Shar & the Forgotten Genocide of Libya | Ali Abdullatif Ahmida

Unveiling the suppressed history of "Shar," Professor Ali Abdellatif Ahmida details the forgotten genocide of the Libyan people under Italian settler colonialism in 1911. As a distinguished political scientist and historian at the University of New England, Professor Ahmida dedicated 15 years to investigating why this mass tragedy was systematically erased from global scholarship and collective memory. Through meticulous research and rare oral testimonies from survivors, he reconstructs the horrors of forced displacement and concentration camps that claimed the lives of tens of thousands. He offers a nuanced critique of the "collective amnesia" in Western academia and the strategic silence of post-war Italy, challenging myths of "moderate" Italian fascism.

 

00:00 Introduction: An Extensive Scholarly Void

02:28 Beyond the Stereotypical Image

05:28 Navigating the Colonial Transition in 1911

10:20 Perspectives From the Southern Frontier

13:31 The Slow Dismantling of an Empire

18:03 The Ideological Weight of the Roman Myth

22:22 Artificial Lines and the Unified Movement

25:32 The Roots of Organized Resistance

30:14 Negotiating the Terms of Independence

34:02 Contradictions of the Post-War Client State

37:06 The Logic of the Fourth Shore

41:44 The Mechanics of Mass Displacement

46:13 Global Complicity and the Politics of Amnesia

51:39 Reclaiming a Seat in Historical Memory

54:03 The Ethics of the Freedom Fighter

56:11 Shar: The Survivors’ Conceptualization of Death

 

Professor Ali Abdellatif Ahmida is the founding chair and a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of New England in Maine. Born in Waddan, Libya, and educated at Cairo University and the University of Washington, his scholarship focuses on historical sociology, political theory, and anti-colonial resistance in North Africa. A prolific author, his major works include "The Making of Modern Libya" and his most recent investigative research into "Shar," the forgotten colonial genocide in Libya.

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