In the heart of the Libyan revolution
Guardian:
The nerve centre of Libya's revolution is an anxious place indeed. At the heart of Benghazi's courthouse, a building that claimed to stand for justice through Gaddafi's reign, groups of civilian professionals – lawyers, doctors, surgeons and engineers – find themselves at the heart of the movement that is throwing off his despotic yoke.
"We decided to protest last week, for our rights," a lawyer told the Guardian. "And suddenly everything changed. It turned from a protest to a revolution. We don't have any experience in this," she said.
All around her people swirled with documents, mobile phones and momentous news from afar. The town of Zawya fell today, a messenger rushed in to say. Shortly afterwards came word of Masrat, a city halfway to Tripoli that also seems to be falling to the rebels, then the three largest oil fields around Benghazi. The speed of events was staggering.
Five days after Benghazi was sacked, Libya seems to be falling quicker than anyone in Benghazi expected, or prepared for. History has overtaken those who find themselves running the revolt. "And it's causing me a lot of stress," said the lawyer. "We are worried about the people in Tripoli, food and other supplies. We need to co-ordinate everything. There is a lot of responsibility."
Her colleague Amal Bagaigis agreed. "We started just as lawyers looking for our rights and now we are revolutionaries. And we don't know how to manage. We want to have our own face. For 42 years we have this kind of babarianism. We now want to live."
Almost a week after a series of rolling demonstrations became a full-blown revolt, the country's detested old guard now seems confined to a shrinking region near the capital. Gaddafi's grinding reign is widely despised and openly mocked, and the ruined part of the country that has freed itself of him is very much in the mood for re-invention.
"We could be anything now," said one man outside the courthouse where the overwrought professionals upstairs were trying to usher the revolution westwards. "He kept us down because he didn't want anyone to threaten him. That's how despots have always worked. When Libyans get a chance to achieve things, we can be the best in the region."
Thousands gather on the road outside the courthouse each day. By night their numbers swell at least tenfold. Here, wedged between the storm-tossed Mediterranean and a building that once stood as a pillar of the regime, they chant anti-regime slogans, fire guns into the air and hold two fingers skywards in Churchillian "V for Victory" style.
...The "V" for victory sign goes back to the battle of Agincourt in France led by Henry V. The French had bragged before the battle that they would cut off the fingers of the archers that were used to draw back the bow. Showing the two fingers was a sign of defiance that morphed into the victory sign.
The Libyan professionals appear to be trying to manage this revolution they never prepared for. Hopefully someone will come from their ranks who can lead the country toward democracy and freedom. You don't get the sense that the Muslim Brotherhood are lurking in the shadows from this report.
The nerve centre of Libya's revolution is an anxious place indeed. At the heart of Benghazi's courthouse, a building that claimed to stand for justice through Gaddafi's reign, groups of civilian professionals – lawyers, doctors, surgeons and engineers – find themselves at the heart of the movement that is throwing off his despotic yoke.
"We decided to protest last week, for our rights," a lawyer told the Guardian. "And suddenly everything changed. It turned from a protest to a revolution. We don't have any experience in this," she said.
All around her people swirled with documents, mobile phones and momentous news from afar. The town of Zawya fell today, a messenger rushed in to say. Shortly afterwards came word of Masrat, a city halfway to Tripoli that also seems to be falling to the rebels, then the three largest oil fields around Benghazi. The speed of events was staggering.
Five days after Benghazi was sacked, Libya seems to be falling quicker than anyone in Benghazi expected, or prepared for. History has overtaken those who find themselves running the revolt. "And it's causing me a lot of stress," said the lawyer. "We are worried about the people in Tripoli, food and other supplies. We need to co-ordinate everything. There is a lot of responsibility."
Her colleague Amal Bagaigis agreed. "We started just as lawyers looking for our rights and now we are revolutionaries. And we don't know how to manage. We want to have our own face. For 42 years we have this kind of babarianism. We now want to live."
Almost a week after a series of rolling demonstrations became a full-blown revolt, the country's detested old guard now seems confined to a shrinking region near the capital. Gaddafi's grinding reign is widely despised and openly mocked, and the ruined part of the country that has freed itself of him is very much in the mood for re-invention.
"We could be anything now," said one man outside the courthouse where the overwrought professionals upstairs were trying to usher the revolution westwards. "He kept us down because he didn't want anyone to threaten him. That's how despots have always worked. When Libyans get a chance to achieve things, we can be the best in the region."
Thousands gather on the road outside the courthouse each day. By night their numbers swell at least tenfold. Here, wedged between the storm-tossed Mediterranean and a building that once stood as a pillar of the regime, they chant anti-regime slogans, fire guns into the air and hold two fingers skywards in Churchillian "V for Victory" style.
...The "V" for victory sign goes back to the battle of Agincourt in France led by Henry V. The French had bragged before the battle that they would cut off the fingers of the archers that were used to draw back the bow. Showing the two fingers was a sign of defiance that morphed into the victory sign.
The Libyan professionals appear to be trying to manage this revolution they never prepared for. Hopefully someone will come from their ranks who can lead the country toward democracy and freedom. You don't get the sense that the Muslim Brotherhood are lurking in the shadows from this report.
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