Everybody wants a piece of Africa. And what’s the quickest way for western powers to get their mitts on these resources? That’s easy: cause conflict between the people, based on such things as religious or ethnic differences; install a puppet government; or prop up a dictator. When it comes to countries with oil reserves, Africa could surely give the Middle East a run for its money. But the continent is embroiled in conflict. In some places, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, this has been ongoing for decades; in others, unrest has exploded more recently, most obviously in north Africa.
It started in Tunisia with the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi on 17 December last. Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest at being prevented from selling vegetables without a permit. This one incident set off a serious of demonstrations over unemployment throughout Tunisia that culminated in President Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali fleeing the country.
The situation in Tunisia is still precarious. But the demonstrations also had a domino effect throughout the region, and quickly spread to Egypt. The people there were fed up living a hand-to-mouth existence under dictator Hosni Mubarak, and they took to the streets en masse. Although there were some casualties, the conflict was quickly resolved (following the political intervention of the US).
In the past few weeks Egypt appears to have gained some stability, with the military in control since Mubarak stepped down on 11 February. But the revolution has only moved on to other Arab nations whose people have joined in demonstrations to rid themselves of their corrupt leaders – in Algeria, Morocco and most of all Libya, the current focus of the world’s attention.
The US and its allies are reluctant to get involved in the impending genocide in Libya. While the UK and other EU countries helped to airlift westerners and non-Libyans from the country’s borders as violence spread, they don’t want to get too involved, leaving the Libyans to their own fate.
There is of course a double standard at work here. Libya is an oil-rich country, after all, and until the recent UN resolutions Col Gaddafi was still doing business with the west, such as buying weapons – weapons he once happily sold to the IRA in the 1980s.
In recent years, Gaddafi used money he pilfered from his own countrymen to pay Britain compensation over the Lockerbie bombing. As a result, he was ‘brought back in from the cold’ on the suggestion of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Middle East ‘peace envoy’ who brought his country to war six times.
Its difficult to guess the outcome of what may happen in Libya. The ‘no-fly zone’ is being enforced, mostly by European fighter jets, and Gaddafi’s air force is all but destroyed. But his troops and snipers on the ground continue their assault on the people.
At a recent Libyan protest I attended, one thing that struck me was the lack of support from people of other Arab or Muslim countries. Granted, Arabs can be parochial at the best of times, but I really thought they would come out to support each other. Muslim clerics were also conspicuous by their absence. It seems when it comes to supporting others, the only conflict that unifies Muslims is Palestine. I have to ask, where is this ‘Muslim brotherhood’ they lecture about in the mosques?
Barbara Filah is an intern with Metro Éireann.
