Editor's Note: In the wake of the barbaric desecration of Second World War graves of Commonwealth soldiers by jihadis in Libya, Ahmed Shebani, founder of the Democratic Party in Libya, issued a press release condemning the action; "Certainly, the dark forces of Wahabism have no place in democratic Libya." That message was encouraging. Unfortunately, most of Mr. Shebani's statement centered around an implausible conspiracy by Saudi intelligence which seemed to at least partly absolve Libyans of guilt for the atrocity -- falling into the timeless trap of blaming foreigners for their own failings. As Jewish Libyan refugee Gina Waldman's response shows, the desecration of the graves was not an isolated incident, but simply another example of Libyans' deep-seated intolerance for religious minorities that predates the Ghadafi era. Below, read Ms. Waldman's response:
Dear Mr. Shebani:
Although I applaud you for being the founder of the Democratic Party in Libya, as a Libyan Jew I add my voice to calls that you take responsibility for the actions of your people. The Libyan people need to confront the blatant violations of human rights which they have perpetrated against their own Jewish population. They have humiliated us, confiscated our properties and all...More >>
I left Libya over 42 years ago when the mobs were roaming the streets. They were not chanting for democracy or yearning for freedom they were looking for Jews. I am a Libyan Jew. I have now lived in the Bay Area for forty years. The upheavals sweeping Libya open old wounds. Violent political culture has often been part of Libyan society, especially towards its Jews.
There was a Jewish presence in the region since the 3rd century BCE – one millennium prior to the advent of Islam. We were "tolerated" to varying degrees by successive rulers and continued to be part of a rich and ongoing thread in the fabric of Libyan society.
During WWII, when the Germans invaded North Africa, there were 36,000 Jews living in Libya, mostly residing in Tripoli and Benghazi.
In 1942, over 2,000 Jews were deported to Nazi labor camps. More than 500 perished. Members of my family died in the Giado Labor Camp in Libya.
After WWII, Arab nationalism spread throughout the Middle East and...More >>
I am also a refugee from the Arab countries. But I am not a Palestinian. I am a Jewish refugee forced out of the land of my birth in Libya.
I know that Jewish refugees from the Arab countries were larger in numbers than the Palestinian refugees. Yet, we have been successfully integrated. So I ask the question: "Why do the Palestinians still remain in squalid refugee camps?"
My thoughts turn to those savage days when my family fled Libya in 1967. We narrowly escaped death at the hands of a bus driver who, instead of taking us to the airport, tried to burn us alive inside the bus.
I am one of nearly one million Jews indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa who were forced to flee their ancestral homes in the last 60 years. I am now the voice of an Arab minority culture that has been ethnically cleansed.
I left Libya over 42 years ago when the mobs were roaming the streets. They were not chanting for democracy or yearning for freedom they were looking for Jews. I am a Libyan Jew. I have now lived in the Bay Area for forty years. The upheavals sweeping Libya open old wounds. Violent political culture has often been part of Libyan society, especially towards its Jews.
Lebanon's parliament recently passed a law allowing 
