190 · Rachel Simon
trade. Thus, some 80 to 90 percent of the trade houses in Tripoli were
in Jewish hands. The indigenous Muslims were mainly farmers and
herdsmen—as well as administrators, soldiers, and policemen. The vital
economic role of the Jews got them the protection of the society among
which they lived. Jewish peddlers made their lengthy rounds in the coun-
tryside safely, sometime returning home only for the High Holidays and
Passover. The trust was mutual: Jewish peddlers were the sole non-kin
males who were allowed to have direct contact in private with Muslim
women, and when peddlers spent the night with Muslims, their hosts
knew which foods were allowed to Jews.^54 Still, there were many in-
stances of tension resulting from Jewish control over trade, capital, and
some crafts. Violence on this background was manifested mainly at times
of political and security unrest—mainly in the late Ottoman period and
the BMA—when the protection of the authorities was not always mani-
fested in a decisive manner. In these periods, incidents of robbery and
murder of Jewish peddlers and moneylenders increased as did attempts
to seize control over Jewish real estate in the countryside.
The vital economic role of the Jews was felt especially when they re-
frained from work or migrated in protest of government policy or ha-
rassment by their neighbors. During the late Ottoman period, the Jews
held several prayer assemblies in protest of decrees imposed by the au-
thorities. These gatherings of the whole community caused a complete
economic standstill in Tripoli and forced the authorities to withdraw
the decrees.^55 In another case, the Jews left the town of Zawiyah because
of Muslim religious scheming; once the Muslims felt that their economic
life depended on the Jews, they promised not to plot against them once
they returned.^56 When the mass Jewish emigration started in 1949, the
Muslim population, especially in the small towns and villages of the
hinterland, expressed fears regarding the loss of the economic services
that the Jews used to provide.^57 After 1952, most of Libya remained
without Jews. Many Muslims entered into partnerships with the small
number of remaining Jews, mainly the wealthiest, who continued to
control big businesses, especially international trade and the growing oil
market, but gradually Muslims took over economic positions vacated by
Jews.
In order to prevent the escape of capital from Libya during the mass
Jewish emigration, the authorities limited to £250 the amount of capi-
tal and property that a family was allowed to take out of the country.