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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