ipyg-Damages at Tripoli International Airport in Libya

 After the outbreak of battle at Tripoli International Airport on 13 July 2014, the airport was closed for a while. 

The battle continued even though a lot of people were stuck at the airport. Most of planes were destroyed and it seemed to be the worst situation. The fact that nobody could help this terrible situation makes me feel painful. Even “UN Peace-Keeping Forces” can't also intervene in this dispute, because it was not between their government and citizens but among the citizens. 

That is, people have fought each other without any promise of ending the war. As a global citizen and a member of International Peace Youth Group (“IPYG”), I was very sorry to hear of this tragedy.

After kicking out Libyan autocratic ruler Muammar al- Qaddafi in 2012, Libya has taken steps for democratization.

 Many Libyan people had believed the economic troubles such as economic recession and chronic unemployment would begin to get better after the fall of the autocrat. 

But there was still one more barrier to overcome aside from economic one; it is a religious problem. 

Libya's political power is divided into two: secularism and Islamic fundamentalism. “Secularism” has a tendency to maintain the value of their religion but to exclude the aggressive aspects of some offshoots.

 But that was annoying for “Islamic fundamentalism (Sunni and Shi`ah)” which supports a doctrine of the Koran and its religious principle. In 2012, Libya's National Transitional Council (“NTC”) kicked out Muammar al- Qaddafi and began to govern Libya. Then “Muslim Brotherhood” rose up against this situation. To sum up, this battle occurred between supporters of government and supporters of “Muslim Brotherhood.”

But religion was used as an only excuse for them. What they really wanted was Tripoli which is the center of major traffic points, all movement of supplies and economic activities of Libya. 

As each tribe had their own culture and interest, people had no choice but to be divided and stuck to their own religions and cultures. 

There are so many tribes in Africa. If they fail to live in harmony or to communicate each other, such a catastrophe will happen again. The purposes of most of wars which have broken out in Africa are usually to gain wealth, authority and religious power.

 All of these have grown since people exploited the Africans for several centuries. 

In other words, the contributors to these wars were not African but someone else. Their greed and irresponsibility lead to the death of innocent people.

As we can see this battle for Libya airport, wars are usually broken out by religion and people’s greed. So now the entire world is in a state of chaos and confusion. 

Maybe one of the reasons why this kind of disputes happen is that religion is losing their original purpose and aim. 

I think something dreadful can happen when religious people become blinded by their greed. I think, however, that true peace can be achieved if we have a sense of humanity and love, irrespective of religion, race, and culture. So we, IPYG, strive to make the better world in which there are no wars but love and peace everywhere.