Pride

Bikku Bitti is the tallest mountain in Libya, right on the chad border. “It was first climbed in December, 2005 by a British team led by Ginge Fullen”. I know that doesn't include the local tebou who have lived there for centuries, but oh the shame. It was a very interesting and impressive expedition, but it's sad that the race which produced the likes of Ibn Battuta can no longer claim knowledge of what's within its own borders. Wouldn't it be great to start seeing this kind of thing done more often by Libyans, and on a  more general sale by the whole arab world?

There’s been a massive boom in journalism of all sorts in Libya since 17^th February. As well as the myriad new television stations there are many facebook news pages run by citizen journalists. But my biggest hope is for the non-news media. The torrent of creativity now released has also seen many videos made by individuals, collectives and fledgling NGOs. Here are my favourites so far:

Some Time in Tripoli from live2Tripoli on Vimeo.

حملة تنظيف ميدان الشهداء | طرابلس from 212 Group on Vimeo.

I really hope some of them turn to documentaries. I’ve never really seen a great (non-dubbed) Arabic nature documentary, just politics and occasionally religion. Perhaps we will see the emergence of an Arabic David Attenborough (or several) in the future. 

Any budding would-be documentary-makers, take your chance now and be the first. Look at all of the unexplored places I pointed out in my last couple of posts. There’s not exactly fierce competition for time on our airwaves these days, and the niche is open for someone to explore the forgotten corners of the Arabic world. There is also an entire world of culture that most people were oblivious to before this year, and we have a heritage most western historians would die for.

If you're interested, strive for it! Try making your own shows about places you visit, learn to edit videos and then put them on Youtube or Vimeo to get exposure. Get researching your trips and in a couple of years maybe you'll be able to approach a TV network or even university (when they are up and running) to fund your trips.

Btw I'd recommend Tropic of Cancer (from the BBC) to anyone who wants to see an awesome nature documentary filmed partly in the arab world. My favourite section was Oman.

 P.S. Here's one of the archaeologists working to preserve our heritage

Places to see in Libya (2)

Part 2: Natural Section

- Nafusa Mountains – This is very general, but I could write dozens of posts on the different things in the Nafusa mountains. Anyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock for the last 8 months will have seen some of the breathtaking plains and mountain scenery in this region.

 (Credit: James Wheeler)

There are also several extremely beautiful little-known oases in the area. I’ve heard of at least 2: Ein el zarga and Ein el rumiya, which my dad stumbled across this summer and couldn’t stop talking about for days. He won't give me the photos though, so instead here's Yefren, a town in the mountain range, and a seasonal waterfall near to it :) 

(Source here)

Places to see in Libya (1)

As a starting point for people who haven’t heard of them before here’s a list of some of the amazing places we have in Libya, many of which we have taken for granted or been ignorant of for decades. If I’ve missed any please comment/tweet me a link and I’ll include them.

Part 1. Cultural Section

Libya has some of the best preserved ancient ruins in the world.  Our rich heritage includes the ancient civilisations of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and even two Amazigh ones, Numidia and Garamantes, who are native to Libya and about whom relatively little is known. 

I’m sure every Libyan will have heard of at least the first 2 places on this list. They have been severely neglected in recent history, and there was a real worry that they would be damaged during the war. By the grace of God alone they survived mostly unharmed. الحمد لله

- Leptis Magna (Libda) – A 3000-year-old Phoenician colony near al-Khums, slightly east of Tripoli. Later ruled by the Romans, and birthplace of the emperor Septimus Severus. 

 

- Sabrata – Another Phoenician colony in the west.

Book schemes

I found out about these after writing the last post, so I thought I'd share them. It's good to know something is already happening.

1) A Book for Every Injured
A campaign  to send books to injured fighters. An incredibly worthy cause, please help do what you can.

2) Library Book Drive - A Free Generation of Readers
 A planned future project to get books donated from the US (possibly extending to other countries?). Keep your eyes open for it, and get in touch with the organisers Free Generation Movement on their facebook page if you can help!

If there are any others i'm not aware of please let me know. I'd also love to help, although i'm not in libya right now.

Books in Libya

I've been thinking a lot about books lately. Especially their future in Libya. I'd always thought mobile libraries were a relatively modern concept, conceived in the west and predominantly (or even exclusively) found there. Imagine my surprise when i saw this photo:

Mobile Library, 1958

(taken from http://finjangahwa.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/mobile-library/)

As a society we probably read among the lowest numbers of books outside of impoverished third-world countries. This should not be. But to remedy it, understanding why we are in this state would be helpful. Is it because, of course, ignorance is the mother of oppression? Are there so few libraries in our lands simply because our tyrants discouraged and banned them to block dangerous ideas? But we have been in intellectual and cultural stagnation for hundreds of years, since we passed the baton to Europe during the renaissance. It seems to have been a slow process, starting well before the end of the Ottoman Empire.

My cousins in Libya weren't quite sure what I was getting at the first time I complained about the availability of books during a holiday there. Who needs to read that much anyway? Borrowing? You mean the books are free? How do you know the people would bring them back when they're done?

To me maktaba means library, not bookstore. Why can books only be purchased?Come on, surely the idea of borrowing books isn't that incompatible with our culture? Again, look back at the picture above, from about 50 years ago.

"A man who does not read good books has no advantage over an illiterate man" -Mark Twain

In that respect, our relatively well-off society in Libya has little advantage over, say, Yemen. The spread of ideas is essential to prevent us from sinking into the pit of mediocrity like before, and as informative as Aljazeera news may be, it's not going to cut it. The Arab spring will not produce meaningful change unless it is a lasting change within our attitudes.

I don't have all of the answers, I don't even have all of the questions, but we need to start sorting this out now. We have to promote reading across the world, and especially in the newly liberated countries. We need to lobby our new government once it is created. Our rebuilding and development must include public libraries in every town and city, and the great period of upheaval and change coupled with a new emerging generation gives us the change to embed this in our culture. I'd expect Egypt-Libya-Tunisia to become the centre of publishing in the Arab world, as writers will be freest to express their ideas in our democratic societies.

And if anyone isn't aware of our heritage of science and learning in the Arabic (and wider Islamic) world, I would recommend these books here, here and here. It is time for that heritage to be restored.

Happily, someone is way ahead of me. I saw this on twitter:

Civil Cultural Project: National Library of King Idris I

(Thanks to @Gheblawi) 

Someone else on twitter had the idea of starting a book club to encourage reading. Perhaps starting in Libya, and then expanding across North Africa and the rest of the Arabic world. We like goodreads.com: it's really fun to organise lists and collections of your books, rate them, show them off to friends and receive recommendations. The social element makes reading fun and desirable, which is essential. Joining and making your friends in Libya join would be a very small step, but in the right direction. There is also so much more that could happen; eventually we could have book conventions, fairs, all sorts of promotional events. And this would also encourage new writers. In schools in the UK creative writing forms a very important part of English lessons, and children are encouraged to use their imagination and make up stories, as well as improving their literacy.

(I was also pondering another question:, why are short stories the only (relatively) successful form of Arabic literature? Why don't we have novelists as good as our poets?)

In my university during the first week of term this year there was a stall on the walkway outside the Students Union building (which we also need some of) selling books for £1. I asked about them, and it turns out its being subsidised by the union to encourage more people to read - the original price on the book is about £8. It's just a fiction book, nominated for last year's Man-Booker Prize, but what the book was didn't matter. The objective was just to get students reading and talking about what they are reading, and this is also being promoted by talks from the author, discussion sessions around campus over the next month, and various other events. Philosophy, history, science, biographies, religious jurisprudence, even fiction. I would even consider handing out Stephanie Meyer books; we just have to get our children reading!


Does anyone have any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas?

P.S. Does anyone have any further information on either of the 2 photos? perhaps a grandparent who remembers the former? Or details on the plan for the new library or a contact who'd be able to find out? I'd love to know more.

Edit: I just saw this, and it's too funny not to include:

Destiny

Subhan Allah, how the times change. You can be on top of the world one day, then the next...

There are some lessons we can learn from the plight of Gaddafi, and I dont just mean the usual don't kill people, don't try to rule for 42 years and quit while you're ahead. (you'd think these were obvious enough, but some people (ahem ahem) are still failing to get the message)

In the 80s, Muammar al Gaddafi called dissident libyan expats "stray dogs" and ordered their asassination. Today, he is roaming the desert (well, probably by night), scrounging food and hiding in holes fearing for his life, if he has any idea what's going on and retains control of his mind, which is debatable. His family drift across borders without control, accepting any hospitality. Just like his "stray dogs", but without the dignity they had.

He talked for years about democracy, the people ruling themselves, the weapons for the people etc etc is now watching it be finally realised. He was so in love with the rhetoric of a popular revolution, now he's finally got one.

Be very careful what you say, it will come back and haunt you. Man's worst enemy is his own tongue. And hypocrites and liars will always be exposed, no matter how long it takes. If God wasn't above such things I might say Qadr is written with a sense of humour.