Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi yesterday proposed compensation be given to Jews who were forced to leave his country because of the conflict between Israel and the Arab world. "Any Jew whose home was taken away has to be compensated or given his home back on the condition that he has not taken away the home of a Palestinian in Palestine," Qadhafi said.
Just before Libya declared its independence, the country had 40,000 Jewish residents, who had suffered from persecution for many years, first under the Germans, and then under the subsequent rulers. During the British occupation, there were a series of pogroms; during the most serious of these, 100 Jews were killed. In 1948, Moslems attacked the Jewish quarters in the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, scores of Jews were murdered, and 300 houses were destroyed.
Despite the fact that Jewish immigration from Libya to Israel was illegal, 3,000 Libyan Jews did managed to emigrate in the early months of the State of Israel's existence. In 1949, after the British decided to permit the emigration, 30,000 Jews left Libya.
In 1952, Libya became independent, and granted equal rights to its Jewish citizens. However, the atmosphere remained tense, and many Jews left for Italy and other countries. After the 1967 Six-Day War, there were anti-Jewish riots in Libya; those Jews still remaining then left.
When Qadhafi came to power in 1969, there were 500 Jews in Libya. A year later, Qadhafi announced that he was confiscating all abandoned Jewish property, and canceling all Jewish claims on debts owed by Muslims. In current terms, the assets in question have an estimated value of $1 billion. There are no Jews living in Libya today.
Several months ago, Israel's Ministry of Justice began a campaign to register property claims by Jews from Arab countries, in preparation for future property claims to be made by Palestinians. The value of private and community properties taken from Jews in the Arab world is estimated at $30 billion.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on Wednesday, September 01, 2004