Well more accurately I have rarely been prouder to be a Jew (my bar mitzvah in Israel was probably my proudest moment as a Jew). But "rarely been prouder" does not make a good diary title. Still the news that this diary relates truly brought a smile to my face.
The World Organization of Libyan Jews has recognized the National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya.
Excerpts below the fold. . .
In letter to head of Libyan National Transitional Council, the Israeli president of WOLJ, offers his organization’s support, assistance.
The World Organization of Libyan Jews, representing 200,000 former refugees, most of whom live in Israel, has officially recognized the Benghazi-based rebels – the Libyan National Transitional Council – as Libya’s legitimate government.
In a letter to Mustafa Abdul Jalil, head of the NTC, the Israeli president of WOLJ, Meir Kahlon, offered his organization’s support and assistance.
This history of Jews in Libya is too long to relate in this diary, but you can find a great article on it on wikipedia. Jews lived in Libya from the 3rd century BCE until the 1970's, although the last Jew of Libya did not leave until 2003. Jews were already leaving Libya before Gaddafi's coup due to the anti-semitic policies of Italy's fascist government and the post-WW2 Libyan government. When Gaddafi came to power, he instituted even more discriminatory laws, including confiscation of all Jewish-owned property.
So it was a real sign of how desperate Gaddafi was when he tried to improve his image by inviting Jews to come back to Libya on June 9, 2011. Gaddafi sent a letter to Raphael Luzon, chairman of Jews of Libya UK, inviting him personally and all Libyan Jews generally to become part of Libya's society again. Luzon rejected the effort. For a people who have mostly been separated from their homes for 40 years, this must have been a difficult thing to do even though the offer came at the hands of someone who has clearly shown himself to be an anti-semite.
But this was not the end of Gaddafi's attempt to use Jews to improve his image. Gaddafi also sent a delegation to meet with Tzipi Livni, Israel's opposition leader and Jews of Libyan descent in Israel. Apparently, the delegation offered to give money to these Libyan exiles to start a Libyan political party. Once again, the offer was rejected.
And yet despite all this pressure from Gaddafi to come back to Libya on his terms, the Libyan Jewish Diaspora rejected each attempt and have now recognized the National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya. Reportedly, the letter sent by Meir Kahlon was "well received." This was not the first action in support of Libya from Jews from the diaspora.
Dr. David Gerbi, an Italian Jew of Libyan descent and a psychologist, became the first Libyan Jew to recognize the NTC as the legitimate government of Libya. In addition, Dr. Gerbi went to Libya and has been helping Libyan citizens deal with post-traumatic stress and teaching others in Libya on how to help people cope with that stress. The bravery of Dr. Gerbi is immense. Not only did he go into a war zone, but he could not be sure that he would not be greeted by anti-semitism and violence which Gaddafi has tried to inspire in Libyans since his coup in 1969. Still, he went and has been doing great humanitarian work.
I have been following the Libyan revolution since late February. I joined Eyes on Egypt and the Region mostly because I wanted to continue to follow Libya. Thus I was really happy to see that Jews of Libyan descent see their future in a free and democratic Libya. Hopefully, with the recognition of the NTC by the U.S. and 30 other nations this weekend and the military victories that the National Liberation Army is winning in Brega, Zliten, Bir al-Ghanam and the Nafusa mountains, Libya will soon be free.