Convoluted conspiracy or total stupidity?

When I read and watch utterings such as these in Libya which are labelled stupid and which  actually contribute to  greatly alienate   the very people who believe they are the most marginalized  in Libya by pushing even the non-federalists in the lap of the federalists...[link]

 A horrible thought strikes me what if those core members of the NTC are actually aware of what they are doing and this is how they help their cause  without getting the blame ?
Sort of like a hugely convoluted conspiracy theory ?

As in when they say : we resort to force if we have to [prevent federalism] , this would make the Libyans who are the most stubborn people on earth actually shift towards this choice right in the arms of the federalist as a reaction!

Makes it easier to accept than outer stupidity or evil :(
Seriously if federalism sees the light it would be largely due to the outwardly  weird actions of our transitional government than to mass movement(s)  supporting this in Libya.

That's my very very uneducated guess  as I have no idea and no way to find out how many Libyans are pro- federalism.

NB: this is not a post about pros and cons of federalism, nor a discussion about federalism.

sidebar update

There has been some updates to the side bar link of news about Libya. Go and check it - interesting, refreshing and a change !

Freedom of Speech blown to smithereens in Libya

If for a few moments some Libyans allowed themselves to think that there is hope for freedom of speech in the new Libya. This contemplation has just blown apart commando style with the newly issued law that criminalizes the 'glorification of Gaddafi'.

Loyalist beware and anyone non loyalist even describing some 'positive' aspects of the previous era risk life imprisonment if someone reports.

Sounds familiar ? yeah of course we had that only a year ago :)

and it seems for whoever drafted this law that the war is not over. I really hope this turns to be a hoax. Not sure how this type of law can promote reconciliation. This is not the transitional justice Libyans have been waiting for and risks making any one still harbouring loyalties to Gaddafi into feeling they are actually fighting for a good cause.

All these shocking laws are overshadowing our happiness with the voting registration process.

It can't just be a smokescreen to derail the election process ?

Libya's new Political Parties Law and the High Court Bombing in Benghazi

Libya enacted this week the law regulating political parties in the country. We have been waiting for this law for so long since Gaddaffi banned political parties in the 70s.

I haven't read the text of the law yet but according to the news  parties with a regional, Islamist or tribal agenda could be the big losers if this law is upheld.

"Libya has banned parties that have a religious, tribal or regional platform. Parties are also banned from receiving any foreign funding."

When I read this piece of news a couple of days ago ( 24 April) I was actually skeptic that the NTC would approve such 'harsh' measures In fact I was a incredulous and waiting for the 'reply' to this 'slap' and I wake up today to these news :

"The High Court in Benghazi was bombed in the early hours of the morning, Friday. Seven other explosions were reported across the city shortly afterwards." [source]

Although the article postulates that the  "bombings are seen as connected with the abortive attempt by unknown gunmen to storm Benghazi’s central prison nine hours earlier" , I believe that there might be some sort of   link to this law whereby federalists and Islamist parties would rightfully feel cheated.

Though I don't support either tendencies I would still not marginalize them but rather  allow them a democratic platform to voice their demands in the new Libya and let the 'best' one win. Either we Libyans vote wisely and get on with our life or we learn from our mistakes.  

Now if I want to play Murphy's law and take this even further I would say the law was announced like this on purpose to increase popularity for the regional, tribal and religious parties because of the outcry they would make or to gather sympathy for them. That would really be a plot worthy of Machiavelli :) 

But we Libyans have learned from Grand Master Gaddaffi himself in terms of twisted thinking and even Highlander is not immune to this !

Libya: on the precipice of a civil war?

A number of Libyan cities and regions have been angry and disappointed by the  NTC and the interim government and also by their compatriots from other regions, first some of them called for federalism as I mentioned in my previous post and now one is  threatening secession .

" [If the NTC]  comes and discusses and negotiate with us  we might reach some agreement and if they say no then we will try to close our borders and defend our revolution then we will create a separate state in this region"

The video is not a translation as the interview was made in English, but I may have misunderstood the statement as the interviewee is not a native English speaker ? also it's a one minute clip so no idea what was said before or after so cannot judge but the statement sounded pretty strong and I cannot judge what is the percentage of the population that backs it up.


One down more to go ?wondering if the fight for Libya is already lost and if the Gaddafi curse is proving correct after all?

Is it a surprise? no

No further comments at the moment from my side, need to reflect more on this.

Thoughts are welcome of course

Dismantling Libya one region and city at a time ?

Not fully back yet but this is a quick post on some very serious stuff going on in Libya


This is huge and again for anyone being oversensitive I am not talking about federalism just wondering what is up because after these two events

Libyan tribal leaders have unilaterally declared nearly half of the oil-rich east of the country to be semi-autonomous in a move that opponents fear is the first step towards a carve-up of Libya six months after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. [source]

A Libyan tribe threatened Wednesday to declare a separate state in Libya's south after days of bloody battles with a rival tribe, the second such move toward secession this month. [source]

More and more of these articles encouraging separatist movements are  popping up in the media and I find this disturbing.
I'm not going to discuss pros and cons of federalism in this post and I am aware that federalism does not mean secession but if we don't wake to the machinations of the wolves in all parts of Libya and outside Libya there will  no Libya anymore, what a waste of life ! 

Update  March 30 :

"The Amazigh demonstrators were demanding a specific Jebel Nafusa constituency. They claimed that the NTC was continuing to marginalise them." [source]




Basically we are seeing all the un-addressed fault lines in Libya unraveling  .... something needs to be done!

Coming back soon

Have not posted for ages this is just a break I'll be back soon :)

Libya and the unreachable and dwindling defrosted and frozen assets

"Efforts to release overseas assets tied to the Qaddafi regime have proved complicated and controversial. Releasing the assets will be both politically and legally complicated, because the frozen funds include investments and property owned by private individuals, such as members of Qaddafi's family. Not only has the new Libyan leadership claimed all the frozen funds as its own but American victims of Qaddafi-era terrorism have also clamored for compensation from the assets. [source ]

So President Obama just extended the sanctions on Libyan assets effectively delay business and payments etc..... but I don't think anyone was surprised reallly, it would have been too good to be true if  the money or whatever was in the assets was returned to Libya. First of all who has a legitimate claim to pick it up? I'm happy that no Libyan crooks would get their hands on it. But I don't think anyone of the Libyan people will ever see it again. It's a spoil of war and that is fashionable in the Libyan war of 2011 :P


My understanding is that the American victims of Qaddafi era terrorism have received their compensation why do they want more ? who are the other victims ? was this not settled? can people stop digging these old stories. Gaddafi is dead  I don't think any new Libyan government should be held at the barrel of a gun of the crazy past.


These assets are what the country is counting  on so as not be in debt and help with rebuilding...


In the same article the author states :

"the situation in Libya continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and we need to protect against this threat "

Why is Libya a threat? it is a war ravaged country .... don't understand the posturing.
It shows there is something fomenting, we hope it is nice and not devastating to the Libyan people ! 


Wherever Libya is turning it's head  it's assets are either still under sanctions or in a black hole ( like the sovereign funds ) or supposedly released in a way that makes them useless though I am aware of the level of corruption in Libya which is appalling and embarrassing  so I can understand the foreign countries  are looking to protect Libyans? 
Also who would blame them for keeping unclaimed assets  etc.... there is recession at their door every where  you turn around.  


Meanwhile the fabled Libyan assets are 'dwindling'


I have not read the executive order so no idea when does this renewal end  maybe it's just until we have an elected government ? 


update 2 am : just read it and this is what it says :


"Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13566."

Libya: February 17 one year anniversary

Today we celebrate the first anniversary of the Libyan 2011 revolution.

Libyans and non Libyans have spontaneously overtaken the streets all over Libyan cities to celebrate their hard earned freedom.

We do not forget those who made this day possible, the martyrs of both genders, and the assistance received from other countries be they those who used their war machines like NATO countries at our service  ( including the US) or those who accepted the refugees from Libya or those countries which provided aid and support from the Arab League  and the rest of the world.

I realise  that without the oil, other natural resources and potential business in terms of rebuilding and Libya really being one of the last virgin territories economically less countries would have been willing to interfer ( look at Syria  no oil = veto)  But that's fine we have made it and are grateful to everyone no matter how small their contribution has been.

Since last evening there has been one big party in Libya with so many initiatives, no official party from the interim government in deference to the lives lost ...  if you want to see what is happening go on Twitter and check Libya or go on Aljazeera they are broadcasting live...

Now I'm off to celebrate too, more acid posts will be left for another time :)

Viva free Libya 

A prophetic nightmare or just a dream in Libya?

With the uncharted rolling power cuts that we have been having in Tripoli for over a month now it's been disruptive to planning your day/evening and work, so sometimes you just have to manage ad hoc and take your naps when you can and finish some late work when you can too.

For example you are planning to work on  a report after dinner and when the house is quiet only to be 'surprised' by the electricity going off at 8 pm, since it won't be back before 11 pm at least and it's cold and you'rw freezing, there is not much to do really except go to bed.

That's why I'm awake now at  3 am, I slept from  8 pm till midnight when the electricity returned and then I played catch up with emails and such. But that's not the story....

While I  fell asleep, I started dreaming that I was having difficulty swallowing and something was choking me in my throat; so in the dream I'm there poking my fingers inside my mouth trying to find the obstruction. Moving around I discover a string which I start to pull at with both my hands just like a floss string that I'm pulling out of my throat it seems. I feel better each time a section of it is coming out and it's really long, black and full of dripping mucus, this keeps going apparently for hours in the dream as I'm aware of monitoring the process with a wall clock, until finally I kind of hit rock bottom with this and the string is pulling at something in my throat and this part is now painful so I look in the mirror to try assess what is it that is stuck to the string only to find out that it is woven or pierced into the uvula in my throat ( believe me I had to check this term online as I never knew it although from numerous Tom and Jerry shows I knew what it was supposed to look like :P ).
In the dream, when I see this I know that I can no longer remove this string on my own and will need some type or surgical assistance, just like removal of a piercing but I have the fear of loosing the string if I put what's left of it back in my mouth. I'm already gagging at the thought.. so I cut the string to a manageable lenght about a metre and leave it hanging out of my mouth and simply continue freaking about how did I ever get into this kind of situation anyway...and I wake up when the lights in my room are back because the electricity in real life is back!

Would anyone care to offer any interpretation ? Can't be an indigestion can it ? it's too vivid

Harsh realities make some Libyans evoke the Gaddafi era with fondness

Traffic jams are gigantic nowadays in Tripoli, so what I do to avoid getting stuck in one in the morning is park my car and walk the remaining distance to the office. It really saves time and frustration and of course good exercise :P

Classes usually start between 8.15 and 8.30 am and I can see busy parents rushing by with their children. Today I noticed a large crowd in front of a primary school and the fathers were gesticulating angrily and actively discussing some issue.  It is worth nothing that public schools officially started on January 7 after about one year of disruption caused by the war that gripped the country; but the situation has not been ideal as not all Libyan school children are back to school as planned. There are some displaced in camps with their families in awful situations and others living in the destroyed cities that saw the most fighting after the liberation of Tripoli while others have their schools turned into refugee camps etc..

So I approached to see what was it that caught the  attention of the parents  on the notice board outside the school gate. It was an announcement about reduced school hours due to lack of teachers and school books.

The men were causing quite a commission and I overhead some of them saying "what have we gained from this revolution? the first things that has gone out of the window are safety,  health and education. It was better in Moammar's era at least things were functioning and schools were organised. He  must be laughing at us in his grave and if he could talk would have said I told you so!!!"  The guy was obviously very upset because for 3 weeks now schools have been yo yoing back and forth  and people are worried about the future of their children. The security situation though not at war is very difficult  one with people armed to the teeth and trigger happy. As for health, knowing what health was before you know that now it is a hopeless case so many would sympathise with the sentiments and statements of this individual without necessarily being Gaddaffi fans or  remnants of his regime. This is the feeling expressed by ordinary people on the streets after the euphoria of the revolution has  subsided, the harsh realities of a post-conflict state are hitting home those most vulnerable among us and making them almost miss Gaddafi who now seems like a 'benevolent dictator'.

If interim government and qualified Libyans do not get a grip on things I'm afraid that the goodwill of Libyans will be lost, the martyr's blood would have gone in vain and  we either start a new civil war or will turn into another  Khalifate.

Today's post is pessimistic, hopefully next time there will be a more positive outlook !

Libya: we will not forget our brave ! .... will we ?

An initiative has been launched  on Facebook to commemorate the heroes and heroines of  Libya, from 1969 till  the end of the war of 2011.

This definition includes the fallen martyrs, the injured, the imprisoned  and of course the missing.

Great idea to celebrate and honour these people's sacrifices ! However, where do our raped women  stand? they have sacrificed too for Libya and their blood is just as precious and should not go in vain.

Males have been raped too, but females have it harder and are unable to reintegrate into society ( if they have survived the experience).

We need to  acknowledge their sacrifice and give them medals of honour too! This would be one step towards helping remove the wrong stigma associated with 'dishonour and/or  loss of virginity' which was absolutely none of their fault.

Christmas in Libya

Two years ago, I vowed not to remember anyone's special celebrations unless they remembered mine. I was offended at how come I wished all my friends and acquaintances Christmas, Chanukah, Veterans Day, Independence Day, Nairuz etc... and those same people only remembered Christmas and New Year, no good wishes at all directed to the Muslim world.  I checked and checked on Facebook to see any reaction this year too and it was only from the usual suspects less than 3 people in total ( apart from the Arabs), who do remember every date. The others would remember silly birthdays but nothing more it was as if our festivities do not exist even my Asian friends who have a mix in their respective countries did not remember so I was not going to blame the other folks...

So for all the talk about multiculturalism and melting pots not sure it is working some people think they are superior. The only ones who turned to have the real spirit of multiculturalism were Arabs funnily enough.

And to prove it this is a first in Libya now that Ghaddafi is gone even the Tripoli Post is wishing readers Merry Christmas - go Libya GO ! well done !

So in the true spirit of Christ who originated from our part of world, I am taking my vow back and wishing everyone and not just the usual suspects publicly everything good  for whichever occasion is at hand. After all if someone is not a good person we do not need use the same style of treatment....and here is my first new year resolution...

Merry Christmas everyone !

PS have you wished Libyans a Happy Independence Day ? it was yesterday on Christmas Eve :P

Versatile Blogger Award : The Libyan Bloggers

First of all I want to thank Khadijateri who has awarded me and a number of other Libyan bloggers  this award.

To explain about it I'm going to use the same words she did - so much easier and I'm being lazy tonight !
and I agree with her 100% that internet connection has not been good lately bordering on the unreliable, but to be honest it is difficult to be mad after all the country has been through a war  an I'm grateful that a lot of things still work.. ok back to the award :)

What is it?

The award is a kind of pay-it-forward award. Those who receive it are  asked to thank and link to the giver and then elect 5 to 15 other  bloggers with the Versatile Blogger Award and let them know by leaving a  comment on their blog.

Khadijateri beat me to some of my favourite bloggers :) so....

Who gets the award now ?

It's difficult to choose from so much talent, Libyans had to be creative in the Gaddafi era and now there is so much we want to talk about . So I really want to award this to all the Libyan bloggers and bloggerettes and a large number of them are collected in this blog those who write in Arabic and those who write in  English and some write in a few other languages. Please click on them all pick your choice and then please come back and tell me who did you like and what did you find special about their writing ?

The Highlights of a Libyan Meal Plan: Guest Column by Carolyn K

Carolyn from Blog Content Guild has recently come across my rant on the Islamist wave sweeping the region on the trails of the so called Arab Spring ( I hate that cliche), and she suggested to publish a piece here about what can be learned from the culture of Libya through its traditions and food.

Why not? I said and here we are.....I admit it feels strange to read about Libyan dishes presented thus but it certainly is a change for me from war and politics ! right ?

This post has actually reminded me of  wonderful  British-Libyan blogger Soad whose recipes and the end product are absolutely delicious so if you want to check what Libyan food looks like and try out how it tastes please make a stop at her blog as well.
 
Ok no more chit chat from me here is Carolyn talking :

"Food in Libya is some of the best in the world, and people should relish in the delicious recipes Libya has to offer, when they can. The people of Libya know how to cook lamb. In fact, it has been asserted by some that lamb is cooked more in Libya than in any other place else in the world. If this is true, it means that there is no shortage of opportunity to eat some delicious lamb in the country. Fortunately for people who find themselves in Libya, the delicious meal plan options aren’t limited to just lamb. There is an array of scrumptious meal offerings to be enjoyed. Here are a few dishes that Libya is famous for:

1. Bazin – This dish is essentially a ball of dough (from barley flour) in the middle of delicious stew. The stew includes lamb, potatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, and spices like turmeric. 
 
2. Shorba Libiya –Libya is famous for its delicious soups, and it is most famous for Shorba Libiya. This is a lamb and chickpea soup that is traditionally eaten during Ramadan or for other special occasions. It usually has minty and coriander undertones and a spicy kick to it. If you’re in the mood for this soup, you’re in luck. You can find it just about anywhere in Libya.

3. Sand Baked Bread – Some bread bakers in Libya will actually bake their bread in the hot sand. In general, bread in Libya is hearty in taste and in terms of thickness. If the idea of eating bread that is baked in sand isn’t your cup of tea, you can get pick up some delicious bread baked in a tagine (a clay or terra-cotta pot) instead.

4.  Magrood – If you want to satisfy your sweet tooth in Libya, you have to try magrood. It’s a pastry dipped in sugar syrup with a date filling. Be careful, though. It’s easy to eat a whole plate of magrood cookies and end up with a stomachache from all the sugar!

5. Usban – This Libyan sausage is the perfect snack to fill you up before your next hearty Libyan meal. Usban is typically stuffed with herbs, rice, lamb, and liver. So, it’s sure to please your palate and help fulfill your body’s daily protein quota.

So, warm your heart with some Shorba Libiya and spend some time savoring all of the wonderful food Libya has to offer!  "

So I would LOVE  for my readers Libyans and non Libyan  alike  (those  that still exist of course and I want to publicly thank you here and make a virtual curtsey for sticking with me :P !)  to share their reactions with me, please tell me what do you think these dishes say about the Libyan culture and are Libyans really lovers of lamb meat  - I would vote yes  for kharouf watani  :P !

Libya, Western policy & the so called Islamists: when you cannot beat them, join them!

After spending part of the 20th Century funding and forging alliances with anyone with an 'Islamist' agenda to counter Communism, the US and the Western world in general decided Islamists were the bad guys. So then they spent the next decade fighting them all over the globe even if they were democratically elected. Post 9/11 it was even worse and there was total breakdown in communication. This attitude from the West has helped fuel hatred towards not only Islamists but really anything and anyone Muslim (at least that's my impression) which fell right into the lap of the extremists and helped further their plans thereby resulting in  a vicious cycle of violence that targeted not only western interests but ordinary Muslims and non- Muslim alike.

The horrible wars fought by proxy in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia etc.... are a witness to this  yet it was and has always been a loosing war for the western powers; with resounding defeats in my opinion in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia and  Sudan. Troops are pulling out steadily but surely, which means that they will have to come to accept these 'people' and negotiate some kind of  honourable retreat a la Iraq for example. The Taliban are still powerful in Afghanistan, the Iranian mullahs have gotten hold of Iraq, Pakistan? no comment and Somalia is run by those Shababs, Sudan ? they had to be pushed into partition, Palestine, into a civil war, Algeria are still reeling from their post election war in the 90s that seem to have put them  out of the 'Arab Spring ' loop  for the moment ....etc.....etc...

There is a saying which I oft repeat "when you cannot beat them, join them" and that is a wise advice :) but the US and the Western world cannot do this without looking like losers  and like all this money and the  lives lost were for nothing. So to save face the iconic figure of Islamic fundamentalists had to be demolished. Nothing  more cathartic then murdering Bin Ladin to send the right message, to  back home, to your average  Arab  and Muslim but also to your so called Islamist. The message was that if we get this 'victory' we bury the hatchet and you guys get the opportunity to for the first time of your life get on the political stage legally.

So when Arab countries started to revolt  I was sure that whatever I brought up here would  be kicking in fast along with the political machinery that goes with it. The other dimension is the involvement of ambitious GCC countries not exactly beacons of democracy and who fear Iran's domination and whose human rights record is appalling .

To prove my  conspiracy theory let's glance at the newspaper headlines for 2011 post 'Arab Spring' developments:

Islamist leader named Morocco PM [source]
Tunisia Islamist Party wins vote [source]
Islamist strong ahead of Egypt poll [source]
Fatah Hamas prepare to bury the hatchet [source]



Saudi Arabia is the bedrock of Wahhabism and yet is America's best ally, Qatar is forging a name for itself and funnily has been linked from the beginning in the Libyan uprising and other pots. The Bahrain revolution has been violently stymied down, Syria is heading towards civil war unless a miracle happens, Yemen we are in season two of the revolution and not sure what the world is waiting for, Lebanon is in such a mess that nothing needs to be done to make it worse, Oman saw a very short lived movement and Saudi Arabia pumped money to its people, Jordan is trying a balancing act, Kuwait had the daring movement of the storming of its parliament and  so many other examples all over the region

Even in Libya it seems that the US would give it's blessings to an Islamic government as long as its own interests are safeguarded check this headline. We need to remember that this cleric mentioned here is believed to be an American /Qatari stooge by a large number or Libyans....and he has ambitions of( or for his party) to lead in Libya.

Who would have thought this possible a mere year ago? the key word seems to be 'moderate' Islamist. Nevertheless it is a U turn for the US and others  and now it seems that  it has been decreed that the old dictators were no longer useful, they are ushering a new breed disguised under something that they believe will be acceptable to the people.

The fishy stink is can be smelled from kms away... I want to be optimistic for the freedom, but I don't dare lest my hopes are dashed to the ground. May I be wrong and just a crying Cassandra but in light of what is happening and what has happened in 2011, my words on Feb 28 of this year now seem almost prophetic:

I am terrified that when all the ashes from the uprisings that are consuming us settle down we become blinded by the celebratory mood and find ourselves having exchanged one agenda for another whose nature would be like an octopus: soft but with many slippery tentacles."

I'm not angry or bitter but simply realistic and accept the truths, I hope that in Libya we do not fall into this trap as I have nothing against Islamists on the contrary a lot of their ideas sound very valid and strike a vein but I do not want them with the blessings of America, it just means they are the new puppets. Libyans are not dumb but I hope that for the sake of peace they do not let themselves be played with like pieces on a chess board.

And finally as I said, the west  could not beat them and so decided  to embrace them and the choices of its regional allies and influence the democratic process.... sigh

New Libyan Currency: where is the democracy ?

Tawasul news agency announced on Facebook the imminent issue/arrival of the newly minted Libyan currency of a which I'm publishing a photo below taken from their website.

In my humble opinion  and my knowledge of economics is limited to non-existent, a new currency is not the top priority in Libya.  If true the new money looks nice but we should not be wasting money on it we could have survived with the old Libyan notes, even the ones with Gaddafi's face on and thank God it was only the One Dinar currency and more recently the 50 Dinar currency which I actually rarely saw since it came to the market a year or so ago. 

Some people say that having these new banknotes will make the ones taken out of the country invalid and so help restore the economy and will hit those who have been hoarding money and starving the marked of cash. So re-introducing badly needed cash would hit two birds with one stone... maybe I really don't know how this works and if this is the solution to fight all the war profiteers. Yet again I think a new currency would have been the last step before the transitional period ended in 2013. Like this it feels to me as if someone has made a business deal somewhere but most importantly who decided this step ? have Libyans been asked about their opinion? has their been a national referendum ? What a waste of time and resources...

I hope I'm wrong... what do you think ?

Bab Al Azizia: dark memories, unilateral decisions and dirty politics

The Bab Al Azizia barracks have been there for as long as I can remember, in recent years the outside walls were repainted and the surrounding streets restyled  but it still looked formidable and forbidding.

It has been so much a fact of life that we tried to tune it out.  However, whenever we passed nearby I could never help being nervous that my car would breakdown  and I would be shot and I believe most of us even avoided looking its way, or at other cars...

This heavy omnipresence was stifling and only in early November did I actually venture inside the compound.  I saw people visiting from literally all over Libya, people who had made the  trip especially to shake away those bygone ghosts and see for themselves that the most despised place for them was no longer a threat. I still cannot believe that the place that symbolized more than anything else the Gaddafi regime no longer existed. The walls and every single building in that compound has been destroyed.

I do remember that many of us were talking what should be done with Bab Al Azizia and many spoke online that they wanted a park, but I don't remember any countrywide poll about this!

Somehow,  I'm not happy that it has been razed to the ground I think that was just done too soon and without checking with the Libyan people. It is unfair for the rest of Libyans to have prevented them for having access and seeing for themselves the layout of the place.

The sprawling compound is eerie and  I expect ghosts to come out anytime it's even dangerous now, all this rubble and the open tunnels. Is it even environmentally safe? is there asbestos exposed? Who took the decision to raze it so unprofessionally and to burn the living quarters there and what about the school ? why destroy the school for God's sake ? children from the neighbouring  buildings used to go there and now they have nowhere to go. What a waste of resources!

By all means I want to see a park there, but I also wanted to have some mementos kept to remind us of  how dictatorships can happen if we let our vigilance slip. Why have some rebel fighters taken the golden fist statue to Misrata?  In my opinion it should have remained here it's not about war trophies it's about history.
It would have been a great theme park but now it is a wasteland, full of rubbish , revolutionary tourist items, looters who have taken the wiring, the stuff in the houses, the things hidden in the underground tunnels and I was actually afraid that there might be some unexploded ordnance somewhere when  driving or walking  around to explore. It's a place of desolation for me. Not sure how you can have picnic there with all the piled up waste. I'm disappointed. I had imagined foreigners coming from all over the world to see Gaddafi's feared tunnels,  people exploring them and seeing in which part of the city they ended up, I imagined photo shoots next to the Fist golden statue, I imagined people taking turns to appear on his balcony and make a speech something like the Speaker's  Corner in Hyde Park. I wanted the buildings to be professionally removed with some of them converted to museums if possible.....but I did not want this mess. Reconstruction is very difficult while destruction takes so little time. The tunnels would have brought so much income to the park authorities and would have helped towards the cost of the maintenance.

A counter argument could be that destroying the compound prevents any militia from making it a fortress, but I don't believe the person(s) who made this decision  thought so analytically.

They say there is no use crying over spilled milk and I agree but I still wanted to voice my opinion and that this way of things suits all those war profiteers which are always present like vultures in every combat in any place in the world. This destruction makes it easier to loot the place unpunished like so much of the  public property (and private) during and after this war in Libya. All Libyans had a right to Bab Al Aziziya  and someone just took our right away.

Apparently a contest to redesign the place has been launched, nice idea but I still hope to see that Fist back in Tripoli in the park whenever it is finished ! It starts with little things and ends up with people holding a country hostage to have their way in the government  and those that don't get their way well the the big fish somehow slip away instead again to show the government who is really boss. 

March in support of the victims of rape in Libya: "You are not Alone … We are here for you"

(taken from Facebook - organized by the Phoenix group)


On the occasion of the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women", Organized, and in participation of civil society entities in several Libyan cities

We announce the beginning of the national initiative to support & help the brave Libyan rape victims on Saturday 26 -11-2011. The initiative will include an awareness raising campaign and related lectures given by legal, religious & psychological specialists on how to offer psychological support to he victims and their families and how to help them rise above the challenges they face in our society and how to reintegrate in the society .


There will be a silent protest in front of the prime ministry headquarters (previously the general people’s committee headquarters) Sekka road. Also there will be a similar silent protest taking place Misrata in order to draw the transitional national council and Mr . Elkeeb’s government - and all officials who are of concern within it – attention to this category of war victims who haven’t received the sufficient care and support yet.

To those who are interested in joining the protest (Tripoli) :

• The protest will be taking place on November 26th . 2011 . The initial gathering spot in Tripoli will be Ben Ashour street in front of zuwadah restaurant at 11 Am .
• The march will go along Ben Ashour street to Alqadisiya square and to Sekka street at the prime ministry Headquarters till 3 pm .
• The unified dressing code will be white and pink tops in solidarity with rape victims.
• Please put a duck tape across your mouth to symbolize the silence this case is being dealt with.
• Due to the sensitivities of this subject please abide with the banners , slogans shared by the organizers .


Misrata 

• Alhurria square with the same hours, banners, dressing code as Benghazi & Tripoli .

Our Demands:

• To adjust the penal code legislation & raise the bar of the rape crime penalty in accordance to shari’a .
• To provide logistic and financial support to the NGOs welling to undertake the set up of psychological support programs and provide needed assistance to raped women.
• To improve and strengthen the role played by “The Islamic Invitation Association “ to raise the religious awareness of the victims and their families to prevent “ honour crimes “ and similar forms of abuse to the victims .
• To urge the national media outlets to provide a more brave and open approach in the discussion of this case, and what has been done about it and to discuss the “ honour crimes “ affecting this category by their families and to help as a powerful tool to raise and spread awareness and support messages to encourage those who are affected to seek help by the specialized centres

Qaddafistan Perversion

Today's post was going to be about a movie  I watched a few  weeks ago when I was travelling but something else happened instead which led me to change the topic so you will read about the movie next time.

This morning I decided to go for a walk downtown and check  the Libyan printed press. Since the liberation of Tripoli in August many new titles have sprung up and we are also getting the papers from Benghazi and other cities in Libya which is so refreshing and feels very strange....A glossy magazine called Loloat Almutawaset caught my eye among the many choices on display nowadays because I did not notice it before. I think it looked so professional that I assumed it was an Arab paper although I should have recognized the guy on the cover page but anyway  we have just finished a war I could be excused for not noticing many things :)!

Taking a closer look I found it  was issue no.1  from October so this was going to be a monthly magazine great. I looked at the lead titles and  the topic that jumped at me was "The orphanage victims" or the daughters of Quaddafi ( my comment)  I purchased it for 3 Libyan Dinars.

The article was an interview by  Abdelbasset Alsherif with a 30 year  old Libyan woman who grew up in an orphanage in Libya. I summarised it briefly from the Arabic for you.

Orphanages in Libya were a red line in the Quaddafi era. The author is calling this woman Krista so I will use the same name. Krista was born in the orphanage and was given to adoption to a Libyan family She only learned that she was an orphan at the age of 6 when her step father died ( probably because the rest of the family asked about inheritance). I believe she ends up in this interview because of her role as a Quaddafi human shield in Bab Alaziziya.

She tells stories about being forced by the orphanage management  as a child to attend events where Quaddafi is to show up and how she felt just like a movie extra, where he would be nice to her and the others for a couple of days and then her role will be over and the niceties with it once the event was over. Krista explains that most orphans were given for 'adoption' and  if you were lucky you got a decent family if not you ended up in a brothel.
After the death of her adoptive parents it seems she was left to fend for herself. Moreover, the orphanage although it called these girls Quaddafi's daughters did not spend any penny on them  but either left them to fend for themselves/thew them to the street or gave them up for prostitution  as only a limited number with certain specifications was kept. The majority of the  girls became prostitutes and the guys drug dealers.  ( personally I suspect that some of the guys became gay prostitutes too as some of my foreign friends  sadly reported they found many on the sea front ). Krista  did many jobs including washing cars  and  even mounted satellite dishes on rooftops to survive ! and no one would help her because of the label that she and her likes were Quaddafi's daughters so they were supposed to have everything. Even when the orphanage would do the occasional multiple marriage gig it was apparently a big lie as the girls would be thrown out after a couple of days of being abused.....or end up sex slaves in a hotel. The money that the orphanage management would receive from donations and the state all went into the deep pockets of the corrupt officials.

About her limited role in Bab Alaziziya she says that she went there for the food and to get some money but she stopped going there when  it became obvious that there was drugs, alcohols and fornication. She then volunteered as a guard in the former Green Square and after that was sent on a mission to Misrata.

How she ended up in Misrata? she and the others were asked to guard an aid caravan that was supposedly going to Misrata but instead  to her horror they took them to a camp to be trained to kill. She ran away with one of the male volunteers. She hid in the city of Gharian until the liberation of that city. Krista is feeling very guilty for supporting Quaddafi and being misled like this and is saying that she is one of hundreds of other lost girls  from the Libyan orphanages that need to be rescued from a life of prostitution in order to survive.She also asks that we should not to forget the guys as well. She is asking the revolutionary youth not to denigrate those lost young men and women as they are simply victims of Quaddafi.

After I read this article I was deeply troubled, so I thought I'd surf the twitting people to change my mood and there someone sent me the following link: Viagra munching  Gaddafi. This article is about Faisal,  Quaddafi's manservant, Chef ( and probably occasional bed companion).

"He was a law student at Tripoli University when Gaddafi came to speak. Afterwards the dictator asked his office to track down several of the students. Gaddafi’s lectures were notorious; he would speak about his Green Book and then take his pick of the women to a room near the lecture hall with a double bed.
The university dean told Faisal that Gaddafi wanted him to be his private servant. When he refused, his family was threatened; to continue to refuse would mean death."

Faisal of course ended in this article because on Quaddafi's fall he was taken as a prisoner by the freedom fighters for being close to the dictator.

After reading about Faisal's woes  and  the world of perversion he uncovered I was even more depressed because everything we suspected was going on in Libya turned out to be true and even worse than we ever imagined. So I closed Twitter and I tried to cheer myself up by checking on my friends on Facebook, and  what do I find there among the many shared articles this time in French: " A Kadhafi sex slave talks about her ordeal" !

22 year old Safia life is destroyed when Quaddafi's team kidnap her in Sirte at the age of 15  to take her to him. Quaddafi picked her up among the students who were chosen to hand him flowers when he visited  her school. She was taken to his tent in the desert and told she would have riches etc... and would live with him from now on. Which is exactly what happened, he put her in his harem in Bab Alaziziya, where he kept Libyan adolescent women and also brought in some foreigners occasionally and proceeds to rape her for the next five years until her escape in 2009  During those years he forces her to drink, smoke  and  get drugged  on top of everything else and her parents are threatened with death if they complain. Safia  lifts the veil even further on the debauchery going on in Quaddafi's life and that of his henchmen and foreign visitors (something like Berlusconi's Bunga Bunga parties ... maybe that's why they were such friends ? ). She also talks about his famous body guards ( but I will make a separate post about that). After her escape her mum wants to marry her to an elderly widowed cousin which she refuses. She finally gets married this year in April but is separated from her husband who is apparently hurt during the war ( we are not told  if he is from the rebels of from the Q team but I understand from the context that he is from the rebels). She does not feel safe to return home because of the possibility of being assassinated by some Quaddafi loyalist remnants but mostly due to the stigma attached to her past. She says  'the woman is always the culprit' [no matter what].

Reading all these dark pieces today printed all over the globe from Australia, Libya and France and which drag the honour of Libyan men and women in the gutters, I felt that I wanted to vomit and that I needed to write about it to exorcise these demons, but also to pass on the message that these young men and women are simply helpless victims. None of them should feel guilty either for supporting Quaddafi during the war like Krista or for being forced to  pimp men and women  for him like Faisal or for being a sex slave like Safia and all the other people he abused. These people had no other choice except suicide to escape his filth and even then they could not guarantee he would not abuse their whole families, which is exactly what he does, so sacrificing oneself is the only solution  in case you have a family. In Krista's case no one was going to help her even work as a maid as people would suspect her of wanting to seduce the man of the family or be a bad influence on the kids, or just for being a bastard, so either she kills herself or prostitutes herself, since suicide is forbidden in Islam and she did not want to be a prostitute she worked like a man and volunteered as a guard during the war.

Our society is very very unforgiving in matters of honour, and now post revolution we are also very suspicious of everyone involved with Quaddafi.. But people like Krista are small fish and they have no blood on their hands and people like Faisal and Safia need years of rehabilitation.....I don't even know if my compatriots amidst all the horrors that took place in Libya for 42 years and until the war ended will be able to absorb how much these poor creatures deserve our pity and need our help. In the Libyan article the author concludes by asking   if Krista really believed that the Quaddafi era was over from the people's minds? She acquiesces that it is over.

Each one of us is somehow suffering post traumatic stress to one degree or another so personally I think the Quaddafi era can only be erased  from our minds once we feel compassion for all victims alike, such as the protagonists above and the alleged 8000 rape victims ( men/women/children) being investigated by the ICC  and not just the obvious ones like the dead, imprisoned, injured, amputees, missing  and displaced - that's a lot of suffering people.

Somebody would probably comment why bring this topic up, this is what the Western media likes to talk about there are more pressing issues to deal with. Yes that's true, Western media love sex scandals, and what happened in Libya and in Quaddafi's lair happens daily not only in other Arab countries but everywhere where power and money are absolute.;one recent very simple example is  the DSK scandal.

However, Quaddafi ruined the life of about six million people in Libya and this was one of the many facets of his savagery to us so if we don't get all this rot out, deal with it and move on it will keep hitting us in the face and prevent the advancement of the Libyan Society and any national reconciliation.