An interesting item about Gaddafi from the NodeWorks Encyclapedia.
It reads:
"Qaddafi was the youngest child from a nomadic Bedouin peasant family in the desert region of Sirte. His mother was a Jew converted to Islam at age nine. This technically makes Qaddafi Jewish according to Judaism."
While this piece of information has always been quite wide spread and discussed -- in hush terms - in Libya for as long as I remember, there seem now to be more online mentions of it . Here is a link to a canned Google search about this.
I wonder if anyone here can shed more light on this?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
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4 comments:
This type of post lowers the credibility of the blog in general
You are absolutely right if you assume that this post is meant to imply that having a Jewish mother is an insult. I assure that this is not the case here. I never thought that Gaddafi has any thing to apologize for about who his mother is. In fact he should be proud of it, but I think he should be ashamed of his thoughts, words, and actions for almost 40 years. The question about his mother is interesting on may levels however. The notion that the head of an Arab country can be considered Jewish or of Jewish decent is interesting and reveals a lot about the Libyan Jewish heritage. It is also interesting in understanding the mind of Gaddafi , who was at least in hi early years, so vehemently against Libyan Jews. I hope the picture is a little clearer now
Dear Hafed,
Although I agree with you that there is nothing wrong with being a Jew or of Jewish descendent, I think you are mistaken to think that Qaddafi was a Jew "at least in his early years" since the article if we are to take it as accurate indicates that his mother converted while she was 9 years old. way before she bore her son.
Regards,
Munder
Indeed this topic has been widely discussed among Libyans and there is a significant body of circumstances/indications/questions that makes it a legitimate and serious subject to discuss on this blog or any where else.
Most revealing is questions about the virtual non-existence of the family of Gaddafi's mother (maternal uncles, etc.).
While there is absolutely no mention of them, Gaddafi's paternal family/tribe enjoy a very prominent profile and are partners if not de facto rulers.
I will add the following:
In a 1973 interview with the late Ahamad Sidqui al-Dajani and Ibrahim al-Ghwell, published in "Al-Balagh" newspaper, Gaddafi relates this childhood memory, "I used to have nightmares about German soldiers..."
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Jews):
"In 1942 as German troops were fighting the Allies in North Africa, they occupied the Jewish quarter of Benghazi, plundered shops, deported more than 2,000 Jews across the desert, where more than one-fifth of them perished, and sent many Jews to work in labor camps."
My best du'a
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