314 · Yehudit Ronen
statements made by Israeli and Libyan figures gave the impression that
Qadhafi intended to soften his hitherto utterly hostile attitude toward the
“Jewish state” and perhaps even recognize it.
However, the euphoria caused by the visit dissipated as suddenly as
it had arisen due to various complications on both sides. The visit thus
ended earlier than planned and in a virulently hostile tone. Salim al-
Tajuri, the head of the pilgrim delegation, seized the rostrum in a special
press conference he held in the hotel in Jerusalem to call “all Muslims
all over the world to liberate al-Quds and turn it into the capital of the
Palestinian state.” Moreover, he stressed that the “pilgrims’ visit does not
in any way mean a recognition” of Israel “because it is our conviction
that [Israel] is neither a state nor a definite geographical location, but
merely a name of one of the prophets mentioned in the Holy Quran.”
He concluded his outburst with the well-known Libyan argument that
the Jews who came to Israel after its independence in 1948 “should re-
turn to their countries of origin, while the four million Palestinians [who,
he claimed, were living outside Palestine] should return to it and create
there a democratic Palestinian state.” Concerning the Jews originating
from Arab countries, he made a clear distinction, however: “We consider
them brothers who coexist and live with us.”^19
All in all, this rather odd and singular episode, aimed at bringing
about a breakthrough that would end Libya’s distressful times under
the U.S.-led and UN-imposed Lockerbie sanctions, petered out and was
never mentioned again by Qadhafi in public or by the state-controlled
media. Moreover, one may assume that this humiliating visit, during
which Libya was labeled a “pariah state” by a senior Israeli official,^20
and during which the Libyan pilgrims were harassed in the al-Aqsa area
by embittered Palestinians who had been barred by Israel from praying
in the mosque for security reasons, caused Qadhafi a great deal of politi-
cal inconvenience. Consequently, and while trying to mitigate internal
criticism of this venture, he reverted to his former position on Israel with
even greater vitriol, aimed at fending off domestic pressures coming es-
pecially from the radical anti-Israeli circles, in the army and the top politi-
cal and ideological echelons.
Continuing to zealously wave the banner of military annihilation of
the “Zionist state” and total rejection of any political settlement with it
whatsoever in the aftermath of the pilgrims’ visit, it was no surprise that
Qadhafi unequivocally opposed the Oslo Accords, signed between the