My Enchanting Sereeb

Let me guess!

2011-09-11T04:07:00.000-07:00

What makes my main brain (not my auxiliary brain) spins is that the Libyan people had put up with gaddafi bullshit and harassment and maltreatment and savagery for four decades and now they do not seem to be able to put up with the NTC just for more few months until they cut off the head of the snake, aka, ghadafi & gangs?

Let me luxuriate in the telling.

I’m not saying Libyans have to ingratiate themselves to the NTC. No, no, no more figure-worshiping. NO. What I want to say is now it is the time for unity because the battle is not over yet; because we are dealing with a very dangerous and delusional person who would do anything to destroy Libya and the Libyans. Let’s finish him off first, then, we can meet at the polling-stations.

These days there are many opportunists mushrooming from nowhere. One of them is this sanctimonious guy called Sallabi. He was plastered all over the TV few days ago attacking Mr. Jibreel and Dr. Ali Tarhouni. I personally do not know Mr. Jibreel but from what I gathered (rumor has it that even Hillary Clinton was so impressed with him, bless him :D) he is the right guy at this moment; educated, enlightened and experienced. As for Dr. Tarhouni, he is a wonderful person on all levels and I can vouch for that; he only has the interest of Libya and its people in his heart and work. He is Not after any worldly gains as he is well-established in the US, working as a professor in one of the American universities and financially more than ok. He dropped all of that to go to Libya and help. How cool is that? No ingratiating intended here :D

Now Mr Sallab, tell me: first, who has appointed you to speak in the name of the Libyan people? Second, you said that those people who do not know Libya and have been living outside Libya for over 30 years, blah, blah. So, do you think it is you who know Libya? Is it you who cares more about Libya and has the interest of Libya and its people in his heart and actions?

Sure, NOT.

Please do not let us rehash old stuff, as we say in Libya let the hay covers its barley (khali iltebn imghati sha3ira) but suffice it to say: weren’t you happily in bed with Saif ghaddafi Boy just few months ago? So, how was it “Sheikh” Sallbi? Hope it was pleasurable. And that you were not faking it! That would be a real shame, I tell you.

And before I take off, I have this nagging question: Could you please tell me who is paying your paycheck every month?

Hum, hum, let me guess. Hum! Arabia Saudita?

Hum, hum!

Gum-chewing Bit**

2011-09-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

-Life can be a bitch. A gum-chewing, fists-on-hips, slum-dweller bitch, who would scream, swear and carry on. Her shrill crescendo of abuse would follow you wherever you go. Ah, dunia! Bitch.

-Allow me another rant, please. Some women have no sense of dressing whatsoever: that what one wears in the privacy of her house cannot and should not be worn outside. Oh ladies, please spare us the unsightly sight of your vein-riddled legs and thighs and save this hideous display for your family and “significant other”. Short women too should be banned for life from wearing short dresses, skirts or shorts. Please ladies please, no one wants to see those podgy fat thighs and legs of yours; save the torture for your “insignificant others.” Ok?

Ah, I feel better now :D

Three-month Ramadan, anyone?

2011-09-06T04:28:00.000-07:00

Happy belated Eid, Happy Free Libya. My Eid celebration of a feast at an Eritrean restaurant were cancelled due to a bike accident. No broken limbs or neck, just badly bruised, cuts and concussion. The policeman told me that next time you’d smash that head of yours into smithereens if you do not wear a helmet. And he added, “ People who have long necks should be panned from riding bikes.”

Hum!

Anyway, this Eid is a bittersweet one at all levels, Libya, personal, etc, etc.

Oh well, I’m not complaining; mornings are NOT mornings without a gigantic mug of good brewed coffee. Ahh, ya salam.

When I was a kid (that was about ten years ago), just like all kids, I loved Ramadan. Who didn’t? All those yummy Libyan soup, Imbatan, Fasolia bel dajaj, Mahalabiya, Isfenz, Zlabia and Makhariq (oh drool, drool), etc, etc. Of course all kids loved Ramadan, oblivious to what is awaiting them when they grow and have to observe the month (not really have to; many people do not these days, which I can understand). Before I go, I leave you with this funny true story from my childhood. I swear it is true. :D

I remember one Ramadan when I was about six, I and a horde of my cousins decided that we love Ramadan so much, we will make an intense prayer for God to make it three months instead of one month only. So, we did our hasty ablution and spread the mats and began our intense prayer for a thee-month Ramadan.

One of my cousin was the leader and she started by chanting, “ Oh Allah, the Merciful, the Great, make Ramadan three months.”

We echoed feverishly, “The Merciful, the Great... Ameeen”

And then we heard this “Bang”. We looked startled and there was my grandma, maternal grandma, with a stick waving it in a threatening mode.

She yelled, “What? You pray for a three-month Ramada? You, little devils. May we hear, may we be safe (Nasma3oo wa Naslmoo) Go, go, may Allah grant you no wish. Go, you seeds of devils. (Zeree3at Iblis)

And we scattered running for shelter from her stick. Hahaha.

This story never fails to bring smiles to my face, not just for our childish wish but also for my grandma belief that God may grant us such a wish. :D Bless her gentle soul. She was a great character.

Happy Eid, Happy Free Libya Everyone!

How we feel

2011-08-24T13:03:00.001-07:00

I'm delighted to see the journalists safe and out of that hotel; they were hostage for 5 days and went through hell. Can you imagine how we Libyans feel after been taken hostages for 42 years by gaddafi & thugs?  Elated, ecstatic, on cloud 9.

gaddafi the tic

2011-08-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

Whoever thinks the celebrations of gaddafi & sons demise was premature is wrong. He and his thugs are over and who doesn’t think so is naïve but in the same time whoever thinks that gaddafi would go easily is naïve too. He & thugs will be put up a fight and they will take so many lives with them as well, I’m afraid. I’m just praying that a blood bath can be averted somehow.

Ghadafi reminds me of tics, not only because a tic launches its attack on harmless creatures and suck their blood, like what he did over 42 years to the poor Libyans, but also because it is very hard to kill, just like ghadafi. I’m sure all of you had come across tics, if you own a pet, and I’m sure you must’ve smashed the bugger beyond recognition thinking you had killed it. Well, I’m afraid you haven’t, as smashing the little bugger and splashing all the blood it sucked from poor creatures won’t kill it. You had only busted the belly that holds all the blood and gore while the head was still ok, so the little bugger will detach itself from the smashed body and grow another one later.

Yuck, I know but it is true. So, few years ago an Italian farmer told me that the only way to kill tics is to burn them. Just like ghadafi, I’m afraid,

And yes I’m going to celebrate and strut more times in those hot high-heeled shoes; after all they are pink, they are Ferragamo and they are damn good. .(Shush, I got them during my capitalism loving era, shame on me)

And please someone tell the NTC to stop people using celebratory gun firing; it is savage, its uncivil, it's dangerous and they have to stop.

moment of my life

2011-08-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for this moment all my life; I can't describe how I feel. If I die tomorrow I still would be happy, as I witnessed the demise of gaddafi and his thugs.

No sleep for me tonight; I'm heading to the nearest city with my Libyan flag in my red San Francisco shoes to dance in the streets.

I know it is not over yet but it is just a matter of hours I believe.

Double Eid Celebration

2011-08-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

Flowers from my garden

I said it before and I say it again: the Lions of East Libya ignited the spark of revolution and defended it by their bare chest (the first 4 days of the uprising 100 young men were shot each day by machine guns and anti aircraft guns), then the spark travelled to the West and South of Libya. Now, I firmly believe that the Lions of the Western Mountains/the Nafusa Mountains will bring the torch of freedom to its place, to Tripoli. I’m so proud of my countrymen and women. I have a feeling this Eid will be a double celebration, Yay :D

Spark

2011-08-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

I firmly believe as the spark of revolution started in East Libya and spread with speed to the rest of Libya, the fighters in the Western Mountains will carry that spark to Tripoli and liberate it.

We shall never give up; we all need to unite to achieve that goal.

On a lighter note, my niece and her husband had a baby girl and they named her Libya. Sweet :D

First Day of Ramadan

2011-08-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ramadan this year is very different from the previous ones; it is kind of bittersweet one, no gaddafi but still there is gaddafi and his cronies. It is a war waging in Libya and many people are dying a senseless death because one maniac and his manic kids think that they own Libya and its people.

It is also very hard to spend it away from your family; I was hoping to spend this Ramadan with my family in Benghazi but it didn’t work out…

Ramada Kareem. It’s going to be Sharba Libyia with organic, local and seasonal meat (Libyan soup) and rice with nuts and raisins for Fatour today :D

Beautiful Norway

2011-07-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

In 2007 I had the pleasure of visiting my dear Norwegian friend Guro and her lovely family in Norway. I instantly fell in love with the beauty of the country and its people; it was just like a drop of heaven on earth. Guro's family were the kindest and most generous people I've ever met.

Yesterday we woke up to a massacre in Norway where 92 people were killed and many were injured in cold blood. My heart and prayers to all the Norwegian people and the Norwegian government. I, as a Libyan, feel gratitude towards Norway for its stand with the Libyan people against the criminal gaddafi and his thugs.

Guro, my sincere condolences to you and all your country men and women. I pray that you and your loved ones are safe. Please drop me a line when you have time. I've sent you an email earlier. (Just in case you are still reading my blog :)

This is Guro's family house outside Oslo.

2011

2011-07-21T23:02:00.001-07:00

The United Nations declared a famine in Somalia and East Africa. It is disgraceful and shameful to all of us that people are dying from hunger in 2011.

Please give up that cup of coffee you get on your way to work, that take out you treat yourself to, that sandwich you get for lunch and donate.

And no, you do not need that new shoes, new dress, new car; and your child doesn’t need that new toy or ridiculous huge birthday cake and donate.

Let’s not forget climate change and the impact we have on this drastic change which is going to destroy this world if people do not change their ways of living (the current heat wave here in the states is just the tip of the iceberg; roasting in Minneapolis) Recycle, reuse, eat local, seasonal and organic fruits, veggies and meats; use public transportation as possible; just stop being selfish and greedy and be a human and think of others. And oh, it would be even better if you stick two fingers in the face of Capitalism.

One Month

2011-07-09T00:19:00.000-07:00

Today one month ago my friend Hannu passed away. Still can not believe you are not here with us anymore. Rest in peace my friend.

Three Weeks

2011-07-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that today marks the third week since Hannu passed away. You will always be remembered dear Hannu.

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that she is no longer with us. Why she has to go, why? She wanted to live and enjoy free Libya.

Extremism

2011-06-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Extremism comes out in different shapes, forms and faces. Lately I had to deal with two types of extremism, religious extremism and veggie extremism, aka, vegetarians, vegans, and the rest. Religious extremists do not see the human in you and veggie extremists see only the carnivore in you. How sad! I’m glad I put a stop to their harassment, the religious extremist neighbour and the veggie extremist ex-friend.

Life & Death

2011-06-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

My friend Hannu was always true to herself and others; she never compromised what was right for her and the others, even if that meant making a tough decision or going down an ardours path. That was very unconventional especially for a Libyan woman. We Libyan women, and Libyan men as well, are trained from infanthood to feel responsible for other’s mistakes, to feel guilty for everything and nothing, to be ready to scarify our happiness for trivial reasons just to please others. The toughest thing I personally still need to deal with is the sense of guilt for everything I do; it is like drilled into my psyche. Hannu was different. She lived her life to the full and I’ve never heard her questioning any decision she had made no matter how hard it was for her. What a gem of a woman she was? What a tragic loss?

My advice to whoever reading this, never compromise what is right for you; life is too short. Never be put off by what people might say or by financial difficulties. If you are not happy with your current job, just leave; don’t be put off by fear of financial instability or hardship; If you are in unhappy relationship, just leave; your kids are better off with a happy single parent than with a miserable one. They will be fine and will grow up but you will miss out on so much, most importantly happiness. If you know where your heart is and who is your true love, go ahead and tell him/her, you may never get a chance to do so, as life is too short and death might be lurking around the corner. If you want to take up a crazy hobby or adventure, go ahead, do not let anyone put you off. Travel to an unconventional place; do some voluntary work in a different country; learn a new skill; ride your bike; do even one crazy thing: dye your hair pink or grow your hair and have dreadlocks, or have a tattoo, or paint your nails green, or wear your party dress or your expensive suit with a tie and go for a coffee with a friend. Do one nice thing for a stranger: buy a morning cup of coffee for a total stranger; give a $50 to a homeless person; flash your pretty smile at strangers for a whole morning; give a compliment to a stranger. Do one nice thing for yourself: treat yourself to that nice dress or tie or shoes; flirt with that cute girl/guy you saw; treat yourself to a nice meal in your favourite restaurant; be adventurous and try different food, like escargot or frogs’ legs. Take care of your body, take care of your brain and be gentle to yourself and others. Life is so short; you never know when you’ll be the next. One has to be ready. I am ready, are you?

Rest in peace my dear friend. You taught me so much and you will always be part of my life. Inshalla we will meet again soon.

The Dazzling Hannu

2011-06-12T00:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my best friend Hana Naas passed away after four years of battling cancer. She left behind four children, her husband Soliman Dregia, her mum and dad, her brother ayman and three sisters and her unforgettable legacy. To me she was not a mere friend but a loving sister, a wise mentor, a trusty confidante, someone who listened to me, gave me advices, patted my shoulder when I did well and told me off when I wronged. I’m lost without her, her wisdom, her support and encouragement, her bright smile, her bravery, her loyalty and devotion, her contagious enthusiasm, her high standard of work ethics, her unconditional love for her family and friends, her admirable ambitions, her dazzling intelligence, her love for life and everyone.

Oh Hannu, Oh my dearest sweet Hannu, I’m lost without you; life has no meaning without you; Free Libya has no meaning without you. I’m inconsolable.

Rest in Peace my beloved friend; my God give all of us patience and join you in paradise soon.

My friend Hannu Naas

2011-06-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm inconsolable and devastated. I can not stop crying and I want to die with her. Today my best friend Hana Nass passed away. Oh my God, I can't believe. I do not want to live without her.

My dear Hannu, my sweet Hannu, my dearest friend, how can I live without you? How can I eat and drink and enjoy life without you? How can I enjoy free Libya without you? My dear friend I can not live without you. I love you so much and do not know what to do without you.

Shergawiat are the best :)

2011-06-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

- I also feel more optimistic and do not cry as much as the first days of the upraising. Before the no-fly zone I set up a funeral (3aza), weeping nonstop, not eating, not sleeping, not washing (after the implementation of the no-fly zone, I finally washed my hair and found a dead bee in my hair, hehe) writing hundreds of emails, talking to media, basically acting like a zombie. My sister Amina said that during those days I proved to be a real Benghazina Shahdara ;-) I totally agree; we, the Shergawiat, are softie and hopelessly romantic but champions at making scenes (shahdarat), big time. :-0

Destroy the mad dog

2011-06-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

I worry that the explosion in Benghazi yesterday is just the tip of the iceberg, a campaign of terror gaddafi loyalists will wage in Libya. I believe Libya will never be safe as long as gaddafi is still alive. Exile for him outside Libya is not good for Libya and its people. He has to be destroyed. Period.

damn ugly midget birdie

2011-06-02T04:18:00.000-07:00

When it is excruciatingly hot and you have to keep all windows open in order to get a whiff of cool breeze because you do not have an AC because your environmentally-friendly brain tells you not to because ACs are very damaging to the environment (and you have to put up with excruciatingly hot summer nights until you build that environmentally-friendly house of yours) and there is a damn nocturnal bird perched on a tree next to your window that starts to weep at 3am in the morning and all you want to do is to shoot that damn bird but you don’t because you do not have a damn gun and you will never have one because you are against owning guns and even if you had one, you would never shoot a bird even if it is a damn ugly midget bird.

So, like a nice person, you stumble out of bed, showering curses at the damn birdie, and make yourself a strong cup of coffee and a bowl of hot porridge with some fruit and sit yourself down at your working desk and start your to-do list of the day.

babbling

2011-05-30T00:06:00.000-07:00

When this mess in Libya is over, six million Libyans, those inside and outside Libya, would need intensive counseling. This crazy man and his rotten ideology traumatized us all.

Growing up in Libya under the gaddafi regime was damaging to us all; we didn’t have a normal childhood as children of the rest of the world. We had to witness and suffer with our parents and families.

On a different note, for the last two nights an owl would perch on a tree next to my window and start crying; it does that around 2 or 3 in the morning and keeps me awake the rest of the night. I do not believe in superstitions but with the current situation in Libya, it really got me thinking. Inshalla Khair

The Desperation of Rape Victims in Libya

2011-05-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

The threat of rape was always used in Libya by the gaddafi regime to crush any opposition but the actual use of it on such a scale is unprecedented. Now as many cases have been documented in Ajdabyia, Misrata and the Western Mountains (as for Az-Zawyia it is going to be even worse) people have to do something. It’s not enough to talk and form groups; actions need to be taken immediately. These women need to be helped by providing psychological and social support and huge efforts should be put into educating the general public, especially men that it is not a crime to be raped, that one shouldn’t abandon his wife, sister, daughter, cousin, who was raped, that it goes against Islamic teaching to do such things, that these women should never be driven to desperation and consequently killing themselves (it is emerging now that some women and girls who were gang raped in Ajdabyia have killed themselves.)

Two days ago I spoke to a dear cousin in Benghazi; she told me something that gave me goose bumps and sleepless nights. She said that many young women and girls were preparing to kill themselves upon gaddafi invasion of Benghazi; some put up knots in their bedrooms to hang themselves, some prepared a bottle of gasoline to set themselves ablaze, some hid a big kitchen knife to perform a hara-kiri.

Rape is one of the most damaging thing can happen to any human, as the mental scars are far more damaging than the physical ones but for women to be driven to contemplate killing themselves in anticipation of rape is inhuman and barbaric.

Rape is a taboo in Libya and for many years it was whispered behind closed doors and never spoken of publicly. Even though the Libyan society is ultra conservative, rape did happen but not on such a scale. Rape victims were never given any medical or mental support, some where hurriedly married off to their rapists, others abandoned by their families and put in penitentiaries, prison-like institutions run by the government, and left there forever. Now it is different; it is committed on a much bigger and horrific scale by gaddafi forces and mercenaries. Young girls and women, who were virgins, were subjected to brutal gang rape and torture; many of the incidents were filmed on mobile phones and were circulated to increase the humiliation of these victims and their families. Many victims were infected with HIV and some got pregnant; it is a huge problem and needs to be tackled head-on, no beating around the bush.

Steps to educate the general public have to be taken immediately. Social workers, nurses and even medical doctors need to be trained and dispatched to help these victims and their families and educate the public. Religious leaders and tribal leaders must speak about it and encourage victims to come out and report the rape incidents. It is imperative that all Imams in mosques start a campaign to educate men, young and old, to relinquish such abhorrent customs and embrace and heal their raped wives, sisters, mothers, daughters, cousins and never shy away from marrying a rape victim. This draconian custom of ostracizing and punishing the victims of rape has to stop now.

Ugh

2011-05-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I really want to slap these sanctimonious beings that started to surface real hard but then I remember that we have a poisonous snake, Mr Daffy, that we need to get rid off first. Ugh

Yes We Can

2011-05-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

Today the world rejoices the death of an evil man and his twisted ideology, Osama Ben Laden. This man and his evil ideology brought so much suffering and pain to everyone. Today the sun will shine on a world free from one evil man.

Tomorrow, I hope the world will celebrate the demise of another evil man called Mumamer Gaddafi who is killing innocent people because they said no to his evilness, his hate-mongering ideology, his forces of destruction.

Any chance those Special US Operators who carried out the honorable job in Pakistan will pass by Libya on their way to home :-)

Typical

2011-04-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the world was mesmerized by the royal wedding and I was frantic flicking through channels looking for news about Libya; I was scared dead that the criminal gaddafi regime will do something drastic while the world is taking a break.

Today, he came out of his hole threatening this and that. Typical.

Syria is on fire as well and the criminal regime is killing its people. Typical.

These dictators do not belong to the human race or even the animal race. Their brutality is beyond words, their greed is insatiable. Can you guess safia’s, gaddafi’s wife, fortune?

Just click here. Despite the Billions, she is as ugly as hell. May they all grill in hell very soon, as we are so tired.

The Libyan Revolution

2011-04-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

Just in case you missed this brilliant article: Dispatch from Libya: the courage of ordinary people standing up to Gaddafi

Bastardo

2011-04-27T02:40:00.000-07:00

I do not listen to songs, apart from this mensch. I prefer classical music or of course audio books. But. Lately I just can’t stop humming the lyrics of this Italian song. The song is called Bastardo and it reminds me of a bastardo (and his sons and thugs) killing the Libyan people.

Three things

2011-04-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

First, Happy Easter to everyone and may these holy days bring peace to all.

Second, happy Earth’s Day and I hope we all will take a moment to appreciate this beautiful planet and incorporating small changes into our lives to help ease the burden and save this magnificent planet. For one day you can use the public transport or stop using plastic bags (I hope always) or plant a tree or start your kitchen garden (it is the right time to start if you are interested; I started mine a couple of days ago) or whatever you can do, just do it.

Third, thank you Mr. Mccain for your support to the Libyans.

It's a horror movie, he said.

2011-04-19T00:35:00.000-07:00

Please have a moment and read this, warning, it is too graphic and just as the man in the article described himself, “it’s like a horror movie.”

Another heartbreaking article, as it emerged that hundreds of women were raped by gaddafi’s forces.

First Time

2011-04-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve been quiet for a while due to various reasons but I’m still following the news and writing and doing what I can to help. I’m worried just like most of you that the situation will take longer than expected that more people will die in the process, etc.

First time I agree with what a Republican has said. What Senator Mccain said in a press release was a spot on. I couldn’t agree more; I just hope someone is listening this time.

Save Eman El-Obeidi

2011-03-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Please sign this new Petition for Eman El-Obeidi and forward to as many people as possible.

Thanks.

Free Eman Al-Obaidy

2011-03-27T02:33:00.000-07:00

Free Eman Al-Obaidy. Please sign petition.

Damn the world

2011-03-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Mohammed Nabbous was the first to come on Livestream from Benghazi during the first few days of the uprising in Benghazi. He was the one who gave me hope that we will prevail.

Sadly, today Mohammed was killed in Benghazi by gadafi forces. He left behind a pregnant wife. He is so young and do not deserve to die.

I'm devastated. I can not stop crying. Damn the world.

I’m terrified

2011-03-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

- The area where my family’s farm is located, on the suburbs of Benghazi, is under gadafi forces and heavy shelling.

- My entire family is on the farm; they thought it was safer than staying in central Benghazi.

- I haven’t heard from my family for two days.

- I’m terrified.

Bombing Benghazi

2011-03-19T00:57:00.000-07:00

Oh my God, they are bombing Benghazi Now.

Indiscriminate attack, Al-Dollar area, Jamal Abdul-Naser Street were hit. The suburb of Benghazi, Qawarsha and further away to Nawaqi, Slouq and Qaminis were hit badly. Loud explosions coming from slouq.

Oh my God, I couldnt get any of my family. I'm terrified and sick. where is the world? We do not need any talk, action, action, please.

Not over yet but I'm :))

2011-03-18T03:54:00.000-07:00

I’m brimming with different emotions; it is not over yet and no time for celebration, though I have to admit I danced a jig when the UN announced its decision. :))

I’m absolutely exhausted, didn’t sleep a wink. Been trying to contact any of my sisters but all phones are still down in Benghazi. Alas, I wanted to share the moment with them.

I’m off to get some sleep but will be back in few hours.

A heartfelt thanks to everyone helped with the UN resolution.

And before I go, please do not forget to donate here for medical supplies to the Libyan people.

Just in from Benghazi

2011-03-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

I just spoke with my sister, she told me that the Free Libya radio has just announced that two planes have defected and joined the revolutionaries. She was a bit shaken as they heard explosions and hearing anti aircrafts gunfire. We both cried.

They believe this Friday is going to be decisive; and hoping for the people of Tripoli to move. She told me about some relatives and neighbours who had young men killed in Ajdabiya yesterday.

I feel it too, I feel the victory is near, though sadly many people will die. I no longer have any hope for a no-fly zone; we have to do it ourselves. And we will.

Quiet & Loss

2011-03-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

-I’ve been quiet because I’m drained, because I stopped watching news. I only visit this and call home. I speak to my brother and sisters regularly. They are still ok, waiting. One of my sisters said to me yesterday: “where is your American friends and Canadian friends and other nationality friends? We need help.” I told her, All people of the world are with the Libyan people but sadly, there is a different between them and their governments. They are helpless, just like you and me.

-The Libyan people are so grateful to France for its courageous move to recognize the Transitional National Council of Libya as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people and its hard work to push for no-fly zone and more.

-I just heard of the death of the son of someone I knew in Libya. He is the first Libyan-American to be killed by gadhafi forces. He is just a kid; I’m so sad. My sincere condolences to his mother Suzy Al Arbi and his aunt Hana Al Arabi and his cousin Najat Shetwan. Rest in Peace Muhanad.

Ugly

2011-03-12T07:31:00.001-08:00

Misrata is under attack and gaddafi's forces are advancing to East Libya and the world doesnt care. I have no faith in the Arab League and they won't ask for no-fly zone.

I do not know how could the world stay silent, how? The criminal regime is now sending threatening text messages to people in Benghazi say: We are coming to get you. Imagine, how would you feel. Women and children are in such a state, beyond description.

I do not think I will survive this, this world is too ugly for me, too ugly.

Before I leave, just want to say special thank you to this honorable Lady.

Not good

2011-03-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

EU does not agree on No-fly zone or recognizes new transitional council instead of Qaddafi. It's very is disappointing. And I'm disgusted, sad, outraged and despondent.

Please help the people of Libya to realize their dream of freedom, dignity and peace.

Three

2011-03-11T05:16:00.000-08:00

First, our thoughts and prayers with the people of Japan and the affected areas.

Second, Thank you France.

Third, I am a British-Libyan and call upon the British Government to recognize the Transitional National Council of Libya as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

No-fly zone

2011-03-09T06:04:00.000-08:00

Please sign this petition for no-fly zone over Libya. It is amazing how many people already signed it. Viva Humanity.

Sky News, thank you

2011-03-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the website of the National Transitional Council of Libya, the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

Please if you want to see the real news from Libya DONOT watch CNN, watch Sky News, it is the only channel that has a team of a reporter, a cameraman and an editor inside the city of Az-Zawiya. I would like to give special thanks to the Sky News reporter inside Az-Zawiya Alice Crawford. Lady, you are amazing and we Libyan people love you so much for showing the world the nasty reality of gaddafi regime. May God protect you and your team.

I will never watch CNN again, never. And the reasons are:

1- Yesterday, while gaddafi’s criminal forces were bombarding the city of Az-Zawiya, CNN reporter in Tripoli was waiting for the criminal gaddafi to show up. The mad dog gaddafi made the reporters wait for 8 hours, then passed through the hotel and didn’t talk to them, a typical behaviour of the mad gaddafi.

2- CNN reporter in Tripoli, when is not buys waiting for gaddafi, he is busy interviewing members of gaddafi criminal regime. He did not interview one member of the National Transitional Council of Libya! CNN reporters in Benghazi did not either!

3-CNN reporters and presenters all call the opposition and the freedom fighters rebels, a term used by the criminal regime of gaddafi, and they use the term civil war in Libya. If there is a civil war as they claim why there are cities in West Libya that are fighting gaddaif’s forces? Why? There is no civil war in Libya, there is a war between the Libyan people, who want freedom, dignity and peace, and the criminal gaddafi and his forces and mercenaries.

I’m very disappointed in CNN and I vowed to NEVER watch it again.

Thank you Sky News and your brave reporters in Benghazi, Ajdabia and Az-Zawiya.

Does freedom has any price tag?

2011-03-08T08:23:00.001-08:00

This is an extract from an email from a dear friend of mine in San Francisco. He wrote:

"This is the same history we read about during the 1930.s when the Nazi started their campaign against the Jews and you now you know the rest of the story. Today we are witnessing the same appeasement of Qaddafi and the world leaders mouths full of platitude and hardly any actions. Soad at the end we will win. The question at what cost! Does freedom has any price tag? The Libyans fighting for their freedom need our moral and unconditional support while they battle Qaddafi on every front. They do not have fighter jets, but their will to fight and liberate the country is beyond anyone imagination, their bravado is immeasurable and I can venture to say their spirit is higher than anything we have read or seen in any war. Long live Libya."

I highly recommend that you follow Sky News, they have a brave reporter inside Az-Zawyia right now. I just want to say to her that Libyan people are so grateful for your brave work. and we pray for your safety as well.

If...

2011-03-07T09:23:00.001-08:00

If there won’t be a no-fly zone within the next 48 hrs, hundreds of people will die as gaddafi’s militias and mercenaries will bombard more cities.

I’m sick and I’m arranging my travel to Libya, to be with my family. I hope will get better in few days for my trip, as it will be an arduous and dangerous trip.

sign please

2011-03-06T10:01:00.001-08:00

Please sign this petition, very important.

Viva Freedom. Viva Humanity.

The uprising in Libya and how to help

2011-03-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

On 17 February 2011 young people started to demonstrate peacefully in may cites in Libya. gaddafi ‘s security forces and mercenaries fired upon those peaceful demonstrators, using heavy artilleries, killing hundreds of them. Many of the Libyan forces refused to kill the peaceful demonstrators and as a result some were executed by gaddafi’s forces and others joined the demonstrators. They managed, along with the demonstrators to defeat gaddafi’s forces and mercenaries, who fled the area. The whole east of Libya was liberated.

Now, these young demonstrators, who have never used or even held a gun in their lives, are fighting gaddafi’s forces and mercenaries who are well-equipped and armed. The arms these young demonstrators are using are very old and rusty, salvaged from the military bases in east Libya. Here, I would like to add that it is a well-known fact among all Libyans that all military bases in East Libya were badly equipped. Only gaddafi’s special forces which are lead by his sons and based in west Libya are well-armed.

Some of you, who does not know the scale of brutality of gaddafi’s regime, might ask: why do these demonstrators fight?

They fight because they know if they fall in the hands of gaddafi’s forces they will be killed or put in prisons forever. They fight because they have no other choice: If they do not fight gaddafi’s forces will kill them; if they fight, they might die, as they are badly-equipped and never been trained to use these rusty arms.

Do you think they want to fight and die?

Of course not. These young guys they are just like you and me, they have dreams and hopes. They want to live in peace and harmony but this brutal regime is not giving them any chance,

Now, what can we do to help?

As a British citizen, I plead with the British government and the world’s governments, US in particular, to help the uprising in Libya, to give these young people a chance to live and prosper, to help them get rid of gaddafi’s brutal regime.

How?

1- 1--1- Impose a no-fly zone over Libya NOW.

2- 2 2- Recognize the National Transitional Council of Libya, just formed in Benghazi and representative of all Libya, as the Only and Legitimate Government of Libya.

3- Provide the Council with logistic help.

These two actions will help Libyans to achieve their goal of freedom, democracy, peace, and prosperity, not just for Libyans but for the rest of the world.

Please do not abandon the Libyan people. Please help.

Zombie

2011-03-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

I’m a walking zombie. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t stop crying. I just can’t bear it anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do, it is hitting home for me.

Please watch Sky News, they have a brave reporter with the people besieged in the city of Zawyia. I’m very disappointed with CNN, yesterday their reporter in Tripoli was busy interviewing the rusty sword, aka, siaf gadddafi, while people were hit but heavy artilleries! What a disappointment. I will never watch CNN again, they were very biased on their reporting about what is happening in Libya.

another massacre

2011-03-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

Please visit here for more updates about what is happening in Az-Zawia right now. A massacre is taking place, some of the videos are very upsetting.

Hasbi Allah Wa ne3m Al Wakeel.

Where is the world?

NO GOING BACK

2011-03-03T02:07:00.000-08:00

I just spoke to my brother in Benghazi and he told me: “there is no going back; all we want is for gaddafi and his sons to leave Libya and stop this bloodshed. No negations, no reconciliation with this criminal regime. We are not purporting violence but we are all willing to die for our freedom. We had enough of this cruel regime; it terrorized us over 42 years, enough is enough. We want to live in peace and build our country. There is no civil war in Libya and there won’t be one; the war is between the Libyan people and gaddafi and his mercenaries. We either live with dignity or die. THERE IS NO GOING BACK.

My life is at a standstill at the moment; I’m sick, I’m traumatized, I'm scared.

One crazy person is going to set a whole country ablaze and kill as many people as he can and the world is watching, analysing, worrying about gas prices and the Oscars! No wonder I’ve been sick for days. I need to join my family in Libya.

I smell something fishy

2011-02-27T04:22:00.000-08:00

The criminal Regime is cooking up something very filthy and dangerous; it let some international media into Tripoli and one of CNN’s reporters was reporting from Zawyia few minutes ago. I know as all the Libyans know that this criminal regime will do anything to stay in power and they are manipulating the media right now. They are cooking something up, like arming their thugs and putting them among the demonstrators and showing them as the ones who had committed crimes, not them. I won’t be surprised even if they showed some of “the supposed armed demonstrators” confessing on TV that they were working for foreign agents/Al-Qaida/the Mafia/ Mickey Mouse.

Be warned, the criminal regime will do anything and I mean ANYTHING.

One of the people who spoke to a CNN reporters in those "spontaneous" pro-regime gatherings in Tripoli was an Indian. My God, this regime is filthy, filthy beyond words.

It knows the clock is ticking and it is a matter of time and it will be over soon; there is no going back, no, no. Gaddafi and his brutal sons and their thugs are over, over, over.

viva Free Libya

17 Feb

2011-02-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

I'm sick; the tragic situation in cities still under Gaddafi's mercenaries control is making me ill.

Anyway, to follow the situation in libya please visit here, minute by minute updates, though some of the videos shot inside Libya are very graphic and upsetting.

Also, I would like to thank all of you who contacted me during this tough time. I'm so grateful.

Viva humanity, Viva Freedom for all.

Sign, please

2011-02-25T08:31:00.000-08:00

My heart and soul are with the people Tripoli and Zawia. Right now people in Tripoli, and Zawia are under attack by Gaddafi's mercenaries, may God be with them.

Please help by signing these petitions.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/libya_stop_the_crackdown/97.php?cl_tta_sign=6a614861939a8f6f8c4711b20a408f30

http://www.change.org/petitions/sanctions-against-libya-to-stop-crackdowns

http://www.change.org/petitions/bp-pull-out-of-libya-now

http://www.petitiononline.com/01031988/petition.html

It's getting out of control

2011-02-24T00:35:00.000-08:00

The Italian TV announced about 10.000 people were killed in Libya up to now and the figures are still going up.

NPR reporter from the Libyan-Tunisian border reported that Tunisians fleeing Libya were badly beaten by Gaddfi forces and told that it was your fault Tunisians, you started this (I heard this last night)

I just want to say, thank you Peru. The Libyan people are so grateful.

The World's Silence

2011-02-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

Today the Italian Foreign Minster announced that more than 1000 were killed during these seven days of uprising in Libya. That means about 142 per day.

I just can’t understand the world’s silence towards what is happening in Libya.

There are reliable reports that at this moment there are thousands of trained mercenaries shooting at everything that moves in the city of Tripoli and neighboring cities. Also, one of Tripoli hospitals, called Al Zawiya Street hospital has seen many rape victim admittances last night, after Gaddafi’s speech in which he called for door-to-door cleansing of the city from those who are against his regime.

Thousands of foreign expats are fleeing Libya and leaving the Libyans behind to their grim end.

I feel sick, literally.

No going Back

2011-02-23T03:58:00.000-08:00

I just spoke with a friend in Benghazi. She said, morales are high and there is no going back. The East of Libya is free and all Libya will be free soon. The mad dog Gaddafi is over, finished; it is just a matter of few days. Today all the women of Benghazi are out, supporting their brave men and their sisters and brothers in Tripoli and other cities still under attack. Their hearts and souls are with Tripoli and the neighbouring cities.

They urge the world to intervene and prevent a massacre in Tripoli and other cities.

Please, do not abandon the people of Tripoli and other cities in west Libya who are under savage attack.

How to help

2011-02-23T02:03:00.000-08:00

PLEASE PASS THIS AROUND: International Red Cross contacts - have begun working to aid Libya

Mohamed Ben Ahmed (Arabic, French), ICRC Tunis, tel: +216 98 432 393

Biljana Milosevic (English), ICRC Tunis, tel: +216 20 33 62 38
Steven Anderson, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 20 11 or +41 79 536 92 50

Libya: ICRC ready to assist the injured

Libya: ICRC ready to assist the injured

www.icrc.org

Daffy or Rihanna? your vote please.

2011-02-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

Guys, I really need to laugh a bit today. And please join me.

Rihanna, you should be worried girl, you just can't compete with Daffiy and his umbrella.

People of Libya need your help

2011-02-22T03:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday demonstrators and a procession of mourners were attacked by helicopters and warplanes in the cities of Tripoli and Zawia. There are reports of hundreds of people killed and corpses are all over the streets of Fashloom, an area in the city of Libya. Two war aircrafts, loaded with bombs, were sent to Benghazi but by God’s grace the two crafts headed to Malta and landed there. The two pilots refused to obey Gaddfi’s orders to bomb the city of Benghazi. Though, we fear some of his mercenaries will carry on the orders today or tomorrow.

Unfortunately international media still banned from Libya, though yesterday CNN managed to send one of its reporters to East Libya.

We need to keep the pressure on our governments to stop this massacre. The son of Gaddafi said yesterday: “Today you are mourning hundreds, after 48 hrs you will be mourning thousands.”

We are disappointed in all the governments but we are not disappointed in the people of these governments. We relay on you to stop the bloodbath in Libya. It seems these governments will not move until Gaddafi and his mercenaries set the Libyan oil ablaze. The message they gave us is that they do not care about the Libyan people but we know you people care.

Please write to your representative, MP, Senator, The United Nation, and all Human Rights and Relief Organizations.

And of course do not forget to forward this post to all your friends and colleagues and urge them to forward it too. We need to get the word out.

Still, no news from my family.

are they going to Bombing Benghazi?

2011-02-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

My God, I can not believe what is happening. I just received this chilling message:

Confirmed from inside source ( First Hand Account ): planes from Sirt just left to bomb Benghazi, Ajdabiya, Bieda. flown by Foreign Fighters (Algierian mercenaries).
Please contact Benghazi and inform we can't get to them ! Redistribute Everywhere ! Could be Chemical Weapons !
Please help, help.

SOS from Tripoli

2011-02-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

Now a friend of mine on the phone to Tripoli: Screaming everywhere; people are hit by machine guns, tanks, helicopters, gunships, snipers, and foreign mercenaries.

If the world doesn’t intervene NOW, there will be a bloodbath.

Please HELP

Grateful and anxious

2011-02-21T02:21:00.000-08:00

Special Thanks to RalfsVilands1 for spreading the word. Please all do. The people of Libya are grateful.

Right now a fierce fighting is taking place in Tripoli. I’m holding my breath as most of the regime’s thugs are there. They are desperate and will do anything to hold to power. Please prevent a massacre in Tripoli. Please people, we need MORE pressure.

Viva Freedom

Viva humanity

A Plea to the world

2011-02-20T23:58:00.000-08:00

My fellow Libyans, my brothers and sisters from Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Uk, USA, Italy, France, Kuwait, Lebanon, Canada, China, India, Pakistan, the rest of the world: the Libyan people need you today to support them. I’m sure many of you heard the speech of the son of Gaddafi, the rusty sword, last night. The regime is so desperate and it is at its most dangerous stages, just like an injured animal. Will do anything so survive.

Please stand by us at this critical moment and do not let us down. Put pressure on your governments to stop a huge massacre in Libya. I assure you that there is no civil war and there won’t be one in Libya; we are all Libyans and the war now is between brave Libyans from the East, the West, the South and all of Libya and Gadafi and his sons and their thugs and paid mercenaries.

My fellow Libyans, do not ever think there will be any going back now; the blood of our brothers and sisters had been shed and no reconciliation with the regime, no going back. Now, we do not want just the change of the regime, we want Gaddafi and his sons and their thugs to be brought to justice.

We will prevail and Libya is finally free.

No Going Back

2011-02-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

I’m not afraid that many members of my family may die in Benghazi now, I’m afraid we might lose the battle. But We WON"T Inshallah

A call to all Libyans, this is the time we unite; there is no east or west in Libya, there is only One Libya. This is our moment, this is our time and WE ARE NOT GOING BACK.

People of Tripoli, Musrata, Al-Jabal Al-Gharbi, Al-Zentan are joining their brothers and sisters in Benghazi, Ijdabya, Derna, AL-Baida. We are ONE.

Libyans outside Libya, please donate, this is the time to show your love for Libya. And take part in demos; write to your representative, sign petitions, tell your friends from the rest of the world about the massacre taking place in Libya now. Libya needs you.

Libyan relief effort organized on facebook please contribute: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205413276140457 #libya #feb17

Calls for help, Libya is burning

2011-02-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

The situation in Libya is getting desperate. Yesterday 200 young men were shot dead in Benghazi alone and hundreds were badly injured; mercenaries paid by the regime are shooting randomly at people and snipers are everywhere; in a day or two the hospitals will run out of supplies.

Please the people of Libya need your help; please write to your MP, your senator, the media, tell the world about the massacre in Libya. Sadly international media is banned from Libya, so the world won’t witness this massacre.

Also, please do not forget to sign the petition below.

http://www.petitiononline.com/01031988/petition.html

this crazy Ghaddafi and his thugs won’t leave easily; he is not Ben Ali or Hosni Mubarak, he is a monster.

Please spread the word, forward this to your friends and their friends, everyone should know about the massacre happening now in Libya. And urge them to write to their governments.

Please have a look at this distressing calls of help from inside Benghazi, and do not forget to forward as well.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2011/02/19/exp.bpr.libya.military.crackdown.cnn.html

http://www.youtube.com/user/leakspinner

There are still no news about my family and I'm desperate.

To those who are reading my blog from Tripoli, please help your brothers and sisters in Benghazi, Al-Baida, Derna, please join in, please, this is our chance to get freedom.

Viva Libya, viva fee Libya

A Massacre in Benghazi Happening Now

2011-02-19T06:35:00.000-08:00

I just got this chilling message from a friend who just spoke to her family in Benghazi:

CAll OF HELP FROM BENGHAZI NOW They are massacring the people in Benghazi Abdulla Snousi and his Kateba are killing mercilessly HELP PLEASE GEt the word out

Please help, send to your friends and family, media, all.

We need to do something.

We need to stop a massacre in Libya

2011-02-19T01:12:00.000-08:00

What is happening in Libya is scary. Many people were killed. The regime is using mercenaries from North Korea and Africa to kill the Libyan people.

Please people we need to stop a massacre in Libya. The regime is so desperate and will do anything to stay in power.

They cut off phones, internet and electricity. They are using scare tactics, telling the people of Benghazi that the water has been poisoned!

The regime is desperate and this is our moment. Please do not give up and let’s all unite to fight this monster and free Libya.

Viva Libya, viva free Libya.

Libya is burning

2011-02-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

Date:18/2/2011

I feel frustrated, I want to do something for my country, I do not want to be like those who have their virtual demos over the facebook in the safety of their homes, putting new posters and all; I want to be involved.

All I can do now is to ask all my loved ones in Libya (my brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, and cousins) to go out and fight. Fight, fight. Enough fear, either live with dignity or die.

To the rest of the world, Libya is burning; last night they killed more than 30 young men in Benghazi.

Fresh from Benghazi. It is so graphic, be warned.

(To view the video you need to log on to your facebook account)

Proud to be Libyan

2011-02-17T01:26:00.000-08:00

Today I'm proud of my hometown Benghazi. Fresh from Benghazi.

قولو لمعمر و عياله .. بنغازي فيها رجالة

Viva Libya, viva one Libya

Viva Libya

2011-02-17T01:15:00.000-08:00

Libya Libya Libya

يا بلادي بجهادي وجلادي

ادفعي كيد الأعادي

واسلمي

اسلمي طول المدي إننا نحن الفدا

ليبيا ليبيا ليبيا

يا بلادي أنت ميراث الجدود

لارعى الله يداً تمتد لك

فاسلمي، إنا -على الدهر- جنود

لا نبالي إن سلمت من هلك

وخذي منا وثيقات العهود

إننا يا ليبيا لن نخذلك

لن نعود للقيود قد تحررنا وحررنا الوطن

ليبيا ليبيا ليبيا

جرّد الأجداد عزماً مرهفاً

يوم ناداهم منادٍ للكفاح

ثم ساروا يحملون المصحفا

باليد الأولى، وبالأخرى سلاح

فإذا في الكون دين وصفا

وإذا العالم خير وصلاح

فالخلود للجدود إنهم قد شرفوا هذا الوطن

ليبيا ليبيا ليبيا

حيّ إدريس سليل الفاتحين

إنه في ليبيا رمز الجهاد

حمل الراية فينا باليمين

وتبعناه لتحرير البلاد

فانثنى بالملك والفتح المبين

وركزنا فوق هامات النجاد

رايةً حرّةً ظللت بالعز أرجاء الوطن

ليبيا ليبيا ليبيا

يا ابن ليبيا، يا ابن آساد الشرى

إننا للمجد والمجد والمجدُ لنا

مذ سرونا حمد القوم السرى

بارك الله لنا استقلالنا

فابتغوا العلياء شأواً في الورى

واستعدوا للوغى أشبالنا

للغلاب يا شباب إنما الدنيا كفاح للوطن

ليبيا ليبيا ليبيا

A soul in Torment

2009-11-29T10:31:00.001-08:00

An extract from a story called A Soul in Torment in my Second Collection of short stories:

"Najma motioned to me and I approached hesitantly. She said, “You are a very pretty girl. Who is your father?”

I said, “ Ahmed.”

She asked again, “Ahmed who?”

I said, “Ahmed Khair-Allah.”

“Ah! The son of the ugly Mardhyia! Who is your mother?”

“Hamida”

“Ah, the beautiful Hamida! Just like her mother Mariam. Don’t play with the boys girl. A pretty girl like you should never play with boys. Boys do bad things to young girls. In few years a good man will pay a handsome dowry for you and make you his woman.”

I hated her immediately.

“Jamila! What are you doing here? Bothering Hajja Najma. Go and ask your mother to make us tea,” my grandmother said.

“No, no Mariam. Un café con biscotti!” Said Najma to my grandmother.

My grandmother smiled and said, “Bahi, my dear. You are killing yourself with coffee and cigarettes.”

The year I turned ten Najma visited us in our flat in Benghazi. We were busy preparing for my sister Widad’s wedding. My grandmother Mariam and aunt Karima were bent over their Singer sewing machines making sheets, pillowcases and curtains for Widas’s trousseau, from early morning.

The day Najma came my mother was making me a dress on her old treadle machine. Her mouth was full of pins and cut-up red velvet and scraps of tissue-paper patterns and lace surrounded her. She made me stand still and turn for endless fittings, which she called provas but pronounced as brovas.

“Come Jamila for a brova,” she said.

When Najma entered the room I was standing on a chair for one of my mother’s endless provas. I was tired and restless and all I wanted to do is go out and play with my new bicycle. She was squatting beneath me, her fat varicosed legs bulging from beneath her dress.

“Girl, can’t you stand still for few minutes?” My mother said around the pins in her mouth.

“She can’t. Lei è un’anima in pena,” said Najma.

I blushed even though I didn’t understand what she said. My mother removed the pins from her mouth and heaved herself up. She moved with a ponderous matriarchal discomfort, her over-sized thighs swung like two gigantic cushions. My mother gave Najma lavish loud kisses while Najma stood still for them as if she were a soldier giving a salute to his chief ....)

To be continued.

Autumn 2010

Permeate

2009-09-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

In her regal new dress and hairdo, she stood next to the car and posed for a photo.

He directed the brand new digital camera in her direction and shouted: Cheeeeeeese.

She wrinkled her huge nose and stretch her almost-lipless mouth into a line of a smile.

He pressed the button.

She wrinkled her nose again.

He thought to himself: "why wrinkle the ugly nose? Is it the Cheese?"

He checked the photo and murmured into himself: "God, isn't she ugly? No matter how much make-up she smears on her ugly face, no matter how many nice clothes she puts on on her midget-y figure, no matter how many pieces of expensive jewelry she wears, no matter what, she will always be ugly, ugly, ugly. Her ugly soul seems to permeate to her exterior look. Ugly inside and outside!"

He looked at her and shouted: "Nalganik Shayna, shayna, wal Jamal khatiki."

An extract.

Writing and etc.

2009-09-18T13:43:00.001-07:00

I managed to put the final touches on my first book, a collection of short stories and it will be called: The Scent of Cloves. No more adding of more stories. Also I started my second book. No title yet but coming soon :)

writing space...

I’m still aware of the fact that publishing is pretty hard, as I need connections and contacts. Sadly, the publishing world is like any other business, if you know people who know other influential people, you can be pretty assured that you will land a book deal, if not, then you may never publish. It doesn’t depend on the quality of your work but whom you know. There are tons of rubbishy books published every year and thousands of mediocre artists who exhibit because of their connections or because they are pretty good bluffers. It is depressing but I won’t give up, not just yet (I’m not a quitter, remember!); I will keep trying until I get a breakthrough or one day my manuscripts will be discovered and published long after I’m gone, hehe.

Here is a teaser, extracts from a story in the collection, a taste of my work :) Enjoy!

"The first day Blondie came to our class – that was Grade Six - we all noticed her mature bust and bad smell. She had a faint sour smell that reminded me of a rancid ghee my mother forgot in our storeroom for months. Blondie was very short, fat, and light-skinned; she could easily be mistaken for an albino. Her face was naturally swollen, resembling a puffed dough with three holes in it: two eyes and a mouth. Her real name was Wanisa but her badly coloured hair earned her the nickname Ash-Shaqra, Blondie. She wore high-heeled shoes and shapely women’s clothes, unlike the rest of us who wore the dull baby-blue school uniforms we called grembiule. She was about fifteen and I was only eleven. She sat at the back of the classroom and befriended a girl called Reem, whom we all disliked. Reem was dark-skinned and shapeless, like a stick. They rarely spoke in the class and never took part in any activity we did. Blondie and Reem became inseparable, coming in together and walking together around the schoolyard, arms linked, heads bowed, bodies huddled in. During the lunch break Blondie and Reem sat in the same spot in the school courtyard, eating their lunch, cannelloni beans or tuna and hot chilli sauce sandwiches bought from the school canteen. They watched the rest of us playing; the boys played basketball or football and the girls played hopscotch or skipping or cat’s cradle, squatting beneath the only tree in the schoolyard.

Everyone at An-Najah school feared Mudeer Bumatari. In his presence, students behaved well fearing the stinging lash of his whip, teachers were lost for words, and janitors and cleaners hid in their room. He ruled the school with an iron fist. Only during his absence would havoc strike. Older boys would chase younger ones, trying to pull down their trousers or snatch their sandwiches – though no one ever dared to come close to Blondie and Reem or tried to snatch their lunch. Even the greediest of them all would never have thought of touching a sandwich that was blessed by Blondie’s salvia or touched by Reem’s scrawny fingers. Small fights would spread among younger girls, like fire on a windy day. They would pull each other’s braids, scratch each other’s faces, and spit on each other, then burst into fits of uncontrollable sobbing. Older girls would walk in various small groups. Three or four girls in each group, linking arms and huddling in together. They would discuss the boys and the Egyptian and Palestinian teachers in our school. Sometimes they would exchange obscene stories and giggle, keeping a tactful distance from the younger girls who tried to follow them. Fights involving slings, stones, and water hoses would break among the boys. Any attempt to cross the school courtyard during those fights was a dangerous endeavour. No one knew if he would be dodging a spitball or a stone. Some boys would prefer to spy on the teachers in their trailers and taunt them from time to time with occasional stone-throwing. Ustad Essa would pack his faded leather bag and head home for lunch. The Egyptian and Palestinian teachers would hide in their trailers and shut their doors and windows. The cleaners, who usually came late afternoon, would join the janitor in his room and drink small cups of thick sweet black tea and exchange stories. Order would only descend when Mudeer Bumatari’s battered Volkswagen approached the school’s front gate." Summer 2010

If you want to know more, wish me luck in getting a book deal soon, so that you can read all the stories :)

Publication and others

2009-09-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

I’m pleased and thrilled to say that an edited version of my story Philosophy had been accepted for publication. (I had to edit it from 4000 words into 2000 words, as stipulated, but the full version will appear in my book.) I also met with an editor few days ago and there are lots of encouraging promises regarding the publication of my book. I have to admit that I’m hopeless at networking and promoting my book because the sad fact is the literary world is like any other business one needs contacts and a shrewd business-like attitude, which I blissfully lack. I just have this belief that one day my book will be accepted for publication on its own merits not because of X or Y. I’m sure it will one day soon; all I need to do first is to get an agent who really believes in my work, then we can talk about a two-book deal, haha.

And to commemorate forty years of persecution, fear, destruction, and hopelessness in Libya, here is an extract from a story I wrote called: The Green Carrot. Enjoy :)

((....When Saleem opened his eyes a few hours later he found himself tied to a chair in a semi-dark room. He didn’t know where he was. Slowly he raised his head, a splitting pain shooting through it, and looked around himself. He couldn’t see very well and the image of a big man bending over a desk danced in front of his eyes. The blurry vision of the big man, shrouded in smoke, moved and towered over him. Now he was able to see the puffy face, which looked like an unlaced boil, of a big, bold man. He had a tusk-like moustache and wore a military uniform that stretched and strained to accommodate his bulging paunch. Still the misbuttoned shirt gaped and showed rolls of pinkish mottled fat.

“So you’ve woken up, you rotten carrion!” the man said in his western Libyan dialect, which Saleem did not understand. “Or maybe you still need this.” The big man poured a glass of ice-cold water over Saleem’s head. Saleem, taken by surprise, jerked and tumbled onto the floor with the chair. The big man kicked Saleem with his strong military boots.

“You filthy pig poke fun at our Green Revolution! Green Carrot, eh! Is this your code name? Who are your masters? Who did send you here? Talk, you cunt of an Egyptian,” he said and darted a kick at each sentence. Then he bent over and planted his burning cigarette in Saleem’s cheek. Saleem cried and moaned, wallowing in his blood and urine.

“Ahhh,” the big man said, mimicking Saleem’s cries. Then he snapped his fingers and shouted, “Soldiers, come and take the filthy pig to the leisure room. Two young pimply soldiers marched in and gave a salute to the big man. They bent over Saleem and untangled him from the chair then they pulled him by the legs out of the room. They pulled him along a narrow dirty corridor into a tiny room that had a mast facing two separate holes in the wall. They sat him on the floor and tied him to the mast, then, they slid each leg into a hole. One of them went outside to the corridor, now saleem’s two legs stuck out of the holes, and tied them with a rope. When they had finished they closed the door and marched off talking.

Saleem sat there disorientated, tears rolling down his cheeks. He heard feet shuffling down the corridor and rasping laughter.

“Oh, another guest in the leisure room!” said a nasal voice.

“Look at his dainty feet! I bet he has a smooth arse as well. Maybe we can do him later, after the Falaqa session” said the second voice.

Saleem couldn’t see anything or anyone; he just heard coarse male voices mingled with female voices, laughter and a scratchy swishing sound.

“Give me the pleasure to be the first,” said a female voice. She picked up a whip that hung on a nail above Saleem’s legs and began to flagellate the protruding feet. Pain shot through Saleem’s body and his small body convulsed. He screamed and begged and called the name of Hajj Mukhtar Al-Tumi and the names of his boys but the beating continued for a good thirty minutes until the flogger got tired and Saleem pass out from pain. Saleem lost sense of time and place as the flogging continued intermittently, and he slipped in and out of consciousness. Finally he lost any feeling in his feet and he fell into coma......

We want to hear no talk

We want to see hanging, folks.

The crowd of hundreds of angry demonstrators chanted, waving their clinched fists above their heads. Men and young boys pushed and shoved each other, trying to get closer to the stage. Women and young girls chanted louder and waved posters of the Brother Leader and green flags, their breasts jutted under their dresses and schools uniforms. A group of heavily armed Revolutionary Committee Members, clad in green suits, pushed the crowd back, brandishing their polished Kalashnikovs……...)) Winter 2010

To know what will happen to Saleem and the rest, buy the book when it comes out, inshallah soon. :)

Amor Senza Baruffa!

2008-07-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

A while ago I wrote a story and the main character in the story is a short dark woman who has a huge nose and almost no lips. She keeps shouting in Italian: Amor senza baruffa fa venire la muffa. Which roughly translates as: Love without scuffle is like mould on the wall! This crazy woman is haunting me and keeps popping up in each story I write but I’m fighting her off, suppressing her, as I don't want her to take hold of my stories. I liked her the first time I created her but now she is becoming a nightmare. Anyway, here is an extract from another story I wrote in the same cafe, but not haunted by the crazy woman:

((The Egyptian wife Laila, now no longer young or petrified, fitted nicely among the large family, like a pair of old comfortable slippers. She spoke fluently the North-eastern Libyan dialect, only few lapses gave in her Egyptian root, and excelled at all sorts of North-eastern cuisine. She also became a great flogger of her children, like her sisters-in-law: Nuria, Mbarka, Aisha, Salma, and Salha. The sisters-in-law would pounce on their children at any sign of wrongdoing or misbehaviour, thrashing them with great energy and zeal. Olive tree branches, carefully selected and trimmed into perfection, were used during the flogging sessions. The flogger often spoke while performing:
“I will mince you up if you ever do it again.”

“I will crush your skull if you touch things that don't belong to you.”

Abusive remarks for the child’s paternal grandmother, aunts, and uncles were also used with great enthusiasm:

“You are just as wicked and mischievous as your paternal grandmother, the witch.”

“You and your paternal aunt Fawzia, the scorpion, are like two peas in a pod, both ugly and useless.”

During each flogging session the other sisters would come out into the courtyard to watch, rocking ugly crying babies in their jewellery-laden arms or patting their swelled up bellies and say without sincerity:

“Stop it woman, you are killing the child.”

“Yea, stop it, you will damage the child.”

The flogged child’s screams would fill the inner courtyard and travel to the men’s quarter, summoning Hajj Salim, who would knock at the door of the women’s quarter and shout:

“Ya Allah. Hajja Halima! Tell the women to stop it or by Allah Almighty I will come in and beat the hell out of them.”

The flogger, now tired and satisfied, would stop. The small crowd of sisters and their children would disperse, unsatisfied. The flogged boy or girl would seek comfort from Grandma Halima, smearing her immaculate Reda in tears and snots.

But Laila the legendary flogger did not hurl abuse at the child’s paternal lineage or used a carefully selected and trimmed olive tree branch. She rather used a thick medium-sized piece of rubber water hose locally known as Tubo. The Tubo left an intricate chequered design of various hues on the child’s skin: black, dark purple, sallow, and green, speckled with yellow, just like mignonette flowers. ))

When I finished this part, I burst laughing, people in the cafe ogling me, as if I was a mad woman!

“Amor senza baruffa!” Oh God, no, she is haunting me again. Better go and throttle her.

Cascading

2008-06-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

Recently the creative juices have been flowing, cascading like a stream in the Swiss mountains.

Here is a teeny-weeny extract from a story I wrote a while ago.

"Fawzia moved gingerly towards the shop; she stood against the wall and approached the door. She poked her head through the door, then retreated quickly, her heart pounding inside her chest like a trapped bird, perspiration trickling on her forehead and making its way towards her mouth, warm and salty. Inside Salama’s shop she saw Mustafa, the butcher, wearing a bloodstained apron and holding a huge cleaver in his hand. Mustafa owned and ran the only butchery in the village. He was tall and very fat, swelled up like the Michelin Man. Young boys in the village were always on the look for a chance to poke the rolls of white fat that bulged from beneath his shirt, exposing his gargantuan navel. He swore a lot and cheated all the time. Old sheep’s meat was sold as young sheep’s meat, imported Argentinean meat, locally known as Mazigri, was sold as local fresh meat. Mincemeat was mixed with fat, intestine and scraps of meat scavenged from the sheep’s heads and legs. And rumours had it that he was once caught slaughtering a donkey. Mustafa the butcher was locally known as Mr. Mazigri.

Next to Mustafa sat Mahdi, the coal and Kerosene seller. A small, dark, and insignificant man. Mahdi’s fingernails were always caked with soot and dirt from handling the coal. He lived with is crippled mother in a shack situated at the edge of the village not far from the railroad station that was built by the Italians.

“I’m going to chop his scabby cock off with my cleaver, the bastard Eye-talian soldier. I won’t give him a chance to enjoy his bride,” said Mustafa.

“Ha-ha,” laughed Mahdi, sounding like a distraught chicken about to be slaughtered by Mustafa.

“These are a hell of slippers,” interrupted Salama, Mr Sad Sheen. “I wish I could put them on a woman after a fucking session."

Fawzia fled the Souq."

Well, if you want to know what the belligerent butcher Mustafa did with his cleaver and what had happened to the eavesdropping girl, buy the book when it come out,haha.

My First Reading

2007-06-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

Last week, 4th of June, I had my first reading with some other writers. The reading was announced here and here, and here. According to the organizer I had only 20 minutes to do the reading . Well, it turned out to be a different story. I did the first reading and it went very well after I managed to overcome the first few nerve-racking minutes. The audience loved the story and their boisterous laughter filled the crowded room.