Despite our good will, we had to listen to the condescending remarks of the Arabs over and over again. The Arab representatives seemed all to have learned the same story: "The Arabs and Jews of Libya have lived in peace for hundreds of years. Relations among them were always excellent, as evidenced by fruitful economic ties, wherein the Arabs conducted agricultural work and the Jews engaged in commerce and crafts." No one seemed to have an explanation for why Pogroms were conducted against the Jews. The Jews, they said, were always an integral part of the population of Libya. Libya, in its fight for independence, was in need of unification of all its forces. As such, the Jews were considered nationals and their contribution was vital to the fight for independence. None of the participants mentioned the Zionist activity conducted by the local Jewish youth. Neither did anyone mention that the State of Israel was founded just a month ago. Att. Ali Regib spoke about his plan for the unification of Libya and Egypt...
The Jewish youth of Libya wanted to leave the country. They shouted to the Kadi and the Mufti at the entrance to the Dar Elrussi Talmud Torah School: "He who stays in Libya might as well wait for the waters of the Nile to reach its shores!" The Jewish Community Council was prepared to support the quest for independence among the majority of the Arab population (which they had already begun to do in recent months with participation in the various party activities - "Gibha and Antania," Kotla el Ve'atania," and Hizb el Amal"). However, at the same time, the Council wanted to assure the rights of the Jewish youth to migrate to Israel without restrictions.
This was the first time Arab leaders in Libya had been faced with the problem of Jewish emigration and with the Palestinian Problem. The emigration of Jews would, in fact, have solved some problems. It would have reduced the number of Jews in Libya and given the Arabs a chance to take their places in the commercial and crafts occupations.
Generally speaking, Mr. Arbib acquired the approval of the participants with regard to most of his arguments; the implementation of his agenda, however, proved highly problematic. The presence [in Libya] of leaders who would have otherwise been restricted from such a gathering during the Italian period, such as Bashir Asadui, Chalad bi Gragani, Mansur bi Gidara, and others, was sufficient cause for the plan to fail. The Arabs usually feared one another, and no one would take the responsibility of such a plan on himself, even if it were entirely in their own best interests. Everyone was afraid of the reactions of the Arab League!
When the British representatives tried to formulate a statement to the press, the Arabs adamantly opposed any official remarks, even though they had previously agreed, in principle, with the issues presented by Mr. Arbib. Mr. Z'kinu Arbib, in his convincing manner and with his polished Hebrew speech, finally proposed an agreement that would not be made public. The proposal included the following items:
Each one of the Jews present at the meeting would become a member of one of the current political parties, and thereby would lend complete support to the Libyan struggle for independence. In this way, they would also oppose the decrees of Bevin and Sforza, which advocated issuing a 10 year mandate to Italy.
Representatives of the Jewish Community Council would support the organization of Arabs in trades, gradually replacing Jews in the textile field, welding, commerce, and export and import.
The Military Government (BMA) would authorize the establishment of a Jewish Immigration Office, in cooperation with the Jewish Community Council, and the Arabs would promise to allow unobstructed migration activity.
All of the above proposals were unanimously approved. Even though the day did not end with an official statement, everyone was pleased with the results. The final agreement, although not written down, was implemented in full, without any obstacles.
Before leaving the ship, the participants were given a tour of the machine room and of the flight deck by one of the officers. Representatives of the press and the political party heads wanted to commemorate the historic occasion with a photograph. As a sign of friendship, Mr. Arbib was pictured in the center.
During the week after this historic meeting, Mustafa bi Mizran, the principal of the Vocational School, initiated a framework for the establishment of a cooperative of welders and copper artisans, which would assist in the purchase of shops and tools from the Jewish artisans who were preparing to migrate. Many of the Jewish artisans, who had learned their trades over a period of hundreds of years from their forefathers, were prepared to teach their crafts to the local Arabs. Life began to slowly revitalize, and many families who were interned in the displaced persons camps returned to their homes.
With regard to political activity, Mr. Z'kinu Arbib joined the Gibha el Vatania Party, Professor George Pagani was active in Kotla V'atania el Hora (the Liberal Party), and Mr. Arbib joined Hizab el Umal (the Labor Party).
None of the participants in the aircraft carrier peace conference, neither Arab nor Jew, would ever have dreamed that the Pogrom of Shavuot, 1948, could have such "Zionistic" results.
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