On May 25 and 26, the Libyan city of Benghazi witnessed a global conference on illegal immigration to Europe. The conference included a large crowd of researchers, politicians, and activists from various world organizations. It witnessed a distinguished presence and interaction from European and African countries, in the presence of numerous politicians. And parliamentarians to discuss the issue of immigration in political and scientific depth and to discuss sustainable solutions to illegal immigration.
It was a successful conference by all standards for a country emerging from a conflict or conflicts that we all know and an intense war against terrorism. It was a conference of the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Minister Dr. Abdul Hadi Al-Hawaij) with the Libyan Ministry of Immigration (Minister Fathi Al-Tabawi), where numerous scientific lectures were discussed regarding the issue of immigration and asylum, and sustainable solutions and recommendations that must be implemented were presented. Between African and European countries.
Certainly, this is my first visit. I saw the state of Libya taking strong, steady steps towards construction and reconstruction, plans towards peace and stability, and the high organization of the conference, and the great efforts exerted to confirm this.
I want to talk about the Libyan person more than I talk about the conference. I visited many countries in the world and got to know different cultures from all over the world by virtue of my studies and work over the years, and I began to distinguish the differences between cultures well, not only by virtue of working and living in the diaspora, but also by virtue of my studies. For cultures, I become better at distinguishing people’s mentalities and the way they think and deal.
I got to know a pure culture and a pure human being, a mixture of beautiful European and Eastern features and authentic Arab customs. My experience there made me feel as if I was reading a novel or a very old story, one of the stories I used to read in my childhood. Libya gave me a kind of calm and a feeling of love for everything that is beautiful. They have beautiful women with beautiful Arab features, and their young men are young people full of vitality, love, and a desire to give. Before I asked for help in getting the Internet, for example, or asked about a specific thing, they would immediately take the initiative, and many times, they would be the ones to ask me.
I read a lot about Arab culture and authentic Arab customs, not customs that have been distorted by media or political agendas here and there, that we are a culture with roots as deep as humanity on this earth.
I found all of this in Libya. Others may see it as a compliment, but rather it is a fact. A people who are generous to the core, kind and pure without borders. Therefore, Libya has all the elements, not only the economic ones, but also the humanitarian elements to be a pioneering country and a leader for the next phase of the world. We are all hopeful that the next phase will be the phase of Libya and the countries that have gone through the same circumstances as Libya.
At the end of my spiritual experience in my visit to the shrine of the martyr Omar Al-Mukhtar, one of the great symbols for generations, not only for Libyan generations but also for all free people in the world, my feeling in the holy shrine touched the same feeling in my heart when I was in the holy places the last time. I also felt proud in front of… Other nationalities: The martyr Omar Al-Mukhtar (may God have mercy on him) was an Arab.