Introduction

    

 Five  months and several days have passed and we are still struggling and fighting at the height of murder and  bloodshed  since the outbreak of the blessed Libyan revolution. This glorious youth revolution of  February 17, 2011 is the revolution of the free patriotic men and women  who toiled under the oppression of the tyrant, for a period of more than four decades. Most of these rebels are young in age; in their twenties and thirties and from the “black coup” of the 1969 generation.  They know very  little of the honorable  history of Libya, obliterated by the Gaddafi media which intentionally  faked the country’s history and glorified Gaddafi, his relatives and acquaintances; and made them at the summit and weaved stories of them being heroes. When in fact, they are  simple, unknown and insignificant individuals who do not have any glorious history in the golden patriotic fight for freedom and dignity, neither in the past nor in the present. But  for each country, there are as I say “pseudo-men”! 

In my quest to gain the maximum support for the revolution, I traveled between the cities and capitals of the world,  utilizing my relationships, friends and acquaintances  to mobilize the leaders and the decision-makers in the governments and in international organizations.  I had the opportunity to sit with many patriotic young men. We talked about  many personal stories of past Libyan heroes who were never mentioned in the history of Libya. I was surprised that only few knew about their existence and their heroism. Unfortunately, these heroes were illiterate and never recorded their stories; their stories were only mentioned during  late night conversations until they passed away. 

In the past, we Libyans, as a result of ignorance and lack of interest, were not used to writing and recording such things as: historical events, national events, or personal memoirs. If it wasn’t for the efforts of a few historians, may Allah bless their good deeds, many important events of our national  history would have been lost forever.

Through great research, I found only a few stories written about the lives of our national heroes. I have never  heard of any stories glorifying these heroes  while listening to the radio or  watching television. These heroes and their untold stories are buried in their respective graves forever; with the exception of some stories related to the famous martyr, Omar Mukhtar.  This is mainly caused by the fact that those who are in charge of the media and run it , are mostly young people who have limited-knowledge and they do not know the true history of their homeland.

During the decades of the Gaddafi regime,  his media did not mention the nation’s true heroes. That was done on purpose in order to deflate the patriotic spirit of the young nationals with a few exceptions programmed according to studies and strategies by experts. Most of the journalists and correspondents are directed to disseminate news serving the best interest of the tyrant and they painted a rosy picture of him to attract  the masses. 

Libya has a truly honorable and noble history. It is built on noble causes such as defending personal honor, homeland, religion, and the willingness to  sacrifice our blood and soul for them. Our great grandfathers have defended the homeland for thousands of years.  They always maintained deep convictions for their cause. Especially, during the era of colonialism; the brutal Italian occupation from October 1911 until the end of World War II. They also continued their defense throughout successive administrations and governments until the “black coup” of September 1969. 

The Gaddafi era started with lies and mellifluous promises for freedom, power and wealth to the people. Propaganda that played on the emotions of the people and attracted the masses. These sugar coated promises were like mixing poison in honey. To make matters worse, the Egyptian media exacerbated the situation with further propaganda against the West. Everyone rushed to support, with the exception of a few. That minority had the knowledge and expertise to understand the gravity of the situation and understood the dramatic long-term effects on everyone.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten all the merits  of the royal era and the tremendous efforts and sacrifices of its men when Libya was poor, neglected and marginalized. Despite all the difficulties and deterioration  after the war, the pain of the people and loss of loved ones, the destruction of the infrastructure,  the dire need of reconstruction and development of major cities,  our pious and humble king along with a group of patriotic men managed to lay down the foundation of a new, modern state.

The kingdom was like a newborn who grows up every day with a new sunrise. Little by little, the country was advancing in  all fields. But the evil hidden forces and the international lobbies were  interested in the exploitation of goods and wealth, unknown to the simple people at the time who were unaware of  what was happening behind the scenes. They did not accept to let the newly rich nation emerge  and shine and become a beacon within time. The Eastern and Western interests did their best to squander vast wealth from oil income in war and conflicts so that the country would always remain backwards. 

There are a series of events that sent  the country down a spiral.  First, the arrival of Gaddafi as the head of state was baffling mystery. No matter how much we know, we will never comprehend his evil ruling. Secondly, the greed of the  international forces of evil supported him until he took power.  Third, we had to learn a harsh lesson so that we go back to the path of true faith, to learn that freedom is never granted without  sacrifice and blood. The Coup of 1969 (the so called “revolution”) was almost peaceful with the exception of  few men of honor, who defended the monarchy till the end. They were not remembered because of the fake glory that followed the Coup and their memory was hidden by the “revolution” of backwardness so that they won’t become martyrs and heroes in the eyes of the free patriotic men with time. 

The other side of the ugly face hidden behind a mask  was the unpredictably of Gaddafi.  He controlled  the country by force and  violence. The massive and systematic violation of human rights consisted of  the imprisonment of thousands of patriots, the general practice of  torture , the murder and the hangings in jails under the pretext of security and safety of the revolution ( coup ). He  expropriated all the private assets and nationalized the properties under fake revolutionary slogans. All these commotions preoccupied the people and distracted them so he did as he pleased without without any control. 

One of the most abominable atrocities committed by the Gaddaffi regime, was  the mass murder  at Abu Salim prison in Tripoli in the mid- nineties of the last century to about 1,300 prisoners.  Hundreds of others like them killed throughout the dark regime by  hanging in silence and were  buried in secret and undisclosed locations. It is a black bloody history under the  orders of a fool executed by corrupt agents  imported from  of neighboring countries who do not have a conscience. 

The financing of terrorism in the world using  flimsy excuses of supporting freedom fighters  to achieve freedom in their countries where we as Libyans have no reason to interfere or being involved is inexcusable under any circumstances. We were still very weak, barely able to live ourselves and we need a long time to build and construct our country. 

Dark pages were written down in the history of the nation as a result of the rule of a fool with multiple personalities who thought he was the one and only  because of all the hypocrites around him.  He even believed that he was “the king of all kings” and he forgot that he was a demon in the form of a man,  a common mortal, no matter how long,  will die and end .

The glorious revolution of February 17, did not come out of the blue  but as a result of many factors;  terror, murder, hangings , imprisonment, torture , corruption, many restrictions  for the citizens of the simplest and most trivial things, and the lack of personal freedoms. All these factors led to the backwardness of the homeland for many years at all levels.

The outcome of all theses abuses was the revolution that God willing will shortly prevail, thanks to the strong will and patience of the young revolutionaries who stood in defiance with their small arms, pistols, rifles, little ammunition and lack of training against the heavily armed and well trained brigades of the tyrant. Their strength was derived from their faith and their conviction that this regime must come to an end at any price. 

I have so many stories I wish to share before I leave this earth so that they won’t be forgotten and erased hoping that those who need to put the whole puzzle of Libya together might find pieces among my work. This is my humble contribution to focus the spotlight on some of the heroes, some of whom I had the pleasure to know closely either while I was growing up in Libya or during my fugitive days. I had to flee the country when all my assets  were confiscated by the Gaddafi regime. My life became in danger and I was hunted by the Gaddaffi, so called “revolutionary” committees and their agents. I have tried to write honestly and with conscience and not to blur any facts to the best of my knowledge in witnessing, so that their memory will not be lost with time. 

In 2011, I was 68 years old and I thank God that I lived to see the glorious revolution.  As a child, I lived during the prosperous era when Libya was a kingdom and I witnessed the “black” coup. I lived during its tragedies and was burnt by its fires. I had to flee the homeland and struggled with all I have, effort and money. I prayed to God to extend my life till the day I see the joy of victory over the tyrant and the establishment of a new Libya founded on democracy and the laws of God according to our present era. A country where we can live free in peace and harmony, security and safety for all so we can get up and move forward and our country Libya becomes a beacon radiating goodness for everyone. It is about time to finally remove the stigma of evil and terrorism as has been happening. 

I have accompanied many of the freedom fighters who have become now martyrs and moved to the mercy of God Almighty , but their fragrant memory will remain immortal and they will be always remembered as an important part of the history of Libya. 

                                                                 God  bless  

Ragab Zatout