Category: Articles
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Eritrea: Ahmed Sheikh Feres’ Death Kept Secret For Four Years
[A few days ago, Eritreans discovered the death of Ahmed Sheikh Feres, an octogenarian who died in the Eritrean regime’s prison where he was kept without charges since May 2007. News finally came out that he actually died four years ago but the regime didn’t announce this until last week. Ahmed Sheikh Feres is a…
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Exile and Exodus from Eritrea
A Personal Testimony and Reflections on a Brutal National Service and Political Repression The following is an annotated text of a speech made in a public seminar in Hanover, Germany, on June 5; organized by an Amnesty International working group on Eritrea and the roots of human exodus from the country. It is more a…
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AlJazeera: The Tragedy of The Eritrean Refugees In Sudan
[The following is the translation of the Arabic text report by AlJazeera that accompanied the video report. Awate.com bears responsibility for any errors in translation] From the frying pan into the fire: The Tragedy of The Eritrean Refugees In Sudan A Report of the episode by AlJazeera.net They left their country because of war and…
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Occupying the Third Space: Beyond the Binaries of Male & Female
One cannot help but take the bait when Awate Team smartly presents eclectic viewpoints in that classical battle of the sexes, the never ending binaries that we human types so easily fall prey towards. At the outset, however, it is worth taking heed what literary study cautions against; the two ostensible fallacies that readers will…
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Awate Forum Harvest: Emancipation Of Eritrean Women
The following is selected comments made by Awate Forum debaters over the last few days. The topic is regarding the role and emancipation of Eritrean women. The comments were slightly edited to make it better focused on the topic. //Awatestaff Semere Andom: Do the overwhelming majority Eritrean women really support the regime that enslaves them?…
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Australia: Eritrean Community Network Hosts Dr. Joe Venosa
Eritrean Community Network Australia Presents Joseph L. Venosa Asst. Prof. of African History, University of Salisbury (Salisbury, Maryland, USA) Topic: Eritrea during the critical period, 1941-1961 Place: Flemington Community Center 25 Mt Alexander Road, Flemington, VIC 3031 Time: Saturday, August 30th at 6pm. Contact: Ahmed Heyabu From Australia: 0402 520 142 International call: +61 402…
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Dejen: The Man YG Chose
A piercing Gaze:YG attempted to fuse Kafka’s parables with Dejen’s history with the aim of creating an imaginative political fantasy. But the concepts were altered from their original meaning in a very significant way. In part he discussed the theme of, “A Message from the Emperor” whose core meaning is about messages going to nowhere.…
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Dejen: A Chosen Man
Introduction I long time came to understand YG’s mindset in devaluing the reality of Eritrea and Eritrean historical legacies. His mindset is a result of rejection. This rejection is as a result of personal observation. I once wrote my understanding on YG’s work on awate.com reading as: “YG’s objective as a thinker and smart writer…
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5 Reasons For The Bologna Hurdle
5 Reasons Why Our Cause Could Take A Leap Forward With The Bologna Summit “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” Are the famous words of Victor Hugo. In Eritrean opposition politics – it requires a follow up sentence, maybe something like:…if it can withhold the storm. An idea… Most of…
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Betrayal And Predicament Of An Eritrean Artist
“During the struggle era [Pre-Independence] I was also painting, telling the story of the struggle, the culture of the people and scenes of battles, and such works. My concern was to make sure that I reflect my ideas properly to achieve my goal of getting the message of the struggle across.” […] “…In 1997, [six-years…
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An Open Letter To The Israeli Embassy
An Open letter to H.E. Mr. Ron Dermer, Ambassador of Israel to the United States of America Embassy of Israel, Washington D.C. Dear Ambassador Dermer, I am writing on behalf of thousands of Eritreans who are in Israel in conditions that raise serious concerns of human rights and humanitarian issues. They have been corralled and…
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Eritrea: Heroes Made of Steel (By FantiGhana)
The following was written by FantiGhana, a commenter at Awate Forum, two months ago. We liked the short story so much we thought of sharing it with you. FantiGhana, thank you for the story and noble feeling.//Awate Team. Between 1979 -1982 I used to work for a Swedish-run clinic called Sudan Council of Churches. Well,…
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Presenting Master Painter Michael Adonai
Recently I had a lengthy conversation with master painter Michael Adonai. What was planned as a brief interview expanded and in the middle of the conversation, I discarded the list of questions that I had prepared and let the flow of conversation lead wherever it may. Below is an abridged version of the lengthy conversation…
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Sunridge in Eritrea: Gold Rush or Gold Rash?
The Eritrean mining sector is wrapped in secrecy similar to all other sectors of the economy. The government has never published financial reports since the independence of Eritrea in 1991. As such, only investors who are willing to operate in shady environment are willing to invest in Eritrea. There is no delineation between the interest…
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Rest In Peace Memhr Mewael
Another member of the “Steadfast Generation” left us these past days. After a long and debilitating illness, Memhr Mewael Mebrahtu passed away on Tuesday, June 17 2014 at the age of 80 in San Diego, California. Mewael was born in Keren, on September 11, 1933 to his father Deg. Mebrahtu Gubsa and his mother Weizero…
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The Flood Of Poverty
A team of Kuwaitis traveled to Eastern Sudan and visited Eritrean refugee camp to offer some aid. They report what they observed about the forgotten and neglected Eritreans, some of who are third-generation refugees. The first batch of refugees reached Sudanese refugee camps in 1967 and since then, their numbers have been increasing, yet always…
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The Selfless Bishops Who Took The Lead
Unable to watch the humiliation of their people idly, four Eritrean Catholic Bishops from Segeneiti, Asmara, Keren and Barentu Eparchys rose up and blew the lid in the face of the notorious dictator – Isaias Afewerki. These four courageous Bishops have had it and without fear or favor, they dispatched their pastoral letter to the…
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Why Do We Write?
“We write to tell the truth. We write to know who we are. We write to find our voices. We write to save the world. We write to save ourselves. We write so that when we look back and see that moment when we were totally clear, completely brilliant, and astoundingly wise, there is proof…
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Eritrea’s Political Culture & Its Outdated Tools Of Analysis
Travel back in time; turn the clock back, way back to a neighborhood where you grew up. Find that Mr. Formidable Force (FF), the individual who becomes the captain of the soccer team in which you played growing up. Picture him in your mind’s eye in how he exuded the aura of power, an absolute…
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Fathi Osman and His New Book
Recently Fathi Osman (ፈትሒ – فتحي) published a book entitled, “Eritrea: From A Dream of Independence to the Nightmare of Dictatorship.” The book, written in Arabic, is composed of one hundred twenty-two page; Fathi has plans to translate it into English. How did Eritreans, after they sacrificed so many lives and shed so much blood…