The September 1st and Libyan Revolution

When I first arrived in Tripoli last November, one of the things that caught my eyes was the numerous banners and billboards that were congratulating the leader and nation of Libya for the 37th anniversary of Libyan revolution (1/09/1969). It was kind of interesting to see that they were never removed from the streets and stayed there all year long till just a few weeks ago when they all changed, now with the number 38 on them although the message remained the same.

From Mid August, you really feel the changes, buildings start to decorate themselves with light ropes and major companies put writings outside their buildings congratulating the nation and the leader. The city gets filled with the plain green flags of Libya. I wish I knew the history for this flag that is a unique in the world as it has nothing in it..just plain green. Libyans were really thoughtful not to spend much time in design but they have one of the longest formal names for a country: "Great socialist people's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" so don't wonder if you see G.S.P.L.A.J in some maps. Jamahiriya is the word for "republic" and in Libya they tend to use this word as the name of the country so on the license plates of cars you see the word "Al-Jamahiriya" and the number. I guess it is the better idea to just say Libya!

Last night, the horns of the ships and coast guard boats together with the fireworks were the way celebrations began. The city is now filled with banners and billboards with number 38 on them. I guess they will remain there till next year when they all change to 39. I don't know how long we stay here and how many numbers we will see but I do hope they change the design next year. It is almost the same as last year.

P.S: The eye of Libya photo album has some new pictures.