Libya

The last Seventh-day Adventists evicted from Libya after Muammar Gaddafi took power were Judy and Jerald Whitehouse, longtime family friends of the Darnells. What were Seventh-day Adventists doing running a hospital in Libya? That story goes back to the early 1950s when Neil Wilson was working in Egypt. When Libya gained their independence, Wilson requested an audience with King Idris in his palace in Tobruk. When he entered the throne room, he showed the appropriate deference including reciting Al-Fatiha in Arabic which gives praise to God who is Merciful and who guides on the straight path. He requested permission to build a hospital, explaining that Adventists have a similar conservative lifestyle to Muslims and that they would support the laws of Libya. King Idris kept him talking for more than four times the original ten minutes he was given, called Wilson a mutaqan (righteous person), and donated $10,000 (a lot in 1952) to help build the hospital on the condition that there be no proselytizing.

Judy and Jerald invited me to lunch this week to tell me more about their experiences in Libya. One of their many powerful stories was about the thirteen-year-old daughter of one of the American physicians. She threw some trash in a fire and an explosion of material left over from World War II sent shrapnel through her heart. After resuscitating her, Judy tried to carry her to the hospital, but she was too heavy. A Libyan man came to her rescue and carried the girl, arriving in time for her father to participate in another resuscitation. That Libyan man reminded Judy of the Libyan man, Simon of Cyrene, who carried Jesus’ cross according to the first three gospels.

This experience left Judy, a new mother of a four-month-old baby, with three additional children to care for while the girl and her parents returned to the United States for surgery. After two and a half years in Libya, with some time living in a village with the people of the country rather than on the hospital compound with other expatriates, Judy and Jerald helped everyone else pack up and managed to stay a month longer before they also were required to leave. Their conversation demonstrated to me that they love the Libyan people and showed me that Libya is so much more than the forty years of domination by Gaddafi.

When I asked Judy what movies about Libya are available, she recommended Lion of the Desert, a true story and epic war movie about an early 20th century Libyan hero who fought Italian colonization: https://tubitv.com/movies/545177/lion-of-the-desert

The book The Flight of the Phoenix is also based in Libya; the 1965 film starring Jimmy Stewart is less specific about location (the 2004 film starring Dennis Quaid is set in Mongolia). Here is the 1965 film that I saw in the school gym so many years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr9de4C3wco

I found several books by Libyan authors or about Libya through the library. Anubis: A Desert Novel by Ibrahim Al-Koni is available through Hoopla from the Los Angeles County Library. The metaphors from the desert, which draw on stories as old as the creation of Adam, reminded me of the times that my father-in-law waxed eloquent on the spirituality of the desert religion. For that reason, listening to Ibrahim Al-Koni is beautiful to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8sMbKQ-HEE

Another option for reading a Libyan author is In The Country of Men by Hisham Matar, which is available from the San Bernardino County Library. I also wanted to get more details on what happened to the American ambassador in Benghazi besides the news reports and the movie, so I listened to the book 13 Hours by Mitchell Zuckoff on CD from the San Bernardino County Library. Larry King interviews him about his book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CsLsWKCuY0

I also appreciated the poem “O My Libya” by Laila Neihoum https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/o-my-libya and this essay on Libyan literature by Khaled Mattawa https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/preface-to-the-libya-issue-of-words-without-borders-july-2006

Several other films about Libya are available online including:

· An overview of rock art from Algeria and Libya: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/north-a/algeria-and-libya/v/rock-art-in-the-green-sahara

· An episode on Gaddafi in Netflix’ series on How to Become a Tyrant (episode 5, “Create a New Society”)

· A documentary on Kanopy called My Home, in Libya about an Italian artist and the Libyan man who helps her find her grandfather’s home in Libya over social media

· A crazy game of Hide and Seek in a deserted Libyan city: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR2vf8C5Ol0

· A surprising documentary on water from the Libyan desert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5dx7jQF1WQ

· A powerful work on rescuing refugees off the Libyan coast: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-screening-room-lifeboat

There is so much great food at this site: http://libyanfood.blogspot.com/ and I found it just in time! The rule in my cooking group is that we make something that we’ve never made before. We gathered again last week for the first time in a year and a half and I made this Libyan dessert: http://libyanfood.blogspot.com/2011/02/basbousa-with-dates-basbousa-bil-tamr.html It was good enough that I made it again for Judy and Jerald. I have in my notes that I made Libyan clove cookies for the same cooking group in June of 2018: http://libyanfood.blogspot.com/2010/09/shortbread-cookies-with-cloves-ghraiba.html I like Libyan desserts!

TheCrazyTourist lists beautiful places to visit in Libya https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-libya/#more-19457 and what an experience it would be to go! I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Libya and throughout the world.

Photo Credit: Ahmed Almakhzanji https://unsplash.com/photos/dNIvVdcRp4k