jews in Britain called... for establishing a Jewish-Arab partnership on the ground of mutual interests and to forget the hatreds of the past." The Jews taking part in the alleged press conference, "explained that Libya had more than 60,000 Jews [who] were mostly forced to migrate especially after 1970."
In fact, in 1941, Jews accounted for a quarter of Tripoli's population, with 44 synagogues. Between 1949 and 1951, more than 30,000 Jews left, mostly for Israel. At the time Kaddafi took power in 1969 in a military coup, there were 500 Jews in Libya. Yet, Kaddafi confiscated all Jewish property and cancelled all debts owed to Jews. The last Jew in Libya was reported to have died in 2002, ending a presence older than that of the Arabs in North Africa; Jews had a more than 2,500-year history in Libya.
The Arabicnews.com article included another recent Libya-relevant tidbit: "one Israeli woman parliamentarian for the ruling right Likud party called [at] the beginning of the current year on the Libyan leader Muammar al-Qathafi to permit the Israelis who descend from Libyan origins to visit their country.
"The Israeli parliamentarian Jila Jamlil [apparently Gila Gamliel - ed.] in a statement to the Israeli daily Ma'ariv issued on January 6th addressed al-Qathafi by saying: 'we ask you to take a historical decision and to take the same step taken by Morocco in implementation of coexistence traditions between Muslims and Jews in North Africa and to permit the Israelis coming from Libya to visit their country.'"
In March of this year, Sayif Al-Islam Kaddafi, son of the Libyan dictator, told an Egyptian newspaper that he wants the Jews from Libya currently living in Israel to return to "their ancestral homeland" of Libya - on condition that they leave their property in Israel to the Arabs. Kaddafi estimated there were 30,000 expatriate Libyan Jews around the world.
In a press conference held in London late last month, Arabicnews.com reported, "the representatives of the Libyan Jews in Britain called... for establishing a Jewish-Arab partnership on the ground of mutual interests and to forget the hatreds of the past." The Jews taking part in the alleged press conference, "explained that Libya had more than 60,000 Jews [who] were mostly forced to migrate especially after 1970."
In fact, in 1941, Jews accounted for a quarter of Tripoli's population, with 44 synagogues. Between 1949 and 1951, more than 30,000 Jews left, mostly for Israel. At the time Kaddafi took power in 1969 in a military coup, there were 500 Jews in Libya. Yet, Kaddafi confiscated all Jewish property and cancelled all debts owed to Jews. The last Jew in Libya was reported to have died in 2002, ending a presence older than that of the Arabs in North Africa; Jews had a more than 2,500-year history in Libya.
The Arabicnews.com article included another recent Libya-relevant tidbit: "one Israeli woman parliamentarian for the ruling right Likud party called [at] the beginning of the current year on the Libyan leader Muammar al-Qathafi to permit the Israelis who descend from Libyan origins to visit their country.
"The Israeli parliamentarian Jila Jamlil [apparently Gila Gamliel - ed.] in a statement to the Israeli daily Ma'ariv issued on January 6th addressed al-Qathafi by saying: 'we ask you to take a historical decision and to take the same step taken by Morocco in implementation of coexistence traditions between Muslims and Jews in North Africa and to permit the Israelis coming from Libya to visit their country.'"
In March of this year, Sayif Al-Islam Kaddafi, son of the Libyan dictator, told an Egyptian newspaper that he wants the Jews from Libya currently living in Israel to return to "their ancestral homeland" of Libya - on condition that they leave their property in Israel to the Arabs. Kaddafi estimated there were 30,000 expatriate Libyan Jews around the world.