Laura Saada, Tripoli, Libya, 2018

Tripoli

In Arabic: طرابلس‎‎

The largest city in Libya. Includes the Port of Tripoli.

Tripoli was founded in the 7th century B.C.E by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BCE who named the area Wiat (Oea in Latin). Towards the second half of the 2nd century BCE Oea was ruled by the Romans who designated it as part of Africa, and referred to the region as Regio Tripolitana, "region of three cities:" Oea (modern Tripoli), and its neighbors Sabratha and Leptis (modern Homs). A Roman road map from the 4th century indicates a Jewish neighborhood named Scina (or Iscina), Locus Judaeorum Augusti ("Scina, Locality of the Jews of the Emperor") in the vicinity of Oea; they were probably captives.

During the second half of the 11th century, there was a beit din in Tripoli that was independent from the Palestinian beit din. The Jewish community went through a difficult period under the rule of the Knights of Malta and Spain (1510-1551), but the Ottoman conquest in 1551 once again allowed the community to flourish, and many Jews from small rural communities began settling in Tripoli; there is evidence that at the end of the 16th century descendants of Spanish Jews who were expelled from Christian Europe also settled in Tripoli. During the 17th century Jews from Leghorn (Livorno) Italy, most of whom were merchants, also began to settle in Tripoli. During the reign of the Turkish Qaramanli Dynasty (1711-1835), Tripoli became a haven for Jewish refugees from Tunis and Algiers. The Jews of Tripoli played an important role in trade with Europe and Africa; others held diplomatic and consular positions.

The Jews of Libya were under the sole jurisdiction of the community of Tripoli. From the middle of the 18th century the presidents of the community represented Libyan Jewry before the government; during the period of Turkish rule, these presidents attended the governor's council meetings. They were also authorized to implement prison sentences, and to inflict corporal punishment on offenders.

In 1549 Rabbi Simeon Labi, a kabbalist from Morocco of Spanish origin, stopped in Tripoli on the way to Eretz Yisrael. Finding the population woefully ignorant of Torah, he decided to stay as a teacher; he is generally credited with the revival of Jewish learning in the city, and is considered to be one of Tripoli's greatest scholars. Abraham Miguel Cardoso, who would later become one of the leaders of the Sabbatean movement, settled in Tripoli in 1663. Beginning in the mid-18th century, the dayyanim and the prominent chakhamim of Tripoli mostly arrived from Turkey and Palestine, returning home after holding office in Tripoli.

In 1749 Rabbi Mas'ud Hai Rakah, an emissary from Jerusalem, arrived in Tripoli. He was joined by his son-in-law, Rabbi Nathan Adadi, who was born in Palestine and later returned there. Rabbi Rakah's grandson, Abraham Chayyim Adadi, settled in Tripoli after the 1837 earthquake in Safed and accomplished a great deal as the community's dayyan and chakham; he also retired to Safed. After his death in 1874, the Ottoman government in Istanbul issued a royal order appointing Elijah Hazzan as chakham bashi (chief rabbi); Rabbi Hazzan also represented Tripolitanian Jewry before the government. Subsequently, the Italian government continued this tradition after they first came to power and appointed Rabbi Elia Samuele Artom as chakham bashi.

In 1705 and 1793 the Jews of Tripoli were saved from the danger of extermination by foreign invaders. Two local Purim days were fixed to commemorate these events: Purim ash-Sharif on 23 Tevet in 1705, and Purim Burgul on 29 Tevet in 1793.

In 1835, Tripoli was again under Ottoman rule and the Jewish community once again flourished. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Italy, which was established in 1861, attempted to exert its influence Tripoli, especially within the Jewish community. Indeed, the first European school in the city was established in 1876 by Italian Jews, responding to Jews in Tripoli who wanted to increase their economic and social ties with Italy. The community became divided between the conservatives, who generally supported the Turks and Ottoman rule, and those who favored Italy and were drawn to European culture. After the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912), Tripoli became part of the Kingdom of Italy. During the period of Italian rule (1911-1943), the Jews of Tripoli enjoyed complete emancipation until World War II. They worked as craftsmen, traders, builders, carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors, cobblers, and wholesale and retail merchants; the textile trade and gold and silversmithing were exclusively Jewish professions.

The Paris-based school Alliance Israelite Universelle was opened in 1890 and ran until 1960 when it was closed after the mass immigration to Israel. By 1950 the city also had a Talmud Torah, a Youth Aliyah school, and a school for the children of Jews who had moved from villages to Tripoli. There were also Jewish children who attended Italian schools. There was also a branch of the Zionist sports and culture organization, Maccabi, which ran from 1920 until December 1953.

Until 1929, when internal conflicts prompted the Italian authorities to appoint a non-Jewish Italian official to take charge of the community's affairs, the Jewish community of Tripoli was run by a committee. Subcommittees were responsible for providing services for the poor. The community was funded through taxes on kosher meat, matzah sales, and community dues. In 1916 Zionists made up 11 of the 31 seats on the committee.

By 1931 there were 21,000 Jews living in Libya, most of whom lived in Tripoli. Their socioeconomic status was generally good until 1939 when the Fascist Italian regime began passing anti-Semitic laws. Jews were consequently fired from government jobs, Jewish students were not allowed to attend public or private Italian schools, and citizenship papers belonging to Jews were stamped with the label "Jewish race."

During World War II, the Jewish quarter in Tripoli was often used to store Italian anti-aircraft, and so was bombed by British and French forces; one attack left 30 Jewish people dead, and destroyed 4 synagogues. Jewish graves were stripped of their tombstones to provide fortifications, and the Jewish cemetery was also used for anti-aircraft positions and bombed. Nonetheless, the Jews of Tripoli were relatively fortunate. Those holding British or French citizenship were deported to the concentration camp Jado; the rest were required to supply workers for labor camps building roads and railroads. Though the living conditions in these labor camps were poor, the workers nevertheless received adequate food and medical care.

In spite of the war's hardships, in 1941 there was still a large Jewish community in Tripoli; 25% of the city's population was Jewish, and there were 44 active synagogues. In 1943, when the British liberated the city, the Jews of Tripoli numbered approximately 15,000.

The worst anti-Semitic violence in Tripoli would actually occur after World War II. In 1945, following Libyan independence, there was a pogrom in the city. During these riots 120-140 Jews were killed, hundreds more were injured, and property was looted; the British, who at that point were occupying Tripoli, were blamed for their slow response to the violence. A secret armed Jewish defense movement was formed after the pogrom. The pogrom would also set into motion the emigration of Jews from Libya.

Approximately 20,000 Jews lived in Tripoli in 1948. That year there were more anti-Jewish riots that broke out in Tripoli. This time the Jewish self-defense units, which had been organized after the previous pogrom, enabled the Jews to fight back against the Muslim rioters. In the end, 13-14 Jews and 4 Arabs were killed, 38 Jews and 51 Arabs were injured; there was also major property damage. What had been a trickle of Jewish emigration to Palestine after the riots of 1945 quickly became a flood of Jews leaving Tripoli for the new State of Israel.

According to the 1962 census, taken after the mass emigration to Israel during the late forties and early fifties, only 6,228 Jews remained in Tripoli (3% of the city's population of 19,000). The majority of Jews who remained after 1962 were wealthy merchants who were closely connected to Italy and lived there for part of the year. Further riots after the Six Day War in 1967 prompted most Jews to leave for Italy and Israel.

After Muammar Gaddafi came to power in 1969 he expelled the remaining Jews from Libya. He also confiscated all property belonging to Jews, and cancelled all debts owed to Libyan Jews. In 1970, there were only several dozen Jews living in the town. By 1974 there were no more than 20 Jews in Libya. By the end of the 20th century there were no more Jews in Tripoli; the last Jew left in Libya was granted permission to leave for Italy in 2003.