with the events happening inside of Libya, my heart pounds a thousand times a minute with every emerging news concerning Libya, i sleep the news and i wake the news and everything in between is the news.

I'm constantly on facebook, twitter, google, aljazeera both arabic and english, and any other news outlet.

one minute we are celebrating news that the freedom fighters have taken this place, have destroyed gaddafi forces, etc... the next minute we are biting our nails when news emerges that gaddafi forces have surrounded this place, have killed this many freedom fighters etc...

with all this tension and stress one cant help but feel dismay and sadness, yet when you call people inside of Libya, you hear a totally different story, there spirits are high, they are full of hope and faith and by the end of the call you feel convinced that freedom is round the corner.

i have such admiration for these people whom i have come to call my hero's, for they are making history and they are changing regimes and they are the true libyans.

every time we make contact with libyans, our batteries are charged once again....

misrata

my original home town.

one that i may not be able to visit as it may not exist anymore due to gaddafi forces bombarding it constantly.

its a city that is full of memories for my father, he has always had the wish that he would one day return and bring those memories back to life, but will this be possible, will he even recognise it if he was to return?

the name misrata has gone down in history as a city full of angels, a city full of hero's, a city that stood up to forces that appear much stronger but have yet to break misrata.

the people in misrata are fighting for freedom, for there rights that we here in the west take for granted, and they are rewarded by turkey ignoring there plights (occasionally sending a ship) and NATO turning a blind eye, and others claiming al-qaida exists in Libya!

freedom fighters makes up misrata, backgrounds made up of business men, teachers, doctors, nurses, mechanics, not soldiers, or agents or al-qaida.

how dare the world point the finger at a people who have always been peaceful even to a leader who tormented them for 42 years.

when they decided enough was enough they expected the world to stand by them, the west has always claimed they are pro-democracy and freedom, but when push comes to shove they are no advocate of democracy instead its a case of 'what benefits us more'.

misrata walahi you are not forgotten, we will fight for your plight, we will spread the word, and place pressure on those who have the ability to change your situation, but more than that we will pray for you misrata...

i am so proud of the Libyan men, they have proven to the world that they are indeed lions of the dessert, the men of benghazi, bayda, derna, tobrok, breyga, ras lanuf, ajdabeeya, the men of zawia, zintan and misrata.

standing in only there sandals and in many cases, there fists in front of tanks, missiles, RPG's and the latest in weapons, so that Libya will be free is courageous and this courage has not been seen in a long time.

Gaddafi had literally made Libya invisible from the world but these men who are backed by glorious women have made Libya re-appear and it will never disappear, the true colours of Libya where shadowed and erased by gaddafi and his son's but since the 17th February, Libya's colours have grown brighter and brighter and the shadow that is gaddafi is quickly disappearing.

the soul of Libya is emerging once again, it hasn't been easy, thousands have died in order to cleanse Libya and there deaths have not gone in vain, the mothers of these martyrs can hold there heads up high for there sons are hero's.

long live Libya and may victory come very soon to the Libyans, my people....

yesterday was mothers day in the Arab world, and in Manchester we gathered together as women and children to stand in solidarity and remembrance of the martyrs and there mothers.

manchester protests in solidarity with Libya

libya tells the world 'do noty intervene, we can handle it', what does Britain do? they send SAS soliders into libya???????

double bloody standards, imagine it was the other way round, Britain would not stand for it.

then they claim that they are not trusted by the arabs, why do you think??????? its stunts like these that give you such a bad reputation

i urge you LISTEN TO THE LIBYAN PEOPLE.

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 ;)

demonstration on the 17th of February 2011, this Thursday in Libya as well as in front of the Libyan embassy in London demanding the resignation (being a nice word) of Gaddafi and his cronies.

its about time we all (inside Libya and outside Libya) started to raise our voice, enough of the fear and the hiding behind fake loyalty of an extremely evil man who has made the lives of Libyans a misery.

watching his speech 2 days ago really made my blood boil, and watching the people saluting him and chanting words of loyalty towards him was too much to bare.

enough already of the humilation of the libyan people, 40 years is a long time to grin and bare his craziness.

sacrifices have got to be made for change, (look as egypt and tunisia), his time is coming to an end but we have to take the steps to bring his fall (and his family).

seriously enough....

first tunisia, now Egypt are starting to get there act together, will it spread through north africa?

who knows, but what is obvious is that the action of one individual can certainly make world impact.

change regimes even!!!

remove certain people from power!!!!

its a new dawn, its a new day its a new life for.......,

alhamdullilah on the 6th January 2011 Allah swt blessed me and my husband with a baby boy ;)

although the due date was the new years day, he came when Allah willed him to come, so it was perfect timing ;).

it was an 18 hour labour, and at the end came this little being whose home for the past 9 months was inside of me and whose home will now be by my side and my husbands subhnallah.

those people who say that as soon as you hold your little one you forget the pain you went through are liars, u do not forget, one week later i can still remember vividly, but what you do feel is a sense of achievement, a sense of awe, you cant help but say allah akbar or subhnallah, you feel part of the miracle that is life and yes its worth it but to say you forget the pain is going to far lol.

one thing i have to say is that the process of labour gives you a wake up call to how much our mothers went through and if appreciation of mothers only occurred through people experiencing labour then every ones needs to go through the process.

i have been very emotional since the birth, the smallest thing can trigger of tears and whilst crying i have little idea of why i am crying lol, but each time i remember my mum by my side at the labour (my husband was there through out as well) i begin to cry because she was great, i couldn't have done it without her and i pray that Allah swt keeps her safe and gives her a long and happy life.

my husband was fantastic mashallah, he was supportive and was also by my side helping and encouraging, may Allah keep him happy and grant him a long life ameen.

anyway i leave you with an invitation for 3aseeda (a Libyan dish eaten at certain occasions like birth etc..) on behalf of Bilal the newest edition ;)