Tripoli history

The Consulate had re-opened by 1807, when George Davis was United States consul at Tripoli.

In 1824 the traveler David D'Beth Hillel visited the city and found there 15 Jewish families who had a little synagogue.

Tripolitan authority to conduct international relations ended when the Ottoman Empire chose to reassert its formerly nominal suzerainty over its Libyan provinces in 1835.

Eliezer L. Frenkel visited the city in 1856 and found 17 families (80 people) there.

The kingdom of *Italy – from its establishment in 1861 – attempted to wield its influence in Tripoli, especially among the Jews, many of whose big traders had strong economic and social ties with Italy.

After his death, the Ottoman government in Istanbul appointed Elijah Ḥazzan as ḥakham bashi (chief rabbi) (1874–88) by royal firman (order). The latter was also the representative of Tripolitanian Jewry before the government.

The first European school in Tripoli was established in 1876 by Italian Jews in response to the local initiative of Jews with economic contacts with Italy.

The history of New Tripoli Bank began when a group of local residents and John R. Baer, a National Bank organizer from Washington, D.C., met and took action to begin the formation of a bank called Farmers National Bank of New Tripoli in 1909.

The bank opened its doors in March 1910 in a small a cement block building.

The Italian influence increased during the period of Italian rule (1911–43), when the Jews enjoyed complete emancipation except for the World War ii period.

The Ottoman Empire formally ceded Libya to Italy under the Treaty of Ouchy on October 18, 1912.

The Italian government at first continued this tradition and appointed R. Elia Samuele *Artom to this position (1920–23).

Under Italian rule, and especially during the post-1922 Fascist era, Tripoli was developed outside the walled Old City and acquired modern municipal services and the appearance of an Italian provincial town.

They also introduced the Tripoli International Fair in 1927, considered the oldest trade fair in Africa.

In 1934, it became the capital of the colony of Libya, combining Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.

Approximately 20,000 Jews lived in Tripoli in 1948.

The office was raised to the rank of Consulate General July 1, 1949.

In addition, in 1950 the town possessed a talmud torah, with 371 pupils, a Youth Aliyah school with 68 pupils, and a school with 300 children of Jews who had moved from villages to Tripoli.

Tripoli has been the capital of Libya since its independence in 1951.

John N. Gatch, Jr. , was serving as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim when the Legation in Libya was raised to Embassy status, September 25, 1954.

The majority of the Jews who remained after 1962 were wealthy merchants who were closely connected with Italy and spent part of the year there.

After the riots that occurred in Tripoli during the Six-Day War in 1967 (see *Libya), most of the Jews immigrated to Italy and some to Israel.

In 1969, however, Libyan Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi staged a successful coup against the royal government.

In 1970 there were only several dozen Jews living in the town and none by the end of the century.

Tripoli (Tarabulus) Mediterranean port and second-largest city in Lebanon. It suffered severe damage during the 1975–76 Lebanese civil war.

Tripoli is the largest city in the country and in 2002 it had an estimated population of 1,223,300 people.

The United States established an Interests Section at the Belgian Embassy in Tripoli, February 8, 2004.

On May 31, 2006, the United States resumed full diplomatic relations with Libya, and the Liaison Office in Tripoli became an Embassy, with Gregory L. Berry became Charge d’Affaires ad interim.

On September 22, 2011, the United States Embassy in Tripoli resumed operations.

The United States Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens and three other American colleagues were killed on September 11, 2012, during an attack on the United States Mission in Benghazi.

In late July of 2014 the United States Embassy in Tripoli was shut down and about 150 staff members were relocated safely to Tunisia in about five hours.

The embassy temporarily relocated to Tunisia in March 2015 where it operates as the "Libya External Office in Tunis under the authority of the United States Ambassador to Libya, facilitating engagement with Libyans and United States foreign assistance.

In 2019, New Tripoli Bank expanded to their third location on Buckeye Road in the Emmaus/Macungie market to meet the needs of their customers and community.