In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, 38 people were injured in the town of Benghazi, Libya, after clashes between demonstrators and security forces. While today have multiplied rallies across the country for a "Day of Wrath, this early revolt of the country's second city has all of a symbol.
Hassan Al-Jahmi, a thirty originating from Benghazi, was exiled in Switzerland for nearly ten years.He is the author of the call to rally on 17 February, it launched through the creation of a Facebook page which has over 20,000 members.
For him, "the rebellious Benghazi" is the heart of the protest movement: "Benghazi is not only rebellious against Gaddafi. It is a city that traditionally has opposed and whose people have always demanded greater freedom of speech and opinion. When Italy had his hand on the country until 1943, the first voices were raised against colonization came from Benghazi. "
The singularity of Benghazi has emerged through a combination of several factors. "This is the most cosmopolitan city in the country.Here are found the people who come from all over Libya. This combination alone explains the uniqueness of the city. Benghazi Libya made significant contributions to the cultural: Actors, singers, writers.People here like to express themselves, "he develops.
Disastrous legacy of the massacre of prisoners in Abu Slim
For Hasni Abdi, director of the Center for Study and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World (CERMAM) located in Geneva, other variables, more recent, have made the capital of Benghazi opposition to the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
This is particularly the massacre of prisoners in Abu Slim says political scientist: "The stability of Libya through good management of tribal elements that make up the population of Benghazi sociology. The regime has stepped up the blunders, including in the 1200 murder of prisoners in the prison of Abu Slim in 1996.The authorities have removed many representatives of these tribes, they have never officially acknowledged. But the fact that many of these people are from Benghazi has reinforced the city in his sling against traditional power. "
According to Human Rights Watch, most victims of the shooting originated in Benghazi. This event, which reflects the preferential treatment which the city and its inhabitants are subjected by the government, is not isolated. Economically too, Benghazi has regularly been ignored by the regime: "Benghazi was excluded from all major political and economic progress of countries, including incomes from the oil windfall, contrary or in Sirte Tripoli.A hospital in Benghazi like field hospitals, transport are poorly developed. Against this background of perpetual humiliation that have forged the main opposition movements. Benghazi has been set aside by the Libyan regime as it was perceived as the city that had defied Gaddafi. "
And the events of Wednesday have burned a little more in the marble image that cultivates Benghazi: that of a rebellious city, a bastion of anti-Gaddafi sling.
