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!

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.

Let's start by Romana, a lively young woman. Now when you click on her link this is the message that greats you ” this blog is open to invited readers only”. This to me means that she is in the process of waiting before taking the drastic action of deleting her blog.

Next on the list is A. Adam from Flying Birds, who too has been missing in action after a series of poems about love and broken hearts.

A.Akak, is asking ‘how much does pain really hurt?”.

Libyan Violet has started a story called “Love is hard“, in which she seems to struggle with betrayal :

” Then she let out a primeval wail, breaking the dams in her heart, her eyes overflowed and she thought she would die from the pain that racked her in waves. Her whole body started shaking and she was immediately drenched in sweat. She wanted to crawl under a rock to die, but she died inside one more time” .

PH, from My Personal Space, has a mysterious title “open your heart”. Here are excerpts from the lyrics of the song he is sharing:

“Am I happy today,
Am I lonely tomorrow
Everything depends on you
And Ive been waitin
For the angels to knock on my door
Ive been hopin
That everything could be like before
Open your heart
And tell me whats wrong”

Although he starts his post with a joke about Libyan employees, it looks more like a deterring strategy that does not succeed in hiding the overwhelming sadness of the message.

Safia Speaks has gone suddenly silent as a black and blue colour theme with the sentence “there will be no more blogging” ( indicative of a very serious issue) has replaced her bright green wallpaper.

The Libyan blogosphere has lost a lot, and we wish her good luck and hope she and the others will come back soon.

Lastly, Highlander latest post called “desperation” is very worrying especially when she asks whether “death is the only exit”.

” You pray and dream that you have died everynight you go to bed only to wake up to the same reality: that of the thorns that started to encircle your heart and the ice that is creeping in..”

Indeed the atmosphere is quite sad.

Libyan bloggers please cheer up – tomorrow is another day!

In a recent event at the Faculty of Law ( El-Fateh University) where being the bookworm that I was, I made sure to attend their book exhibition for the opportunity to buy at subsidised prices, I came across a novel called “Hunger has many other faces” (unofficial translation). Neither the quality of the paper nor the artwork did really catch my eye, but the fact it was by a female author did. She was an unknown quantity ( at least to me) but I decided to buy it nevertheless. I was more so encouraged since it was not too thick. Being among the first buyers the salesman had no change to give back, so he asked me to return in an hour's time when business would have picked up. An hour later to the dot, I'm happily back with a heavy load of books only to be greeted by an indifferent gaze from the guy. It was sold out!

What surprised me next was that this little novella by an obscure Libyan author seems to have raised quite a storm in the blogosphere on the one hand and in some Libyan regions on the other even warranting a mention in Aljazeera which elicited six pages of comments.

Let's give the word to the Libyan bloggers. The debate unfolds first over at CNNLibya, where Khalid Jorni writes :

“Because she has been a trial lawyer for ten years, and because she knew the weak points and the gabs of the Libyan law, she refrained from attacking Islam by her own identity, she preferred to create an imaginary character, and to make it compare between Islam and Christianity in a prejudged unjust way, and as it has been already planned and expected, the book was unintentionally advertised by the spiritual leaders who fell into the trap by criticizing it in their Friday Sermons, subsequently demonstrations took place, petitions were signed, and shraga people of Benghazi went mad at the writer and her tale, thus and overnight she became a national celebrity, all libraries ran out of the book, and Libya's greatest religious scholars were brought to courts, just as criminals or thieves, to pay the price of messing with a law expert, and to be an example for whoever allows himself to defend the greatest and the world's fastest growing religion!”

Ghazi over at Imtidad , took up the issue from another point of view, loudly asking ‘why don't we read? ‘ in which he explains the relationship between reading and being civilised and able to form critical opinions.

البعض سيتحدث عن الالتزام في الكتابة بقيم المجتمع وعاداته وتقاليده، وهو أمر مقبول ومريح، ولكن أين هي هذه العادات والقيم والتقاليد عند معايشتنا للواقع، البعض يقول لا يجوز السماح بنشر روايات تضم أقوال على لسان ابطالها يسبون أو يشتمون، ونحن نسمع كل يوم في شارعنا سباباً وشتماً بشكل معتاد، البعض يقول أن الكتاب الذين يتناولون الدين وتمظهراته الاجتماعية في كتاباتهم الروائية أو الشعرية يسعون بذلك إلى الشهرة السريعة من خلال ذلك، ولكنهم لا يتذكرون هذا الكتاب أو ذاك الكاتب إلا بعد عدة سنوات من صدور الكتاب أو بعد أن تسقط نسخة منه بالصدفة في حجر أحد مبتدئي القراءة والكتابة، فتقوم الدنيا على الكتاب ومؤلفه، ويصبح في يوم وليلة من المشاهير فمن يا ترى سعى للتشهير وللأشهار والدعاية للكتاب والمؤلف.

Translation : Some will talk about the non-commitment to the traditions and mores of a society when writing, which is something acceptable and one should feel comfortable with. However, where are these morals, principles and traditions in reality. Some said it is not permitted to publish novels that include insulting statements by the heroes, yet we hear insults on daily basis on our streets. Some say that writers that talk about religion and its social aspects in their fiction work or poetry are running after quick fame yet they only recall this or that book after several years of its issue or when a copy falls by chance in the hands of a beginner to the world of reading and writing. It is only then that heaven and earth are moved about this book and its writer and the author becomes a star overnight. Who is then striving for libel or publicity and advertisement for the book and its author.

Tasnim from Epiphanies, has a concise summary of Wafa Buessa's book:

” The novel, written in the first-person for “dramatic effect” as the writer says, tells the story of a girl who is forced by “living circumstances” to leave a stereotypically cloistered Libya and go live with her uncle's family in Egypt. Here, the protagonist begins to broadcast her rejection of and hate for Islam in no uncertain terms, seeing an alternative in the Coptic Church because the “doors are always open.”‘

Morever Tasnim argues that ” Because, when a lawyer who has just released her debut novel decides to take legal action against those who denounce her heroine, it does seem to indicate a slight jumbling of job descriptions. The words Publicity and Stunt also cross the conspiracy-addled mind.”

While I'm still waiting for my own copy almost regretting not paying the five extra Dinars to the guy who had no change I can already partially speculate that from her interview replies Wafa is pulling a stunt a la Ayaan Hirsi Ali or acting like her trailblazing namesake Wafa Sultan, or the Bangladeshi Tasleema Nesreen.. Salman Rushdie's classic ” Satanic verses” comes to mind, but also the 2006 Danish cartoon crisis which earned fame to a number of unscrupulous bloggers who banked on their anti-Islamic sentiments.

This controversial novel has brought up a storm of protests and words in the comment sections and Tasnim's post reprinted on the Mideast Youth website has raised further debates about the truly interesting nature of this case. But it's not about literary critique nor religious freedom, what is striking and different than Ayaan, Wafa and the usual anti-Islamic sentiments is made clear by Tasnim when she says that “it is like an inversion of the usual freedom of speech issue. It’s not the author but the critics who are in court for expressing their opinion[…]There’s no censorship involved here. No fatwas, no death threats and no apostates. The power, in this equation, is with the attorney turned author. “

However, the good news is that Ghazi and his blog Imtidad won the BOBs User Award 2007. I think this is a first for a Libyan blogger and we are proud of him.

Whilst we are on the topic of awards, Braveheart has kept his promise and is introducing his 2007 Libyan Bloggers Award.

“”i have the pleasure to announce my Award for the best blogger for 2007 and all of you are invited to participate in this award. as u dont know i'm big fan of football, thats why i take FIFA system to select best player of the year and use it in my award. the way is very easy each one of you can nominate his best five bloggers which he/she believes they are the best.( i know u'll all of u nominate me :-P) it's totally depends on ur views and ideas and i think most of us have open minds and will not feel offended cos she/he dont select him in his/ her list. this mean this award totally depend on selective thinking and not objective one. it's depand on ur thinking and how u can rate the other which point u think it's more important than the other.
ur list it will be 5 names and list it from 1 to 5, number 1 will have 5 marks and the number2 will have 4 and so on . at the end of the month will see which one got the highest marks to take his award [sic]”.

Let's count the date until the results are announced.

Tasnim has an interesting post about Libyans in the diaspora who make the so-called back -to -our -roots -journey.

“Laila Al-Taiba’s one page ‘Story’ of her trip to Libya is just a little note on a non-Arabic-speaking Arab’s journey to her roots, and her pride in and gratitude for her American passport. It’s hardly intended as a biography. But I still find myself a little disgruntled by the clichés involved in being swept swiftly past 100 warm and loving faceless relatives in 5 days and half a sentence, for a paragraph detailing the eating of ice-cream and the dipping of toes in the Mediterannean and finally, a note on the uselessness of three years studying Arabic at university level in deciphering the Libyan dialect.” [more

]

Personally, I imagined this happened to other people or in movies but never to Libyans.

On the other hand rumours are a powerful weapon and sometimes create chaos. This is was obvious last week with the gasoline/fuel shortage crisis that was reported by a couple of bloggers in Tripoli.

On December 6, Hibo stated that she noticed something strange at the gas stations near her house since December 4 with more and more cars crowding her street at all times. At one point the police was interfering to regulate the flow. Her post is a blow by blow account of the situation. Apparently, the rumours mentioned rising gasoline prices and shortage of fuel.

Khadijateri then mentions in ” Who's got gas ” that “there's a gasoline shortage in Tripoli. That's hard to believe since Libya is an oil producing country. But it's true. The gas stations have no gasoline, though there is diesel.”

An excellent comment on Hibo's blog by Enlightened spirit sheds a good light and explains the whole situation:

“let me put my analysis for this problem here, at wensday evening a problem in gas supply happened in Tripoli and ppl couldn't find gas at some stations, the coz of the shortage was't declared officially, and here the mass panic started and with the rumors and gossip the problem inflated , the supply problem was solved quickly the next day earlly morning, but ppl conitinue their panic, coz of lack of clarity and trust, and they rush out to gas stations even if they don't really need the gas I mean with full half tank, some even bring extra barrel with them and fill it (as a consequences of many gossips like the price of the gas will increase, and the gas supply will be cut off for days, …etc), so the usual supply of the stations did't cover the extra need and the problem exagerated, but it will be solved out gradually within the next days as ppl will realise that the supply is really there and was't cutted off.[sic]”

Khadijateri reports that all is back to normal :

“The gasoline situation seems to be sorting itself out. Last night I went out to find long, long lines at some of the gas stations in my area and other places were completely closed. I didn't bother to get in line. Today I went out and found the gas stations busier than usual but not too bad.”

Basically half a day of fuel shortage resulted in two days of panic but what is the full story here, away from the speculations?

It is climate change, the modern plague and boogeyman which is affecting the weather global. Among other things it caused some unexpected weather changes as a result of which ships could not offload their cargo of refined oil (for local consumption) for half a day and the rumour mill began. But what this incident brought to the surface is the need for investment in oil refinery infrastructure in Libya. The heavily subsidized local prices and increasing consumption over the last decade as a result of a dramatic tripling of the number of cars in Libya combined with the limited capacity for production of refined fuels since no new refineries have be built to supply the local market, has lead to the need to ironically enough import slightly more than half the local need in gasoline from abroad and consequently to the threat of shortage. It does not mean we do not have oil, it means that the years of sanctions which have affected everything in Libya, especially technology and industry. This has stopped the country from investing in modern oil technology. Still this is not an excuse as sanctions have been lifted a few years ago and maybe some sort of planning should have been in place to increase Libya's capability in refining it's oil products. After all ” Libyan crude oil is particularly attractive due to its very low sulphur content; it requires much less refining than higher sulphur oil. It is extremely high quality crude, whose characteristics are not easily found elsewhere”. [source]; which means it should be easier to refine and less expensive.

Thank God the crisis was averted and people should not listen to rumours! Have you be affected by the 48 hrs situation? If yes, please share with us your experience in the comments section.

“Hopefully the new graduates, young men and women, will learn a few things if this subject [medical ethics] is introduced in the syllabus and if they are held responsible later on in life.”

I've stumbled onto a new Libyan blogger who calls herself Enlightened Spirit and she and her colleagues at the hospital are doing a great job!

“[Abdallah] was grown up in our pediatric department , we were there to witness his first smile , laugh , his first dadada , and we were there to attend and enjoy his first step in walking , and one of my colleague was kind enough to take care of him with the help of all the others ( all the staff doctors, nurses, helpers, cleaners, & even some of our patient ) to bring him what ever he needed (water ,milk ,food ,clothes , games, …etc) , he even arrange with pediatric surgery department to circumcise him ,and made a big party after that , we call that doctor Baba Abdallah , and others also act to assure that Abdallah received all his needed vaccines on time so he will miss nothing , so every member in the department is feeling in some way or another as if Abdallah was part of his family [sic]” [more]

What a lovely story; moral conduct and code of honour all rolled into one. A very big round of applause to the Libyan doctors out there who take care of our beloved ones. Enlightened Spirit you have restored my faith in them.

Khadijateri is upset that prostitutes or “businesswomen” as she calls them are in plain view in some public places such as the zoo which should be for families to enjoy and although she and her family had a great time at the amusement park without the unsavoury people.

Her post prompted Rosebud a blogger whom I don't think I've featured before in my roundups to further elaborate on this topic.

“It is nothing new that there are a lot of unsavory men and women hanging out in public places in Libya, and a bunch of sleazy looking men following after ANY women like a pack of dogs. This becomes an issue because it is hard to tell who is who sometimes.

Even if a respectable women is out with her family or alone, they followed around and harassed. This makes families angry, and in turn causes men to now not allow their families to go out. It is a vicious circle.[…] We ignore the obvious and turn on the innocent.[…] When Libyans see something wrong, they try to protect their children from it (natural), but instead they should explain to the children what they are seeing and what causes people to be like that.[..] I am not talking about just saying “haram” in a disgusted way and leaving it at that, but explain in depth. Explain to them what it is, what causes it and how it would make you feel if that was them.[sic]”

So a simple story about prostitutes in Libya being able to ply their trade freely while ordinary families choose /are forced to stop going out to avoid being exposed to depravity, turns into a heart to heart and the debate may rage on, shall we act like the ostrich or fight for our public places ?

Several bloggers brought up the “Day of Mourning” or ‘black day' as we call it in Libya. October 26 commemorates the day when a large number of Libyans were collectively deported to Italian islands to punish them for fighting for their freedom against colonialist forces.

Gheriani reminds us that “Grazziani, the Italian well-known General of the time, said that he had only three options for Libyans not accepting Rome’s supremacy, and these are; the gallows, the concentration camps or the boat for the islands. Thousands were deported and most of them perished away from home in a hostile land, the remainders who came back bore scars of sufferance for the rest of their lives.[sic]”

Happymoi notes a message she received from the US Embassy in Libya stating that ” In commemoration of the Libyan Day of Mourning, the Goverment of Libya has decreed that on Friday, October 26, internet and international phone calls will be cut off nationwide form 6am to 6pm. All Libyan Airline flights are cancelled,although other international airline travel may be permitted. International and national ground and marine travel operated by Goverment of Libya-owned companies are also cancelled”.

Tarek Siala posted the LTT annoucement in this regard:”Dear Clients,
As on 26 of October of each year a day of grief for the Libyans […]
we inform you that the Internet service will be suspended on Friday, 26 October, starting from 6:00am until 06:00pm. ”

Khadijateri further explains that if “it's a school day the children are asked to wear black. Usually the Libyan television channel is switched from colour to black and white.”

On the other hand we must thank Anglo Libyan for letting us know about the good news that Ghazi has been nominated for the best of blogs award.

I will leave the concluding remark to Benghazi Citizen who was one of the few who noticed that Libya has won a seat at the UN Security Council recently. He says “times change, and the enemies of yesterday are the (Council Buddies) today.”

Ghazi has finally arrived from London and is getting re-acquainted with Libya and it's various aspects. He is nostalgically touring the “writers' club” which he used to attend between 2000-2003.

Aladdin has spent an extraordinary time in the US where he was invited on a cultural State Department-sponsored programme. He has promised to report on the event in detail soon.

Libyano recently brought up a very important topic in Libyan medical profession - namely that of medical ethics.

“I already knew the same as most of the Libyans that our hospitals filled with unethical doctors and health care staff and how in our hospitals the way the patient treated is less than a prisoner anywhere else in this world ,but it was shocking to live this fact and to see all the violation of the patients privacy and the way the doctors treat the patients , I don't know if all this because the medical ethics wasn't introduced as a studying material in Medical school until recently or is it because all the hospital staff doctors and nurses feel like they are above the law and no one will judge them when things go wrong .”

While I always wondered what is the Libyan physicians' stance on the Hippocratic Oath or even the Declaration of Geneva (last upated in 2006), I always assumed that being Muslim would immediately guarantee a certain code of conduct and moral ethics above bickering over salary and other things one misses in life. So it is disappointing to see the situation on the ground.

Hopefully the new graduates, young men and women, will learn a few things if this subject is introduced in the syllabus and if they are held responsible later on in life.

Dunia wrote a lovely blog last night about the ‘walis' which are Libyan ‘Saints' or intercessors, and how someone may unusually become a Saint, marabout or walii.

“The one constant feature, from East to West and even the desert in between, are the Maqams.
White domed buildings, built over the tomb of Wali, and all marked as such by a profusion of green banners, are just everywhere. Perched half-way up a hill in the J'bal Al-akhdar, surrounded by a rippling sea of wheat, golden in the sun light; in the middle of an almond orchard, where goats prefer it's cool shade to the trees' more patchy shadow… or on the right hand side of a much used desert highway alongside petrol stations, truckers restaurants and the occasional sheepherders' village. “

Happy Eid to you all!

Blogger Tasnim thinks this is the right time to discuss the topic of Libyan healthcare in general and gossip a little about our own medics:

“Every single young doctor in each new batch of Libyan doctors has a collection of tales to tell. Being blessed with the undoubted blessing of having many female doctor cousins all new to the trade, (mashallah) I get to hear a lot on the subject. Such as, the patients who correct the doctor. Or the nurses who sit gossiping about henna this and farah (wedding) that and retorts ‘Mich Fadya’ to a doctor’s request”

The blogger is also complaining about the foreign medics employed in Libya on long term contracts. Why don't they speak Arabic - or even English for that matter? Are Libyans expected to communicate in Ukrainian or in Tagalog?

“Then there’s the grousing about the Ukrainan and other east European medics who speak neither Arabic nor English. I’ve seen this myself; otherwise I’d think it was an exaggeration. In the medical centre we live close to, the foreign medics are all from Ukraine or Philippines. Those from the Philippines speak English, very little Arabic. Some of those from the Ukraine couldn’t speak either.
Communication in these cases must be a mixture of sign language and…well, sign language. When this fails, appeal for translation.”

These are doctors and nurses not some labourers laying a pipeline. They need to communicate correctly. How else do we expect them to provide accurate diagnosis if they don't even understand what the patient is feeling? Tasnim goes on to compare this with a reverse hypothesis :

“[]imagine an Arab doctor in a foreign country. Then imagine that doctor not learning the language of the country s/he is residing in, showing no interest in learning the language of the country s/he is residing in, and what’s more, expecting ‘the natives’ to learn Arabic so that s/he can be understood”.

The readers would have to make their own conclusion but my first thought is that an Arab doctor would be thought off as pretty arrogant if h/she tried to pull that off abroad.

In another topic Duniazad likes to read the Tripoli Post and usually brings out gems that we might overlook one of these is her post Old and New in which she quotes the recent article by Zainab Alarbi in which she criticizes how Libyan mothers-in-law are bullying their daughters-in-law.

“If you would think that all old ladies are soft and gentle, then you are wrong. I’m sorry to tell you that they can be deceivingly strong, and verbally abusive; especially towards daughters-in–law. And when a certain tradition or custom is turned into an iron-clad rule, it turns into tyranny. We should have an association that specializes in educating women on how to stand up to their female ‘elders’. Superstitions, ignorance, and harmful habits are passed on from generation to generation in some areas of our country specifically by these elders.”

I'm not sure if Duniazad agrees but I must say that some elder women are a nuisance but they are still someone's mother, sister, aunt etc…and we have been brought up to respect our elders so the balancing act is going to be very tough. On the other hand I would encourage Zainab to become a blogger as she has good story-telling talent!

Safia had an encounter in Denmark with a drunken racist bully but she won the round by standing her ground. But Safia was very close to showing the guy her martial arts skills. I'm wondering if she knocked him out what would the papers in the next morning carry on their front pages?

Anyway I will leave you to enjoy her adventure:

“An obviously drunk/high male individual with shaved head and badly drawn tatoos on his arms and neck is having fun with some of the others. […]Mr. Alcohol spits at waiting passengers, shouts loudly, dangles around and pushes people, laughing at himself.[…]Of course the jerk stops right in front of my bench, looking at me. Then he snorts and says: “Are you half nigger or what?” […]Mr. Queer Tattoo backs of a second, then gathers himself: “Shitty nigger! Why don´t you go home to where you came from?” [..]Now he verbally threatens to beat the living shit out of me and all people like me, but I answer him back, looking him straight into his grey/red eyes: “Why don´t you leave this station now? Might be better for you and your kind if you just shut up and leave!” - my voice is still very calm but firm and filled with icy anger. I am ready for him, already thinking what to tell the police when they arrive to pick him up in a bucket.”

Whiteafrican has been on a trip to Bangladesh and she is regaling the blogosphere with her photos, thoughts and account of the voyage.

“now i wasn't relying on Bengali coffee being the best of coffee so i had brought my own, all they needed to do was supply hot water and presto that's my breakfast done, but i was expected to eat something at least, well breakfast in Bangladesh consists of roti or parata (similar to chapatis or for Libyans ‘iftat') with sabzi (mixed cooked vegetables) and occasionally curry, i kinda invented my own style of breakfast that consisted of the roti with honey, curry is a bit to heavy for me in the morning, the best thing though is the fruit, mango and pineapple fresh for breakfast is out of this world.”

You can follow it here, here, here, here, and here.

And finally we can end this tour by congratulating Libyan doctor and blogger Ghazi Ghiblawi on the recent publishing of his short stories in Arabic. The title in English ( my translation) would be “A face that knows no sadness”. Ghazi's blog Imtidad is full of his thoughts and stories in Arabic and English and I can only stress how talented he is as a scientist and writer.

Anyway this situation has been brought out by Libyan blogger Brave Heart who likened it to an ‘invasion' after he has seen the results of highschool graduates in Libya. Apparently the top 43 graduates are girls. ” this mean more than 90% of the future leader will be women [sic] “. This thought was enough to send him into speculating whether one day there would be a Libyan woman for the top job. However, after acknowledging the success of the Libyan woman, he frankly thinks that the only place where she should be a ‘manager' is at home, therefore prompting a lively debate.

“for me i can accept a woman as manger in house for peace purpose, but defiantly i wont accept her as my manger in my job. [sic]”

Have you ever attended a presentation about blogging? I have not - but I was pleasantly surprised to see that A.Adam was asked to draft one for the students of the Higher Institute of Electronics in Tripoli. This Institute has shown great vision in wanting to make the young people aware of this tool for expressing themselves. Truly whoever suggested this is an innovator.

“Two minutes later he presented me to his students, 10 (girls and boys) I started my lecture on Blogging, talking about The History and popularity, the technique, how we can use a web Blog for expressing our ideas. I must admit I was a little bit shocked because when I asked if anyone have any idea about this subject before, answer: no one know anything about blogging. Any way I showed them how to start their own blog and they promise me to increase the number of Libyans blogger soon. So now I’m waiting…[sic]”

A.Akram should perhaps offer to make this presentation at various schools even primary ones as it can help students in improving their writing and language skills. Bravo to another Libyan blogger.

Since the Libyana mobile provider has broken the monopoly of the El Madar along with its prices making the sim card increasingly accessible to all Libyans, the cell phone has become an
comment object. This social phenomenon is more of a fashion fad and must have item then a reflection of a need. It is more used to show off or sometimes for clandestine dating. Therefore, not everyone with a mobile can actually afford the ensuing expenses. Some people also carry a Libyana AND a Madar.

A negative aspect of this boom in communication is the ‘missed call' syndrome captured beautifully by Hibo in her post in Arabic “Daily things that happen to me”.

“توا مش شيء يحرق الدم وحده مدايره لولدها الي كيف خش سنة أولي ابتدائي موبايل وتعبيله فيه كل شهر 10 د.ل
واتقولي ماعنديش رصيد باش نكلمك”

Translation: Is not something that would make your blood pressure go up, she has given her son who is in grade one a mobile and tops it up with ten dinars monthly, and then she says she does not have enough to ring me ?

“أصلا من يوم بطلت نعاود لحد يرنلي سلامتكم الموبايل معادش يرن اصلا “

Translation: The day I stopped calling them back [after they leave a missed call] my phone stopped ringing.

For Arabic readers you will enjoy Hibo's other comic/ nerve racking situations especially in the Libyan lingo. The commenters of course all agreed with her.

Flying Birds author A. Adam has recently attended a music festival sponsored by the ICF and hosted at the beautiful School of Islamic Craft.

“They bring a Rock group this year BIKINI MACHINE (ELECTRO ROCK / France) this band proved that in French Rock still exist and their music inspired by the soul music in the 60's and by the English pop in the 90's but before all , they didn't forget to bring Libyan bands to play Arabic music,”

This just proves that there are more things to bring people together than pull them apart. Wonder who will we groove to next time ?

Khadijateri brought up the subject that the US Embassy in Tripoli is using the coffee shop in the hotel where it is situated to hold interviews for Libyan citizens who are born in the US and who are applying for their US passport.

“They are not allowed into the embassy's offices upstairs, their business is discussed in full earshot of whoever else happens to be in the Corinthia's coffee shop. These Libyan/Americans are usually young guys who are too embarrassed to make an issue out of being met in the coffee shop because they think if they question it their chances of getting the passport (they are rightfully entitled to) might be influenced negatively.”

This has brought to the surface the painful question of visa applications which are still done in Tunis.

As per the website ” On May 31, 2006 the United States of America and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah exchanged diplomatic notes confirming the upgrade of the U.S. Liaison Office in Tripoli to a U.S. Embassy.” This means that it is now a fully functioning Embassy. I'm thinking that talking to the potential US citizens in the coffee shop is probably a better idea than in the offices because that is where probably they would NOT have any privacy.

There are two issues here the applicants do not dare to ask for more privacy and they think they are not allowed in the premises. While I personally have not visited the place yet I don't think any bad intentions were meant. It is refreshing to see young Libyans taking the initiative and get their documents sorted out and even seek Khadijateri and ask her advice about how to communicate with Embassy staff.

It all started when Lebeeya said: ” SAY ” Mashallah” people…. STOP saying “TOUCH WOOD”, say mashallah.” (The Arabic phrase ma sha`a allah indicates acceptance of what God has ordained in terms of good or ill fortune that may befall a believer). This prompted blogger Suliman to comment that :

“I think your coworker used “Knock on wood” instead of “Mashallah” because of the prevalence of American pop culture throughout the world, including Islamic countries like Oman, Saudi Arabia, Libya, etc. My observation is that young people like yourself do not find what they need in the dead tongues of Arabic, Berber or Swahili. Those languages are rooted in cultures that do not promote individuality and self expression, and as a result, it is not uncommon that young bloggers, even in Arabic countries, freely express themselves in English. It works better for them, as it does here for you.”

Mani took the initiative to further elaborate on his own blog and defend the “life” of Arabic and other languages.

“Free choice is all about the freedom of the individual to choose.. by being free, we mean that the person uses their own head to think, observe, reason their way through life and choose a course of action accordingly..”

Here again the comment section became pretty lively.

The ball rolled and was picked up on Ghazi's blog Imtidad .

“Recently I've been preparing a study on Libyan Blogs on the Internet. Until now I managed to count 76 blogs written by either Libyans in or outside Libya, or expatriates living in Libya and writing about it, and one of the main results is that the majority of blogs use English only or in conjunction with Arabic or Libyan dialect as the main language to write in their blogs. 55 blogs write in English only, 11 blogs use both English and Arabic, and only 10 blogs use Arabic only.
My question to bloggers is:
From your opinion why are you using English or Arabic Language only?
And why the majority of Libyan blogs use English Language?”

The debate at times became very heated and bitter by detractors who were out to prove that Arabic is the language of terrorism and others who assert the validity of this language as that of the Quran. If you have the courage I recommend you wade through all the comments as it makes for an interesting read guaranteed to make you think more deeply about your language.

What is the conclusion then? Has globalization succeeded in killing Arabic? Is it the language of terrorism as opposed to English being synonymous with freedom?

It is a strange fact how we become attached to our ‘virtual' community and at one point it morphes into ‘our community' and the internet becomes simply another means of communication.

The first blogger whose news I wish to know is : zizo , he stopped in March with this cryptic post :

“I am very thankful to that one of my ever best friends& the real dog& ayman ..for his help and sweet surprises that he keep getting to me all time & and even he has done a great mistake and did me wrong some day& even though ..I admit he is on e of few persons in this world who can understand me right…thank yo my homie..peace”.

The more mysterious one is Unfettered Swallow, although not a regular blogger he did update from time to time. However, this month he deleted everything and simply posted ” Sorry“.

Um Dania may be very busy with Dania, but hey not posting for the last two months? We need to know how is Dania !

Smokeyspice has been missing in action for six months, her political analysis and wit are greatly missed too.

Nura our resident philosopher has been gone for the same period too maybe they are together? Although there is a rumour that Nura is in Libya for the summer.

The Lost Libyano's blog is no longer visible. I'm wondering if someone hacked it?

Controversial blogger Mindamir who writes in Arabic has not updated since February, I'm praying that he is OK.

Following his lesson on Fukuyama in April, Hafed has not been back, is he kept busy? or has he gone to study political science ? I do miss his satire.

Benghazeeya is still keeping me in suspense since March, so what happened has she gone to college in Libya ? Is she now married ?

Even dear Trabilsia has not been blogging for a while.

I'm sure my list is not comprehensive so if you know anyone else please tell us about him/her.

My advice to you all when you want to go on a hiatus or have writer's block take the lead from American Libyan's ‘Dealing with personal issues' notification - at least don't leave us in the dark !

Blogger Highlander is only interested in one aspect of Blair's trip, namely the fact that he visited the families of the Libyan children AIDS victims.

“It is a good PR move [..]as it is not often that I see sympathy or care shown to them in the media but only to the Bulgarian nurse and without not the Palestinian doctor.”

We have to thank General Graziani for the invention of the 'shock and awe' tactic which was pioneered on Libyans during Italy's fascist colonial past.

Gheriani has dug another historical gem, I urge you to read his post to witness the atrocities.

Below is an extract from what Dr. Asad whom Gheriani is quoting said :

“The Italians adopted the new tactics of making surprise raids by mechanized units on the Bedouin encampments, slaughtering man and beast indiscriminately, and destroying the grain stores, In these raids, on what in a noncolonial war would be regarded as the civilian population, the purpose was to kill as many of the Bedouin as possible, striking terror into the hearts of shepherd folk of Cyrenaica. When the rains came and mechanized transport could no longer be used, the camps were bombed and machine-gunned from the air.”

On another note there is new aggregator for Libyan bloggers in which Libyano has encapsulated the essence of Libya with the icon he chose دلاع -'the watermelon' .

Lastly, I think that the Libyan bloggers like all other Libyans are busy or their family is busy with end of year exams. Either that or the summer which has dawned upon us with a bang this week is affecting the blogging. A friend told me it was 49 degree Celsius in the shade on Sunday. Well check Libyano's experience he posits it's going to be a hard summer:

I open the door
My face shrivels up
My hair sticks up
My forehead is dripping with sweat
My lips stick together
What a horrible day (my translation)