26th Day: Grey Deserts

A Grey Desert Called Libya

How did Saif al-Eslam al-Gadhafi escape the Libyan Rebel's custody?

How did Mohammad al-Gadhafi escape on the same day?

Libya Uprising: The Best Photos- LIFE

Shots were heard on live television as Mohammad was talking to Aljazeera, "In my house!" he answered the TV anchor who asked where was the shooting noises coming from. "In my house!" he repeated at least five or six times sounding very nervous. The call was cut short. Shortly the news were out: He was said to have escaped his home arrest with Gadhafi forces.

I felt a slight sympathy to him, perhaps as he was making his last prayers, "lā ʾilāha ʾillallāh, Muḥammad rasūlu-llāh" (There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God). But I could not feel any sort of remorse to the man who owns the Libyan General Posts and Telecommunications Company, the company responsible for blacking out Libya for months, cutting phone calls and internet to suppressing the truth away from any possible international support of the Libyan revolution and not allow the free flow of information from Libya to reach past Bab al-Azizia.

Saif al-Eslam was a whole different deal. If he was my neighbor, we'd be on eternal bad terms. I never quite felt gloat over anyone more so than I did on the day the obnoxious, spoiled-brat was said to have been arrested. The invalid jerk who sounded equally delusional as his father made all sorts of insulting comments about the revolution and was equally responsible for heinous war-crimes committed against the Libyan people. His appearance showed the same repugnant arrogant kid challenging the revolution, as if the Capital he was speaking from has not arose against his family's tyranny. When asked about his alleged ICC trial his answer was "TOZ!" an Arabic slang losely translates as "To Hell with!"

Their was a shared sense of betrayal. As I followed the tweets, some where already losing faith in the Libyan NTC and ICC.

I felt enraged, and my heart was slightly being eaten out as Saif al-Eslam was confidently and provocatively walking among the reporters claiming NTC was lying. Guessing how both sons of Gadhafi were captured then freed I allowed myself to believe the Libyan pre-revolution rumors about Gadhafi working directly with the devil! It took the rebels another 20 hours to capture Bab al-Azizia, Gadhafi's last remaining stronghold in Tripoli. Footage showed the rebels climbing the statue of the Airplane and Iron-fist (picture in yesterday's post) located inside the compound in an effort to bring it down. So, knowing that the Gadhafi family were wandering around aimlessly was enough revenge for me for today's little disappointment. (Following the tweets of CNN journalist Matthew Chance, it seems like the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli where Saif al-Eslam appeared was still under the Gadhafi forces.)

As Libya was nearing it's inevitable route to freedom, the Syrian dictatorship was still living in its imaginary world. Up until today, the Syrian media were in full denial about Tripoli's capture by the revolutionaries. The state-run media focused on the footage of a free Saif al-Eslam [I am assuming] in an effort to prove to their Syrian audience that Western Media and the much despised-by-Arab-dictatorships Aljazeera and even Alarabya Satellite televisions were spreading lies, in an effort by the government to further harness the public outrage over the numerous atrocities that were being committed against the Syrian people.

Around 3:00 AM this morning Aljazeera showed a mobile-phone clip of an army officer, said to have split away from the army, being tortured by his former superiors who were forcing him to "swear" by Bashar and Maher al-Assad in blasphemy. The words he was being forced to utter in "worship of" Bashar and Maher will certainly have an equal response as that of the footage of mosque towers in Lattakia and Hama being bombed by the Syrian army. These footage are spreading outrage and convincing more Syrians to fight their government which they now see as not only anti-human, but also as Kuffar or blasphemous.

Today started with a disappointment but ended with utter content. Libya has now sealed the coffin on over four decades of brutal dictatorship and will start building itself from scratch. A good post on twitter to describe the situation came from a jubilant @Jonny_Hallam who wrote: "A front line Dr in #Benghazi just told me: 'we've done the easypart, now here comes the hard part... starting a country from Zero.'"

Gaza's Foreign Retainers

Riot Police dispersing pro-Kurdish Demonstration- Haaretz

Today witnessed a new heart-break which I will not go into it's details as it requires further brainstorming. It was the Turkish attack on the Kurds in Northern Iraq. The act could not have come at a worst timing costing the lives of at least 100 Kurds (armed or otherwise), and only days after Turkey's official criticism of Israel's attack on Gaza. This assault will most likely expose the double standards of the Turkish government to the Palestinians as it will strengthen Israel's public position equating Israeli actions to those of Turkey, and the Gazans to the Kurdish population when it responds to Turkey's allegations. Palestinians so far look highly up to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; however, finding common ground between Turkey and Israel will most likely jeopardize Turkey's position and the trust it has gained so far in the region.

Israeli war cabinet has voted against expanding the deadly attacks on Gaza into a full-fledged war. Some media guessed that Israel took this stance to stop the assault as a precautionary step which will evade Israel from an international isolation. Equally, other media assumed that it happened out of lack of international support for such an assault which was only supported by an Israeli version of the story that simply did not add up together.

However, Israel never needed international legitimacy to attack Gaza or elsewhere. Infact, Israel has always simply ignored international discontent and supported its own unlawful decision by playing the "security" cards claiming a war was a "precautionary necessity".  Perhaps the most convincing argument as to why did Israel decide to pull back came today from an article written by Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian writer and blogger who co-founded the website Electronic Intifada. The article argues that Egyptian demonstrating in front of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo demanding an end to the Egypt-Israel peace treaty were the strongest element which helped in stopping a major bloodshed. Abunimeh wrote that the "people's power" put a stop to the assault thus saving more Palestinian lives. He wrote: "...it is governments being forced to respond to people power – especially in Egypt, where tens of thousands of people rallied outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo, in protest at Israel’s killing of five Egyptian military personnel during the Eilat operation, and Israel’s attacks on Palestinians." He argued that "not only actual protests, but even the mere threat of mass, nonviolent, popular protest can constrain Israeli occupiers".

It was relieving to know that Gaza was mostly quite after Israel's war cabinet decided to pull back from a major escalation. To that, I say thank you to the tens of thousands of proud and strong Egyptians who demanded a stop to Israel's aggression. Also, to the Libyan people (population number similar to that of the Palestinians) whose regained independence would be a new incentive for Palestinians to realize that they don't have to pick the lesser of the worst possible options, and to know they can have it their way through diplomacy and armed resistance at the same time.

28th Day: #FLAGMAN and the Resurrection of Karama

 Around 3:00 AM, again on Twitter, there was a mysterious new Hashtag: #FLAGMAN.

the AMAZING FLAGMAN- by Carlos Latuff

For those of you unfamiliar with Twitter, hashtags are "keywords" one inserts within the available 140 characters allowed to express oneself. They are preceded by the pound (#) sign. Twitter explains that this is an easy way to find similar posts (tweets) to follow, or posts of common interest. It is pretty addictive actually. I think I personally had started few Hashtags that never "trended" on twitter.

It did not take me a long time to find out that FLAGMAN was a mysterious Egyptian guy who climbed, ropeless, 14 stories yielding to the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, to replace the Israeli Flag with an Egyptian one.

The guy became an instant hero.

I was following the tweets of his arrest as he climbed down then his immediate release upon the demands of thousands of cheering demonstrators. The guy became a national hero within seconds.

His Hashtag trended on twitter becoming the top tweet within minutes. In less than half an hour, a new Facebook Page was created for him dedicated to an Anonymous Hero who "climbed and took down the Flag" referring to the Israeli flag which was soon in ashes. Within seconds of it's creation, it already boasted 1000 members (please click on the highlighted link to see the current count).

First tweets about his identity came from strangers claiming his name was Mustafa Kamel, which coincided with the name of an Egyptian nationalist from the late 19th century. I joked about the name of #FLAGMAN claiming his mother had planned for this coincidence to happen from the day he was born.

But soon the real name was out. Not as impressive as the first it was Ahmad as-Shahat BUT it was a perfectly Egyptian-sounding name: The Egyptian "Average Joe". It was baffling to watch the video later on during the day, to see what the thousands upon thousands of chants were all about. The best tweet, retweeted by someone I follow on twitter came from @LadyBlueeeeeee who wrote "Egyptian Beans give you wings!" in Arabic. Egyptians were proud, and made everyone else proud. They certainly boasted my ego as a Palestinian.

It was clear that Egyptian do not want Israel on their soil. The Camp David peace treaty with Israel is worthless to them, and one Egyptian with wings can take down the lie about peace that was forcibly shoved down their throats for decades.

Egyptians are clearly some of the most stubborn, yet good-humoured people I am coming to find out about. Within an hour of the incident a new online game with a theme song was created for #FLAGMAN and the infamous caricature artist Carlos Latuff created an iconic picture of #FLAGMAN depicting a Spiderman-like character holding a burning Israeli flag.

The peace treaty with Israel, I come to learn, is part of the past that Egyptians now want to be completely done with. Their former dictator Hosni Mubarak has suffocated their freedoms in the name of Israeli safety and an alleged national security that they never felt. It was a big lie, everyone knew it, and now they don't want to live it anymore.

#FLAGMAN ignited a new hope for Egyptians who after months of ecstatically celebrating their winning revolution were yet to truly experience a complete change, and were tired of feeling Israel was placed before their own interests as Egypt's priority. "The People Want" was not just a slogan they perpetually repeated for 18 bloody days, they want their demands to be met. Israel's safety is not on their list of priorities. They toppled an entire system, a dictator who ruled them with corruption and an iron fist, and secret agents that counted their every breath. It was not hard for them to at least decide who stays and who leaves Egypt after they have won, to decide who they consider a friend and who they do not welcome. Very simple yet profound logic.

With the Israeli flag down and people calling against the acts of normalization with Israel, I anticipate that the Egyptian-Israeli relationship will no longer stay the way they used to be under Mubarak. The Egyptian people want, and their wants are not to be ostracized by their own people in favor of what they consider enemies/ outsiders, and their natural resources given away practically for free to a foreign obnoxious and unwelcomed power.

Egyptians demonstrating in front of the Israeli Embassy
in Cario- used with permission from Ghazala Irshad

#FLAGMAN gave back to the Arab World a feeling they almost thought they lost. al-Karama. Karama is a word that should enter the Merriam Webster dictionary with a simple explanation: Origin: Arabic First use in English: 2011. It should explain how the sense of pride, the demand for respect, dignity and self-worth, were combined together on that day. Arabs felt they regained their own Karama. Israel, they know, was part of the oppression they experienced through their dictators and tyrants. The feeling of regaining one's Karama is the same one felt when Tunisia was Free from it's Dictator, when Mubarak was overthrown by the people, and when the next dictator is stomped over by people long-suffering people who deserved much better all along.

#FLAGMAN will be a decisive day in the Arab History, which will directly affect the Palestinian history. Egyptians will now play their strategic role but with Karama and not merely answer to a higher authority, represented by the US and other foreign powers, and certainly not by Israel.

The Palestinian Authority, long passively submitting to all foreign powers against the people's wants, will soon have to look for alternative ways to appease a very likely public outcry and discontent. The PA is not different than the rest of the Arab Dictators, except with the privilage (and curse) of ruling under an occupying foreign power, and allowing for a bantustanized situation to formulate in Palestine (Israel). The PA now is fully aware that it has lost it's back-up support after Mubarak. They cannot wait for September 20th to arrive to see what they will do next.

During the Tahrir Square celebrations following the overthrowing of the Mubarak regime, there was seen a young man standing above a thin and high street-light pole, he was relaxed and waving an Egyptian flag as if he was standing on the most solid ground. It took us months to find out his identity. It was the same #FLAGMAN, and with him comes a new hope for all of us fearing a complete fracture in our already stained history of surrender and bad-leadership. We know that if we give up, our closest neighbour to the West [the Egyptian people] won't allow it. They're already challenging Israel's bid on building a wall separating Israel's Negev from Sinai Desert saying: "you can build all the walls in the world, we have 80 million flagmen."

And I say, "climb it, like an Egyptian".

29th Day: Gaza Fires Back (& SCAF Lied?)

More people died today. 

Nothing came as a surprise to me as I witnessed the Show-de-Force everyone was suddenly too eager to boast. 

Israel continued its airstrikes on Khan Younis in the “wee small hours of the morning”, right after Suhour. I got my updates instantly from Twitter: the unfortunate tragic irony of being excited about knowing you're the first to know about the strikes from twitter followers and followees, yet knowing they are right in the center of not only a dangerous zone but a potentially fatal situation. I recalled the horrors of air-strikes ten years ago, they don’t have to be F-16s to terrorize you to the bones. Just knowing you could be mistaken for the next target or knowing your refuge is in fact the actual target. It is not so much about death as it is about surviving then living with a permanent disability: lost arms, limbs, sights, or any sort of dis-figuration. 

Graphic pictures today surfaced from yesterday’s deadly attacks on Gaza Strip: Men who have been blown up to pieces, weeping women, a child completely disfigured, burnt and his viscera exposed. I knew I saw too much, but surprisingly like most fellow-Palestinians I have grown too used to seeing blood (or bodies cremated by missiles and fire). 

Today Gaza fired back. I must assert that Gaza was plunged into this for few apparent reasons. Located relatively far away from the site where an attack took place near the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat (the ethnically-cleansed Bedouin Palestinian village of Imm-ar-Rashrash), completely besieged by Israel and Egypt, and not having a single faction adopting this highly-moderated attack: Gaza was the first to take the blame and the people living there were anticipating a fast response from Israel. 

On the far-right of the Palestinian political spectrum: Today Hamas abandoned the seize fire and vowed not to stop firing its rockets on Israel until Israel stops its raids. Some of Hamas’ rockets reached the Israeli town of Be’er Shiva (formerly the ethnically cleansed Palestinian desert city of Beer as-Sabe’, literary: the Lion’s Well), killing two Israelis and injuring others. 

On the middle-right: Fatah claims Israel is turning the region into turmoil to delay their “heroic” attempt to declaring a “statehood” in September. Ironically, but not surprisingly, a Fatah-spokes man vowed to defend Gaza in every way possible. ‘nought said. 

And on the hippie-socialist left-side-that-bows-to-dictators: The PFLP (having lost all credibility, supporters, and position since the late 1980s) was back on stage firing few rockets into Israel, but not getting much applauds. 

The news were not all sarcastic today though.

Egyptians demonstrated in the thousands in Cairo, Alexandria, and else-where in front of the Israeli embassy and consulate offices since last night. At 3:00 AM, there were hundreds of angry men chanting and waving Palestinian flags, demanding a firm response from the Egyptian government following Israel’s attacks on Sinai- Egypt, which killed three Egyptian soldiers and injured others. The chants also called for an end to the peace treaty with Israel, and the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador from Egypt. By the early hours of the morning, when thousands stormed the streets across the Israeli embassy, SCAF issued two statements announcing bringing home the Egyptian ambassador until Israel officially apologizes. Until now, SCAF has not delivered it’s promises, and Egyptians are only growing further resentment towards them. 

So why am I bringing Egypt into this? 

A new generation of Egyptians who want it their way- [Reuters]

The simple answer is that Egypt is Gaza’s only Arab neighbor, Gazans have strong ties with/ and feelings toward the country that ruled the Strip prior to the 1967 War. Also, because for decades under various dictatorships, Egypt has been the mediator and anchor to [the Western influence and] America’s policies in the region. Egypt has been the substrate that balanced the region through war and peace, and the change that took place there is yet to show some decisive consequences with an orphaned Palestinian Authority following the fall of Mubarak, and a new generation of Egyptians who want over with the old ways of not having things their way. 

Today was certainly not just another day, the 29th day before the supposed “statehood” saw further blood and modern artillery. Palestinians still sit and look for clues. Ramallah is definitely the worst place to be at the moment if one wants solid clues. Today's funniest tweet came from @LinahAlsaafin who tweeted "#Abbashole asked Arab league whether armed resistance would be ok if UN fake statehood didn't work out. Can someone poison him already?" I just had to respond with a line from Chicago: "some guys just can't hold their arsenic!"

I guess for now, I’ll stick to twitter updates.