member of the human race

every since the 15th of February i have been glued to the internet and aljazeera live, i have hardly slept (not only because of the fact that i have a 7 week old baby) not ate properly, and it seems walking around like a zombie, all this due to the fact that Libya is going through a phenomenal revolution, the people have spoken and they will not back down.


the pace at which the changes occurred is awe inspiring and the libyans have shown the world there true colours which was dulled for 42 years by a dictator, one which the world has never seen the likes of considering his hair and wardrobe.


in my previous blog entry a few questions where posed, which i will try to answer:

can you tell us a little about yourself:

ok well i was born in Libya, lived a few months in Libya and then my dad took us to Canada as he had a course he was attending for a year, after that he applied to study for a masters in Britain, was accepted at the university of glasgow.

originally the plan was to obtain a masters and return to Libya, during our time in Scotland my dad took in a libyan family whom we did not know, but out of kindness helped them to establish themselves in Scotland until they where able to stand on there own 2 feet, what my dad was not aware of was that this man was a spy who was sending reports about my dad to the libyan goverment, such as the books he was reading, the Friday sermons he was attending etc..

my dad is a moderate Muslim man who practices his religion in a peaceful manner and this man sent lies upon lies to the Libyan government and my dad became a wanted man, so we could no longer return to Libya (this was nearly 30 years ago)

my father applied for asylum (he got his masters as well) and his case was accepted and we became British citizens. we moved to Manchester and have lived here ever since, my dad has always spoken out against the gaddafi regime and he established an organisation called libya watch which monitors the situation in Libya and he fought for the rights of those who died in the abu saleem massacre.

i personally have not lived in Libya and the Libya i know is through the eyes of my parents, there stories and recollections yet my heart is attached to Libya.

what are people fighting for?

simply there god given rights, imagine having no vote for 42 years, imagine having no structure in life for 42 years, non existent wages for 42 years and allot of the time the wages don't even make an appearance, imagine having to sell your car and your wife's gold in order to go to Tunisia for a simply tooth procedure as the hospitals in Libya are not equipped or are not able to do the simplest of procedures, imagine your mouth taped up for 42 years, the list goes on and on and on.

being ruled by a dictator for 42 years has completely destroyed a nation, he has put his finger in all aspects of society, education, finance, health, family life, etc... no stone in Libya has been left unturned, the people want to breath again, for so long the have held there breath and now it's a case of release or die trying.

what are some moments that made you proud?

gosh this question is hard one, to many moments to mention, during gaddafis reign, the people where so down and had no hopes, the little things would irritate them in each other, the sens of loving and wanting the best for your country was near to non existence as gaddafi had removed that from them, since the revolution a true Libyan spirit from the time of the king has emerged, the love, unity and brotherhood for one another is truly awe inspiring, the positive patriotism that has emerged is amazing, the cleaning up of the streets by the youth, the security network by the youth in protecting the city, staying up all night watching out for gaddafi forces, the fact that no reports of looting in the cities is simply amazing.

the spirit of the Libyans is what makes me proud, for once Libyans can face the world without the shadow of gaddafi and say 'we are proud to be Libyan'.

what are your hopes for the future?

like any human, to live a free life, and to have the best for your country without intervention from the outside world.

how are you using technology such as the Internet?

from this question i presume you thought i was inside of Libya, i wish, not yet, I'm based in Britain, so technology is not an issue.

what do you want to say to the world?

watch this space, a new Libya is emerging and instead of being the country that world mocks, it will be the country that the world looks up to ;)

how can we help?

spread the word, in the beginning Libya's plight was ignored, people saw gaddafi and new he was a mad man and had committed many atrocities, in 1996 when he completely massacred 1200 political prisoners and threw into the sea, the world was aware but chose to stay quite. what we don't want is external military intervention, history has proven once military enters a country they don't know how to leave, the Libyans managed to topple the east of Libya and will do so for the west.

what the world can do is put in place an arm embargo, stop those countries that are sending mercenaries and militias to Libya, freeze gaddafis assets which has been done now, place a no fly zone etc... this will assist the Libyans.

hope that's answered your qs.

i would like to say to the other blogger about the Africans that are being killed in Libya, where is your source from first of all, don't always believe what you hear, the clips of bodies killed are through self defence, and many are Libyans working for gaddafi who have been killed and not 'black Africans', also its another reason why the world needs to apply pressure on those countries that are sending troops into Libya for the purpose of killing its citizens, it has been proven that mercenaries are being used in Libya and gaddafi himself has said that he has asked them to rape and kill.

now obviously this causes panic, but Libyans are made up of people from different skin colour backgrounds, you will find white, brown, yellow and black Libyans so the concept of racism is not existent and the protesters are not going on a killing spree, if anything they have managed to capture many mercenaries and instead of killing them (even though the mercenaries are equipped and attacking) they have kept them alive and held them in a secure area, feeding them and treating them with the care that gaddafi has not shown for 42 years, until a just court hearing can take place in regards to the captured mercenaries.

hope that answers your qs ;)