Since the NATO coalition bombed and destroyed Libya in 2011 and assassinated Gaddaffi via hate filled rebel militias, the once prosperous North African country has become both a hell on Earth for black Libyans an African migrant workers and neighboring countries who remain stranded. The EU has been working with the Libyan government in Benghazi to keep African and Syrian migrants from reaching the European shores and islands. Most of the on the ground anti migration enforcement are the Libyan militias that are unable to be controlled by the two Libyan governments. Through dehumanization and demonization of anyone with dark skin including Libyans, many of the self proclaim revolutionary militias are openly and shamelessly killing, humiliating and selling African migrants in broad day to Libyans. Many Africans around the world have been protesting against slavery in Mauritania, Libya and Sudan recently and for years. Slavery also known as Maafa by many African Americans and African people is the holocaust of both historic and recent times. For years, many Europeans have tried to downplay slavery by pointing to the Arab slave trade using the childish explanation "they did it too" to lessen their responsibility for what happened to Africans under European slavery. Both wrongs never justified the historic and modern slavery and anti black racism against dark skin Africans including Libyans, Tunisians, Algerians and Egyptians. Justice for the victims have long been overdue. This has been going on for years now since Gaddafi's death. The Nigerian senate condemned the slavery and racism. The pundits and Western media CNN had known about the disgusting slave auctions, racist insults and humiliating treatment of African migrants who were caught up in 2011 Libyan Revolution that dissolved into a civil war that continues to today. Most of. ISIS and its takfiri cousins have since taken advantage of the chaotic situation in Libya to stake their claim to a new territory and terrorizes Libyans further. ISIS too has been involved in slavery and auctioning Yezidi and Kurdish women and children to their fighters for further unspeakable and unimaginable abuse. The same continues with African migrants including women and children. Eritrean men were also killed by ISIS terrorists in Sirte to make their point that they can and will kill anyone regardless of origins. Anti Arab racism and orientalism continues to boomerang back to Libya and the wider North Africa from the U.S. and Europe even as NATO countries turn their backs African migrants.
Poison of racism and need for migrant labor but not the migrants as people
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| Protester demanding an immediate end to slavery in Libya. |
Modern day slavery is already well known in Mauritania, West Africa neighboring Senegal, many Arab countries with large non Arab ethnic minorities and the Gulf countries that relies heavily on migrant workers as well living and working under slave conditions to build the sleek skyscraper cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha. Qatar and Saudi in particular have provided financial and military backing to Libyan militias and have continued to bomb Yemen. Even after knowing about the violence, racism and vengeance killings the Gulf monarchies still defends Saudi Arabia. There are hundreds of thousands of Africans from both East and West Africa who work as domestic workers, nannies and construction workers across North Africa, in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon and Jordan to name a few countries. In all the countries, they face abuses ranging from daily racist insults to rape and attacks. Keep in mind, African countries have never invaded Lebanon or Saudi Arabia in the same way that the U.S., UK, France, Israel, Germany, Australia have bombed, intervened, killed civilians and popular leaders and pushed aside secular movements. The Western countries have remade many Arab societies through political leaders and media to be so pro European that it poisons the ordinary people racism, white supremacy racism. In the media (visual media has been crucial in how many people worldwide see themselves and the powerful), school, at international forums and meetings, when the ordinary Lebanese, Libyan or even Moroccan (many Moroccans are dark skin and would not be considered European even the Kabyle) thinks of the world and culture they usually think of Europe and the United States first and foremost before even thinking of neighboring countries. The colonial mentality of seeing Europe and US as "good white people" even as they drop bombs on Arab countries; is sadly alive and well in North Africa and Middle East. Despite the popularity of anti colonialism and the Third World non aligned movement until the late 20th century. It also worth remembering too that the Ottoman Empire for most of its existence 1453 to the early 1900s relied more on white slaves (from the word slav) yes you read correct than enslaved Africans. White slavery from Eastern Europe including the Balkan countries and Caucasus, which white slaves made up the bulk of the Ottoman Army, Mamluks in Egypt and other parts of Ottoman provinces and conversations to Islam and Ottoman culture
A brief history of how Arabs are perceived in terms of ethnicity in the U.S.: Although some Arabs are fair skinned, they aren't white and wouldn't be considered as such either in the U.S. or Europe.
In many cases, many of the former African migrants have been waiting literally years to return home to their respective countries ie Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Egypt and Niger to name a few countries, Gaddafi was a prophet in foreshadowing the current fracaso that Libya is in and the torture both physical and physiological that the diverse group that black Libyans and former migrant workers face. The migrants have been appealing to the few West African embassies and consulates that remain open or in neighboring countries to evacuate them immediately. ECOWAS has condemned the destruction and the ongoing violence against the ordinary citizens of West African countries. Nigeria has begun to prepare to evacuate its citizens still hiding from miltias awaiting evacuation and languishing in Libyan prisons. Gaddafi rightfully predicted that if he left power all of the most violent Takfiris and pro Al Qaeda terrorists and supporters would flow out the woodwork to take power and control the sweet crude across Libya. He also prophesied that "Europe would turn Black" from the waves of migrants coming from across the African continent and the Middle East using Libya as a launching point for their deadly sea voyages. So far both his prophecies have come to fruition.
One thing he overlooked was the monstrous crime of slavery and racism that is running rampant across Libya right now. Not only were the most violent militiamen and Libyan fighters release onto the streets of Tripoli, Benghazi, Zuwara and in Southern Libya in the town of Al Kufra home to the Tubu people. The most racist Libyans along with criminals were also given a carte blanc to attack, kill and humiliate dark skinned Libyans and migrants workers who were falsely accused of being part of Gaddafi's African merecenaries who were proving to be non existent and a false rumor that inflamed racist Libyans who were already angered by African migrants in the country. Migrants are usually scapegoats no matter where they live. Since the rumors of African mercenaries were broadcast by the geopolitical pundits and mainstream Western media and spread around by anti Gaddafi rebels and militias, black Libyans and West Africans have bore the brunt of the militias' excessive violence. Taraghewa, a majority black Libyan town south of Misruta that is permanently (unless reversed immediately) ethnically cleansed of its residents by the Misruta militia who called themselves, "the brigade for purging black skins-slaves." The US, UK, France, Germany and Italy heard and watched the attacks on African migrants and dark skinned Libyans happen on the few news reports dedicated to them and the attacks against Gaddafi supporters and made no attempts to stop the racist violence under the guise of revenge against Gaddafi's support for neighboring African countries and percieved favoritism of African over ordinary Libyans, Especially the anti Gaddafi base who had been waiting for decades through failed attempts to overthrow Gaddafi with and without the help of NATO bombs.
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