Lines of concord

Libyan refugees on the Tunisian border [© Ansa]

It is sad to see so many people dying in Libya without one knowing (and without themselves perhaps knowing) what one is really fighting for. Unfortunately Libya is also much affected by the exasperation of the differences between the diverse ethnic groups, and no opportunity is lost to show what divides one from another.
Chronologically, the revolt broke out after that in Tunisia and that in Egypt, but despite the principle that often there can be a mutual attraction between neighbors both in positive and in negative processes, I have no information to enable me to declare with certainty that what is happening in Libya is the same as what happened in Egypt.
It seems ironic that we are taken by surprise by these happenings though we live in a world in which, more than in the past, we are bombarded every day by a startling mass of data and information. Perhaps because we never go to any depth with phenomena, but make do with the immediate impression the news stirs in us. We add up the facts one after another, but we never make comparisons.
The US reaction to the crisis has also sparked some criticism, because the US is a long way from the Mediterranean, and it’s true that when one looks at a problem from a distance it is sometimes hard to grasp it in all its facets, but in another way looking at things from a distance gives one the chance to see what is essential without getting lost in the superficial aspects. So I’d think twice before saying that Americans are wrong on the issue.
Years ago I said that an internal clash within the US oil companies influenced the Libyan problem, not that I ever had mathematical proof, but a suspicion that it is a factor that still influences the situation is more than legitimate.
Italy has been accused many times – and wrongly – of taking too lenient a stance toward Gaddafi. Certainly, Gaddafi has ideas and characteristics different from ours, but we can’t expect everyone to follow our patterns.
Italy has always wanted to give the Libyans the impression – since it corresponded to the truth – that we respected their special characteristics, even when their pride revolted at the bygone era of Italian colonialism. Then the Libyans saw us as adversaries but not as enemies, and this is perhaps the difference with the present.
Libya is a country with which we needed to find lines of concord, rather than accentuating divisions. And today also we must seek spheres on which we can converge with them, otherwise we are in danger of paying the price.