Between Dhimmitude and Fascism: The Libyan Jews 1911-1951

Between Dhimmitude and Fascism: The Libyan Jews 1911-1951
The Jewish Question in Arab Lands
Professor Michel Abitbol
Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Fall 2004
Seth J. Frantzman




















Introduction

On November 5th 1945 a mob attacked the Jewish quarter of Tripoli, rampaging through the streets and killing more than 140 members of the Jewish community. By North African standards the Jewish community of Libya was small, numbering only some 38,000 in 1948. The Libyan Jewish community found itself colonized relatively late, having been subjected to Italian rule only from 1911. Like the other Jewish communities of North Africa it too disappeared after the creation of Israel. But the Libyan Jewish community and the transformation of its political standing in relation to its Muslim neighbors and its European governors is worth analyzing in greater detail if only because it presents many differences from the other North African communities of Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.
Many questions are worth exploring. First of all it is worth noting the pre-Zionist and pre-colonial relations between the Arab and Jewish communities of Libya. Fascinating as well is the interesting work of the Italian authorities to protect the Jews of Libya from the Anti-Semitic racial laws of 1938. Unlike their French counterparts the Italian authorities were not enthusiastic about anti-Semitism and the Italian colonists had little home grown anti-Semitic attitudes like those found in Algeria. Did this affect the position of Libyan Jewry during the war and if so in what way? What was the role of Nazi propaganda in inciting Arab hatreds and creating stereotypes of Jews among the Arabs of Libya? What was the role of Zionism among Libya’s Jews? If the Jews were not becoming Europeanized, then what is the bases for the outbreak in anti-Jewish violence following the end of the war? Finally, what was the final impetus for the departure and disappearance of the entire Jewish community of Libya? These subjects have not found many chroniclers over the years, but they are gaps that yearn to be filled in to understand the mosaic of relations between Jews, Arab, Zionists, Nazis and Colonial powers throughout the backdrop of World War Two and the birth of Israel.




Background of the Jews of Libya

It is worthwhile to survey the history of Libyan Jewry before the coming of the Italians in order to understand how it was that Fascism and colonization changed the status and situation of the Jewish community, a process which ended with the community moving en masse to Israel 40 years later. Despite the claims of Quaddafi that by expelling Jews a ‘foreign presence’ was being ‘cleansed’ from Libya, the Jews of Libya had actually inhabited the area at least 500 years prior to the Islamic conquest of the region.[1] The presence of Libyan Jews was reported by Josephus and their presence is confirmed in the Cyrenaician Jewish revolt against Rome that lasted from 115-117A.D.[2] Due to this revolt and subsequent upheavals the Jews became dispersed in the interior of the foreboding desert environment that comprises most of Libya. Jews took up residence among the Berber tribes, some of which are reported to have even converted to Judaism. Unlike other parts of North Africa Libya did not become a major destination for Jews fleeing European persecution, partly due to the miniscule size of the Jewish community in Libya.[3]
The arrival of Islam in the 7th century brought with it the Dhimmi laws and the Pact of Omar that were consistent with a new definition of Jewish status across the Islamic world. These laws included many discriminatory prohibitions such as Jews not being allowed to build houses higher than Muslims and being forced to pay a special tax. Many authors have commented that Jews thereby became ‘protected’ and many have assumed that this means that the Jews did not suffer under Islamic rule. De Felice writes that Dhimmi status guaranteed Jews “then security of their persons and the practice of their religion. In this situation the dangers threatening Jews were ultimately the same as those of the population as a whole.”[4] Another author comments “there was none of that feeling of insecurity which dominated the medieval Jewish psyche in the West.”[5]
These glowing portraits of Arab-Jewish relations do not however accurately reflect the true feelings in personal accounts by witnesses or community members. During the 12th century the Almohad dynasty ruthlessly suppressed all non-Muslims, virtually leading to the disappearance of Christians from the area. Jews throughout the centuries complained of persecution, of random violence, and sometimes wholesale massacre. In the rural areas Jews could be beaten for riding on a donkey in the presence of an Arab and the Dhimmi restrictions did not allow Jews to rebuild their places of worship, therefore when a Synagogue collapsed Arabs could deny Jews the right to rebuild it. Albert Memmi writes
“coexistence with the Arabs was not just uncomfortable, it was marked by threats periodically carried out….In the pre-colonial period, the collective memory of Tunisian Jewry leaves no doubt…the Jews were at the mercy not only of the monarch but also of the man in the street. My grandfather still wore the obligatory and discriminatory Jewish garb, and in his time every Jew might expect to be hit on the head by any Moslem whom he happened to pass. This pleasant ritual even had a name-the chtaka; and with it went a sacramental formula which I have forgotten.”[6]
Given this as a starting point for Jewish Arab relations in the pre-colonial period it is safe to conclude that although protected by numerous laws the Jews also found themselves assaulted on occasion and seen as second class citizens with many social restrictions.
The Libyan Jewish community was scattered throughout the country, with the majority of its members along the coast, but with sizable communities improbably residing in the interior. The ancient ties between Jews and Berbers, that stretched back to a pre-Islamic period, may explain this dispersion, which ran contrary to the urban nature of most Jewish communities not only in North Africa but also in Europe. By the eve of the Italian conquest in 1911 slightly more than half of Libya’s Jews resided in the Hara or Jewish ghetto of Tripoli. Here they engaged in trade, crafts, and industry, staying away from activities like agriculture. The 1835 Ottoman acquisition of Tripoli brought a measure of stability and liberalized government to the Jewish community and it is from this period that contacts were made with Jewish groups from France and Italy.
The European penetration of Libya gathered speed at this time due in part to the French colonization of Tunisia in 1881 and the British-French rivalry over Egypt. Libya remained the one country not to have fallen into the hands of a European power. Nevertheless, perhaps sensing the future, the Italian Jewish community of Leghorn(Livorno) began to have extensive trade relations with the Jews of Tripoli, eventually ending in the arrival of European Jews in Libya. In 1876 a school was opened with funds from the Italian Jewish community and in 1890 Alliance Israelite Universelle opened schools in Tripoli.[7] These new dimensions of trade and international awareness led to the creation of wealth in the hands of at least a few prominent members of the community, but the majority of Jews in Libya remained deeply impoverished, living in the disease ridden and cramped confines of the Hara.[8] In the interior of the country the Jews remained as poor as they had been, and in 1900 and 1906 reports came of Jews living in Cave dwelling communities and subsisting on the very edges of the most barren wasteland of the Sahara, in the Fezzan region of Libya[9].
The population of Libyan Jews is hard to estimate, since few records remain, and certainly no records accurately depict the numbers living in the interior. In 1885 the Jewish population of Tripoli was reported as 7500 and it grew to 8509 by 1911, making up almost 30% of the population of Libya’s largest city[10]. Jews made up barely 3% of the population of Tripolitania as a whole. To give an idea of just how rural and barren the land was it is useful to note that the Jews living in Tarhuna, only 200 kilometers outside of Tripoli, were still classified in 1931 as “semi-nomads.”[11]
The late 19th century and early 20th century leading up to the Italian occupation was a period of rapid change for Libyan Jewry. Since Libya was under the direct rule of the Ottomans one would assume that some form of the Hamuyun edicts of 1856 giving Jews equality under the civil law would have applied.[12] At the same time such laws tended not to be enforced in more rural areas, of which Libya had many. Modernization in Tripoli and the presence of Jewish immigrants from Italy was making that community grow apart from its Muslim neighbors. In 1870 the first accusation of ‘Ritual murder’ was made in Libya.[13] As some new ideas of Anti-Semitism began to spread among the Arabs of Libya the Jews of Libya began to increase their wealth in forms of banking and money lending, occupations that were uniquely suited to anti-Semitic ideas about Jews’ relationship with money. As this coincided with a European occupation of the neighboring states the Muslim population became more nationalistic and in some ways the Jews, mixing as they were with foreigners and going to foreign schools seemed to embody the European colonizer. During this time barely a year went by that Alliance didn’t receive some report from the Jews of Libya regarding assaults on persons or property of Jews.[14]
The rise of early Arab-Turkish nationalism and assaults on Jewish property as well as a new found international awareness galvanized the Jewish community of Libya to have first contacts with the Zionists of Vienna. In 1908 a group of Jews in Benghazi, a community of only a few thousand Jews at the time,[15] sent a letter to the Jewish Territorial Organization. Herzl is reported to even have come up with a ‘Tripoli Scheme’ for settlement of Jews in the region and toyed with the idea of an agricultural settlement in the Benghazi area. Later events would be used to show that Arabs only grew hostile to the Jews after the rise of Zionism in Palestine, but the existence of Arab assaults on Jews in the late 19th century and the early pleas of the community for assistance make it easier to see that perhaps the reverse was true. Perhaps the assaults on Jews by Arabs led them into the open arms of European Jewish patrons and Zionist idealists. For Libya’s Jews, small as they were in number, the coming of the 20th century had brought with it many of the ideas that were later to have such an affect in ending the community’s existence.
On the eve of the Italian occupation the Jews of Libya found themselves in a state of inferiority to the Muslims of the province. Jews were most prominent in the city of Tripoli, and they lived in a walled Hara. Jews suffered some form of discrimination, more so in the rural areas than the urban ones. In the city Jews had become exposed to foreigners and foreign Jews had immigrated to Libya, awakening many new ideas and exposing the Jews to opportunities of acquiring wealth. At the same time new schools teaching in languages other then Arabic and Turkish allowed the Jewish community to begin interacting with the larger world. In the interior, there existed a very different and very ancient community of Jewish ‘nomads’ living in caves and other hovels. These many contrasts of internationalism and parochialism, of Dhimmi status and liberation were to change the community greatly in the coming decade of Italian rule.

Italian occupation 1911-1922

In 1911 disturbances in Libya were used as the excuse for Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti to launch a war against Turkey[16] for control of Tripolitania, which ended in Turkish defeat and the creation of the Italian colony of Libya. The colony itself was made up of three main areas, Tripolitania in the northwest, with Tripoli as its center, Cyrenaica in the eastern half of the colony with Benghazi as the major coastal town and Fezzan in the south, with few if any towns, populated by nomadic tribesmen.
For ten years before the coming of Italian Fascism, the Italian government ruled Libya. During this period two important developments took place in regards to the Libyan Jewish community. The first of these was the reactions of the Italian colonizers to the Jewish community of Italy. The Italian government divided the Jewish community into three parts. First came the relatively small number of Italian Jews and Jews of Italian origin, these included in their number the Livornese Jews who had immigrated to Libya and Tunisia in the last decades. These also included new members of the colonial elite, Italian Jews who made their way to Italy after the 1911 war. The second segment of the Jewish population was made up of Libyan Jews. The third segment, also small, was the foreign Jewish presence, neither Italian nor Libyan Jewish. It must be recalled the colony as a whole only numbered 523,176 inhabitants in 1911, making it a backwater, with Tripoli, its biggest city, having a population of only 29,000 people.[17]
The Jewish population of Libya “had such anti-Muslim feelings that they believed that anything would be better than Muslim rule.”[18] In this context “Jews living in Libya almost unanimously supported Libya” and some wealthier Jews even assisted the Italian troops as they came ashore.[19] The Italians, however were reticent about being seen to be collaborating with the Jewish community. The Italians had convinced themselves that the Arabs too were anti-Turkish and since Arabs made up the majority of the population it made sense that the Italian troops, busy still fighting the Turks, would need the Arab masses to remain quiet. General Pollio, gave orders that “The Jews must be treated like the other inhabitants, and it is recommended that advantage be taken of their commercial skills. Treat them firmly but not harshly.”[20] Here we see the traditional anti-Semitism of connecting Jews with money and at the same time the wish that Italian soldiers would not show preference or favour to the Jews. The Italians were far sighted in realizing the emotions of the Arab populace, any rumour of favor being shown to the Jews could upset the delicate balance and the Italians might have riots on their hands as the British were soon to learn in Palestine.
Despite the cautioning of the colonial officials, the Italian common soldiers “realized that collaborating with the Jews was a matter of expediency” and had “a sincere sympathy for the Jews and a wish to emancipate them.”[21] From these and other like minded feelings we see the thin line the Italian authorities were trying to tread, as early as 1911. When it came to the law and administration of the colony the Jews and their religious institutions and habits quickly came under the eye not only of the Jewish community of Italy but also of the Italian authorities. First it was decided that the Chief Rabbi would have to be Italian and that Jews would have the option of putting civil, family and inheritance claims before rabbinical courts or the secular Italian courts, whereas Muslims continued to refer such matter to their own religious courts. These developments show that the Italians, being familiar with Jews in their own country, saw the Libyan Jews, although more traditional and foreign, as being ‘like’ the Jews of Italy whereas not having had much contact with Muslims, those Arabs remained foreign to the authorities. Small gestures like these had a major impact on such a small community.
The more traditional Jews, who had welcomed the Italians due to Arab assaults on them before the invasion, now began to resent the intrusion into their insular world.[22] The Italian authorities had wanted to bring ‘civilization, westernization…and secularization’ to the Jews of Libya.[23] But certain aspects of this, such as making Sunday a holiday, grated with the traditional community.[24] These diametrically opposed problems, of on the one hand the Italians not wanting to be seen as preferring the Jews, and on the other a segment of the Jewish community preferring to be left alone would seem to go hand in hand. Yet forces unforeseen by both were driving the colonizer and the colonized together. The threatened minority, the Jews, now composed of more and more refugees from the hinterland, demanded protection, equal rights and freedoms, while at the same time liberal elements within the Italian administration wanted to westernize the Jewish community. The period of 1911-1922 can be best summed up as one where these two opposites came into contact and began to resolve themselves in the de facto conclusion that the Jews became westernized, and sought protection in the arms of the colonial authorities, despite the traditionalists’ appeals against such a strategy.
In 1914 the Arabs, egged on by German and Turkish propaganda, launched a massive revolt against Italian rule.[25] It is worth analyzing how the Jewish community fared and how it perceived this revolt in order to gauge the development of Arab-Jewish relations in the period and to try to understand how much the community might have feared a return to Muslim rule. The revolt itself forced Italian troops to retreat to a narrow coastal strip running from Tripoli to al-Khums in Tripolitania and a strip running from Benghazi to Tobruk in Cyrenaica. In Tripolitania the revolt was influenced by the Turks, whereas in Cyrenaica the revolt was led by the Sanusi order, a quasi Arab-Islamic movement, perhaps similar to the Mahdi movement that fought the British in the Sudan during the 19th century. The 2 rebellions caught the Italians off guard at the time of the outbreak of World War One. It was not until 1922, following the fascist triumph in Italy, that with more than seventy thousand troops the revolt was put down. Not until 1930 were the Italians able to retake the southern area of Fezzan.[26]
For almost 8 years, and in some places longer, the Jewish community of the interior lived through this revolt. During this period the prospect of a renewed Islamic rule seemed very likely, and the Sanusi order was preaching a very strict version of Islam which the community had not experienced since before the arrival of the Ottomans. Yet it is ironic that in the Sanusi zone of control in Cyrenaica the Jews came to act as intermediaries and even as traders between the Italian coastal strip and the Sanusi interior. Renzo De Felice writes that “The Cyrenaican communities, especially in Benghazi, suffered relatively little damage…Jews benefited from the return of free trade between Italian- and Sanusi-occupied areas.”[27] In the long run the Jews of Libya suffered more from economic damage than from the war itself and it does not appear that much of the violence was directed at the Jews.
Why did the Jewish community not fall victim to the anti-Italian rebellion? The first reason was probably its insignificance, and the overall paucity of any concentrations of Jews in rebel occupied areas. Second, although Jews in Tripoli might have become westernized, the Jews of the interior “dressed like Arabs” and by most descriptions resembled the Arabs in all but religious obligations.[28] These Jews of the interior numbered only about 7000 at the time, spread out over a massive area. The last reason was the nature of the revolt. The rebels fought amongst each other almost as often as they fought the Italians, and in some cases Berber tribes even allied themselves with the Italians.
However the Jews of Libya, especially in the area around Tripoli, did suffer and their feeling regarding the Arabs and the Italians were cemented. As many as 2000 were ‘displaced’ and became refugees in the coastal strip. Despite the economic downturn the Jews in the coastal region supported Italy both in World War One and against the Arab revolt.[29] However although “no Jews joined the Arab cause” also there were “no cases of Jews taking an active part in the suppression of the revolt.”[30] How do we explain the lack of participation on either side when we know that the Jews were experiencing such privations and economic hardships due to the war. The clearest goal of the Jewish community throughout the period, since as subjects and not citizens of Italy they had no where to go, was to bring back peace to the region.[31] This is why Jews acted not only as traders between the lines, but also as intermediaries between the two sides, since their knowledge of the terrain, the personalities involved and the local laws and customs would have been indispensable to the Italians.[32]
During this period the Balfour declaration had been issued and Zionists did appear once again in Libya. In 1912, after the Italian invasion, a Zionist organization was established in Tripoli. This group eventually became led by Elia Nhaisi and “depicted themselves as dedicated idealists versus selfish materialists and defenders of traditions versus assimilations.”[33] The Zionists of Libya were different in this respect, their fight against assimilation and their work among the poverty stricken Jewish community of the Hara(ghetto) imbued the Zionist struggle with local importance. A Zionist running for election within the Jewish community declared of Italy; “That great country which together with its allies has declared itself in favor of the rebuilding of a Jewish national home in Palestine. Anyone betraying Zion is, today, betraying Italy!”[34] This gives a good idea of the enthusiasm for Italy and Zionism among Libyan Jewry
Coinciding with a rise in Zionism and the emergence of the Palestine issue, an Arab press linking the Arab world contributed to an outbreak of anti-Jewish rioting in Tripoli and Benghazi in 1920, in connection with similar anti-Jewish riots in Palestine. The Italians responded promptly, and no deaths were reported. One commentator explained that “the Arabs have seen that the government is willing to take serious steps.”[35] During the period 1911-1922 no other major disturbances are reported, and one can assume the Zionist work in Libya, as well as the Palestine issue either didn’t impact the Arab community, or the Italian authorities were able to preempt other incidents.
The Italians, who waffled about which side to join in the Great War, and who couldn’t even be bothered to put down the revolt in Libya, had come in contact with a Jewish community who likewise wished nothing more than to have a light handed colonial power to watch over them and protect them with the least amount of interference as possible. Probably in all the cases of the Jewish interaction with colonial rulers no two communities were better suited for each other. Unfortunately the rise of Italian fascism and the ascension to power of Mussolini was to change this delicate balance.

Italian Fascism and World War Two 1922-1942

Italian fascism was unique. It was unique in that anti-Semitism was not part of its original program, and was only grafted onto it after 16 years of rule. It was unique among the dictatorships in not employing the kind of mass violence seen in Nazi Germany or Franco’s Spain. But its uniqueness most of all was in its contradictory attempts to save the Jews from the grasp of Hitler. Everywhere Italy found itself, whether in the occupation zone of France, in the Balkans or in North Africa, Italians used all manner of strange and often humorous methods to befuddle and block the attempts of the Vichy and the Germans to deport and massacre Jews.[36] It is worth examining in detail the policies of the Italian authorities in North Africa to understand how this played itself out amongst the backdrop of more than two decades of Fascist rule in Libya. Most importantly it is important to see what role Italian fascism played in the changing dimensions of the Arab and Jewish communities of the colony.
From this period we have the first reliable population statistics for Jews residing in Libya. In 1931 the community numbered 25,103 and in 1939 it had grown to 30,046.[37] Jews made up 3.74% of the total population of Libya. 62.3 percent and 11 percent of the Jewish community lived in Tripoli and Benghazi respectively. In Tripoli they were 19% of the city’s population. At the same time almost one third of the Jewish community still remained scattered throughout the countryside, where at least 345 Jews remained living in a ‘troglodyte cave dwelling’ community. In 1931 385 Italian Jews were living in Libya and 694 ‘foreign Jews’ were residing in the colony. These Jews certainly made up the elites of Tripoli and the Italian citizens would have had a disproportionate influence on the authorities in relation to the Jewish community as a whole. The disposition of the community can roughly be said to have remained the same throughout the fascist rule of Libya(prior to the outbreak of the war), with the exception that more and more Jews from the interior began slowly migrating to the cities, for work, protection or to escape violence.[38]
The Fascist period can roughly be divided into three distinct phases: The era of fascist rule before the enactment of the racial laws(1922-1938), the passing of and application of the racial laws(1938-1940), and Italy’s involvement in World War Two in North Africa(1940-1942). During the first period the Jewish community was protected and in many ways supported by the local fascist militia. Although Lillo Arbid, former president of the Jewish communities of Libya writes that during this period “there was no reason for disturbances between the local population of Arabs and Jews and life was proceeding normally, as Arabs were mainly occupied in agriculture while Jews were mainly merchants and craftsmen” it is clear that not all was quiet between the two groups.[39] Following 1929 disturbances, linked to similar disturbances in Palestine, Alberto Monastero, the special government commissioner for the Community of Tripoli felt that the demonstrations on behalf of Zionism had to be curtailed, although he expresses his personal opinions of the Zionist movement, explaining “Personally, I would not have held the slightest difficulty in agreeing to and participating in such demonstrations myself. However, I had to consider that in Tripoli the Jews live together with a very numerous Arab population, largely ignorant and fanatical, which would have made any demonstration dangerous.”[40] This seems to have been the opinion of the Italian authorities in general.
Mussolini wanted to turn Libya into a “model colony” and in doing so it became “common practice for Italian authorities to ingratiate themselves with the Arabs.”[41] Thus, while the Italians themselves seem to have been genuinely inclined to support and protect the Jewish community, they understood the need to gather Arab support. One important contrast must be made with the British rule. In the Italian colony under Fascist rule, prior to the chaos of World War Two, the Fascist militia reacted quickly to protect the Jews whenever a pogrom or some other rioting threatened the Hara. In 1927 following an Arab festival gangs of rioters descended on the Jewish areas, Fascist Militi and Italian police reacted in a “prompt” and “effective” manner to end the violence. It will be worthwhile to recall this when comparing such disturbances with the British reaction that allowed riots to become far more serious in 1945.[42]
Renzo De Felice, the best source for material from this, or any other period, explains that the Italian authorities basically had three issues when dealing with Libyan Jews during time. First, the Mussolini government had only just pacified the Tripolitania region and would not succeed in reconquering Cyrenaica until the early 1930s, thus limiting any concern with the Jewish minority at all. Second the Italians were interested primarily in creating an economically viable colony, and therefore courting the Arab majority, while keeping the influential Jewish minority happy was important. Third the Italian authorities had to legislate the government’s relationship with the Jewish community through appointment of the Chief Rabbi, school funding, and other such legal aspects. Since we have discussed the first two issues it is worth noting in the third one that a Royal Decree Law from 1934 granted the community equal rights with other citizens of the colony, including respect for the Jewish ‘creed’ and ‘traditions’.[43]
During this period two problems converged on the Jewish community. The first was poverty, partly due to immigration to Tripoli from outlying communities and a massive net birth rate that reached 22 percent for a short period.[44] At the same time the Italian authorities who considered the Jewish traditions “based on outmoded concepts” decided to direct a full scale assault on the Sabbath.[45] The idea that Jews should be forcibly assimilated was in line with the futurist roots of Italian fascism, the idea that the past must be wiped away to build a new future. To these modernizers the Sabbath was an anachronism, a throwback and it was slowing down the creation of a ‘European’ Tripoli.[46]
In trying to understand whether this was anti-Semitism, or modernization, one comes into contact with a contradiction. First the Italian authorities forced Jews to attend school and then to open all their stores in the new city(not in the Hara) on Shabbat with the claim that this was part of a ‘de-ghettoizaton’ program.[47] Jewish students had been excused from attendance on Saturday from the period of the Ottomans. Is it ironic that it should have taken a European power to break down the bonds of tradition? The argument was that Jews had to be forced to ‘progress’ and assimilate the way Italian Jews had. The Ottoman millit model had been to separate communities, allowing them their traditions. But if this was the case then why were the Italian authorities bending over backwards to ensure “scrupulous observance of the Muslim Ramadan”?[48] The short answer, in the eyes of the Italians, was that the small Jewish community had to be modernized as Italian Jews were, whereas the Muslim majority had to be appeased, so that it would not rebel and the colony could be made to blossom. Therefore while one community’s traditions were respected, the others were assaulted. Worse was to come with the advent of the racial laws.[49]
The Italian racial laws of 1938 were also meant to be applied in Libya. How did anti-Semitism come to play a role in Italian fascist politics and what were its repercussions in Libya? First one must look at Mussolini, who himself was the master tactician behind Italy’s foreign policy in the 1930s, that led him first to invade Ethiopia, then to intervene in Spain and finally into an alliance with Hitler’s Germany. Prior to this alliance Mussolini ensured the Chief Rabbi of Rome in 1933 that Jews would not be discriminated against and in 1936 he met with Chaim Weizmann.[50] Jews joined the fascist party in large numbers, as many as 10,000 by 1938, Mussolini’s two mistresses were Jewish(Sarfatti and Petaci) and some of the more politically sensitive and less traditional Jews of Libya also supported the Fascists. Anti-Semitism became a marriage of convenience for the Italian Fascists, and by 1937 the black shirts themselves had been inculcated with the culture of hate. In October of that year a Tripoli gathering of Blackshirts shouted “death to the Jews…out of our country.” Ironic on at least one level this statement shows how the fascist militia seems to have transformed itself from a group that had traditionally protected the Hara during violence to one that saw the Jews as a foreign presence.[51]
The Italian racial laws themselves were different from the Nazi version. A Jew was defined “as anyone who had two Jewish parents, or a Jewish father and a foreign mother, or who belonged to the Jewish faith. It exempted those born of a mixed marriage who did not belong to the Jewish faith prior to 1 October 1938.”[52] Jews could no longer be government employees, Jews were excluded from military service, and in Libya Jews could no longer own “firms engaged in work for national defense or employing more than twenty persons, to possess land valued at more than 300,000 lire, or buildings of gross value of more than 500,000 lire. They were barred from owning or managing import, export, credit or insurance companies…Jewish doctors could practice their professions among Jews only. Jewish children were barred from Italian and Arab schools. No Italian or Arab servant could be employed in Jewish families.”[53] Despite the enactment of these harsh laws, their effects were delayed due to the intervention of the most fascinating character of all, the Italian governor of Libya, Italo Balbo.
Balbo had been an expert aviator and one of the founders of the Italian fascist movement, and from 1934 he became governor of Libya.[54] At the 1937 Tripoli rally of Blackshirts who had screamed “death to the Jews” it was Balbo who had silenced them and schooled the fascists regarding the Jews “untiring labor, discipline and loyalty to the regime.”[55] Balbo had been instrumental in the passing of laws that had forced Jewish shops to remain open on Saturday and he had ordered Jews flogged who disobeyed. He had also been governor when the newspaper L’Avvenire de Tripoli began a “hate campaign against the Jews” in 1939.[56] Yet despite this atmosphere and his requirement that Jews be ‘modernized’ he fought against the 1938 racial laws, explaining that Jews were an essential part of the Libyan economy.[57] Mussolini, exhibiting his newly found anti-Semitism, replied to Balbo on January 23, 1939 that “Non-indigenous Jews, that is those with metropolitan citizenship, should be given the treatment they receive in Italy under the recent laws. I therefore authorize you to apply the racial laws as above[excluding a series of government and industrial entities from the laws], remembering that though the Jews may seem dead, they never really are.”[58] De Felice writes that “in many aspects the life of Libyan Jews went along almost undisturbed.”[59] However although Balbo may have saved the Jews the ‘treatment’ accorded them in Italy, the same cannot be said for Balbo’s ability to control his country’s use of propaganda among the Muslim majority.
The outbreaks of anti-Jewish violence by Muslims had been common prior to the 1938 racial laws. At the time the Italian government had worked to curtail such outbreaks and foster economic progress. Yet the clouds of war were once again forming on the horizon and Mussolini must have recalled what had happened with the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, the Arabs had used it as an excuse to rebel, and the British had supported them. This time the Germans were claiming to be the anti-colonial power, and Italy wanted to shore up its base of Muslim support before embarking on a colonial war against the French and British colonies which were keeping Italy from creating a new Roman lake of the Mediterranean. As part of this policy “Libya, as the only Arabic speaking Italian possession, became Mussolini’s Muslim center for fascist propaganda.”[60] In 1937 Mussolini visited Libya and was presented with the ‘Sword of Islam’ and was declared to be the ‘protector of the faith’ by Libyan Arab leaders. Mussolini the Muslim was most likely a stunt, hoping to preempt any anti-colonial feelings among the Arab populace but it certainly would have made the Jewish situation in Libya more unpredictable. As momentum gathered towards war the Italian Jewish community found itself between the softened 1938 racial laws and the ‘sword of Islam’ being carried aloft by the leader of their government. In 1940, the death of Balbo in a plane crash(he was shot down by his own troops in the first days of the war), meant the Jews of Libya had lost their last great Italian protector. Yet by a twist of fate, Mussolini was to emerge once again as a protector of Jews, this time when they needed him most.
The war for Italy began on June 10th 1940 when Italy declared war on England and France. With 200,000 Italian troops in Libya and an additional 80,000 native recruits, the new governor and General of Libya marshal Rodolfo Graziani, hero of Ethiopia(he had used poison gas against spear wielding tribesmen), launched his offensive into Egypt. The Italians declined German help, and it was this arrogance, that probably saved the Jews of Libya from the presence of any Gestapo or S.S units being dispatched to the country in the opening days of the war. On December 9th the British counterattacked and by February 8th, 1941 they had advanced more than 300 miles, capturing Tobruk, Derna and Benghazi.[61] Thus the entire Jewish population of Cyrenaica came under British rule for the first time. In 1936 the Jewish population of the provinces of Benghazi and Derna(Cyrenaica had been divided into two provinces) had been 4,149.[62] The arrival of Erwin Rommel in February was to prove the turning point, at least momentarily, in the North African front. But the turning point for Libyan Jewry had already taken place.
The first internment camps were set up for foreigners in September 1940, but “only a few Jews were actually interned, first at Tajura and later at Buayrat al-Hasun.”[63] Eventually many of the foreign Jews as well as foreigners were simply expelled, the French expelled to Tunisia and the British to Italy, including approximately 1600 French Jews and 870 British Jews.
De Felice writes “On the whole, the years 1939 and 1940 were not particularly hard on Libyan Jews.”[64] Between March 1941 and February 1942 the British were driven out of Libya, retook Cyrenaica and were driven out again by Rommel. This time the Jews of Cyrenaica became suspected of collaboration to such an extent that on February 7th, 1942 Mussolini ordered the entire population transferred to concentration camps. By late June 1942 2,584 people had been ‘cleared’ out of Cyrenaica to concentration camps in Giado and later at Gharian.[65] This coincided with the ‘mobilization’ of all male Libyan Jews between 18 and 45. Labor camps were set up at Sidi Azaz, where a thousand Tripoli Jews were sent and 350 Jews were dispatched to the front, near Tobruk to work on communication lines. When these front line Jews were over run by British forces they marched all the way back to Tripoli through the desert.[66]
At the same time that the Jewish community was experiencing these massive disruptions, Jewish organizations such as the Maccabee sports club were accused of collaboration and shut down. On December 19th, 1942 the Racial Laws were finally applied to Libya. Balbo’s efforts had caused the laws to never be fully enacted or enforced. Nevertheless the laws themselves took on a very different tone than the Nuremburg laws most are familiar with. Libyan Jews were to be considered of “Jewish race” if they ‘on January 1, 1942 professed the Jewish religion, or were registered as members of Jewish communities in Libya or showed some expression of Judaism…were born of parents or fathers of the Jewish religion, unless the father had professed the Muslim religion since prior to January 1, 1942.”[67] The enactment of the laws on December 17th, 1942 came too late to affect much of anything, and on January 23rd, 1943 Tripoli was handed over to the British. The ordeal of the Jews of Libya seemed to be over, but unfortunately it was just beginning.
The Fascist period can best be summed up as one in which the Jewish and Arab communities became increasingly separated. As the Italians gravitated towards the Arabs as necessary allies in the war the Jews were seen as either backwards traditionalists or perhaps even collaborators with the enemy. Yet the Italian fascist policy was not initially one of anti-Semitism. How much of an effect Italian propaganda had on the Arabs is not clear. But the propaganda had not only been against Jews, it had also been against the British. Mussolini had crushed the Arab revolt that was in process when he came to power and his subsequent choosing to be the ‘protector of Islam’ is nothing if not ironic. At the same time the Italian racial laws created an inferior position for the Jews, not so unlike the Dhimmi status they had ‘enjoyed’ under Islamic rule, yet due to sympathetic Italians the laws were never truly enforced. A total of between 2600 and 2800 Cyrenaica Jews were interned as well as between 1000-1400 Jews of Tripoli along with a temporary internment of 200 Jews from Syrte and 800 from Misurata. Of these, approximately 218 died of undernourishment.[68] Some sources claim that fascists assaulted the Jewish community of Tripoli just prior to it falling. The Holocaust had not come to the Libyan Jewish community in any way comparable to Europe, but the economic losses, chaos, bombing, assaults, and internments were felt by the entire community. If the modest losses of the sources are accepted, then it can be estimated that almost 1% of the community died due to war related causes. The turmoil of war however had changed the dynamics of the community and the coming of the British was to shake the community to its very foundations.


The British occupation and the end of Libyan Jewry 1942-1951


The period of British rule and coming of Libyan independence proved to be the end of Libyan Jewry, and by the time Libya gained independence in January of 1952 only 6000 Jews remained. The flight of almost the entire community can be seen as a direct result of the British occupation and fears of what life might be like under an Arab government. The major event, and the one that crystallized the fears of the Jewish minority was the outbreak of rioting in 1945. The major features of this period can be broken down into roughly three episodes: The arrival of the British, the 1945 riots and its affects on the Jewish community and the decision of the Libyan Jewish community to emigrate.
The arrival of the British brought Jews into contact with the Palestinian Jewish volunteers of the British Eighth army.[69] This initial contact with the living face of Zionism impacted the Jewish community in two major ways. First it awakened the community to the new ideals of the ‘strong’ Jew, and particularly after the 1945 riots Haganah units began to train secretly in Tripoli for self defense.[70] The second major impact was the new birth of Zionism among the community. The war years had interrupted contacts with the Zionist world and the Italians had banned sports clubs and other outlets of Zionist activity. Just the fact that Jews of the Hara could mix with Palestinian Jewish soldiers gave rise to the idea that a Jewish community could be self sufficient and not have to be a permanent minority, wondering what the next administration might bring. These ideas, initially formed in the 1920s, would be re-emphasized after the 1945 riots.[71]
The origins of the outbreak of the 1945 riots rest in the weaving together of a series of factors. De Felice writes “The change in the attitude of the masses undoubtedly originated in the worsening economic situation.” The scapegoating of Jews for economic reasons was something that would have been well known from the fascist period, since it had been an integral part of anti-Jewish socialist and Nazi propaganda. The second major addition was the arrival of foreign and exiled Arab nationalists, mostly from Egypt, returning with the British army. In Cyrenaica this took the form of the Sanusis order and its leader Mohammed Idris es Sanusi, a veteran from the revolt against the Italians. In Tripoli the center of the nationalist movement was the el-Hizb al Watani nationalist party. The Arab sources claim that the riots were also a result of Arabs who had ”become annoyed by the increase in Zionist activity” and that Jews must return to the way they had acted for the previous ‘thirteen centuries.’[72] In short the Arabs were infuriated that the Jews had stepped out of their Dhimmi status and with the Italian occupation over they chose this as a time to put the Jews back in their ‘proper’ place.
This brings us to the last reason for the success of the riots, the total breakdown of British ability to control law and order. The rioting itself was allowed to continue unopposed for 48 hours, beginning on November 4, 1945 until it was finally suppressed with martial law on November 7th. The British Military Authority made many excuses why it couldn’t stop the violence, including; that native troops proved unreliable, that there were not enough policemen, and that they were not interested in upsetting the Arab masses. The British attitude can in some way be traced to the fact that some of the British authorities had served in Palestine, where likewise they had mostly turned their faces to the 1920 and 1929 riots, until forced to react by the total revolt in 1936. The inaction by the British, combined with the fury and hatred of the Arab mobs led to the death of between 130 and 140 Jews.[73] The Jewish victims were contained within Tripolitania but included many of the major Jewish areas within the province, including Tripoli, Amruss, Tajura, Zanzur, Zawia, Qusabat. A total of 813 businesses and other Jewish owned areas were ‘plundered or damaged.’[74]
How can one explain the outbreak of the rioting and the British passivity in confronting it? Some have drawn the conclusion that the spark was the outbreak of anti-Jewish rioting in Egypt on November 2nd, which claimed the lives of 10 Jews, and coincided with the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.[75] The Arabs in Tripoli had put some planning into the riots by tagging Jewish owned businesses with chalk and by organizing at various points. The Zionist press in Libya later claimed that they had been organized by the Arab Nationalists and implied that they might have been in cahoots with the British. This argument seems to flounder on one major point. The Zionist claim on the one hand is that the nationalists “wanted to make a show of strength to gain support for their claim for recognition from the British Military Administration.”[76] The British are accused of aiding or at least turning a blind eye because they were interested in having an international excuse, the chaos of the rioting, to remain on as a colonial power in Libya. If the two sides indeed cooperated it was not a cooperation in which either saw eye to eye on the outcome. De Felice explains “even today many Jews of Tripoli are convinced that the 1945 pogroms were organized or at least instigated by the British.”[77]
The British inability to quell the Arab assaults must be compared with the Italian government, which had been ‘prompt’ in stopping such violence. It may be that the British had a residual dislike for the Jewish community due to the Palestine experience. The British were certainly quick to blame “the growth of Zionism” as a “motive” behind the violence. In the end the British did arrest almost 600 Arabs, and 204 received sentences.[78] But the damage had been done. The Jewish community had never suffered such a widespread attack and the death toll was enormous when one remembers that the entire episode of deportation and camp labor had been responsible for just more than 200 deaths, the loss of 130 people in a four day period would have been felt throughout the small community which numbered 27,264 people in Tripolitania, where the rioting had taken place. Some communities had seen half their members killed, and some communities began to flee towards the protection of Tripoli, including the entire community of Zanzur which had numbered 117 people in 1936.[79]
The Arab leadership did express its regrets that violence had taken place. “Local Arab leaders were rather dumfounded by the beastly killings and the mass looting and were afraid that this savage outbreak of fanaticism and lawlessness might endanger their hopes for independence.”[80] It is interesting that the Arab leadership was not so much concerned with the slaughter of Jews but with the idea that this might damage their hopes at independence. In Cyrenaica the Sanusi leadership had taken measures to pre-empt the similar rioting and none had taken place. Had the leadership of Tripoli wanted to do the same and had the British authorities been perhaps half as alert as the Italian authorities had been, then perhaps the Tripolitania riots of 1945 would not have happened.[81]
As it was the riots poisoned the atmosphere not so much between the Jewish and Arab communities but between the Jewish community and the British administration. The British increasingly appeared pro-Arab and the Libyan Jewish community came to feel a deep sense of insecurity.[82] Some Jews even began to call for the return of Italy. When the Chief Rabbi visited the Hara in 1948 people shouted “We want Italy, which has always protected the weak.”[83] On June 12, 1948 as Arab volunteers streamed through Tripoli on their way to fight Israel, which had declared independence on May 14th, some formed armed gangs and assaulted the Jewish quarter. In the ensuing violence, despite the deployment of newly trained Jewish defensive units around the Hara, at least 12 Jews were killed.[84] The British reaction was to declare on April 5th, 1949 that unrestricted immigration would be allowed to Palestine.[85]
The flight of the Libyan Jewish community between 1948 and 1952 took place in three distinct groups. The first group to leave was the Cyrenaica Jews. These were also the first Jews to begin to experience a form of autonomous Arab rule under the Sanusis. Although the Sanusis had protected the Jews during the 1945 riots, it was clear the Jews felt insecure under Arab rule and therefore they were the first to flee en masse. They traveled first to Tripoli and thence sometimes via Italy or directly to Israel by boat. 3,726 Cyrenaica Jews had left the country by March 8th, 1950 and by August of that year out of the 6000 who had lived in the province, only 300 remained in the capital city of Benghazi. This community it should be remembered had suffered the most disruptions under colonial rule. First it had been almost totally abandoned to the Sanusi rebellion from 1914 through the late 1920s. Then in 1941 and 1942 it had suffered first the disruption of war and then total removal by the authorities. The trauma of British and then renewed Sanusi rule most likely influenced the communities choice to flee, after-all how much of a disruption could it be to immigrate once again, after so many disruptions.
The second community to flee was the Jews of the interior. These Jews had been progressively immigrating to the city of Tripoli for many years. Many of these Jews may have been killed along the way while trying to flee. For instance 14 bodies were unearthed in the village of Kamutov, near the Tunisian border and were later identified as Jews.[86] Perhaps as many as 7000 Jews lived in the interior at this time.[87] The 1948 riots produced “a flood of poor, terrorized people [who] poured from the hinterland and the coast to Tripoli in search of safety and a means of escape.”[88] Raffaele Cantoni writing in Italia Socialista claimed that Arabs “killed men, women, old and young, horribly tortured and dismembered Jews isolated in the interior.”[89] By March of 1950 a total of 3,714 Jews had left for Israel, many of whom had come from rural areas.
By mid 1950 the only large Jewish community left in Israel was the one of Tripolitania. Paul Ghez, a Tunisian lawyer wrote in August 1947 “in Tripolitania, the situation is much worse than in North Africa. There the Jews live in constant fear, and 100 percent of the population wants to go to Palestine.”[90] Tripolitania was emptied beginning with the smaller towns around Tripoli. To give a general idea of the magnitude of the flight in 1949 it is worth quoting the numbers from a few specific towns. In Masurata 510 out of 912 left. In Tigrana, whose Jewish community was estimated to be 1300 years old, 335 fled out of 464. In Yafran 364 people out of 391 residents fled. Ancient communities such as those of Jeffren ceased to exist, and by 1950 12 Synagogues in the interior had been totally abandoned. Many of these same communities, would finally disappear in the coming year as they moved en masse to Tripoli hoping to find transport to Israel. By the end of March 1950, the first full year of immigration, 9,372 Tripoli Jews had left.[91]
The estimated population of Libyan Jews in 1948 is between 36000 and 38000. The number of Jewish immigrants arriving in Israel from Libya for the period prior to independence in January 1952 is broken down as follows: 1948-1,065, 1949-14,357, 1950-8,915, 1951-6,558 for a total of 30,895.[92] Some sources have given exaggerated numbers such as claiming “30,000 of them landed on its[Israel’s] shores in 1951 alone.”[93] There is also some dispute as to the size of the Libyan Jewish community remaining after independence. Joseph B. Schechtmen, writing in On Wings of Eagles claims about 6,000 Jews remained in the post independence period.[94] Norman A. Stillman’s claim in The Jews of Arab Lands of Modern Times that Libya had lost “90 percent” of her Jews by the “end of 1953” is not entirely accurate, but the figure is very close.[95]
Besides the factors mentioned above, the rioting, and the insecurity, what caused the community to flee en masse? Poverty was one problem. De Felice comments repeatedly that the economic situation of the community had deteriorated, especially among the refugees arriving in Tripoli and the Jews living in the Hara. He writes that of “about 30,000, almost everybody, wanted to leave.”[96] For the refugees the situation went from bad to worse. Rueben Hassan, Libyan Director for the Joint Distribution Committee(a charity) commented in 1950 “We have four thousand people who are considered healthy and can go to Israel today. However if they have to remain in Tripoli for many months, I am convinced that when the day for their departure arrives they will not be able to pass a physical examination because of undernourishment.”[97] In addition to poverty and overcrowding the British authorities began to move Arabs, including recently fleeing Palestinian Arabs into the Jewish Hara. This area had been the one place that Jews had been able to retreat to in 1945 and 1948 and find some measure of safety. Now, with some of the most anti-Jewish Arabs planted in their midst the motivation to leave would have been more acute than ever.[98]
The period of British rule in Libya began with the community in distress after the ordeal of war and internment and ended with most of the community leaving the country for Israel. Libya has often been cited as one of the examples of mass flight by Jews over a short period of time. However the motivation to abandon Libya does not on the surface seem as urgent as the decisions facing the communities of Yemen and Iraq that likewise fled en masse over a short period of time. What was unique about Libya? What happened that caused such an outburst of fear and willingness to abandon a country that had been home to Jews for so long? For the Jews of Libya the answer seems to lie in their refusal to resubmit to the insecurity of Arab rule after enjoying equal rights for so long under an Italian administration. The discrimination that accompanied the Racial Laws of 1938 seems to have not affected the community with similar distress because it was not accompanied by insecurity. Lastly the cause of the community’s sudden departure is also linked to the legality of that departure. Prior to 1948 only 873 Jews had fled illegally to Israel.[99] In 1948 a further 2500 made their way illegally to Palestine. Jews had also tried to flee through Italy and Tunisia, without much success.[100] In the studies on Jewish immigration from Libya historians seem to have ignored this vital fact, with the intension of linking the flight to the riots of 1945 or the creation of the State of Israel. It appears however that had immigration from Libya been legal prior to 1949 that large numbers of Libyan Jews may well have left, perhaps for Italy or elsewhere.








Courtesy Seth J. Frantzman



Bibliography



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Bard, Mitchell. Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed December 23rd, 2004. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/immigration_by_country.html

Elpeleg, Zvi. The Grand Mufti: Haj Amin Al-Hussaini, Founder of the Palestinian National Movement. London: Frank Cass 1993.

Farrell, Nicholas. Mussolini: A New Life. London: Phoenix 2003.

Felice, Renzo De. Jews in an Arab Land: Libya 1835-1970. Austin: University of Austin press, 1985.

Gilbert, Martin. Atlas of the Holocaust. London: Michael Joseph Limited, 1982.

Hirszowicz, Lukasz. Third Reich and Arab East. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1966.

Marshall, Charles. Discovering the Rommel Murder: The Life and Death of the Desert Fox. Philadelphia: Stackpole Books, 2002

Memmi, Albert, Who is an Arab Jew? February 1975. Accessed January 3rd, 2004. http://www.jimena-justice.org/faq/memmi.htm

Peters, Joan. From Time Immemorial. New York: Harper and Row, 1984.

Poliakov, Leon. Jews Under the Italian Occupation. Paris: Editions Du Centre, 1955.

Schechtman, Joseph B. On Wings of Eagles: The Plight, Exodus, and Homecoming of Oriental Jewry. New York: A.S Barnes and Company, 1961.

Shulewitz, Malka Hillel(ed.) The forgotten Millions: The Modern Jewish Exodus from Arab Lands. London: Cassel, 1999.

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The Jews of Libya. Accessed January 4th, 2004. http://geography.berkeley.edu/ProjectsResources/Libya/populat




Notes


[1] Renzo De Felice, Jews in an Arab Land. 285 an October 16th 1969 letter issued by the Revolutionary Council called for “The expulsion from Libyan territory of any foreign presence” page 285, and in Libya A Modern History John Wright writes “among the achievements of the revolution (of Gadaffi) in its first year were the erasing of the more obvious symbols of subservience to “colonialism and imperialism”. This meant the end of the Jewish communities…a reassertion of the country’s inherent Islamic character’. Page 75 in The Expulsion of the Jews from the Arab Countries by Yaakov Meron in The Forgotten Millions page 91.
[2] De Felice 2. It is also claimed by some that Libyan Jews had been residing in that area since the time of the first Temple. Lillo Arbid claimed “Jews have been living in Libya since the time of Kong Solomon” in The Forgotten Millions page 216.
[3] ibid
[4] De Felice 3
[5] Salo Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews page 172 in Jews in an Arab Land.
[6] Memmi, Albert. February 1975 Who is an Arab Jew. For further reading A Visit to the Jewish Cave Dwellers of Libya(1906) in The Jews of Arab Lands Modern Times page 207 and From Time Immemorial page 67. De Felice confirms the Almohad suppressions on page 3 and on page 10 confirms the prohibition against riding in the sight of a donkey. David Littman writes “The testimony of a Jew is not accepted(in court)…Arabs had plundered their little Synagogue and stolen the Scrolls” in De Felice page 10.
[7] Norman A. Stillman The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times. Page 31 and De Felice 11
[8] De Felice 14
[9] De Felice page 10 for David Littman’s report, and page 207 in Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times for the report of the Cave dwellers by Nahum Slouschz.
[10] From Schechtman, Joseph On Wings of Eagles page 127 and De Felice page 11-12.
[11] De Felice 63
[12] De Felice does not mention the actual application of this law. However Still in The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times page 9 explains that the law applied to all Ottoman administered areas, accepting lands such as Tunisia which was an “autonomous tributary state” page 12. One can assume that Libya, being under direct Ottoman military administration was affected by the law. No mention is made by De Felice of the Dhimmi status being rescinded by the Italian in 1911, but he does mention the Italian wish to “emancipate them from the inferior status which Muslim law imposed upon them” page 33. Joan Peters in From Time Immemorial writes that “with the Italian occupation in 1911, the Jews escaped from dhimmi status” page 69. Without a clear verdict by De Felice, who is the expert on Libyan Jewry, it is not readily clear what the exact impact of the Hamuyun law was.
[13] De Felice 19
[14] De Felice 21-24 presents a number of these letters.
[15] The 1931 population was 2706, page 63 of De Felice
[16] The Young Turk revolution took place prior to the commencing of hostilities, therefore I refer to it as Turkey, not the Ottoman Empire. See Farrell, Nicholas Mussolini: A New Life page 42.
[17] De Felice pages 11-12 from the Ottoman Census of 1911, published by the Italian authorities after the war.
[18] De Felice 26
[19] De Felice 40-41
[20] As translated and quoted by De Felice 33. In addition Jews possessed the language requirements to act as a go between for the Italian authorities. “Jews were essential for making contact with the Arab population.” De Felice on page 33.
[21] De Felice page 33. he also writes “from the earliest phase of the operation, the Italians were aware…of the political meaning relations with the Jews were bound to assume”.
[22] In outlying areas such as Zanzur and Amruss Jews had been assaulted by Arabs just prior to the outbreak of the war. De Felice 41.
[23] De Felice 36
[24] De Felice presents all these problems in detail. Page 43 sums up some of the issue of traditional feelings towards Sunday, as a holiday.
[25] The best book on the subject is Peter Hopkirk’s Like Hidden Fire which explains the German intrigues in World War One to create a ‘holy war’ against the British and French.
[26] De Felice 50.
[27] De Felice 54
[28] Schechtman 129 On Wings of Eagles. There is an idea that in the time following the Romans some Berber tribes may have converted to Judaism, when Jews mingled with them in the interior. Nevertheless Jews of the Interior did suffer ‘renewed violence…during the early stages of the revolt.” De Felice 72.
[29] De Felice 40 and De Felice 72.
[30] De Felice 74
[31] Stillman remarks that most Jews were not citizens of Italy, page 324
[32] ibid
[33] Stillman79 he comments that Libyan Zionism was “not the secular variety found in Europe and Palestine, but a Zionism that emphasized traditional spiritual and cultural values” page 63. Nhaisi was one of those movers who single handedly seems to have galvanized the Zionist community. He served as a correspondent for La settimana Israelitica and founded the Circolo Sion a club that later became the major opposition to the leaders of the Libyan Jewish community. See De Filice page 45 for more. The Jewish national Fund opened its doors for the first time in Libya in 1914 De Felice photo following page 116.
[34] Stillman 324, the speech was given by a member of Circolo Sion.
[35] De Felice 78
[36] For more information on this subject see Poliakov, Leon, Jews Under the Italian Occupation
[37] Schechtman 129
[38] Schechtman 127 and De Felice pages 62-63.
[39] Arbid, Lillo as written in Appendix 2 The Forgotten Millions. Page 218
[40] De Felice 78
[41] Joseph B. Schechtman On Wings of Eagles 130
[42] De Felice pages 75-77 describes several incidents. The Tripoli Correspondent of Israel wrote that “Fortunately, the brawl did not last long, due to the effective intervention of some fascist militia together with duty officers assigned to the Jewish quarter and the prompt appearance of several patrols of metropolitan soldiers held in readiness in case the Arabs provoked disorder…larger patrols are continually inspecting the quarter, giving is the appearance of a small town under siege…As we write, the Italian soldiers are still mounting guard in the Jewish quarter.” It is worth wondering if Jews later seeing how British rule treated them, that lack of security made them feel unprotected from these roaming mobs, and the unpredictable Arab rule that came later. One might also be interested in contrasting this ‘fascist’ behavior with the attitude of the Nazis on Kristalnacht.
[43] Schechtman 127 Royal Decree Law, December 3, 1934 No. 2012, and Law of April 11, 1935, No. 675. Were the Jews equal under the law before this? It appears as if this decree was simply a reorganization of the rights of the community as set forth in 1916. De Felice comments briefly on this on page 126.
[44] De Felice 144
[45] Ernesto Queirolo, governor of Tripolitania on September 7, 1926, requesting to amend the 1916 law that granted the Jewish community rights in regards to its traditions. De Felice 126. The Sabbath was observed quite strictly, in 1932 only one shopkeeper, a Tunisian, is reported to have opened his shop in Tripoli on Saturdays. Page 135, De Felice.
[46] Italo Balbo, governor of Libya, explaining the November 6th, 1934 order to force Jewish merchants in the new city to open on Shabbat.
[47] De Felice 154
[48] From the Journal Israel January 12, 1933 as quoted by De Felice pages 139-140.
[49] It is also worthwhile to point out that this forced modernization linked the Italian and Jewish communities, linking their fates as well.
[50] Farrell, Mussolini: A New Life 241. In 1932 Mussolini claimed “naturally there is no such thing as a pure race, not even a Jewish one…Race: it is a sentiment, not a reality, it is 95% sentiment. I don’t believe it is possible to prove biologically that a race is more or less pure…Anti-Semitism does not exist in Italy. The Jews have always behaved well as citizens, and as soldiers, they have fought courageously.” Page 305-306. Enciclopedia Italian claimed in 1935 “there does not exist, the gravest error of all, an Aryan race.” 1937 seems to have been the turning point. L’Avvvenire di Tripoli began publishing anti-Semitic articles in coalition with the Italian press on the mainland(Schechtman 130 and Farrell 306). At this time 50,000 Jews resided in Italy, a population that grew with more then 20,000 Jewish refugees from persecution elsewhere.
[51] De Felice 170 quotes a report by Roberto Arbid on the meeting.
[52] Nicholas Farrell Mussolini: A New Life, page 308
[53] Schechtman 131 Upon arriving in Israel“13 percent of Iraqi men completed high school while only 3 per cent of Libyans did so.” in Dominitz, Yehuda immigration and absorption of Jews from Arab countries in Forgotten Millions. Page 160. The explanation for this is usually given that Libyan Jews were more traditional and many living in a tribal manner in the interior had no schools. It is also possible to link this to the racial laws which would have deprived half a generation of high school from 1938-1943 and beyond.
[54] The date may be incorrect, it is reported by De Felice that Badoglio was ‘about to resign’ in December of 1933, page 133. Yet Farrell reports that Balbo was exiled to Libya by Mussolini in 1924, page 231. It seems more likely that Balbo may have been ‘banished’ to Libya in the 1920s but did not become governor until 1934.
[55] As reported by Roberto Arbib, and translated by De Felice page 170.
[56] An Egyptian Jewish press Account reprinted in Stillman 399.
[57] It is worth quoting a portion of this letter in full to give an understanding:
“In this region the Jewish population has special characteristics of quality and numbers. It is important ethnic element since about one fifth of the total population of Tripoli is Jewish. The presence in Libya of strong groups of Jews dates back tot time immemorial: in the time of Augustus they were enjoying the protection of the Romans. Even before the Italian occupation the Jews received protection from Italy, set up schools, and spread the Italian language. Most of them live in very backward social conditions, and do not take the slightest par in political activities. They are mostly peaceful and timid, craftsmen and peddlers keeping to their modest little workshops and stalls, intent only on making a living from their occupation.
In contrast with this vast majority, a few dozen wealthy Jews run almost all local industry and trade, are the banks main clients, and provide the funds for most the Muslim business enterprises. If Jews suddenly stopped participating in the economy before they could be replaced by a group of catholic merchants and industrialists, there would be economic imbalances in Libya.” De Felice page 172
[58] In reply to the above letter, Balbo had requested the Jews be kept on as clerks and as employees in large industrial plants, as well as in hospitals. De Felice 172-173.
[59] Ibid 177
[60] Peters, page 69
[61] Farrell 345, and Hirszowicz Third Reich and the Arab East map.
[62] De Felice, from Geographical Distribution of Libyan Jews, 1936. Page 347.
[63] De Felice 173
[64] ibid 174
[65] De Felice pages 179-180 and page 360. “The Jews were generally sympathetic to the occupiers…There were come cases of outright collaboration with the occupiers(especially by British and French Jews)” Page 178.
[66] De Felice 181
[67] De Felice 361
[68] Schechtman 132 claims 2800 and 1400 while Lillo Arbid claims 2600 and 1000 on page 218 of The Forgotten Millions. Syrte had a total population of 341 Jews in 1936 and Misurata a population of 838. This appears as if the entire communities were rounded up, although neither was deported.
[69] Schechtman 132 Palestinian Jewish troops opened Hebrew schools and repaired a damaged synagogue as reported on page 133.
[70] De Felice 212
[71] Stillman on page 138 comments that by 1945 a majority of the Libyan Jews had become Zionists.
[72] Schechtman 137
[73] De Felice gives the number as 130 on page 194, whereas Lillo Arbid gives the figure as 140, Appendix 2 page 217 of The Forgotten Millions.
[74] De Felice 366-368
[75] Schechtman page 134 “During general strikes called by the Arab nationalist organizations on the twenty-eight anniversary of the Balfour declaration, Jewish shops and homes were attacked by the Arab mobs of Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, and El Mansura. Radio and Press reports of this onslaught had reached Tripolitania within two days.”
[76] De felice, quoting a Zionist report.
[77] Ibid 205 Lillo Arbid also makes this claim page 218 appendix 2 Forgotten Millions. It should be noted the British were courting the Arab masses, and had encouraged Jewish children to attend Arab schools.
[78] De Felice 195
[79] It is worth mentioning that the riots did not spread to Cyrenaica, where 4500 Jews had returned after their ordeal during the war. The Sanusi leadership, not wanting to discredit itself, preempted the riots and no disturbances took place. De Felice 205
[80] Schechtman 136
[81] It is worth pondering how it is possible that the Italian administration, which was not known for its efficiency was able to keep the peace and the British, who are known in general to be excellent colonial administrators, were not.
[82] Schechtman 138
[83] De Felice 225, The first thirty five refugees from the 1948 riots arrived in Rome in August, page 141 Schechtman. It is interesting that the Jews choose Italy, a country that had enacted racial laws against them, as the nation they wished most would protect them. This shows the total breakdown in relations between the British and Jewish community of Libya.
[84] Schechtman 138, 4 Arabs were also killed by the Haganah trained Jewish defenders. Arbid claims 15 were killed page 218 Forgotten Millions.
[85] Page 230
[86] Schechtman 140
[87] Schechtman 129
[88] De Felice 227
[89] De Felice 219. The reports of the assaults on Jews, recorded in Peters pages 69-70, Stillman 145, Schechtman 138, all give detailed descriptions of the cruelty and savagery of the attacks, I have omitted the descriptions here but it is worthwhile reading to get a sense of the urgency the community must have felt after hearing such reports.
[90] Stillman 457
[91] Schechtman page 143 and De Felice 379
[92] Dominitz, Yehuda immigration and absorption of Jews from Arab countries in Forgotten Millions. Page 158.
[93] Shulewitz, Malka ‘Exchanges of Populations Worldwide’ in Forgotten millions page 133. Lillo Arbid makes a similar claim in Appendix 2 of Forgotten Millions page 219. Joan Peters insinuates the same claim on page 70.
[94] Schechtman page 145, claims 1,146 in 1952, and 641 between 1953-1958, with only 4300 left in the country after that. Around 6000 would be the total for January 1952. De felice claims on page 250 that “about 4000 Jews intending to stay in Libya.”
[95] 10 percent of 38,000 is 3,800, but Schechtman claims 4300 Jews remained in Libya. De Felice confirms that 4000 stayed in Libya on page 250.
[96] De felice 211 and 229.
[97] Schechtman 144
[98] Schechtman 144
[99] Schechtman 147
[100] De Felice 228