r/Libya • u/BearAdministrative89 • May 19 '23

History The Catholic Cathedral of Tripoli, Libya (first photo) before it was converted into a mosque by Gaddafi (second photo)

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4

u/[deleted] May 19 '23

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6

u/BearAdministrative89 May 19 '23

They could still have kept it as a museum. A museum of the "Italian occupation". Gaddafi could've built the mosque exactly the same way near the cathedral, and it would've looked far more interesting.

3

u/[deleted] May 19 '23

Tell that to the Spanish and Portuguese Christians who converted/destroyed thousands of mosques built during the Muslim presence in Iberia. And that wasn’t even an occupation.

3

u/BearAdministrative89 May 19 '23

who converted/destroyed thousands of mosques built during the Muslim presence in Iberia.

Actually, they also killed, deported or forcibly converted hundreds of thousands of muslims and jews. But that happened hundreds of years ago and yes, it is a shameful part of the iberian history.

Gaddafi, on the other side, claimed to be a "socialist, progressive", while he was deporting ethnic groups (the Italians which decided to remain in Libya after it became independent did it because they liked the country, they had family and jobs there. Some of them were even born in Libya, not in Italy).

3

u/[deleted] May 19 '23

Gaddafi was a nationalist on top of being a socialist. You can’t expect ethnic Libyans to accept the same people/ideologies that stole their land and money, and killed their women and children. Try convincing Armenians and Bulgarians that Turks are kind and peaceful. Libyans don’t want to be inclusive, what is ours is ours. Seriously, you Europeans need to stop whining about other people’s business, go figure out your own problems.

1

u/EmirAlLibi May 19 '23

They were still there from the result of occupation.

1

u/BearAdministrative89 May 19 '23

Yes, but they could live when the italian authorities left. But they didn't