160 Voice for Rebellion and Relief about how many people had been killed, what’s going on inside Syria. We pass [that information] to the media, because at that point, the media didn’t have those contacts. Brokerage between insiders thus helped rebels to continue resisting in the face of extreme threats and brutality. 5.4 remitting Diasporas are well-known for remitting resources homeward to crises and conflicts in their homelands, and many diaspora groups for the Arab Spring mobilized to do just that. Libyan activists channeled resources that included satellite phones, bulletproof vests, medical aid, and cash homeward from the first week of the revolution to its conclusion. Ayman, founder of the US-based organization Libyan Humanitarian Action, attested that they worked to send the rebels communications equipment before NATO stepped in to fill this role. The Libyan freedom fighters didn’t have material support or weapons before the March intervention of NATO and other countries, so I did fundraising to buy some equipment and logistical stuff, like military-grade Iridium satellite phones. We had a hard time convincing the Iridium company to [let us] buy them, because they have restrictions on what you’re going to use them for. But finally I was successful in buying a good amount of them, and we sent them to the Libyan Transitional Council. These phones were sent to the freedom-fighter leaders in Misrata, Benghazi, and the Nafusa Mountains. After that, in March, they got a lot of support. At the beginning, it was a small amount – it’s not like a country is supporting them, it’s just people supporting them – but we tried our best. The need for tangible remittances also increased as the war left thousands of casualties and displaced people in its wake. Women’s participation in remitting was vital, since the humanitarian aid assembled for the revolution included supplies that “the men weren’t thinking of,” Rihab from Washington, DC, noted. Heba of the Libyan American Association of Ohio echoed, One of the number-one things needed was feminine products, and because of the psychological trauma, a lot of the adults were needing adult underwear. We went out to get the products, and also bought bottled water and non-perishable foods that we could send without a problem. Our forty-foot shipping container was filled to the end. Ayman from Oklahoma also channeled funds to Libya and Tunisia using global wire transfer services. These methods enabled activists to get money into areas beyond their reach. “When the Gaddafi brigades were sanctioning the Nafusa Mountain area, people suffered from hunger and misery there,” he grimaced. “They needed money to buy food, so I sent money through a MoneyGram. It was quicker.” Salam, a Libyan American who spent most of the revolution mobilizing from within Tunisia and Libya as part of a diaspora-founded charity called Libya AlHurra, also set up a system whereby donors in the diaspora could purchase mobile service for the rebels’ satellite communications. He said, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009272148 Published online by Cambridge University Press