Toronto for a Free Libya - www.libyatoronto.com

The liberation of Libya will be offically proclaimed on Oct 23, in Benghazi where the revolution began, 2 days before the official Feb. 17 "Day of Rage" that turned out to be the beginning of the Libyan Revolution.

Peaceful citizens were killed with withering gunfire, but in the end, the dictatorship -- and the dictator -- were killed by courageous and determined citizens.

Now the hard part begins, building a country from the shell left by Gaddafi. There is little infrastructure to build on, but there is much heart, determination and spirit.

This is a very moving video.

Catherine Ashton, the official representative for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, goes to Benghazi and receives a typical Libyan welcome. In the New York Times, she discusses the hopes of the people she met there.

However, deep democracy cannot be imposed from outside. It will fail if it is seen as a 21st-century version of Western imperialism. My short visit to Benghazi dispelled any fears that this need be the fate of E.U. assistance. The yearning for democracy — and for the whole of Libya, not just the eastern towns the National Transitional Council currently controls — is palpable. I did not introduce human rights and the rule of law into our discussions; they did.

Read the whole article here

A Libyan-American receives the kind of welcome and generosity that I know very well.  Sofyan Amry writing on the Enough Gaddafi! website

Read it here: http://enoughgaddafi.com/?p=653

What a wonder to listen to Benghazi radio: Tribute FM (www.tributefm.com).

There are other free radio stations & LIbya TV broadcasting in Arabic, but this is the first English language broadcast. (Libya TV has an English website: http://english.libya.tv/)

It's inspiring & moving (and just plain fun) to listen to a free radio station in Benghazi. Just the fact of broadcasting in English is a big deal (see post below), but hearing news on the ground makes the accomplishments of the freedom fight more concrete.

This afternoon, there was an approximately 45 minute interview with a Tripoli activist that provided some mostly encouraging views on what was happening there. Including:

• The "anthem on a speaker" incident. (See YouTube video). They placed a portable speaker in Algeria Square in Tripoli, and as people came out of the mosque, it was turned on and played the Independence national anthem. A policemen and another man in full military dress looked and walked away.
• People in neighbourhoods are getting bolder; security is less visible and active.
• He suspects that many of the police & regular army are waiting their time until it's safe to defect
• The Gaddafi "supporters" are shrinking away. The other day, a march to support the regime passed him: there were 6 people.
• But there are still mass arrests. "Daily". Any male between 19-40 outside is at risk.
• The consensus is that Saif al-Islam is running things in Tripoli
• They are hugely inspired by what the people of Benghazi, Misrata, Ajdabiya and other places have done and are doing. From the radio stations, to cleaning up the cities.
• The most moving things the people in Tripoli have witnessed were the huge rallies in Benghazi singing tributes to the neighbourhoods of Tripoli.
• There are signs all the time that the regime is getting more and more desperate. Signs are everywhere from almost daily bombing, to the ICC, to political support around the world.
• It's a matter of time. No matter how long it will take. Approximate quote: "This is the most important thing any of us will do in our lives. After we are dead, and our children have passed away, and their children, and we are all forgotten, what we are doing today will be remembered, talked about and taught in schools". So if it takes days, weeks, and months, we will continue"

The station is on live from 6pm - 1am GMT (2pm-9pm, EDT), and on repeat at other times. Check the website to listen live. You can also listen on iphone or Android phone.

Try it out!

Amal Abdullah-Ali is 44, so she has known only two years without Muammar el-Qaddafi, and one effect on her of his life-draining 42-year Libyan dictatorship has been that she “never wanted to give birth in this rubbish country.”
…

 She looked at me hard through thick glasses, the childbearing half of her life lost in Qaddafi’s grim labyrinth. When she was in high school, she had to read his Green Book, which lauds the masses in a state that tramples the masses. In college, her class was taken to see people Qaddafi had hanged — pour encourager les autres.

“He’s tried to change everything, even our memory,” she said. “Now we win or we die.”

The web & news reports have been filled with terrible stories about the deaths and maiming of children in Libya, especially in cities under bombardment like Misrata, but the psychological damage is also signficant, and a new program in Benghazi has been created to help deal with that problem.

"The psychological effect has come from sitting with their family all day and watching news of shelling and killing on television," said Mohammed al-Ghaziri, a 38-year-old businessman and father of two who helped launch the program. "This creates a sense of fear because they see how their parents react.".
...

Children in Benghazi have had little else to do other than soak in the painful realities of war because schools have remained closed since the revolution started in mid-February, and many parents have avoided letting their kids play outside for fear they may be hurt by random gunfire, said al-Ghaziri.
...

Officials are reluctant to reopen the schools before Gadhafi steps down because many teachers and older students are volunteering as part of the rebellion, said Hana el-Gallal, who is responsible for the education sector in Benghazi.
...

"I'm really sad that we can't go to school, but I'm OK with it because we did this to get rid of Gadhafi and have a better life," said Leena, dressed in a white headscarf, black button-down jacket and jeans.

Read full article here

As of April 10, the big news is the "roadmap" for a ceasefire as a step to resolving the crisis. A delegation of five dictators leaders from African Union countries met today with Gaddafi, and reports are that he "agreed" to the following conditions:

1. Ceasefire & protection of civilians. 
2. Humanitarian aid for Libyans & foreign workers - especially Africans.
3. Dialogue between the two sides.
4. An inclusive transitional period.
5. Political reforms which "meet the aspirations of the Libyan people"

See Al Jazeera article. The AU delegation will now be meeting with the rebel side.

Forgive my (extreme) skepticism, but off the top, some of my reactons are:

• Ceasefire?  Like the other ceasefires Gaddafi announced? If there was one, who would monitor it?
• "Dialogue"??? Raise your hands all who believe Gaddafi would engage in any kind of dialogue with the other side that didn't start with killing. (And to be honest, who on the other side would be willing to have any dialogue with that regime?)
• How much do these leaders owe Gaddafi?  It's been widely reported that in 2006, Gaddafi generously donated to Zuma to help cover his legal bills over Zuma's rape charges.  (And South Africa sold about $10M in arms to Gaddafi in 2010). Geoffrey York in the Globe & Mail in February (article no longer online) documented the extensive outflow of Gaddafi money to support numerous African dicators (including Mali's).
• These guys have human rights credibility?
• Will the rebels accept the roadmap? See above points.

UPDATE (April 11): To the surprise of absolutely no-one, the Transitional National Council rejected the AU "roadmap".

A few other recent items:

• (Apr. 11): The Globe & Mail describes the work that communications teams are carrying out in eastern Libya:  "trying to build something that never existed in eastern Libya: free, open, uncensored media and telecommunications networks."  (Libya is consistently rated as almost the very bottom of nations for press freedom).
• (Apr 7): The Economist reports "Time is running out for Muammar Qaddafi"
• Brutal (very) reminders just how Gaddafi "dialogues" with his citizens. A collection of extremely graphic photos and videos from the Daily Beast. 
• "African migrants trapped in Libya forced to fight for Gaddafi"
• Benghazi armed: "Happiness is a warm Kalishnikov". Benghazi is now filled with untrained people carrying guns. This "has gone almost unnoticed" reports Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee. This is exactly what we've heard from one of our Benghazi friends.
• Unreported terror in the western mountains. Reuters reports horrifying accoutts of terror, poisoning and threats of rape. “We are here because we were threatened with death, with kidnap, and with the rape of our sisters,” said Walid Salem, who is from Kalaa. “Gaddafi’s forces have promised to rape all the girls.”  LibyaFeb17.com reproduces a map showing the towns Gaddafi is attacking. This is personally painful for me, as I travelled and visited most of these places on my last (2007) trip to Libya.

From Misrata, one of the most devastated cities in Libya since this began:

• Human Rights Watch reports that "Attacks by Libyan government forces in the western city of Misrata have endangered civilians and targeted a medical clinic in violation of international law..."
• A report (April 9) from Misrata.
• What urban warfare looks like: video of rebel forces fighting in Misrata
• Video: damage in Misrata