Toronto for a Free Libya - www.libyatoronto.com

Some thoughts on the capture of Gaddafi by the excllent Libyan-American-British author and poet, Hisham Matar. He knows well the impact of Gaddafi on the lives of Libyans. When Matar was young, his own father, a dissident, was kidnapped while living "safely" in exile in Egypt.

He was taken to the most notorious of Libyan prisons, Abu Salim, and, other than a couple of smuggled letters years ago, was never heard from again.

First, Matar reads a poem by Khaled Mattawa, expressing forcefully the emotions Libyans feel, especially those who have family "disappeared" or impisoned.

Listen: http://soundcloud.com/rebeccakesby1/khaled-mattawa-poem-after-42

But then, Matar's own thoughts on the capture & killing of Gaddafi (these were tweeted today, the official day of Libyan liberation):

Extraordinary sacrifices made by ordinary Libyans were for a different reality, where even criminals are treated justly & humanely.

If we are to authentically replace the Libyan dictatorship, we must not surrender to the base desire for retribution.

We are not only defined by what we oppose but by what we build in this world.

Our actions express our character.

And it is in the details of action where one finds the character of a movement, the character of a nation.

The moment of capturing Qaddafi was charged, I know, but we must be vigilant. Revenge is as hollow as a grave, and just as dark.

@hishamjmatar

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hisham-Matar/150315995027007

A fine article by the excellent Libyan-American author, whose father, a Libyan dissident, was kidnapped and imprisoned in 1990 by the Gaddafi regime. He has never been heard from, beyone a few smuggled letters yeas ago.

We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. I never thought I would be able to write these words.

Read the article here in The Guardian

Toronto's huge Luminato Festival, Jun 10-19 includes an Arabic & mid-Eastern focus this year. Events include: (comments in italics taken from Luminato)

Jun 7-10, 11-19: "One Thousand and One Nights"
A startling new theatrical version of an Arabic classic.

Dramatized and directed by Tim Supple  Stories adapted by Hanan al-Shaykh

In Luminato’s most ambitious commission to date, British director Tim Supple (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Luminato 2008) unites with acclaimed Lebanese novelist Hanan al-Shaykh to unearth the true character of the One Thousand and One Nights.

Ppreviews Jun 7-10, shows Jun 11-19

Also, author al-Shaykh speaks on Jun 13, 7pm

Jun . 12-18: "Iconic Arabic Films"
Free screenings of short & feature length films. Lawrence of Arabia, Indigenes, Battle of Algiers, The Mummy/Night of Counting the Years and Incendies. 

Jun. 15-19: "Egypt Rising: Portents of Revolution in Recent Egyptian Cinema"
Produced by tiff
In the years leading up to the Tahrir Square Revolution, Egyptian cinema had begun to articulate the voices of dissent that would erupt in January 2011. Go behind the headlines and see the lives of Egyptians through their own eyes.
Six films, screened at tiff Lightbox

More info on tiff website.

Jun 12: "Rewriting the Narrative of the Middle East"
Egyptian-born Toronto Star columnist Mona Eltahawy, award-winning Israeli journalist Amira Hass (Drinking the Sea at Gaza), and Booker-nominated Libyan novelist Hisham Matar (In the Country of Men) join New Yorker editor David Remnick to discuss recent upheavals in one of the world’s most volatile regions.

Photo taken of Hisham Matar at Toronto book signing in April.

Jun. 14: Arabic Poetry
Three award-winning Arabic poets discuss their craft and the art of translation in an evening of onstage readings. Hisham Matar, Khaled Mattawa, John Asfour

Jun. 14: Yemen Blues
Everyone I know who has seen this band has raved about them. Their website is here, YouTube channel here. Free concert, 8pm. Metro Square. Sultans of String open

Jun. 18: Two free concerts with an Egyptian flavour., Metro Square
2pm: Natacha Atlas, Minor Empire
8pm: Hakim & George Sawa

An excellent article in The Times of London today by the Libyan-American writer whose dissident father was kidnapped in 1990 by the Gaddafi regime . A few excerpts:

For the past four decades life has taught Libyans that crimes are rewarded, that violence and lies pay. This has inspired overwhelming feelings of apathy and cynicism, particularly with regards to accountability. For Libyans, David wins only in books; in real life, Goliath comes out on top every time.
...

He also discusses the significance of the West's "endorsement" of the tyrant

And in the long years during which Gaddafi oppressed his people, an atmosphere of lawlessness emerged in which the Libyan powerful elite could do anything they wanted: from beating a servant to death to stealing someone’s factory or home. Libyans had to endure this reality while at the same time watching several respectable countries offer their chief tormentor respect.

When in 2004 Tony Blair landed in Tripoli, he did not find the leader waiting for him on the runway. Gaddafi meant this as a snub to the British. The image of Mr Blair rushing to the mouth of the tent, where the colonel waited, did indeed seem shameful. Immediately after the news was broadcast, my brother called. “Today,” he said, “we lost everything.”
...

This history has had very deep consequences for the Libyan psyche. Living in a state in which the elite bear no responsibility for their actions, in which the leadership lies without shame and gets away with it, in which people steal and live happily ever after, is a sort of everyday madness that isolates and depresses the individual. It is one of the main reasons, I would argue, why, up to February 2011, an overwhelming majority of Libyans, particularly young men, used to sleep well past noon and seemed to be exceptionally dispirited and negative about the future. In the end, it was that generation who rose to take back the country. One of the nicknames of the revolution is the Falling Jeans Revolution, referring to the fashion trend of its chief protagonists.

It is against this reality that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Luis Moreno Ocampo, a lawyer who played a critical role in bringing the Argentine junta to account, stood in front of the world this week and announced that he is seeking the issue of arrest warrants for the three most powerful men in Libya, men who have up to now existed beyond the law...

Be sure to read the whole article here.

Coming (back) to Toronto:
Hisham Matar made a few Canadian appearances last month reading from his most recent novel, and will be back in Toronto for two appearances in June at the Luminato festival. He will be part of a panel discussion on "Rewriting the Narrative of the Middle East", June 12. (Details) and also in a night of Arabic poetry on June 14 (Details here )

Photo below of Hisham Matar at a book reading of his new novel at Harbourfront Centre tonight in Toronto. His new novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, like his first, much-acclaimed 2006 novel, In the Country of Men, was inspired by the 1990 kidnapping of his father, a Libyan dissident. Like many other Libyan families, his family has had no word of his father's fate since then.

He will also be reading at the following venues:

• Montreal, Apr. 29, 6pm
  Paragraphe Bookstore,
  2220 McGill College Ave. Free. Info: 514-845-5811
• Ottawa, May 1, 6:30pm
  Ottawa Writers Festival
  Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St. Info here

Globe & Mail review of Anatomy of a Disappearance

Interviewed recently by Vit Wagner in the Toronto Star, the author had an interesting view of Libya's uncertain future:

“This sense of not know what is going to happen and what sort of Libya we’re going to end up with is a welcome thing,” says Matar, on the line from his home in London.

“For four decades Libyans knew exactly what was expected of us and what would happen next. We knew what we were allowed to say and read and what we weren’t allowed to say and read. All of these things were set in stone.

“Suddenly, we have the possibility of a social, political and civic environment where we can afford not to know. That’s a wonderful invitation into maturity. To be okay with not knowing is a sign of a mature person and a mature society.”

Hear an interview with Hisham Matar, done by EnoughGaddafi.com

NPR (National Public Radio): "Hisham Matar on the Power of Libyan Fiction". Article plus audio interview

"Libyan author Hisham Matar's search for his kidnapped father".

Hisham Matar back in Toronto this June:
He will also be in Toronto for the Luminato festival in a night of Arabic poetry on June 14 (Details here ) and part of a panel discussion on "Rewriting the Narrative of the Middle East", June 12. (Details.)

ps... I was happy to give Hisham my Canadian-Libyan flag pin tonight as a symbol of the support for Libya and Libyans here in Canada.