Transnational Repression 79 Because if you have somebody coming to study in the UK and mixes with any of us who are the people who are really against Gaddafi, when they go back, they will be in trouble. Likewise, Firas, a Syrian student in California, echoed this claim: “You stay away from the classic opposition because you know somebody is observing them!” The only way to overcome this estrangement, according to Sarah, the British Libyan mentioned above, was to do what she called a “background check.” She recalled one incident that took place during her time at university: People were like “I know this Libyan guy, I want to introduce him to you.” [But] we were both very wary of each other. Our friends didn’t understand; they were so keen to introduce us. But then it turned out that our moms knew each other. I told my mom what his surname was and she said “oh yes, I know his uncle,” and he did the same thing, and then we both found out that the other was okay. You always did a background check. This vetting system was imperfect, but it was often the only option for determining who to trust. As a result, as scholar Alice Alunni writes, The mistrust and suspiciousness among Libyans abroad resulted in relatively isolated and small networks of people tied by political ideology and/or kinship. This prevented the establishment of a diasporic public space where all Libyans could come together in the host countries to openly and freely ‘imagine’ their nation and discuss its characters collectively, something that should be facilitated by . . . the ability to communicate more easily and freely. (2019: 254) This was also true for the Syrians, since – even if they did not fear for their personal safety – anti-regime diaspora members remained deeply concerned that one wrong move could put their relatives in danger. 3.1.2 Muted Voice As suggested in the testimonials above, the threats posed by transnational repression constrained voice, literally and figuratively, in a number of ways. As a Syrian American speaking at a fundraising event I attended in late 2011 explained to the audience, “You would think that America’s this free society, with freedom of speech, and we’re comfortable speaking on things, but it has real ramifications back home.” A young immigrant named Assad, who came to London from Libya to seek employment, affirmed this problem. Despite his opposition to the regime, when being around “other Arabs or other Libyans – the rare time I would come across them – I just wouldn’t discuss it. Because you didn’t know who you were dealing with.” Hamid, a secondgeneration Libyan exile from Missouri, reported that broaching the subject of Gaddafi with non-exiled youth would be quickly shut down. “When we met Libyans, a lot of them were scared,” he told me. “If I say hey, ‘Gaddafi-this,’ everybody was like, ‘shut the hell up. I can’t even hang around with you!’ They’re here in the US and they didn’t even have free speech.” https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009272148 Published online by Cambridge University Press