Outside of birthdays, March 21 is the highlight of the year for children in the country as families distribute gifts and cakes. But on Monday a new element crept into the day as schoolchildren in Col Gaddafi's stronghold chanted their support for the Brother Leader and held aloft hand drawn placards denouncing his enemies.
The banners – some in crayon, some in felt marker – bore images of fighter jets and the Nato symbol and there was a plethora of pro-Gaddafi slogans.
From behind school desks, girls as young as six recited the regime's favourite phrases, including the latest chants about the army going house to house to wipe out those involved in the uprising that has divided Libya.
Libyan officials had brought Barbie dolls and its locally branded Islamic equivalents to the Meethaq school in Saraj, a southern suburb of Tripoli. As the gifts piled up, the officials pushed the pupils to chant in unison.
"God, Muammar, Libya only," the children sang over and over.
At one point a young teacher, a woman who taught Arabic and wore heavy kohl markings on her eyes, burst in to attempt to curtail the display.
"Hallas [enough]," she shouted. The children look momentarily puzzled before she was forcibly shuffled away.
Leila Mohammad, the head teacher, claimed that normally 200 pupils attended the modest three-story school but that only 50 could attend yesterday. It stands 10 miles or so away from a military base that boasted large satellite dishes and pyramid radio masts.
The coalition bombing of Tripoli, which has been an extraordinary display of precision bombing, has not given Col Gaddafi's supporters much scope to condemn the attacks. The regime has been unable – or unwilling – to open up its hospitals or morgues for independent verification of the toll of dead and injured.
Instead it used the children's day events as cover for a much more broader accusation of unflinching foreign brutality.
"Most of the children could not come here today. The houses of some of the teachers and children have been damaged in the bombing," she said.
"None were killed but there were some injuries and others are too afraid to come.
"What has this got to do with a no-fly zone? This is just scaring children by using weapons against them."
The UN-backed intervention in Libya is officially depicted as foreign plot to grab control of Libya's oil wealth. After decades of confrontation with the West, the question why Libya has been singled out again was a preoccupation.
Leila Majoub, an Arabic teacher, was one of the few to acknowledge there was a "problem" with Col Gaddafi's regime. "What did we do? Why have America and all these forces come from the sea?" she asked. "I grow sad for the people of Libya that we attract this trouble. There has been a problem but it is between brothers. Let us sort it out on our own, we don't need this great power from outside."
On what should have been a festive afternoon, the mood was subdued across Tripoli. Gharash Street, the main shopping strip, boasts a Zara, Marks & Spencer and other familiar outlets. On the Spring Equinox, its traffic should have been at a standstill. Those who ventured out to shop reported it was comparatively easy to navigate.
Families gave gifts in the sanctuary of their homes. The parents of Ruby Shakira, 3, bought her a doll, pink handbag and make-up set. As she mixed rouge with purple blusher, Ruby shrieked with delight. "Today is the best day for children, better than a birthday," said Sunna, her aunt. "She gets presents and cake and we get to forget about adult things."
No comments:
Post a Comment