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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE January 22, 2007
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| December 14, 2006 |
Tripoli, Libya – No Visa, No Problem—Americans and Libyans Meet Despite Political Obstacles |
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| Peace Boat helped bring ordinary Americans and Libyans face-to-face despite their restrictive government policies |
Six million men, women, and children live in Libya, but most Americans can put only one face to the country—that of Qaddafi, the country's ruler. Nearly three hundred million women, men, and children live in the U.S., but for most Libyans, George Bush is the face most associated with the country. After decades of enmity, the two countries finally normalized their relations, but ordinary citizens—including the seven Americans currently participating in Peace Boat's 55th Voyage—still have great difficulty obtaining visas to one another's countries. Consequently, when the ship called in Libya in December, these seven could not join the hundreds of other participants who disembarked from the ship to visit the country for a day. Undaunted - and committed to fostering direct communication - Peace Boat invited nine Libyans to spend the day with the ship-bound Americans. |
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| Mohammed, one of the guests for the day, loves soccer but also played basketball enthusiastically |
When the Libyan guests boarded the ship, they smiled warmly, introduced themselves in English, and then conferred with one another in Arabic over what to write on their name tags. “Here in Libya, so many of us are named Mohammed,” they explained with a laugh, “so some of us will have to use our last names so you don't get us all confused.” Most of the Libyan guests work as dentists in Tripoli, and most of the American participants are working as volunteer English teachers for Peace Boat's 55th voyage. |
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| American participants and Libyan guests enjoy relaxing and drumming together |
Despite their different professions and nationalities, both groups soon realized they were a lot alike. Through playing sports, cards, and music together, they found one another to be easygoing, full of good humor, fond of music, and prone to overindulge in rich food at times. “I eat so much fast food in Libya, so I'm carrying around an extra six kilos these days” sighed one guest. “I had too much hummus and pita bread on our stops in Jordan and Egypt, so I've been putting on weight, too” sympathized a participant. Everyone valued the opportunity to meet and get to know one another as individuals. |
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| A participant shows guests pictures of her family and friends in Kentucky |
With no agenda set for conversation, talk freely ranged from the lighthearted to the serious. One American from Texas said he was frustrated by the lack of historical perspective among U.S. policy-makers, as well as by the short memory of the American populace. “How many Americans realize that it was the CIA that armed and trained Osama bin Laden to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, and that the U.S. put Saddam Hussein in power in Iraq?” he said. A Libyan said he, too, felt frustrated by politics at times. |
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| The Americans and Libyans met as strangers and departed as friends |
At the end of the day, the guests from Libya and the American participants exchanged e-mail addresses and reluctantly said farewell to one another. Everyone hoped for the chance to meet again face-to-face to continue talking and sharing fun activities together. The entry of understanding and goodwill into one another's heart, they proved, needed no official authorization. |
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