Author: Saleh “Gadi” Johar
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The Village Of Wehni-Ber (Chapter 2)
The following is chapter 2 of the historical novel, “Of Kings And Bandits” ________________________________________________________________ Mokria, a young Ethiopian boy, glanced at the Wehni Mountain whose top was covered in thick fog that made it invisible. He felt the cold bite his skin through the blanket he had slept on, which was now wrapped around his
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Eritrean Refugees In Sudan: 50 Years And Counting
This year, 2017, the first wave of Eritrean refugees who fled en-masse to the Sudan, have been living in refugee camps for fifty years, and they’re still counting. Since 1967, the numbers of the first wave of refugees, including the second and third generation refugees born in the camps, has surged to the hundreds of thousands,
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The Malignant Cancer of Eritrea
A million years ago, when I first said I do not know of an Eritrean ethnic group known as Tigrinya, quite a few people went bonkers. A thousand years ago, in the 1990s, a few people became touchy-feely whenever Andenet was mentioned, forgetting it was not about people, but a destructive mental state. Now it
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God Doesn’t Kill, The PFDJ Does
If you think the title is blasphemous, not too fast. It is not, and I am hoping you would think beyond our habitual reaction to killing, our mechanical reaction of always dropping the responsibility of all murders and killings (not death) on God. I believe it is wrong. Today I will grieve in my own
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Language and Religion In Eritrean Politics
(The following article (first published on June 29, 2011) was presented at a panel discussion under the theme “Eritrea’s Path towards Democracy: Dialogue on Constitutional Issues”. The event was held at the Universities at Shady Grove, Rockville, Maryland, on June 25, 2011; the organizers of the event assigned the topic to the presenter.) I didn’t choose
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From The Archives: Avoid The Downers
This was first published on August 30, 2004. I decided to repost it again, 12 years later, because I feel the same cycle of negativity is overwhelming the justice seeker’s camp. It is my modest advise to encourage them (particularly the self-respecting youth) to shun all negativity and all the cheap talk that denigrate the Eritrean
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Democracy: May Your Heart’s Wish Come True
On September 24, 2016, I was at the University of San Francisco to attend a discussion that was organized by the energetic Meron Samadar (Lead Eritrea). The following is the speech that I prepared but as usual, I delivered its condensed version from memory without reading it. Therefore, though I expressed the gist of the
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Manal Younus: An Example In The Peach State
Emperors, wannabe-emperors, and petty-dictators name significant edifices, avenues, school and the like after their names or the causes they advance. The day Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait in 1991, his troops didn’t waste time in dismantling the street signage and replacing it with new ones that carried his name. Thus, in no time there appeared Saddam-everything:
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Amidst Trust-Builders and Rumormongers
In its attempt to defeat and end the totalitarian rule in Eritrea, the resistance media disseminates opinion and editorials to expose the regime, to convince its misguided supporters to abandon it, and also to provoke debates on national issues. Its main goal, however, is to empower Eritreans by providing them with news and analysis so
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Zerom The Liberator
Now that the endless “silver jubilee celebrations in Eritrea are over, and the epic trip of the torch that remained the only featured star on PFDJ’s media for about five months is over, I felt of sharing the following chapter, “The Liberator”, from my latest book “Miriam Was Here”. Consider it my way of expressing the human and
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Eritrean Apathy: No Boletika Zone
This edition of Negarit was first published on July 21, 2008. Since then, so many Eritrean associations have been created; most of them peddle the “No Boletika Zone” position in the face of the rampant injustice that Eritreans are facing. These associations have played a major role in creating the political apathy that has inflicted many
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Naud: The Legendary Founder Of Haraka
He is one of the fiery youngsters of the pre-armed-struggle era; a major personality of the late fifties and sixties. He is the visionary who saw beyond the Federation. An astute politician who planned ahead of time in preparation to the day when Haile Sellasie, as he foresaw, would abort the federation. He is the founder of the
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The Rice Weyane Twins: Condoleezza and Susan
This edition of Negarit was first published on December 9, 2005 under the title, “A Secret Letter: Isaias to Bush.” It’s being republished hoping it will trigger some memories as suggestedf by a member of the Awate fourm. It’s being published under a new title: The Rice Weyane Twins: Condoleezza and Susan Asmara, December 10th., 2005 To George Bush From Isaias
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Jebena: Jerusalem, “The Flower of the Cities”
Recently Kiros Asfaha released a new song which we will feature next week. Kiros took the right path by contributing a different song, breaking the monotonous choice of Eritreans artists to focus on dance-music, guayla, at the expense of the contemplative and relaxing music. But that will be next week. Today we will present to you a
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Major Dawit Woldegiorgis: More Of Red Tears
The following article was published in July 2, 2009, as a response for Shaleqa Dawit Woldegiorgis’ article “The way forward for Ethiopia and Eritrea” which appeared four days earlier on Ethiomedia on June 29, 2009. I decided to publish it because Dawit’s article has been brought again in the Internet for discussion. I would like to
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Bologna, Italy, 2013: “Eritrean Solutions for Eritrean Problems”
Since the last Bologna Forum conference in Oakland, followed by Miriam September’s article, The Genius in a Lamp: ‘Eritrean Solutions to Eritrean Problems’, debates centered around EYSC’s slogan, “Eritrean Solutions for Eritrean Problems”, have been going on. I decided to republish the following which was published in Sep, 2013, right after the Bologna Forum conference
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Eritrea: A Picture and 1001 Words
Hopefully the person who sent me the above picture in 2001, would come out and be recognized; unfortunately I don’t remember who it was! I received the picture 14 years ago when awate.com was one-year old, and I believe it first appeared in the Internet accompanying the article below that I wrote on June 2,
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Mola Asghedom For Governor Of Ethiopia Forum
I am sure you heard that Mola Asghedom who was on a ten year visit to Eritrea decided to leave his guest camp and return to Ethiopia. I am not sure of his title, but Eritrean Arabic websites refer to him as “General Mola Asghedom”. Why not, anyone who commands an army thousands of soldiers
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Reintroducing Diversity In Eritrean Politics
On Saturday, August 29, 2015, I attended an event hosted by Bologna Forum in Oakland. I had prepared a speech in English but then I decided to deliver it in Tigrinya; it was not a word for word translation, hence, I am not sure if it was in an expanded or condensed form, but I am
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Language and Religion In Eritrean Politics (Archive)
(The following was presented at a panel discussion under the theme “Eritrea’s Path towards Democracy: Dialogue on Constitutional Issues”. The event was held at the Universities at Shady Grove, Rockville, Maryland, on June 25, 2011; the organizers of the event assigned the topic to the presenter. It’s being republished to shed light on the topic as