Beginnings of protests
The first protests occurred in Zawiya in August, 2009 as a result of skirmishes between foreign workers and locals outside a Western Union money transfer centre in the heart of Zawiya.
Between 13 and 16 January 2011, upset at delays in the building of housing units and over political corruption, protesters in Bayda, Derna, Benghazi and other cities broke into, and occupied, housing that the government had been building. Protesters also clashed with police in Bayda and attacked government offices.[101][102] By 27 January, the government had responded to the housing unrest with a €20 billion investment fund to provide housing and development.[103][104]
In late January, Jamal al-Hajji, a writer, political commentator and accountant, "call[ed] on the Internet for demonstrations to be held in support of greater freedoms in Libya" inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. He was arrested on 1 February by plain-clothes police officers, and charged on 3 February with injuring someone with his car. Amnesty International stated that because al-Hajji had previously been imprisoned for his non-violent political opinions, the real reason for the present arrest appeared to be his call for demonstrations.[105] In early February, Gaddafi, on behalf of the Jamahiriya, met with political activists, journalists and media figures and warned them that they would be held responsible if they disturbed the peace or created chaos in Libya.[106]
The protests would lead to an uprising and civil war, as part of the wider Arab Spring,[107][108] which had already resulted in the ousting of long-term presidents of adjacent Tunisia and Egypt.[109] Social media played a central role in organizing the opposition.[110][111][112][113][114] A social media website declared an alternative government, one that would be an interim national council, was the first to compete with Muammar Gaddafi’s political authority. Gaddafi’s senior advisor attempted to reject the idea by tweeting his resignation
