- I haven’t written in about a week… partially because I don’t know where to start. I have much to say about my time in Lebanon – visiting poor shanty-town communities, Palestinian refugee camps, and homes for street children who have been abandoned by society. A community that is governed by Christians, Sunni Muslims, Shi’ite Muslims, and Druze. Lebanon is a complex, diverse, beautiful, and harsh place… I have much to say about the things that I have learned. However, the current tumult in the Middle East once again has people all over the Arab world glued to their televisions watching the horror of people protesting against unjust governments and advocating for a better life. However, other countries protests are not as peaceful – or as non-violent – as Egypt’s recent “success” in ousting Mubarak.
- Over the past couple of days we have watched as the Libyan people protest against Muammar Gaddafi – who has ruled for more than 40 years. News reports that yesterday (Monday) more than 50+ people were killed as the government responded with violence against the people protesting. People are marching in the countryside and in some of the main cities such as Benghazi and Tripoli. Today (Tuesday) we learned that Gaddafi’s government not only shot into the crowds, but they also began using airplanes to attack their own people. The news is using words like “massacre” and unprecedented violence. The news shows pictures of people covered in blood everywhere. Like Egypt, Libya has been cut off from the world – there are no telephones – landlines and cell phones have been cut; there is no internet; no communication with the outside world. Many leaders in Libya’s government are resigning because of the “deadly force used against the protestors” (AlJazeera).
- AlJazeera made the following report: “Gaddafi’s guards started shooting people in the second day and they shot two people only. We had on that day in Al Bayda city only 300 protesters. When they killed two people, we had more than 5,000 at their funeral, and when they killed 15 people the next day, we had more than 50,000 the following day… This means that the more Gaddafi kills people, the more people go into the streets.”
- Gaddafi’s son recently went on television and threatened the Libyan people stating that the country would become a “bloodbath” if the protests against his father’s regime did not cease. He asserted that Libya is a different country than Tunisia and Egypt and that the government would not be overturned so easily. One of the cries being heard from Libya – through the few satellite phones possessed by journalists that have not yet been blocked – is this question: “Where is the West?” Libyans are asking why America and other western nations have not come to the aid of the people of Libya. I hope that my friends, family, and contacts in the U.S. and other parts of the non-Arab world are paying attention to what is happening in the Middle East. Country by country seems to be infected by an emerging group of young leaders who are calling for change, democracy, liberty, and freedom. As these “revolutions” persist – the question of what is to follow is a crucial one…
- Similarly anti-government protests persist in Bahrain, Yemen, and Jordan… as the growing unrest continues to escalate in several countries throughout the Middle East.
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we need praying so much in these hard days
There’s a fair amount of outrage here in the US about what’s going on in Libya… I’m sure you heard the reports that the government shot live ammunition from fighter jets into the crowds of protesters today. It’s heartbreaking. Didn’t Gadaffi used to have the backing of the US government? I think the only thing we can do as US citizens is keep the pressure on the government/the UN to take some sort of action (although of course I hope you’ll share if there’s anything else we can do):
http://www.unwatch.org/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1289215/k.8EE6/Take_Action/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1289215&aid=15350
In other news, have you heard about what’s going on in Wisconsin? The influence of the protests has spread as far as the American mid-West (although of course, not on as large of a scale). Still, pretty amazing.
http://www.freep.com/article/20110221/NEWS15/110221029/0/HSS/Thousands-take-Wisconsin-labor-protest-into-its-eighth-day?odyssey=nav|head