After two years of fighting and two years of peace, Tripoli has left a lasting impact on the convictions of many young people. The students’ faculty was destroyed during the war and many participated in battles with Burkan Ghadhab forces in response to Haftar’s offensive against the Libyan capital. After the war, many like Hamam Abdussalam, a university student at the Faculty of Political Sciences, became active in an institution called Mumken to help consolidate peace among Libyans. However, while political entities attempt to work towards a peaceful resolution, it is still early to talk of full peace.
According to Abdussalam, peace must be built on the main foundations that involve listening to all parties. “Peace attempts by some parties here and there in Libya, the fact that what is driven by either reconciliatory or emotional tendencies, why? Because it lacks the main foundations on which peace must be built, when you go into a peace process you need to listen to all parties, you need to sit with rights holders, you need to make reparation for the harm of all those who have been affected by the parties, and you also need to punish criminals, it can’t reasonably be peace without those foundations,” Abdussalam said.
Meanwhile, Al-Muntasser Bilah Fathi, an IT student, still struggles with the aftermath of war. He almost lost his life when he was shot and had to hide behind a palm to survive. This includes grafting palms with minimal means, even after most of the farm’s equipment was stolen.
Despite the challenges, he believes that young people have a role to play in restoring what has been harmed by the war. “It was now believed to be subject to the will of States, not to the will of the people. What politicians seek is to maintain their presence in the office.
“All conspiracy, all conspiracy, they play with our lives, and those who die of civilians only lose themselves, and politicians fear for their position.”
While many young people have varying visions for the future, their hope for tomorrow remains strong, despite the politicians’ seeming disregard for their lives and positions.