Libyans live an unrelenting state of violence, where hardly a day passes without bloodshed; be it political disputes, revenge, drug related crimes, or theft. This state of violence has become more evident in children’s games, which have come to glorify rifles and handguns. The same applies to festivities and merrymaking where live ammunition is often used.
Libyans live an unrelenting state of violence, where hardly a day passes without bloodshed; be it political disputes, revenge, drug related crimes, or theft. This state of violence has become more evident in children’s games, which have come to glorify rifles and handguns. The same applies to festivities and merrymaking where live ammunition is often used.
In response, a number of civil society organizyation in various Libyan cities celebrated World Peace Day on September 21, hoping to see the smoke of guns, which kill their peace and tranquility every day, disappear from their cities.
Burned hope
In Benghazi, a city overwhelmed with death, the youth of a civil service organization attempted to revive hope in the hearts of the city’s residents by painting the largest peace logo in the world, which they hope would be recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. They hung the painting in the courtyard of Al-Arab Medical University, only for it to be set on fire just one day before the ceremony.
Abdullah Tuhami, a member of the Flower of the Country Organization, which prepared for the celebration, said Benghazi’s residents had been hopeful as the painting was being prepared.
“The burning of the painting,” says Tuhami, “was a catalyst for making the festival a success and gaining the sympathy of the city’s residents.”
Tuhami suggests that recent cancellations of many festivals and poetry and art events have left people watching newscasts that “rarely present pleasant or cheering news.” It was therefore necessary, says Tuhami, to think about holding a festival to which people contribute and have some fun.
Thus was the peace festival whose organizers, claims Tuhami, aspired to “create a beautiful world of happiness, cooperation and love. This prompted us to mobilize people to contribute to making a shared painting carrying the participants’ fingerprints, a message of peace to the world from Benghazi that hope still exists, peace overflows in people’s hearts, and their love and goodness only need a space to express themselves.”
Peaceful capital
Benghazi is not alone in dealing with random violence. The capital, Tripoli, has joined in with constant reports of violence communicated to police stations. Peace is still very much alive in the hearts of the Libyans in spite of the current circumstances,” said Talal Birnaz from ‘Libya 1’ Organization. “Peace will prosper when we shun racism and extremism, and bring up future generations on racial and intellectual indiscrimination.”
“Peace begins with me and with everyone in this community,” says activist Enas Saddouh from H2O, a youth organization that made a significant contribution to the celebration of the World Peace Day in Tripoli. “We must therefore renew hope in peace every day.”
Enas and other members of her organization celebrated this event together with school children since she believed that “peace starts at home and school, which are the first two educational institutions children are exposed to. Once peace values have been instilled in children’s minds, they will do all they can to keep these values alive for the rest of their lives.”
No to despair
The city of Zawiya, 40 kilometers west of Tripoli, also participated in Peace Day. Having already suffered from negative reactions during its celebration of Earth Day last March, ‘XYZ’ Organization visited a number of schools to promote the culture of mutual respect towards others and the world at large.
Omar Azraq, a young member of XYZ, whose lit candles to mark Earth Day at the Martyrs’ Square in Zawiya were vandalized on the pretext that they were organizing fire worshipping rituals, says they tried to “remind people of the importance of peace and the need to renounce violence and end the state of extreme tension that overwhelms the political situation in Libya, in addition to the systematic violence committed against the cities believed to be loyal to the former regime.”
Azraq underlines that they, as CSOs, are fully aware of their role in taking practical and serious steps towards achieving real peace based on justice, equality and respect for human rights and dignity. “There is no peace without justice or freedom of expression,” he says.
