The Libyan blogosphere is being populated by Ramadan posts and while most of them are of a congratulatory nature such as this example from the Alwafy blog run by the duo Hassen and Hana, others have a different flavour.

WEDA 4 All revives the beautiful Libyan traditions of her Benghazi city and she takes us on a virtual tour of the Fish Market (Soug al hoot) which she used to visit with her parents.

“you can't be in Benghazi in ramadn & u don't go there…..really you'll miss alot…..as you go there you'll see the crowed which starts at abut 2pm..alot of home made libyan bread “tanoor”, harrisa, emsaer, boreek, olives, knafaa,…etc..& of course fireworks.[sic]”

There is another touching part to her post but you'll need to go read to understand.

Then there is PH from My Personal Space who highlights several negative societal aspects in the Arab world associated with Ramadan and which apply to Libya as well. These come as a result of - in my opinion - the very fast loss of values which is plaguing our region lately. I cannot pinpoint what brought it and when it began exactly but I admit it is forming a part of the mosaic of our society and culture. So the extensive number of cartoons he has posted reflects: preoccupation with Ramadan TV programmes, extreme socialising of youth instead of spiritual quests, hypocrisy and addictions, bad timekeeping and other bad practices at the office, greed and lust, soaring prices, conspiracy theories from satellite providers and the ‘West', and not forgetting that it would not be PH without the odd political insinuation and so we have the Arab street looking the other way at Arab hot topics and my personal favourite is the cartoon with the US military arresting the Mesaharati (aka the person who traditionally wakes up Muslims so they can have their suhour i.e the Ramadan breakfast before sunrise) and accusing him of terrorism intention.

On the edge, an American married to a Libyan is counting down to Ramadan. She shares with us her Ramadan preparations while her husband went to the beach:

“[…]stayed home to spend the day in the kitchen cooking food to freeze ahead for Ramadan. Ramadan is only a little more than a week away [.]I am hoping that by cooking as much as possible before hand, I won't be spending ALL my time in the kitchen this year [.] Today I did some more cooking by preparing all the pickled veggies by setting them to start marinating. Tomorrow I hope to finish up with baking the pizzas. I also cooked up the soups too. All this goes into the freezer to be taken out as needed for dinners. Next I have to tackle the house cleaning …ugh ! I hate that part more than the cooking .Ramadan is 90% preparation and 10% doing what needs to be done. This isn't the correct way to celebrate Ramadan but it helps to get these things out of the way so you can devote your time to prayer, charitable acts, good deeds, good thoughts, and being good. Behaving well, being the operative words here. That's why prayer is so good, it keeps you on track [..]”

The humour notwithstanding she does manage to remind us that Ramadan is about tapping into your spirituality and connection with God which is Ramadan's message and blessing.

And while we are on the subject of 3ibadah (tenets of worshipping God) and spirituality, another Ramadan related post is by White African , a Libyan in Britain. She recently returned from Umrah and is sharing with us the beautiful spirit of Mecca and Medinah from her clandestine mobile phone camera.

“seeing the haram again was amazing, the whole place takes over you and you forget about all your problems, life, bills, application forms etc… its simply serenity…obviously i took pictures but the ones inside the haram where from my mobile as my camera is too big to hide […] its always weird to come back after visiting mecca and madina, you kinda get absorbed by the life style of praying in the haram and listening to the adhan and generally having more ibadah in your life[..]mecca and madina is filling up pretty fast with people who are coming especially for ramadan, by the time we left it was choca block…”

Another facet is expressed by Khadijateri, an American living in Tripoli and married to a Libyan. Like On the edge, she is making her own Ramadan preparations.

“I've spent the weekend relaxing and getting things ready for Ramadan[…]The shopping part was the pleasant part. I got a new blender and a microwave oven. Also some stuff for the kitchen; plastic containers and soup spoons. I have plenty of everything for the kitchen already. I also picked up some curtains for my bedroom and a small furniture dealie with three drawers in it that fits nicely under my desk. I didn't need those but I wanted them and cash was in my pocket so I got them. I decided that for the groceries I'm not going to go shopping for anything special. There's a shop around the corner that always has just about everything I need.”

She also hits Libyans under the belt:

I can't understand why Libyans go berserk at the grocery store right before Ramadan starts. You would think that all the food was going to disappear or something.

To be fair Ramadan has been increasingly commercialized in the Arab world at least and even in Libya shopping for groceries and cooking utensils and renovating kitchens has become a major aspect in pre-Ramadan planning. Also the ills of modernization and globalization are increasingly catching up with us and eroding some of the more innocent aspects of our culture making us more materialistic. Yet I would like to think that most Libyans were not shopping because they are gluttons or stupid enough to think that food would disappear soon but rather perhaps the simple reason is like on the edge implied i.e. early preparations in order to save more time for religious contemplation?

Ramadan Mabrouk to you all!

Bahrain:

After watching the opening ceremony, Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif praises China for ‘outdoing' themselves.

There is no doubt in my mind at all that the Chinese have not only outdone themselves, but have successfully outdone every other country which so far hosted the Olympics. The opening ceremony was breathtaking.

For the Bahraini team, the blogger says:

I am sure that our athletes will exert themselves at the games to do the best they can, for that I wish them much luck. Just being there makes me proud of them. So onward and upwards ladies and gentlemen, you have already beaten the odds.

Unlike neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which doesn't allow women to compete in the Olympics, Asia's leading female sprinter Rouqayya Al-Ghasra led the Bahraini Olympic team at the opening ceremony of the games.

Commenting on the gesture, reader Lee Ann says:

I wonder what she was feeling as she walked along representing her country…a female heading a delegation from a known patriarchal society…must have felt dreamlike. I envy her and I proud of her…and Im not even Bahraini….go team go!

Egypt:

Writing at Open Democracy, Egyptian Tarek Osman says watching the Olympics held in China leaves Egyptians with a 'sweet and sour' taste in their mouths.

Now, on 8 August 2008, around 40 million Egyptians will watch the beginning of the Beijing Olympics. China's rise, to an Egyptian, has the taste of Cantonese sauce - sweet and sour. The ascendancy of a poor nation, an old civilisation is heartwarming. The comparison of where “Egypt vs China” is today is sour. True, Egypt is no China. It lacks the demographic weight, the political clout, the enormous economic potential, and the military might. But at the core of the comparison lie many similarities - the ancient heritage, the glamorous history, the deep traditions, the populous agricultural land, and the sense of an entitled civilisation. China's ascendancy (or India's growth for that matter) compels Egyptians to inwardly reflect on where they are and where they are going.

Osman continues:

I cannot but compare that all-approving, thumbs-up assessment with Egypt's failure to win the right to host football's World Cup in 2010, in which the country's bid received zero votes from the organising commission. Such bleak comparison is not masochism, but a reminder that success stories - especially those of whole nations - are fundamentally stories of people who aimed to succeed and had the will and discipline to follow through.

Libya:

Anglo-Libyan wished there were more athletes from his country at the event. He adds:

I know it is too much to expect a medal but just taking part and participating in this major event is a reason to be proud of the 7 Libyan athletes, I wish there was more than just seven but that is how it is and inshaAllah [by the will of God] they make us proud by being decent and fair.

Saudi Arabia:

American Bedu, an American who lives in Saudi Arabia, watched the opening with excitement. The all-men Saudi team, however, opens Pandora's Box and a barrage of questions. She explains:

The all-male Saudi delegation entered looking very Royal and carrying the flag proudly and high. And yes, you read that right — all-male. Now come on…did anyone reading this post really expect that Saudi would have a female Olympic contender as part of their team…yet? Don’t forget, physical education is not even part of the regular program (if at all) for female students in the Kingdom.

Which does make one wonder….how many Saudi females would like to have the chance to compete as an Olympian? What kind of sports would they likely pursue that would still be viewed as acceptable in that a muslim woman can compete while maintaining her modesty?

So what about the rest of the Arab world competing in the Olympics? Did they have women on their teams? Yes; they did and usually had a woman athlete carrying the flag proudly as well. It was a pleasure seeing the Arab athletes from Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and elsewhere. Iran also had women as part of its Olympic team as did even conservative Afghanistan!

So I’ll close this impromptu post in wishing the Saudi team well and hope that the lack of female contenders on the Saudi team will at least help open the eyes to initiating athletic programs for women in the school systems here…as a start.

And I ask for those especially who are Saudi and reading this post to share your views and thoughts about whether Saudi women should be given the opportunity to participate in future Olympics for the Kingdom.

Palestine:

For a complete round up of Arab participations in the Olympics, check out Ray Hananiya's article on Mideast Youth. He also shares his hopes for his national team:

As a Palestinian and an Arab I was extremely proud to see such a large contingent of athletes from the Arab World participating in this year’s Olympics… But seeing all the Arab countries participate is an enormous source of pride we should all share. I am especially excited that the Palestinian Athletic team continues to grow despite Israel’s oppressive occupation policies.

The official Tunisia.com blog congratulated Mellouli on taking home Tunisia's first gold medal in 40 years:

Congratulations to Oussama Mellouli who dug in when it counted to beat the legendary Grant Hackett over the 1500 meters swim in the games.

In what is a tough event Oussama beat the odds and delivered the first gold for over 40 years!

Algeria.com details Algeria's Olympic history, shares the stats so far, and gives a bit of encouragement:

It is hoped that between the track athletes and the boxers that Algeria will be able to add a few more medals to their collection, and walk away from another successful Olympic Games. Algeria has shown their ability to be worthy competitors and it seems that every year they are growing in strength and diversity.

Morocco's The View from Fez shared the exciting news of Hasna Benhassi's bronze medal, Morocco's first in Beijing, praising the runner for her success:

Benhassi was already among the greatest Moroccan women athletes in history even before her silver medal 800m performances in the Athens Olympics and the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 and Osaka in 2007. She had won gold at 800m in the 2000 African Championships and at 1500m in the 2001 World Indoor Championships in Lisbon, becoming only the second female Moroccan athlete, after Nezha Bidouane, to win a World Championship title. But she has remained very much in the shadow of her brilliant compatriot, Hicham El Guerrouj.

Although Libya has not yet won a medal, its bloggers have been talking about the Olympics. Anglo-Libyan blogged the opening ceremonies and discussed swimmer Asmahan (Mercedes) Farhat's first race:

Yesterday I watched the swimming heats on BBC but they never showed the 100-meter breaststroke that Asmahan Farhat took part in, the picture on the left is Asmahan getting ready for her swim, she did not do that well although she did manage to break her own record but she enjoyed taking part, you can read her blog entry, it was funny reading how she was dressed in an east Libyan costume by old ladies, to me this is the best and most beautiful Libyan costume.

Farhat, a Libyan-American competing for Libya, wrote a blog post for her local U.S. newspaper about participating in the Olympics, and said this about getting to warm up in the same lane as Michael Phelps:

During warm up I got to swim in his lane. That's right, right next to him and I will honestly say that nothing makes you swim faster than when Michael Phelps is swimming behind you and you don't want to get in his way!

When he swims past you, you can feel the power that he pushes the water with and how smooth he moves in the water. Most swimmers I've swam in a lane with you can feel them fighting the water and the waves are choppy, but when he swims next to you there are barely any forceful waves.

It is unbelievable, it's almost like the waters moving with him. It was the most memorable warm-up swim I've ever swam for sure!

Although bloggers are proud of what their countrymen have accomplished, one blogger feels that Arab countries could do more. Musings of a Proud Arab posted on the eighth Olympic day, frustrated by the lack of Arab medalists. The Jordanian blogger, who lives in the UAE, encourages Arab countries to unite for the gold:

We should not be there just to participate for our national flags to fly within the Olympic Village and in the Parade of Nations. This got me thinking and I want to share a solution with you; have ALL of the 22 Arab countries contribute half of their budgets to a collective consolidated budget that will be used as a Regional Trial to choose the BEST ARAB ATHLETES and train them to bring us gold.There are several reasons for this; 1) the Arab common person is united in their support of Arabs in the Olympics as it reflects on all of us (where we are really united), 2) it allows the countries to still have their symbolic participation in the Olympics (with half their budget), and 3) it will derive the athletes of the poor excuse that I did not perform because I did not have the support, especially financial from my National Olympic Committee.After all, the Arab countries combined have the same population of the United States. And we never hear complaints from them that on there are too many Californians with their Olympic athletes and not a single Alaskan!So, will this be an ideal or can the League of Arab States seriously work on achieving it from 2009? As a corporate person, I would place 12 gold medals as our target for 2012 London Olympics!

Writing on Sudanese forum Brbr Net, Abu Al Derdiri [Ar] says that Al Basheer's arrest warrant fulfils Libyan leader Muammar Al Gaddafi's prediction that the US will hunt down Arab rulers to fulfil its expansionist plans in the region. He says:

يبدو أن تحذير الزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي خلال القمة العربية الأخيرة في دمشق من أن أمريكا ستطارد الزعماء العرب واحدا تلو الآخر بعد إعدام الرئيس العراقي الراحل صدام حسين، بدأ يجد آذانا صاغية على أرض الواقع ، حيث فوجيء العرب والعالم في 14 يوليو 2008 باتهام المدعي العام للمحكمة الجنائية الدولية لويس مورينو أوكامبو للرئيس السوداني عمر البشير بارتكاب جرائم حرب وجرائم ضد الإنسانية وإبادة جماعية في دارفور ، مطالبا المحكمة باعتقاله .
هذا القرار اعتبره كثيرون بأنه سياسي مائة بالمائة ويؤكد أن الولايات المتحدة قررت استخدام سلاح المحكمة الجنائية الدولية لإسقاط نظام البشير الذي طالما حال دون تحقيق مخططات المحافظين الجدد وإسرائيل في تقسيم السودان والاستيلاء على ثرواته الهائلة وخاصة المعدنية والغذائية والمائية منها .

It seems that Libyan Leader Muammer Al Gaddafi's warning during the last Arab League Summit in Damascus that the United States will be hunting down Arab leaders one after the other after the hanging of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is ringing true. Arabs and the world were surprised on July 14, 2008, of an accusation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo against Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, and called upon the court to arrest him. A lot considered this ruling as political, stressing that the United States has decided to use the weapon of the ICC to overthrow Al Bashir's rule, which has so far not been achieved despite the plotting of the Neo-cons and Israel, who want to carve up Sudan and steal its extensive resources, especially minerals, food and water.

Al Derdiri goes on to say that the ICC has no jurisdiction on Sudan, which does not recognise the ICC and insists that singling out Al Bashir is a ploy to pave the way for the trial of other Arab leaders. He adds:

ولذا سرعان ما ركزت واشنطن على استخدام صلاحيات المحكمة لتأديب “الحكام المارقين” بعيدا عن الحروب وفيتو مجلس الأمن ، وهو ما ظهر بوضوح في حالة الرئيس السوداني ، وهنا يتساءل البعض : هل يشكل القرار سابقة لمحاكمة مسئولين عرب آخرين ، وماذا يفعل السودان لمواجهته؟ .

Washington is concentrating its efforts on using the powers of the court to discipline ‘rogue rulers' away from wars and the Security Council's Veto. This is evident in the case against the Sudanese president. Some of you may ask: Will this ruling set a precedence for the trial of other Arab officials and what will Sudan do to confront it?

Al Derdiri then draws parallels between Sudan and Iraq, and writes:

ورغم أنه بات من المؤكد أن واشنطن تسير قدما في مخطط تقسيم السودان سواء كان ذلك عبر اتفاقية السلام التي تضمن انفصال الجنوب أو من خلال إشعال أزمة دارفور، إلا أن العرب لم يقوموا حتى الآن بخطوات جدية لإنقاذ السودان من المصير الذي وصل إليه العراق.

It has become evident that Washington is continuing with its plans to divide Sudan, whether this is achieved through a peace agreement which guarantees the separation of the South or through fanning the flames over the Darfur crisis. However, Arabs are yet to take serious steps to save Sudan from Iraq's destiny.

He further calls on Arabs and the African Union to move fast - and push the international community to protect the immunity of presidents and the sovereignty of states:

فالرئيس السوداني بات في قبضة المحكمة الجنائية الدولية لأن قراراتها غير قابلة للإلغاء ولا تسقط بالتقادم ، ويبدو أن هذا هو الثمن الذي كان لابد أن يدفعه العرب من وجهة نظر بوش للتغطية على فشله في العراق وأفغانستان ولبنان ولرفع أسهم المرشح الجمهوري جون ماكين في انتخابات الرئاسة الأمريكية المقبلة .
ولذا لا مناص من تكثيف التحرك العربي والإفريقي في الأمم المتحدة لدفع مجلس الأمن لمطالبة المحكمة بتأجيل تنفيذ قرار اعتقال البشير ، بالإضافة إلى ضرورة تحرك الجامعة العربية والاتحاد الإفريقي سريعا لإصدار فتوى من المحكمة الجنائية الدولية حول حصانة الرؤساء لضمان عدم استخدامها كسلاح سياسي لخدمة مخططات واشنطن ، وباعتبار هذا الأمر يضر بمبدأ أساسي في القانون الدولي وهو مبدأ السيادة.

The Sudanese President is now in the clasp of the ICC, whose decisions are irrevocable and this seems to be the price Arabs have to pay, in the opinion of Bush, to cover for his failures in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, and improve the fortunes of the Republican nominee John McCain in the upcoming US elections. Arabs and Africans should now intensify their pressure at the United Nations, to force the Security Council to demand from the Court to delay the decision to arrest Al Bashir. The Arab League and the African Union should also move fast and extract an order from the ICC on the immunity of Presidents, in order for this tactic not to be used as a political weapon in the hands of Washington. Such decisions harm a fundamental clause in international law - and that is the issue of sovereignty.

In conclusion, he asks:

وبعد ذلك ، يبقى التساؤل الملح ” أي من الحكام العرب ستستهدفه واشنطن بعد صدام والبشير ؟ ” ، هذا ما ستجيب عنه الأيام المقبلة .

And after all this, there remains a pressing questions: Who of the Arab leaders will be targeted by Washington after Saddam and Al Bashir? We will know the answer to this question in the near future.

Also on Global Voices Online:
Bahrain: Omar Al Bashir and the Cross-Eyed Justice

As expected there were a few summer related posts on the Libyan blogosphere. After all with approximately 2000 km of coastline it would have been strange if despite the relative continuing quietness of Libyan bloggers no one mentioned swimming or the beach in relation to Libya.

“[T]he typical Libyan day at the beach” says Khalid Jorni

“[..]would start at eight o'clock Friday morning, when the whole family would get up, load the car with everything but the kitchen sink, and head to Garaboulli beach, we would arrive at noon because we had to stop several times to buy fruits, corns, bread, meat, etc
The first nightmare would be unloading the car in the mid of a baking-hot day, carrying the fridge, gallons of water, big watermelons, etc, along the way from the parking to the hut through the burning sands would make you hate your life altogether.
Then starts the process of eating, each time you think you could escape to the water you would be called back to share a meal, until you feel nine months pregnant, then you would realize that the time of reloading the car and going back home has come.”

This humorous description is self critical but so true and runs perfectly in agreement with my favourite Libyan cartoonist Elzwawi. His renderings of the Libyan social scene are uber-famous. You can check his day at the beach caricature among other things here.

Beach time fun unfortunately brings also its share of victims. Khadijateri, who is married to a Libyan and has been living in Libya for close to twenty years, has chosen this as the theme for her Libyan summer activities post.

“Every summer you hear of people drowning, usually because the person was swept out to sea by a strong current called a riptide. Most of these tragic events could be prevented if people were educated on how to save themselves from these powerful water currents.”

Both Anglo-Libyan and Khalid Jorni mentioned that dual citizenship holder Mercedes Farhat who recently took the name of Asmahan will be donning the Libyan colours at the upcoming Olympics.

However while Khalid Jorni was wondering ” will the Libyan fathers who live in Libya allow their daughters to be seen half naked in public?!”
Anglo-Libyan correctly highlighted that although we are proud that Libya's flag will be represented by someone but Mercedes was NOT the first female ever - as press releases have been shouting over the rooftops - who will compete in the Olympics swimming category for Libya.
On the other hand to add to Anglo's list and answer Khalid's conjectures I would like to mention as an example the 2007 Special Olympics Libyan aquatics competitors Fathia Saad and Radia Wadi along with their coach Nabila Taguri. There are probably others it's just that the PR in Libya is not as good as in America. I'll wait for someone to dig up more info.

At this point the first part of my Libya round up is completed. However the posts I brought up have controversial multiple facets as well which were further developed in their comment sections. The next paragraphs I hope will be taken as constructive criticism and learning points. So apologies in advance to you all and do not take it personally.

(1) Khalidjorni's cracking representation of a day at the beach was a narrative comparison between western and Libyan typical beach outings.

“This weekly trip to Janzour will soon be replaced by one, involving the whole family, to Garaboulli beach, [..] where I won't have to close my eyes while performing Friday noon prayer. I found it rather outlandish that those Caucasians at Janzour beach don’t get hungry! […] food is not a basic part of those people's vacation, they spend the whole day staring at a novel or a magazine while tossing and turning on the sand, I think that’s what they are really hungry for, sunlight, they don’t even spend much time swimming!”

This immediately divided the comments into several broad camps: the you- are -retarded -if –you- don’t- act -like -the –westerners, the expected (Libyan) women-are-oppressed –cooking-all –day –at –the beach line and the this-is-our culture camp.

(2) Then he put up several photos of the relaxing tourists. Now, if I'm at the beach abroad I'd rather be asked before someone decides to immortalize me for posterity. I mean it is OK to be accidentally part of a photo when you are visiting museums, famous buildings and such because most people will be shooting the same thing. And even at the beach if a group of friends are taking a photo together and a stranger gets in the frame is fine but having a gallery full of strangers does not seem right it kind of infringes on their privacy. I would not like a photo of me and my family at the Garabouli to appear on a blog unless I permitted it.

This reminded me of another great post by Khalidjorni which also gave me some concern. He spoke about the gigantic construction field that Tripoli has become. But he also broached the Gargaresh sewage polluted beach which was obviously still used carelessly by Libyan children.
Raising civil awareness is fantastic and needed and pictures are certainly better than a thousand words but posting some of the children's photos even with their own consent does not seem right to me. The numerous photos of the scantily clad tourists and the close ups of the children constitute a clear encroach on privacy. I'm surprised no one mentioned that.

(3) Khadijateri's post though full of useful information about the riptides that endanger Libyans annually and probably good intentions also stirred up the same kind of trouble pitting Libyan vs foreigners.

“I always have found it weird that most Libyans have no idea how to swim, especially since Libya has such a long coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. Many will tell you ‘I know how to swim!' and you find out that their idea of swimming is moving their arms and splashing about, all the while their feet are still firmly planted on the bottom. That is NOT swimming.”

In response to the above intro a snippet from a commenter was “Stop being so derogatory of our people“.

Yes we Libyans do not like criticism but the message could have been conveyed differently rising above pettiness to achieve greater impact and save more Libyan lives.

In my opinion diplomacy, tact and avoiding stereotypes is more productive both when blogging about Libyans and non-Libyans.

On the other hand I don't really know what the status on data protection and privacy laws is in Libya but there must be a way to market Libya without those types of photos and there must be a way to show social defects without compromising children identities. That is the next step I hope to see in internet journalism.

Obviously from comments and posts we have seen that many Libyans in Libya (female and male) do know how to swim and enjoy swimming, belying statements to the contrary and despite formal swimming lessons not yet being part of the national school physical education curriculum.

Anglolibyan lamented that Libyans do not feel proud about their country. He complained especially that the Libyan flag as it stands has no rallying power.

“[…]as with many things in our country, this flag was forced on the population,[…] the problem in the long run is that many Libyans have lost the sense of pride for their country, unlike most other countries in the world, we do not have a Libyan national anthem or a proper flag to make us feel proud”.

For those of you who do not know what the current Libyan flag adopted in the 70s looks like, it simply consists of one colour: bright green or what I call Islamic green.

The resulting debate ranged from love, anticipation, disregard, plain disdain and surprisingly enough acrimony. Samples of comments from various Libyan bloggers follows [source]:

‘for my generation (at least) we do identify with the “all green” and nothing cries out “Libya” to us like the “All Green” ” A.Akak.

” Green ,yellow,white ,with a crescent or a star or with out them ,with an original Libyan anthem or not …It doesn't make a difference as long as LIBYANS doesn't feel LIBYANS..and believe me,what makes us feel this way is not a flag or an anthem..It is the pride that comes with respect…[sic]” Benghazi Citizen

“i am waiting for the day that a libyan sports player or sports team wins a gold medal, and i bet with you that every libyan will stand up for the national anthem and look it his flag, and it will not make a difference how this flag will look alike, you just will feel proud, we all will feel proud[sic]” Libyan

” I think, the green rag is no more representative of Libya than the Nazi flag is of Germany. Suliman.

This discussion brought out to light a set of differences between Libyan generations, including a further classification which I have been expecting yet wishing that it would not happen. This subset, no less important than the generation gap can be summarized in whether you were living inside or outside Libya.

The next topic that recently griped the Libyan blogosphere began by a post on Flying Birds, related to a frustrated love that resulted in this comment (now deleted) from reader Music Lover who said:

“If you are in love, then the best solution is ask for her hand, Boyfriend & Girlfriend relationship they do not work in the Arab world. Arab women they do not want bullshit talk, either marriage or get lost.”

Blogger UT (formerly Trabilisia, found it inflammatory enough to warrant a retaliatory post called “Arab women vs western” where she says :

” many men in general classify us, Arab women, as no easy conquest which is nice in a way but shows that western ladies are preferable for an easy ride and wont ask for marriage which I believe is outrageous ,untrue and really gets me mad.[sic]”.

This resulted in a barrage of comments again about Libyan women, Arab women, foreign women, sexuality, honour, pride, chauvinism, feminism and freedom. It is a pity that UT has disabled the comment section just while I was writing this post, as the comments are an invaluable part of the debate and relevant to the idea hinted at above between those Libyans living inside vs those living outside Libya. I would like to urge UT to release the comments again and hope that this post will encourage her to do so.

Khalid Jorni's post a day later seemed to pour ‘fuel' as we say over a dying fire. But I say 'seemed' because that was not the intention I think. However, he brought up to light a thorny topic in Libya : the ‘ajnabia' wife.

Ajnabia in Arabic means a foreign woman but in Libya and most Arab countries it has gained an additional subtle connotation namely ‘Western woman' and more specifically, American, British and on a smaller scale northern European. The rest of Europe does not count much. The Arab wife is just that, Arab or designated by her country of origin and so are Asian women.

Khalid Jorni picked up on a recurrent situation which because of the small population of Libya (5.5 million) and the large number of such cases has become noticeable: Libyan men divorced from their foreign wives leaving everything they built over a decade or more, including their children, and returning to Libya to marry a ‘100%' Libyan woman.

“as we all know after a period of time love has to fade out, and when it does, the Libyan guy would never think of a separation, he believes that he is the only salvation of his kids in a Godless land, he always wanted them to have the good part of the two worlds, so even if he hates his wife's guts, he would rather die than leaving her alone with his kids, specially if they were females..[…] While the Ajnabiyia, when love disappears, starts to link everything her husband does with his Libyan background, even if the guy was so open-minded and tolerant all his deeds would be considered retrograde and somehow related to the place he comes from.”

His advice is :” you got to choose either to live in Libya with a non-Libyan wife, or to stay abroad with a Libyan wife, but to live abroad with a non-Libyan wife, that is the definition of catastrophe”. Yet he concludes his post with this appeal to expatriate Libyans “Why don’t they come back to Libya, sacrifice some advantages and give up their high life style in order to make a valid contribution to the evolution of their country[..]”.

58 comments later and the war is still raging on! Some answers are surprising as they come from readers and bloggers who have themselves said they have an ajnabia mother or grandmother or others who have an Arab mother. We even heard from foreign female bloggers, but the only voice we have not heard is that of children with non ajnabia /non Arab /non Libyan mother. A Libyan with an Indian mother for example.

The ulcer has exploded bringing out a torrent of pus and long pent up feelings most of them off topic: the race card, sexual frustration, Islam, stereotypes, politics, pride, nationalism and treason. The genie was officially out of the bottle!

” Unfortunately many Libyans living in Libya think that many of us live in the west because of a better life style and that we do not participate in the building of our country […]from most of these comments I can see the Libyan mentality has not changed much, people there still look down on people that have non Libyan mothers” Anglolibyan.

Blogger Ph's reply runs like a post – the most important part which in my opinion illustrates the undercurrent between the three posts is this excerpt :

“there is a sick cowardly segment of our society that always runs away from Libya when it needs them the most, during times of hardship, like after the Italian invasion, and after the revolution taking the money and knowledge they gained from the country they lived in and its people. They , then return after the hardship ends like after the Italian occupation and after the recent Lifting of the sanctions with their education and money, some of which was stolen from Libya and some of which was paid for by the current Libyan government and then they claim to be better than they average Libyan, and look down on them as if they aren't Libyan themselves and as if they are better simply because they studied abroad or learnt English, forgetting of course that whatever education they earned they earned from the money that was spent on them by the Libyan government and forgetting that the only reason they are in a better state is because they didn't stand by their country when it needed them the most and that makes them think, ignorantly may I add, that their treachery makes them better people !
Not only that; but after returning to Libya this sick segment isn't satisfied with their country not holding them accountable for their actions; but they actually want them to greet them with flowers and treat them like kings simply because they know English ! Then they start whining and crying when they aren't treated as the aristocrats they think they are claiming that the Libyans are racist and backward thinking […] Of course a prominent feature among this cowardly segment is the support of American values forgetting that the American value that made America the country it is today is their loyalty to their country and their ability to make a distinction between their country, its people and those who rule it. Instead of blaming a whole population for the ill actions of a few; but I guess its true those who live abroad usually only pick up on the bad values they see and rarely pick up something good.”

There is a fine thread that runs through these seemingly unrelated posts. It's not the first time Libyan bloggers get into a hard argument but it's the first time I see such bitterness.

So I ask are Libyan men and women patriotic? Are they proud of Libya? What is the essence of being Libyan? Does a western female spouse negatively affect a relationship because she will pass her culture to the half Libyan children and in a post 9/11 world there is a threat that this might even endanger the Libyan/Muslim composition of the child? Do Libyans react to this issue differently depending on where they live? Is the foreign woman simply seen as pretty easy catch, while the Libyan woman is hard to get?

Is there a gap betweenLibyans who remained in Libya, expatriate Libyans and self –exiled Libyans. What constitutes treason?

So many questions lying below the surface, waiting for the opportunity to be unleashed on an unsuspecting audience… Libyans will one day have to resolve these hot issues, but hopefully not with the help of foreign intervention.
With any luck the fact that we are Libyans will prevail to heal any rift.