webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2011
All rights reserved
From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Fri Mar 11 2011 - 02:29:19 EST
http://www.countercurrents.org/perreira040311.htm
**
Libya, Getting It Right: A Revolutionary Pan-African Perspective
*By Gerald A. Perreira*
04 March, 2011
*BlackAgendaReport*<http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/libya-getting-it-right-revolutionary-pan-african-perspective>
*“The media and their selected commentators have done their best to
manufacture an opinion that Libya is essentially the same as Egypt and
Tunisia.”*
Thousands of Indians, Egyptians, Chinese, Filipinos, Turks, Germans,
English, Italians, Malaysians, Koreans and a host of other nationalities are
lining up at the borders and the airport to leave Libya. It begs the
question: What were they doing in Libya in the first place? Unemployment
figures, according to the Western media and Al Jazeera, are at 30%. If this
is so, then why all these foreign workers?
For those of us who have lived and worked in Libya, there are many
complexities to the current situation that have been completely overlooked
by the Western media and 'Westoxicated' analysts, who have nothing other
than a Eurocentric perspective to draw on. Let us be clear - there is no
possibility of understanding what is happening in Libya within a Eurocentric
framework. Westerners are incapable of understanding a system unless the
system emanates from or is attached in some way to the West. Libya's system
and the battle now taking place on its soil, stands completely outside of
the Western imagination.
News coverage by the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera has been oversimplified and
misleading. An array of anti-Qaddafi spokespersons, most living outside
Libya, have been paraded in front of us – each one clearly a
counter-revolutionary and less credible than the last. Despite the clear and
irrefutable evidence from the beginning of these protests that Muammar
Qaddafi had considerable support both inside Libya and internationally, not
one pro-Qaddafi voice has been allowed to air. The media and their selected
commentators have done their best to manufacture an opinion that Libya is
essentially the same as Egypt and Tunisia and that Qaddafi is just another
tyrant amassing large sums of money in Swiss bank accounts. But no matter
how hard they try, they cannot make Qaddafi into a Mubarak or Libya into
Egypt.
*“Libya's system and the battle now taking place on its soil, stands
completely outside of the Western imagination.”*
The first question is: Is the revolt taking place in Libya fuelled by a
concern over economic issues such as poverty and unemployment as the media
would have us believe? Let us examine the facts.
Under the revolutionary leadership of Muammar Qaddafi, Libya has attained
the highest standard of living in Africa. In 2007, in an article which
appeared in the African Executive Magazine, Norah Owaraga noted that Libya,
“unlike other oil producing countries such as Nigeria and Saudi Arabia,
utilized the revenue from its oil to develop its country. The standard of
living of the people of Libya is one of the highest in Africa, falling in
the category of countries with a GNP per capita of between USD 2,200 and
6,000.”
This is all the more remarkable when we consider that in 1951 Libya was
officially the poorest country in the world. According to the World Bank,
the per capita income was less than $50 a year - even lower than India.
Today, all Libyans own their own homes and cars. Two Fleet Street
journalists, David Blundy and Andrew Lycett, who are by no means supporters
of the Libyan revolution, had this to say:
“The young people are well dressed, well fed and well educated. Libyans now
earn more per capita than the British. The disparity in annual incomes... is
smaller than in most countries. Libya's wealth has been fairly spread
throughout society. Every Libyan gets free, and often excellent, education,
medical and health services. New colleges and hospitals are impressive by
any international standard. All Libyans have a house or a flat, a car and
most have televisions, video recorders and telephones. Compared with most
citizens of the Third World countries, and with many in the First World,
Libyans have it very good indeed.” (Source: Qaddafi and the Libyan
Revolution)
Large scale housing construction has taken place right across the country.
Every citizen has been given a decent house or apartment to live in
rent-free. In Qaddafi’s Green Book it states: “The house is a basic need of
both the individual and the family, therefore it should not be owned by
others.” This dictum has now become a reality for the Libyan people.
Large scale agricultural projects have been implemented in an effort to
“make the desert bloom” and achieve self-sufficiency in food production. Any
Libyan who wants to become a farmer is given free use of land, a house, farm
equipment, some livestock and seed.
*“The standard of living of the people of Libya is one of the highest in
Africa.”*
Today, Libya can boast one of the finest health care systems in the Arab and
African World. All people have access to doctors, hospitals, clinics and
medicines, completely free of all charges. The fact is that the Libyan
revolution has achieved such a high standard of living for its people that
they import labor from other parts of the world to do the jobs that the
unemployed Libyans refuse to do. Libya has been called by many observers
inside and out, “a nation of shop keepers.” It is part of the Libyan Arab
psyche to own your own small business and this type of small scale private
enterprise flourishes in Libya. We can draw on many examples of Libyans with
young sons who expressed the idea that it would be shameful for the family
if these same young men were to seek menial work and instead preferred for
them to remain at home supported by the extended family.
No system is perfect, and Libya is no exception. They suffered nine years of
economic sanctions and this caused huge problems for the Libyan economy.
Also, there is nowhere on planet earth that has escaped the monumental
crisis of neo-liberal capitalism. It has impacted everywhere – even on post
revolutionary societies that have rejected “free market” capitalism.
However, what we are saying is that severe economic injustice is not at the
heart of this conflict. So then, what is?
*A Battle for Africa*
The battle that is being waged in Libya is fundamentally a battle between
Pan-African forces on the one hand, who are dedicated to the realization of
Qaddafi's vision of a united Africa, and reactionary racist Libyan Arab
forces who reject Qaddafi's vision of Libya as part of a united Africa and
want to ally themselves instead with the EU and look toward Europe and the
Arab World for Libya's future.
One of Muammar Qaddafi's most controversial and difficult moves in the eyes
of many Libyans was his championing of Africa and his determined drive to
unite Africa with one currency, one army and a shared vision regarding the
true independence and liberation of the entire continent. He has contributed
large amounts of his time and energy and large sums of money to this project
and like Kwame Nkrumah, he has paid a high price.
Many of the Libyan people did not approve of this move. They wanted their
leader to look towards Europe. Of course, Libya has extensive investments
and commercial ties with Europe but the Libyans know that Qaddafi’s heart is
in Africa.
Many years ago, Qaddafi told a large gathering, which included Libyans and
revolutionaries from many parts of the world, that the Black Africans were
the true owners of Libya long before the Arab incursion into North Africa,
and that Libyans need to acknowledge and pay tribute to their ancient
African roots. He ended by saying, as is proclaimed in his Green Book, that
“the Black race shall prevail throughout the world.” This is not what many
Libyans wanted to hear. As with all fair skinned Arabs, prejudice against
Black Africans is endemic.
Brother Leader, Guide of the Revolution and King of Kings are some of the
titles that have been bestowed on Qaddafi by Africans. Only last month
Qaddafi called for the creation of a Secretariat of traditional African
Chiefs and Kings, with whom he has excellent ties, to co-ordinate efforts to
build African unity at the grassroots level throughout the continent, a
bottom up approach, as opposed to trying to build unity at the
government/state level, an approach which has failed the African unification
project since the days of Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Toure. This bottom up
approach is widely supported by many Pan Africanists worldwide.
*African Mercenaries or Freedom Fighters?*
In the past week, the phrase “African mercenaries” has been repeated over
and over by the media and the selected Libyan citizens they choose to speak
to have, as one commentator put it, “spat the word ‘African’ with a venomous
hatred.”
The media has assumed, without any research or understanding of the
situation because they are refusing to give any air time to pro-Qaddafi
forces, that the many Africans in military uniform fighting alongside the
pro-Qaddafi Libyan forces are mercenaries. However, it is a myth that the
Africans fighting to defend the Jamahiriya and Muammar Qaddafi are
mercenaries being paid a few dollars and this assumption is based solely on
the usual racist and contemptuous view of Black Africans.
Actually, in truth, there are people all over Africa and the African
Diaspora who support and respect Muammar Qaddafi as a result of his
invaluable contribution to the worldwide struggle for African emancipation.
*“It is a myth that the Africans fighting to defend the Jamahiriya and
Muammar Qaddafi are mercenaries being paid a few dollars.”*
Over the past two decades, thousands of Africans from all over the continent
were provided with education, work and military training – many of them
coming from liberation movements. As a result of Libya's support for
liberation movements throughout Africa and the world, international
battalions were formed. These battalions saw themselves as a part of the
Libyan revolution, and took it upon themselves to defend the revolution
against attacks from within its borders or outside.
These are the Africans who are fighting to defend Qaddafi and the gains of
the Libyan revolution to their death if need be. It is not unlike what
happened when internationalist battalions came to the aid of the
revolutionary forces against Franco's fascist forces in Spain.
Malian political analyst, Adam Thiam, notes that “thousands of Tuaregs who
were enrolled in the Islamic Legion established by the Libyan revolution
remained in Libya and they are enrolled in the Libyan security forces.”
*African Migrants under Attack*
As African fighters from Chad, Niger, Mali, Ghana, Kenya and Southern Sudan
(it should be noted that Libya supported the Sudanese People’s Liberation
Army under John Garang in their war of liberation against Arab hegemonists
in Khartoum, while all other Arab leaders backed the Khartoum regime) fight
to defend this African revolution, a million African refugees and thousands
of African migrant workers stand the risk of being murdered as a result of
their perceived support for Qaddafi.
One Turkish construction worker described a massacre: “We had 70-80 people
from Chad working for our company. They were cut dead with pruning shears
and axes, attackers saying: ‘You are providing troops for Qaddafi. The
Sudanese were also massacred. We saw it for ourselves.”
This is a far cry from what is being portrayed in the media as “peaceful
protesters” being set upon by pro-Qaddafi forces. In fact, footage of the
Benghazi revolt shows men with machetes, AK 47s and RPGs. In the Green Book,
Qaddafi argues for the transfer of all power, wealth and arms directly into
the hands of the people themselves. No one can deny that the Libyan populace
is heavily armed. This is part of Qaddafi's philosophy of arms not being
monopolised by any section of the society, including the armed forces. It
must be said that it is not usual practice for tyrants and dictators to arm
their population.
Qaddafi has also been very vocal regarding the plight of Africans who
migrate to Europe, where they are met with racism, more poverty, violence at
the hands of extreme right wing groups and in many cases death, when the
un-seaworthy boats they travel in sink.
*“Qaddafi has also been very vocal regarding the plight of Africans who
migrate to Europe.”*
Moved by their plight, a conference was held in Libya in January this year,
to address their needs and concerns. More than 500 delegates and speakers
from around the world attended the conference titled “A Decent Life in
Europe or a Welcome Return to Africa.”
“We should live in Europe with decency and dignity,” Qaddafi told
participants. “We need a good relationship with Europe not a relationship of
master and slave. There should be a strong relationship between Africa and
Europe. Our presence should be strong, tangible and good. It’s up to you as
the Africans in the Diaspora. We have to continue more and more until the
unity of Africa is achieved.
>From now on, by the will of God, I will assign teams to search, investigate
and liaise with the Africans in Europe and to check their situations...this
is my duty and role towards the sons of Africa; I am a soldier for Africa. I
am here for you and I work for you; therefore, I will not leave you and I
will follow up on your conditions.”
Joint committees of African migrants, the United Nations, the African Union,
the European Union and international organizations present at the conference
discussed the need to coordinate the implementation of many of the
conference's recommendations.
Statements are appearing all over the internet from Africans who have a
different view to that being perpetuated by those intent on discrediting
Qaddafi and the Libyan revolution. One African commented:
“When I was growing up I first read a comic book of his revolution at the
age of ten. Since then, as dictators came and went, Colonel Qaddafi has made
an impression on me as a man who truly loves Africa! Libyans could complain
that he spent their wealth on other Africans! But those Africans he helped
put in power, built schools and mosques and brought in many forms of
development showing that Africans can do for themselves. If those Africans
would abandon him to be swallowed by Western Imperialism and their lies and
just let him go as a dictator in the name of so-called democracy...if they
could do that...they should receive the names and fate that the Western
press gives our beloved leader. If there is any one person who was half as
generous as he is, let them step forward.”
And another African comments:
“This man has been accused of many things and listening to the West who just
recently were happy to accept his generous hospitality, you will think that
he is worse than Hitler. The racism and contemptuous attitudes of Arabs
towards Black Africans has made me a natural sceptic of any overtures from
them to forge a closer link with Black Africa but Qaddafi was an exception.”
*Opportunistic Revolt*
This counter-revolutionary revolt caught everyone, including the Libyan
authorities, by surprise. They knew what the media is not reporting: that
unlike Egypt and Tunisia and other countries in the region, where there is
tremendous poverty, unemployment and repressive pro-Western regimes, the
Libyan dynamic was entirely different. However, an array of opportunistic
forces, ranging from so-called Islamists, Arab-Supremacists, including some
of those who have recently defected from Qaddafi's inner circle, have used
the events in neighbouring countries as a pretext to stage a coup and to
advance their own agenda for the Libyan nation. Many of these former
officials were the authors of, and covertly fuelled the anti-African pogrom
in Libya a few years ago when many Africans lost their lives in street
battles between Africans and Arab Libyans. This was a deliberate attempt to
embarrass Qaddafi and to undermine his efforts in Africa.
Qaddafi has long been a thorn in the Islamists side. In his recent address
to the Libyan people, broadcast from the ruins of the Bab al-Azizia compound
bombed by Reagan in 1986, he asked the “bearded ones” in Benghazi and Jabal
al Akhdar where they were when Reagan bombed his compound in Tripoli,
killing hundreds of Libyans, including his daughter. He said they were
hiding in their homes applauding the US and he vowed that he would never
allow the country to be returned to the grip of them and their colonial
masters.
Al Qaeda is in the Sahara on his borders and the International Union of
Muslim Scholars is calling for him to be tried in a court. One asks why are
they calling for Qaddafi's blood? Why not Mubarak who closed the Rafah
Border Crossing while the Israeli's slaughtered the Palestinians in Gaza.
Why not Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Blair who are responsible for the murder
of millions of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan?
*“An array of opportunistic forces, ranging from so-called Islamists,
Arab-Supremacists, including some of those who have recently defected from
Qaddafi's inner circle, have used the events in neighbouring countries as a
pretext to stage a coup.”*
The answer is simple - because Qaddafi committed some “cardinal sins.” He
dared to challenge their reactionary and feudal notions of Islam. He has
upheld the idea that every Muslim is a ruler (Caliph) and does not need the
Ulema to interpret the Quran for them. He has questioned the Islam of the
Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda from a Quranic/theological perspective and
is one of the few political leaders equipped to do so. Qaddafi has been
called a Mujaddid (this term refers to a person who appears to revive Islam
and to purge it of alien elements, restoring it to its authentic form) and
he comes in the tradition of Jamaludeen Afghani and the late Iranian
revolutionary, Ali Shariati.
Libya is a deeply traditional society, plagued with some outmoded and
bankrupt ideas that continue to surface to this day. In many ways, Qaddafi
has had to struggle against the same reactionary aspects of Arab culture and
tradition that the holy prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was struggling against in
7th century Arabia – Arab supremacy/racism, supremacy of family and tribe,
historical feuding tribe against tribe and the marginalisation of women.
Benghazi has always been at the heart of counter-revolution in Libya,
fostering reactionary Islamic movements such as the Wahhabis and Salafists.
It is these people who founded the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group based in
Benghazi which allies itself with Al Qaeda and who have, over the years,
been responsible for the assassination of leading members of the Libyan
revolutionary committees.
These forces hate Qaddafi's revolutionary reading of the Quran. They foster
an Islam concerned with outward trappings and mere religiosity, in the form
of rituals, which at the same time is feudal and repressive, while rejecting
the liberatory spirituality of Islam. While these so-called Islamists are
opposed to Western occupation of Muslim lands, they have no concrete
programmatic platform for meaningful socio-economic and political
transformation to advance their societies beyond semi-feudal and capitalist
systems which reinforce the most backward and reactionary ideas and
traditions. Qaddafi's political philosophy, as outlined in the Green Book,
rejects unfettered capitalism in all its manifestations, including the
“State capitalism” of the former communist countries and the neo-liberal
capitalist model that has been imposed at a global level. The idea that
capitalism is not compatible with Islam and the Quran is not palatable to
many Arabs and so-called Islamists because they hold onto the fallacious
notion that business and trade is synonymous with capitalism.
*Getting it Right*
Whatever the mistakes made by Qaddafi and the Libyan revolution, its gains
and its huge contribution to the struggle of oppressed peoples worldwide
cannot and must not be ignored. Saif Qaddafi, when asked about the position
of his father and family, said this battle is not about one man and his
family, it is about Libya and the direction it will take.
That direction has always been controversial. In 1982, The World Mathaba was
established in Libya. Mathaba means a gathering place for people with a
common purpose. The World Mathaba brought together revolutionaries and
freedom fighters from every corner of the globe to share ideas and develop
their revolutionary knowledge. Many liberation groups throughout the world
received education, training and support from Muammar Qaddafi and the Libyan
revolution including ANC, AZAPO, PAC and BCM of Azania (South Africa), SWAPO
of Namibia, MPLA of Angola, The Sandinistas of Nicaragua, The Polisario of
the Sahara, the PLO, The Native American Movements throughout the Americas,
The Nation of Islam led by Louis Farrakhan to name but a few. Nelson Mandela
called Muammar Qaddafi one of this century’s greatest freedom fighters, and
insisted that the eventual collapse of the apartheid system owed much to
Qaddafi and Libyan support. Mandela said that in the darkest moments of
their struggle, when their backs were to the wall, it was Muammar Qaddafi
who stood with them. The late African freedom fighter, Kwame Ture, referred
to Qaddafi as “a diamond in a cesspool of African misleaders.”
*“Nelson Mandela called Muammar Qaddafi one of this century’s greatest
freedom fighters.”*
The hideous notion being perpetuated by the media and reactionary forces,
inside and outside of Libya, that this is just another story of a bloated
dictatorship that has run its course is mis-information and deliberate
distortion. Whatever one’s opinions of Qaddafi the man, no one can deny his
invaluable contribution to human emancipation and the universal truths
outlined in his Green Book.
Progressive scholars in many parts of the world, including the West, have
acclaimed The Green Book as an incisive critique of capitalism and the
Western Parliamentary model of multi-party democracy. In addition, there is
no denying that the system of direct democracy posited by Qaddafi in The
Green Book offers an alternative model and solution for Africa and the Third
World, where multi-party so-called democracy has been a dismal failure,
resulting in poverty, ethnic and tribal conflict and chaos.
Every revolution, since the beginning of time, has defended itself against
those who would want to roll back its gains. Europeans should look back into
their own bloody history to see that this includes the American, French and
Bolshevik revolutions. Marxists speak of Trotsky and Lenin’s brutal
suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion by the Red Army as being a “tragic
necessity.”
Let's get it right: The battle in Libya is not about peaceful protestors
versus an armed and hostile State. All sides are heavily armed and hostile.
The battle being waged in Libya is essentially a battle between those who
want to see a united and liberated Libya and Africa, free of neo-colonialism
and neo-liberal capitalism and free to construct their own system of
governance compatible with the African and Arab personalities and cultures
and those who find this entire notion repugnant. And both sides are willing
to pay the ultimate price to defend their positions.
Make no mistake, if Qaddafi and the Libyan revolution are defeated by this
opportunistic conglomerate of reactionaries and racists, then progressive
forces worldwide and the Pan African project will suffer a huge defeat and
set back.
*Gerald A. Perreira *has lived in Libya for many years and was an executive
member of the World Mathaba. He can be contacted at* mojadi94@gmail.com*.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----