The big story all over Arabic-language news outlets is that embattled Libyan president Mu’ammar Gaddafi is secretly a Jew (see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, for example). This points to the general antisemitic attitudes of the Muslim and Arab world–else why would this be such a big story? Muslims frequently contend that they are anti-Israeli or anti-Zionist but not anti-Jewish. But that doesn’t explain this story, as Gaddafi’s grandmother apparently was a Jew of Libyan descent, and even converted to Islam. Would there have been such a ruckus if it had been discovered that Gaddafi secretly had a Swedish grandmother, for example? The following is a translation of just one of the stories from Arab press (original Arabic here):
Israeli Magazine: Gaddafi Is of Jewish Descent
Radinat Faris – Gaza
Israeli media outlets continued to follow-up on the news about Libyan president Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi, especially after the appearance of two Jewish women on Channel 2 on Israeli television, confirming that he is the son of their sister.
For its part, the Hebrew magazine “Israel Today” alleged that al-Gaddafi was from Jewish descent. Therefore, it was his right to seek refuge in Israel. Guaita Brown and her granddaughter Rachel Sa’da, both Jewish women from Libyan descent, confirmed that al-Gaddafi was from Jewish descent. Guaita Brown pointed to the fact that her grandmother and al-Gaddafi’s grandmother were sisters.
Meanwhile Sa’da made clear that al-Gaddafi’s grandmother was Jewish, and that she had married someone from the same religion. However, he abused her, so she left him and married a Muslim, (who was) a tribal leader. By him she gave birth to a daughter, who was al-Gaddafi’s mother. The magazine stated that even though al-Gaddafi’s mother converted to Islam when she married that leader, she remains–according to Israeli law–Jewish.
originally posted on Translating Jihad