Libyan city continues to fight, but this time for normality

The pigeons barely moved in their small cages. The ducks, free, gathered around each other on the asphalt as the bulbuls chirped in the background.

In Misrata’s Friday makeshift birds market, simple Libyan peasants, children and few old men stood by their goods in unintended rows. Potential buyers walked to and fro, inspecting the birds. Misrata was a big city of half a million residents but it still had the spirit of a small village. For few months, it has been trying to regain its normality after a heroic fight against Gaddafi’s forces.

“Get that yellow paper please,” said the security officer at the gate of Misrata airport. Me and Mohamed Madi had just arrived from Benghazi. We understood quickly. It is Misrata, and you have to get your details entered into a database before you enter the city even if you came from another Libyan city.

January 25 2012. Five months since the end of Gaddafi’s siege and his intensive offensive against Libya’s third biggest city. Misrata has not yet recovered from its deep wounds.

How quickly will that happen? The experience at the airport left bitterness in my throat. “Did the war turn them into xenophobes?” I wondered.

I met Ahmad Ben Wafaa, a 20-something Libyan blogger from the city. He took me around to show me the scars of a bitter fight for survival. Gaddafi thought that by taking Misrata, 200 km east of Tripoli, his grip would be maintained on western Libya. The resistance by the Misratans was not only about their lives or their city. It was about the unity of Libya that had then been split in two: the east (Benghazi and Green Mountain) and the west (Tripoli).

In most of the buildings near the city centre, holes in the walls of many houses from tank and mortar shells remain gaping in awe. Every building was dotted with what looked like indiscriminate machine gun fire. A bank stood closed, while the storeys above it were pitch-black from fire. Another, which housed a pension fund, was completely charred and its silver metal façade turned into a scary structure of burnt aluminium.

Building in Shari Tripoli st. (from www.dl3-ly.com)

Between February and August 2011, the fighting in Misrata was focused on its main streets: Tripoli St in the west and in the east Benghazi st. On the sides of Tripoli streets, houses and businesses were still closed and many were partially destroyed. A mosque nearby was decapitated, as the upper part of its minaret was shelled out of this world.

The cool and humility of Misratans hid scars of trauma that I – the Gazan – recognized very well. The last real war Misrata saw was probably WWII, but 2011 was not only about fighting, either. It was about betrayal and solidarity.

Bin-Wafaa told me various stories about the efforts made to take care of the city’s inhabitants under the rain of Gaddafi’s Grad rockets and Mortar shells. The distribution of food, the supply of medical services and the prayers. The prayers that were uttered day an night by the frightened civilians.

The war is over now. The wounds of Misrata will take time to heal, however.

Bin Wafaa spoke bitterly about the residents of Taourga, the smaller city 45 km to the south, whose residents always worked in and traded with Misrata.

But Taourga, or most of its residents, sided with Gaddafi’s forces. They were promised to take half of Misrata if Gaddafi wins. Bin-Wafaa went on to say that the good ties with Misrata had been forgotten as the Taourgans pillaged Misrata and according to him committed horrific crimes, such as gang rape of Misratan women and men, murder and theft.

Things didn’t work according to plan and Taourga now is a ghost town after its residents fled quickly before the wrath of Misratans reached them. For Bin-Wafaa, this was a better outcome since massacres were averted.

I already knew about what happened in Taourga. Like many others, I cried racism. Taourga’s residents were descendants of African slaves and news reports spoke about black Africans being singled out. Bin-Wafaa categorically said no. It was not racism. He added that Gaddafi’s forces were based in nearby Zliten (20 km to the west), but there was no vengeance from Misrata. Unlike Taourga’s, the civilians of Zliten did not join Gaddafi’s forces with promises of the spoils from Misrata’s defeat. I also saw many black Libyans in shops, cafes and streets of Misrata. While I and Bin-Wafaa walked on, an old man said hello. “Saw him? He is from Taourga but has lived here with us for a long time,” said Bin-Wafaa

In Misrata’s tiny market, businesses have reopened and some repairs were done to few buildings. In a nearby café, young Libyans sat smoking their Shishas and sipping macchiatos but the grimness in the faces is startling.

The six-month-long season of fear has turned into a sense of pride of what Misrata did to protect itself and keep the push against Gaddafi alive. I understand now why the excessive security measures and graffiti on the walls declare: “no to reconciliation”.  Misrata is now sarcastically known by other Libyans as the “emirate of Misrata”.

Libyans in a café were looking at TV, but their eyes were almost aimless. Smiles can hardly be seen, even though teens were drifting their cars dangerously in Misrata's tiny streets in an expression of their freedom. 

It is possible to deal with physical pain, but overcoming the trauma within is not going to be easy, for Misrata will never be the same.

Libya 2012: Of Green trainers and curly hair

I have raised eye-brows in Tripoli sooner than I thought. Since my arrival, it was the tiny details that appeared to matter most for Libyans. The first incident involved my trainers with their lime green stripes. Our taxi driver pointed at them in a “the-fuck-is-this?” manner. My poker face pleaded not guilty, and I insisted that it was fluorescent yellow, not lime green.

During my first dinner at a Turkish restaurant in Zawiyat al-Dahmani, where my hotel is located, another Libyan man wondered about what on earth made me wear a dark green jumper. This time, I swallowed my tongue. I realized the extent of intolerance to anything that could evoke Gaddafi, including his favourite colour.

Luckily, no one has so far made any comment on my curly hair, or Chafchoufa in Libyan dialect – the word of 2011 that Libyans used to mock Gaddafi’s hairstyle. I anticipated that by quickly having a haircut the following day.

Regardless of my lack of tact, Gaddafi and his legacy do still have a place in the hearts and minds of Libyans and is likely to do so for a while.

I went with Mohamed Madi to his grandma’s house in Gorje, an underdeveloped housing neighbourhood west of old Tripoli. The warm welcome quickly faded into a debate between the grandma and Mohamed’s friend (who drove us there).

The young man was complaining about the decisions by his university to suspend early results of examinations. To him, this was as fair and unjust as another decision to ban all cars manufactured before 1987 (which includes that wheeled box that he drove).

Gaddafi quickly came back to the discussion. After all, under his rule, universities became scenes for occasional mock trials and executions of opposition Libyan dissidents.

The grandma, who actually didn’t look that old, overflowed with emotions about Muammar. She admitted that his killing was inhumane. But she went on to say that he reaped what he sowed. She also said that his son Saif al-Islam, who is now held by the rebels, should face a similar fate.

The strong emotion about the late colonel is one thing, but I must say that the admiration of some of his acts - e.g. his alleged humiliation of Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi - seem to still provoke the admiration of few Libyans that I talked to.

A young Libyan man bragged about Gaddafi’s famous jet-lag remarks at the UN General Assembly (when he tore the UN charter). Another, with whom I smoked Shisha at Algeria square, told me that had Gaddafi been the president of Egypt, he would have done better to help the Palestinians. Certainly, Libyans hated the colonel and his sons for the squandering of Libya’s finances and despotic rule. But this is not the case when it comes to Gaddafi’s quirky behaviour i.e Libya’s foreign policy.

A Visit to Free Libya January 2012

 

 

My journey from the UK to Libya started with awkwardness. The interior of Tripoli airport was as dusty as if it was in disuse and the scruffy immigration officers began to complain about the hung-up computers. You only need to reset your computer pal! But No. Apparently, another officer with a captain rank began to stamp everyone’s passports and to hell with those modern abacuses! This meant that if you were blacklisted in Libya, you could still get in to the country with no hindrance. It seems that Libya became libertarian rather than liberated.

The brand-new baggage carousels started to push bags and cases As I and my mate waited near the Cairo carousel (from where we traveled), we were surprised to find our cases appearing on the Tunis carousel, behind us! Luckily, there were only two carousels there, and whether from Cairo or Tunis, our baggage finally made its way.

Since the fall of the Gaddafi’s regime, I saw and heard a lot about the chaos in Libya. Militants who contributed to the takeover of the capital were everywhere with their anti-aircraft guns and ad-hoc checkpoints that challenged the local police and their firing in the air as if “they were at war with the sky”, as Charlie Brooker described it. For few Libyans, an iron-fist rule was still in need.

Soon enough I would be challenged as we made our way to the taxi and our driver set off. There were the usual scenes of traffic mayhem; cars that just move and switch lanes aggressively, I was taken by feeling that we would sooner or later crash into another car.

As we drove toward the city, I saw no militias and no militants. The road from the airport was in an excellent condition, and within 15 minutes we started to get to the scenes of the real Tripoli.

I expected the colour green – Gaddafi’s trademark – everywhere on buildings and streets, but again it was not there. Modern yellow housing complexes sprawled the road from the airport to the city, as new rising towers slowly headed towards us - or us towards them - in the horizon.

I could see that some aspects of life in Tripoli were still in limbo. The new Libyan tri-colour flag hovered on top of many places and from uncountable balconies. The three colours of the flag with the white crescent and star also covered what seemed to have few months earlier been billboards and pictures of defiant Gaddafi. However, most of the cars – and my visa – still had the name of Gaddafi’s “state of the masses” - or Jamahiriya - on them.

This transition – or contradiction – seems to be the headline of the moment. The graffiti written here and there and the nice billboards told the current story of Libya: a wish to restore law and order and move on versus the energetic armed militants who refuse to lay down their arms. .

One spraying apparently by the Misrata militants, who captured and killed Gaddafi, said: “Libya is everyone’s capital; Misrata is the capital of martyrs”. “Al-Zintan revolutionaries were here,” declared another statement on another wall.

Rebels from Misrata (200 km east of Tripoli) and Al-Zintan (75 km south of Tripoli) became a strong force in the toothless capital when Gaddafi’s supporters made their way in their last trip to Sirte, few hundred kilometres to the east. Stories in Libya about the strange actions of these militants are many. Mohamed told me that few militants from Al-Zintan apparently took the elephant in Tripoli’s Zoo back to their city. A local paper reported that rebels towed Gaddafi’s Scud missiles from Sirte to Misrata!!

However, in every Tripoli street I passed through, billboards showed a clear anti-militant sentiment. “A martyr’s will: Tripoli is everyone’s capital but without arms”. “Let us be enlightened, tolerant and let’s co-exist”. “Yes to police, to national army, no to arms”.

This may explain why the militants vanished from the streets and their fight with the sky came to an abrupt end.

Against this backdrop of cultural battle lied a city that seemed to be waking up from a year-long slumber, if not a 42-year coma, which is how long Gaddafi remained in power.

During my first day, I came face to face with my preconception of the Libyan revolt and alleged Islamist impact that was propagated in the West. I saw many women without headscarves, and more of them were driving, likely on their way to have an espresso or to an aerobics session somewhere. Chic teenagers seemed to care more about their hair style and Western clothes than the application of Shariah law.

We drove by a café called Pentapolis, and outside, Libyan men sipped their espressos and macchiatos. While I couldn’t hear what they were saying from inside the car, I was able to see the vivacity of a life finally free of oppression and awoken to a new dawn.

I arrived at my hotel room with its stunning of Tripoli’s harbour on the Mediterranean. The clear blue sky and warm weather filled me with a feel-good sensation as I am about to spend an amazing time in Libya.

Gaddafi foretold end of Arab dictators (Eng subtitles)

In March 2008, at the Arab League summit in Damascus, Gaddafi told Arab leaders that the USA would abandon them as it did to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who once had been its "close friend".

In one way, Gaddafi's words turned out to be true. Ben Ali and Mubarak were forced to resign three years later, without a tear shed from the USA.

However, as usual ,  the "guide" might not have realized that he may be next.

See the video:

Gaddafi's five worst (or most amusing) rambling speeches

It's comic relief time.

Gaddafi's tirade on 22 February was not the first one to make many wonder how he became - or remained - a leader for 42 years.

The list of Gaddafi's top five worst (or most amusing) rambling speeches is very long. But below is a quick list.

1. The clock of madness has struck!

On 22 February 2011, Mu'ammar "Lenin" Gaddafi declared the launch of the people's march on the protestors for taking eastern Libya in less than a week.

Top comment 1: "Lessons learnt from speech: 1) He's got two glasses 2) He's  got two moustaches (one above his mouth, the other below) 3) He's got two cloaks; he wears one and covers himself with the other 4) He's not going to resign because he is not a president 5) He is one son of a crazy woman!"

Top comment 2: "May god extend your life, oh leader, we are with you, oh leader."

2. Gaddafi delcares jihad against ... Switzerland!

 

 After explaining the difference between jihad and terrorism, he calls on the faithful to conquer "infidel" Switzerland "for destroying the minarets of God". 

He made the call after the Swiss authorities arrested his son, Hannibal, and his wife for mistreating their servant in July 2009. A Swiss paper published Hannibal's mugshot, sparking a diplomatic crisis with Libya.

Top comment: "Can anyone tell me which smokes he uses? :)"

3. Coca Cola is African

 

While addressing the masses in an African country, Gaddafi declares that the carbonated drink is African and that its sale as Coca Cola and Pepsi is an imperialist plot.

Top comment: "I swear, your face is like a can of Coca Cola."

4. Gaddafi's "jet lag" UN General Assmebly speech

After presenting his solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict (one multi-national state called Isra-tine), he throws the White Book (tha he wrote on this solution) back as he leafs on.

Top comment: "How did this guy become a head of state?"

5. Gaddafi gets back at Saudi king at Arab League summit 

At the Doha 2009 summit of the Arab League, he interrupted the Qatari emir's speech to ask Saudi King Abdullah about why he wasn't answering his calls and why he had been "scared of confrontation". Gaddafi later listed his credits: "I am the leader of the revolution, the dean of Arab rulers, the king of the kings of Africa, and my international status does not allow me to go lower than that. Thanks."

Top comment: "Built-in stupidity."

Libya February protest map by LA Times

The map below was prepared by the Los Angeles Times. As we can see, the protests are noted to take place not only in the naturally anti-Gaddafi east, but also in western Libya.

Mainstream media, with the exception of some French media, are still exercising restraint on reporting on the protests in Libya, even though evidence from Facebook groups and other opposition websites show a sustained protest campaign.




View Mapping Pro-Democracy Protests in Libya in a larger map

At the same time, Libyan state media are still broadcasting the endless loops of "pro-Gaddafi" protests for the third day.

London-based opposition website Al-Manarah Link has its own web-based TV, which yesterday broadcast footage from the Libyan state "Al-Jamahiriyah TV".

Toz, or salt, boomerangs to Libya's Gaddafi

Toz, or salt in Turkish, is a word that has been attached to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi more than any other during his anti-USA years in the 1980s. 

Then, Gaddafi, and the pan-Arab nationalists, used it as a mantra: Toz fi Amreeka (America is nil). 

Toz got into Arabic from Turkish traders. The traders used it to avoid tax on rice imported into Ottoman Egypt by declaring their load as salt, or toz.o Now it is used by Arabs to refer to people or things that are insignificant or of no value.

In the 16-17 February protests in Libya, Libyan demonstrators in Zentan chose this swear word, in particular, in their chants against Gaddafi.

Grafitti on wall in Zentan: Zentan is the country of men - Toz Toz fil Gaddafi

Grafitti on wall in Zentan:

Zentan is the country of men - Toz Toz fil Gaddafi 

The word is common, but to use it against a dictator, in front of cameras, in a Libyan city, is indeed something.

The protests spread quickly to Libyan cities against the most optimistic predictions, with the death toll, according to Al-Arabiya TV, reaching 19 people in eastern Libya alone.

The protests in the eastern side of the Jamahiriyah were expected, especially in Benghazi and Al-Bayda. 

Al-Bayda is the hometown of King Sanussi, who was deposed by Gaddafi in his 1969 coup. Benghazi, on the other hand, has been a source of dissent for a long time against Gaddafi, possibly because he had favoured his Gaddaf al-Damm tribe in running the country and resisted power- and wealth-sharing.

But the eruption of protests in Zentan, 75 miles south of Tripoli,  according to Libyan opposition websites, reflects the strong feelings of Libyans about the "Guide". 

It is is also a very quick development, given that officially, 17 February was the first day of revolt, while in reality it was the second.

Tripoli, Sirte and north-western Libya in general are known for being strongholds of Gaddafi and his regime.

Therefore, Libyan protestors elsewhere will wait anxiously to see whether the protests will spill over to Tripoli or at least gain steam in surrounding cities such as Masrata and Sibrata.

 One Libyan opposition source shows a video of a reported Tripoli protest. However, the video does not tell a story of a genuine protest  and it looks like some traffic incident. Another video posted on the same page was flagged by the twitterati as being from Al-Bayda. Reuters also reported that apart from pro-Gaddafi protests, Tripoli was quiet:

"But in the capital, traffic was moving as normal, banks and shops were open and there was no increased security presence."

What we will have to wait for is to see whether the protests will evolve in size, with the participation of any opposition groups and unions, or larger numbers of university students.

Libyans may move the protests quickly to the capital in a repetition of the Egyptian tactic. Or, they may continue to stoke up opposition in the east and south until the fire eventually gets to Tripoli, which is what the Tunisians have done. 

In either scenario, the Libyan intifada has set off. 

The fear of the security forces has been shattered in Tunisia and Egypt, many other Arab countries and now in Libya. The security forces, in those countries, eventually withdrew.

And it is not going to be worse than it is, for the Libyans have finally said it out loud: Toz fil Gaddafi (Gaddafi is nil).