The People of the revolution

I have had the urge to write about this revolution from the very first day it started, it had started with the odds stacked high against it and survived in spite of all the hardships it faced because of God’s guidance and because of the determination of the millions of Libyans who have decided that they will not be oppressed and abused any longer. The Libyan revolt is a tale of bravery and patience, of sacrifice and defiance.

I am sure that many will write about the harrowing battles the freedom fighters fought and the stories of thousands of political prisoners and the extraordinary hardships they endured, in fact the whole world was in turns horrified by the brutality of the regime and fascinated by the heroic resistance of the youths who fearlessly faced Gaddafi war machine , but the story I want to write is that of an ordinary unarmed citizen who could not fight Gaddafi with fire power, but found other ways to irritate, unnerve the tyrant and make him too afraid to show his face in public, to make him address the people through phone calls.

I want to write the story of the pretty nail varnished hands we all saw on the YouTube videos tirelessly stitching away at the independence flags which then brave youth would hang to flutter in Tripoli’s gentle breeze or the story of the guy who wanted to show NATO pilots that their destruction of the Gaddafi arsenal was very much appreciated so he painted a Thank you NATO on his roof top.

There were also amazing acts of selflessness from the Libyans who were living abroad, they left their comfort able danger free lives that they have made for their selves and rushed home to help their people face the tyrant. Each contributed what they could, some donated money to buy medical supplies some donated their time to organize charity events to collect funds for the cause others decided that they wanted to offer their selves to the cause and we heard many stories of the martyrdom of Libyan expats and students who came back home from all corners of the globe to make the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of their country.

There was the Swedish Libyan who decided that he had to leave his Pizza place and help in the war effort in Misurata in the only way he knew how, by setting up a pizzeria to feed the doctors and the freedom fighters at the front lines no doubt that his pizza deliveries were the most dangerous in the world!!!

It is these individuals who have brought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat they fought the war too even if it were without weapons, do not underestimate the power of these small anonymous acts of defiance. NATO and the freedom fighters struck Gaddafi’s fire power but these defiant individuals struck at Gaddafi’s psyche and frightened him enough to make him fear a public appearance and address the people on the phone from undisclosed locations.

The war against Gaddafi was fought a combined effort, the world stood and said that was enough and acted upon it, the Libyan people said they were prepared to die to kick Gaddafi out and the unarmed civilians stamped their feet silently and delivered Gaddafi their defiant civil disobedience acts to infuriate him and finally make him flee the capital. A winning combination if ever there was one to topple the dinosaur of dictators.