The Divergence of Judaism and Islam: Interdependence, Modernity, and Political Turmoil

16. Zionism and Judeo-Islamic Relations in the Middle East: Libya’s Ideological and Political Position

16 Zionism and Judeo-Islamic Relations in the Middle East Libya’s Ideological and Political Position Yehudit Ronen Since 1 September 1969, Mu῾ammar al-Qadhafi has led Libya with an iron fist, dominating the country’s domestic and foreign affairs. One of the focal issues on the agenda of the new regime was the Arab-Israeli conflict, which was viewed through the filters of Pan-Arab ideology inherited from Egypt’s president, Gamal ῾Abd al-Nasser (1952–70). An unequivocal rejection of Zionism and a negation of the right of the state of Israel to exist characterized the Libyan perception of the conflict throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Nevertheless, during the 1990s and the early 2000s, the Libyan state underwent a series of substantial changes—some initiated from within the country and others imposed or triggered from outside. These changes affected Libya’s internal agenda and foreign affairs, making their impact felt on Tripoli’s approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict and to JewishMuslim relations. One of the significant changes was Qadhafi’s partial sharing of political power with his son Saif al-Islam, albeit informally, allowing him wide room for his diplomatic and political initiation. At that juncture, Libya was experiencing particularly difficult times. Its sole international supporter, the Soviet Union, had collapsed at the beginning of the 1990s, destabilizing the Libyan state and exposing it to the perilous Zionism and Judeo-Islamic Relations in the Middle East: Libya’s Position · 307 pressure of the Western world led by the United States. The imposition of stringent UN sanctions on Libya, widely known as the Lockerbie sanctions , caused untold harm to the Libyan state and society and was a telling illustration of Libya’s vulnerability in the reality of the “New World Order.”1 Yet significant new prospects for extricating Libya from its prolonged suffering appeared in the offing at the end of the 1990s in the wake of the suspension of the Lockerbie sanctions. For Qadhafi, this opened an unprecedented window of opportunity for rehabilitating his country’s global standing and for reinvigorating Libya’s internal affairs. Qadhafi was acutely aware of both the threats and prospects inherent in these new circumstances, and he believed that there was a need to embark on a dramatic shakeup. He placed his son Saif al-Islam—a fresh, daring, and loyal figure—in a position of significant political influence, a move which various circles in Libya and abroad have interpreted as his first act in preparing Saif al-Islam for the Libyan “throne.”2 Indeed, it was not long before Saif al-Islam began to generate farreaching changes in both the internal and external affairs of the country, shocking those who had adhered so rigidly to Qadhafi’s ideological and diplomatic agenda over the past three and a half decades in power. One of the areas in which Saif al-Islam has unmistakably left his impression is the Libyan discourse on the cluster of topics pertaining to Zionism, Jewish-Muslim coexistence, and Israeli-Arab dialogue. Particularly significant among these issues was his extraordinary approach to the Holocaust and to the Arab-Israeli conflict where he clearly deviated, at least verbally, from the long-standing negative Libyan position. This article surveys and analyzes Qadhafi’s and Saif al-Islam’s seemingly irreconcilable positions toward the Arab-Israeli conflict and other related topics, examining the differences and the motivations behind them, while also dealing with the question of whether this divergence has indeed been substantive or merely tactical in nature. The chapter also deals with the question of whether one may identify the initiation of a bridging process between Muslim Arab Libya and the Jewish Israeli state. The period reviewed addresses the major part of Qadhafi’s reign, covering the years 1969–2006. The discussion draws primarily on Libyan material, while relying on a broad range of primary Middle Eastern and Western sources as well. 308 · Yehudit Ronen Waving the Banner of Hatred toward the Jewish State: Motivations and Gains Once in power, Qadhafi missed no opportunity to express his virulent hatred toward and unequivocal negation of the right of the “Zionist entity ” to exist. Accordingly, Qadhafi and his state-controlled media never employed the term “the state of Israel,” using instead pejorative terminology such as the “Zionist enemy” or the “so-called state of Israel,” as well as other denunciations aimed at delegitimizing Israel. This attitude of utter rejection reflected...