Popular tensions prior to Libya’s Revolution
That same year, many civilians were shot dead in a riot at a soccer match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli teams. Infuriated by the cheers against his team, Al-Ittihad, Muammar Gadhafi’s son, ordered his guards to open fire at the rival fans, leaving 20 people dead.

The third violent event occurred in Benghazi in 2006 following the protests over the cartoons satirizing Prophet Muhammad. On the 17th of February, hundreds of Libyans headed towards the Italian consulate and tried to break in. Against the failure of the Libyan police to hold protesters back by firing bullets and teargas, the unrest escalated resulting in the exchange of gunfire between protesters and policemen. 11 protesters were shot dead and 35 were wounded.

Starting from the prison mass killings to the soccer field riot and the Benghazi clashes, to name but a few, the Libyan history has recorded a story of a people that finally revolted against 42 years of repression and persecution and freed itself of the tyrannizing grip of Muammar Gadhafi, the world’s longest serving dictator and the ruler of Libya since 1969.

Eruption of the 2011 Revolution

On February 14, three days after the ousting of Egyptian ruler, Hosni Mubarak, the social media was flooded with calls to stage peaceful protests to commemorate the 2006 Benghazi events and to protest against Gadhafi’s support of both Egyptian and Tunisian presidents, Mubarak and Zein Al-Abidin. The calls picked up momentum when the anti-Gadhafi lawyer, who had defended those Libyans gunned down in the 1996 Abou Salim massacre of political prisoners, was arrested, thus providing the first spark for the demonstrations. Two days later, 200 Libyans took to the streets of Benghazi to demand their most natural rights and to defy poverty. This modest demonstration swelled up the next day, February 17, into an all-out popular uprising aimed against the Gadhafi regime. During this Day of Rage Libyan security forces and pro-Gadhafi mercenaries cracked down on protesters with heavy weapons and air strikes killing and injuring over 400 unarmed protesters.

After an 8-month revolt, the rebels took Benghazi, which became a temporary capital and were recognized by many as the legitimate representatives of the Libyans. In August they launched an attack on Tripoli and advanced towards several coastal cities in order to purge Libya of the Gadhafi rule. It is noteworthy that their endeavor would not have come to fruition had it not been for the foreign military intervention initiated under the pretense of protecting civilians, thus leading to dethroning the dictator and forcing him to flee his infamous stronghold, Bab al-Aziziya. By October, the rebel forces had captured Gadhafi and killed him along with a number of his sons and loyalists.