| Episode | 4 |
| Season | 1 |
| Category | People |
| Listen | Full Episode #4 ↗ |
Episode: 4 — "The Impact of PTSD" · Full Episode #4
Date: 5 November 2019
Language: Primarily English with Arabic phrases
Emad (Imad) Badi is a Libyan-Palestinian writer and analyst. His father is Palestinian but born in Benghazi; his mother is Libyan. He was 27 at the time of recording, the eldest son with three siblings. He lived briefly in Sweden as a child (during his father's PhD) and spent two and a half years studying in France before returning to Libya.
At the time of recording he was in London completing a master's in Violence, Conflict and Development, with a thesis on state-society relations in Libya from the Gaddafi era through 2011. He publishes on Medium, writes op-eds and think tank policy papers, and co-authored work with scholar Fred Wary.
Emad argued that PTSD in Libya is not individual but societal. Years of civil conflict have distorted the moral compass: people dehumanise others who disagree with their political views. He called this "selective empathy" — the same people who condemn an airstrike on one community would, if on the other side, likely do the same thing.
He described friends who left Libya and only developed symptoms — claustrophobia on the London Underground, panic attacks — once they reached a safe environment. Trauma that was suppressed inside Libya surfaced when safety permitted it. Some sought therapy in London. Emad admitted he himself may have selectively suppressed memories and has not yet unpacked them with anyone.
See: PTSD and Collective Trauma
After Haftar's offensive on Tripoli began on April 4th 2019, Emad co-wrote a nuanced piece with Fred Wary blaming both sides of the conflict. Libyan media — operated by foreign-backed actors — partially translated it, removing the parts that challenged "their" side, making it look like an endorsement of one faction. He watched his work get stripped of nuance and turned into propaganda.
Emad described April 2019 as the most intense month of his life. The offensive began on the 4th. He had five or six master's deadlines simultaneously. His family was in Tripoli. Friends who were journalists were unreachable or only available late at night. He managed academic output while trying to find out if people he loved were safe — all from London, unable to go back.
See: April 2019
He discussed the Tebu (Toubou) community — people who have lived in Libya since 1954 whose citizenship has been repeatedly denied because Libyan law effectively tied citizenship to Arab ancestry. The issue predates 2011, stretches through the Gaddafi era and the monarchy. He used this as a concrete example of how racism, political manipulation, and collective trauma intersect.
"This form of PTSD is somewhat affecting our moral compass — because you start dehumanising other people because they don't agree with your political views." (EP 4)