Opinion: The Tears of the Gibli by Zainab Al-Arabi.

The 'Arab Spring', a misleading term if there ever was one, has been drummed into our heads by the mainstream media. These two words are mainly used in reference to the tumultuous revolts of 2011 in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and of course Yemen, but not in Bahrain.

In Bahrain, it is the self-pronounced king who is suffering from the dictatorship of the people, according to his Western and Eastern allies. An example of twisted interpretations of the reality of politics in the Middle East (another term coined by Western politicians).

Whoever was responsible for pairing the words 'Arab' and 'spring', isn't familiar with Libyan weather. In Libya, the spring season is very short, followed by extremely hot weather in which manifestations of desert storms from the Sahara engulf all villages, towns and cities in Libya, and sometimes beyond. These scorching hot winds, are known in Libya as the Gibli.

Merciless, these winds spare nothing in their way, blistering trees and human skin, scalding the water in roof tanks in homes, while leaving a sheet of Saharan sand in their wake.

Blurring vision and disrupting daily life, the Gibli is descriptive of the war in Libya; it has burned us all, in one way or another. The tears of the Gibli, are the raindrops, or showers that burst from within the stifling, and pressurised air, bringing some respite to weary bodies. And we are weary- weary of being unheard, and cast out of our homes.

We are weary of being maligned and ostracised, by some sectors of Libyan society who have elevated themselves to such a degree of holiness, forgetting that they are fallible humans and not saints. We are waiting for the tears of the Gibli to soften hearts.

The Gwalish community -now dispersed in various towns in Libya- do not have an official spokesperson, and perhaps because of their small number, the Gwalish case does not attract much media attention. Nor do Ghzaya, the small town near the Libyan-Tunisian border, and Riayna al-Gharbiya, whose communities are also prevented from returning to their homes.

The world is watching us, we are told by the new government; an exhortation to be exemplary citizens. What use is the world to us if we can't solve our problems with our next-door neighbours? Now, after a year of hardship and a bit of culture-shock (for both young and old), some people from Gwalish wish that they had joined the 'victorious' side, just so that they could return to their homes. Some young men are deeply depressed because they were not allowed to buy heavy weaponry and fight their way back, 'like men'.

Others, who claim that they were with the revolution from day one but were afraid to declare it, blame everyone else for this situation. The few political hypocrites during the past regime, will probably be able to find a niche for themselves within any regime.

However as each day passes and the news of deadly tribal clashes in the Jebel, and in the South, continue to make headlines, the decision of the Gwalish elders to stick to one principle -no killing- should be viewed, perhaps even recorded in Libyan history, as a rare example of tribal wisdom in the absence of national guidance, or rule of law. Past experience had taught them that tribal vendettas, or blood feuds, outlasted any ruler or government.

They weren't gambling on Gaddafi being around forever. Nor were they admiring of the rebels' pro-NATO stance. But the tribes of the Jebel had fought together with other Libyan tribes against the Italians in the battle of Janduba in 1913, how could they turn against each other now with foreign aid? They knew for certain that there would always be blood-spilling vengeance for generations after the war ended if they killed anyone from either side of the divide.

After reaching an agreement with Kikla, that neither side would encroach upon the other's property, the status-quo was maintained until the first week of July 2011. Meanwhile, they did the best they could in the circumstances, protesting to the pro-Gaddafi battalions' commander about the use of Grad missiles, and the exaggerated use of ammunition.

He advised them not to 'teach baking to the baker'. They tried calling Gaddafi's government officials to step in and stop the use of force, but were shunted off from one office to another. By late March, the area became a target for almost daily NATO airstrikes. Then came the realisation that the government's right hand didn't know what its left hand was up to, which complicated matters for everyone.

However, the pro-Gaddafi's battalions' (army's) behaviour was hardly that of a destructive war machine, as portrayed by the media. The Grad missiles' explosive head was removed before firing, and the missiles targeted the same uninhabited area every time. The soldiers had orders to fire only when fired upon, and to maintain their position despite the NATO airstrikes that killed a number of them.

This was confirmed by Muhammad Bilqasim, the Kikla field commander, who stated on al-Wataniya TV channel on February 22, 2012 that the pro-Gaddafi army stationed between Kikla and Gwalish tried to avoid killing the rebels in Kikla. He also confirmed the removal of the explosive part of the Grad missiles, and that the missiles were fired at a target far from the homes, whose owners had all left for safer places.

Their council stated that 60 people were killed in Kikla during the war. Bilqasim called on all sides to look to the future, and to allow all displaced people in Libya to return to their homes, except for rapists and murderers, as he put it.

Having no rapists or murderers amongst them, the Gwalish elders had agreed earlier in January, to allow interrogation, by a mutually accepted third party, of those who were on Kikla's 'wanted' list. The third party was neighbouring Galaa, who gathered everyone in one large room, asked them all the pertinent questions, served them lunch, then let them go.

However this commendable humane treatment, and the efforts of other regions such as Gharian, to end our exile, remain hampered by the language of what I can only describe as fanaticism. This language has become the loudest, even in the local media. The current theme is: 'we sacrificed more martyrs than they did so we have rights and they don't'.

After signing the reconciliation agreement with the local council of Kikla, overjoyed families returned to their homes on the 27th of January, to assess any damage and clean up. In the morning, they were welcomed by the head of the Kikla council beneath a sign where 'new Kikla' had been spray painted over the original 'al-Gwalish'.

Every person had to sign their name, and license plate number, in a register before moving forward. In the afternoon one of the rebels' guns went off accidentally killing him instantly, causing panic within the group. Chaos ensued and the rebels started shooting at homes and cars thinking that their comrade had been killed by the Gwalish locals (who were all unarmed). Some people were injured, men were arrested, taken to Kikla and imprisoned for about six or seven hours. They were all released later after the intervention of the Galaa local council.

After that incident, the rebels thumbed their noses at their own local council, refusing to abide by the agreement. Someone must have told them that they were too soft on their 'enemies', as their language changed dramatically. On another programme on the Libyan sports channel on March 16th 2012, a spokesman for the Kikla military council, Ridaa Najih, claimed that Kikla would not reconcile with Gwalish, because 'five or six people from Kikla had been murdered in cold blood by al-Gwalish before the arrival of the army in the area.' This is the kind of outright lie that keeps people at war. He continued to lie, claiming that 'people were killed at checkpoints merely for being from Kikla, this is the ethnic cleansing we had to put up with'. Ethnic cleansing? I wonder if he even knows the meaning of that. People from Kikla were insulted at checkpoints certainly, and turned away from the petrol station.

It's not surprising, considering the rough tribal culture, and mob mentality of some individuals. It is surprising that people didn't expect it to happen. However, this cruel treatment is not ethnic cleansing.

Who knows how much longer people will be patient, waiting for reconciliation committees to pave the way home for them? If the military council of Kikla, finds it easy to keep its 'enemies' away, how will it justify the cruel treatment it metes out to the sons of Kikla who did not take up arms with the rebels? As when their fellow tribesmen, the Swadna branch, were attacked and forced to leave their homes. Or worse, as when they became murderers themselves, in the name of the 'revolution'. In one case, a soldier who refused to take sides -whether against his tribe or his colleagues in the army- was forced to leave his home town secretly, after receiving threats against his family. His home was torched, as were those of any 'regime supporters'.

This man, a father of three children, was later kidnapped in Tripoli, tortured and beaten up badly. Before finally killing him, the rebels took him to his mother, gleefully telling her to say her farewells as she would never see him again. I was told that it took them some time to pry him away from her embrace. However, the pro-Gaddafi's battalions' (army's) behaviour was hardly that of a destructive war machine, as portrayed by the media. The Grad missiles' explosive head was removed before firing, and the missiles targeted the same uninhabited area every time. The soldiers had orders to fire only when fired upon, and to maintain their position despite the NATO airstrikes that killed a number of them.

I read this paragraph more than once...then I was sure that you are delusional woman who is far from removed from the real world that will not even accept the suffering of the Libyan people in the last 42 years as long as you achieve your goal...I wonder what would've happend to you if you wrote anything against your favorit tyrant. Please stop this ridiculous rant, you can ask for your rights and demand justice but for gods sake stop defending the devil.

2012 - The Tripoli Post

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Article Details

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Publication:	The Tripoli Post (Tripoli, Libya)
Article Type:	Editorial
Geographic Code:	6LIBY
Date:	Jul 1, 2012
Words:	1746
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