Year: 2017
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The Smashed Eritrean Wristwatch
[this was first published in May of 2015 in objection to an attempt by some hacks to revive old partisan rivalry, and their obsession with partisan politics. Yet, they are the ones who insist on national unity and on focusing to achieve change [justice] in Eritrea. The current debates in some circles make me stick to my…
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Eritrea: The Constitution
Here is a follow-up on “gual mengedi” – the constitution. I will stick to word limit and make it short. Maybe I should just have posted it as comment. Anyway, for some reason people seem interested in revisiting the subject. I tried to read as much of the discussion on the subject as possible. Things…
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Eritrea’s 150th Anniversary!
My adopted nation, Canada, recently celebrated its 150th anniversary on July 01, 2017. The celebration was huge, passionate and colorful. Even though Canada wasn’t the place of my birth, I passionately celebrated this anniversary. Canada has offered me its citizenship, education, health care, opportunities and rights that were denied to me elsewhere. Most importantly, Canada,…
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Water: Black Market Economy of Eritrea
Four people were arrested on Monday in Asmara after they were caught selling water to citizens from a water tanker. It is illegal to supply water to homes and businesses without the approval of the Eritrean authorities. According to a resident of Asmara, “the government monopolizes water like other mineral resources, like the Bisha mines.”…
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The USA May Impose Visa Restriction on Eritrea
Since 1967, Eritreans have been escaping their country and ending up in different countries of the West where most are now naturalized citizens. In the Middle East however, where the laws do not allow naturalization, many have lived for decades and died as aliens. Still, many others were deported and handed over to the regimes…
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Berekhet Mengisteab on the Answering Machine
This was first posted on Dehai twenty-years ago (Sun, 3 Aug 1997). I was going over some old files when I accidently stumbled upon it-–I don’t remember the occasion or the inspiration that made me write it, but with minor editing, I thought it serves as an entertainment and easy reading for the weekend. ______________________________________________________________…
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Baby Corp!
I look left and right before I post this. For some reason, I tend to receive a hail of unhappy e-mails from people you would least expect would oppose what I say, that somehow manage to send me into another run of hibernation. It was more fun writing as a ghost. I didn’t care what…
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WOLDEAB WOLDEMARIAM: A Biography of a Visionary Eritrean Patriot, by Dawit Mesfin
Review by Bereket Habte Selassie He spent a major part of his adult life fighting for freedom and human dignity, in a passionate struggle on behalf of his people, the forgotten people of Eritrea. His struggle was frequently a lonely one under bitterly disappointing circumstances—under conditions of mortal danger to his life and amid continued…
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Alamin Abduletif: A Lover, A Poet, A Patriot
If Modern Eritrea is a story with a soundtrack, then surely Alamin Abduletif can compete for top billing of the artists who can take credit for its music. And among artists who sang in Tigrayt, none can come close to the title of the Great Popularizer because his art was accessible even to those who…
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Prison Break: A Microcosm of Popular Uprising Against Tyranny
The inspiration for writing this article was drawn from a piece aptly titled “Seventeen years in Prison without Charge” that recently featured on Awate.com. The story of Haj Mohammed Ali Mahmoud the piece narrates is, sadly enough, also the story of thousands of other Eritrean prisoners that are wasting away in PFDJ jails for no…
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North Korea and Eritrea: Two Pariah States, Two UN Resolution Violations
The United Nations Security Council yesterday unanimously passed a resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea, the toughest the UNSC has ever imposed on any country. The sanction was prompted by North Korea’s continued intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) testing and violations of UN resolutions. The sanction aims at reducing North Korea revenue stream from exports and joint ventures in foreign…
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U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Is Roaring
The following is an excerpt from an article written by Salem Solomon on August 04, 2017. Follow the link below to read the full article entitled, “Congressman Calls for US Military Partnership with Eritrea.” “A Republican congressman says he believes it is time for the U.S. to reach out to Eritrea and forge a partnership to fight…
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The Eritrea of “Adey Hana”!
I was born and raised in the city of Asmara. Asmara in those days was a bustling multicultural and multi-faith city. My friends, class mates, neighbors and soccer team players came from different backgrounds. Included among them were Yemenis (Hadarem), Italians, hybrid Italians (Hanfes), Amharas, Greeks, Indians (commonly known as Baynan) as well as Muslims,…
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Goatskin and Hides Rot in Eritrean Streets
The once thriving skin and hides business has declined so much that rotting skins in the streets have become a source of foul smell and trash in the streets of highly populated Eritrean towns, but mainly in the capital city of Asmara. Recently, skins lost their value so much that they are often trashed due…
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The Allyship Model of Anti-Marginalization Struggle
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Goethe Dawit Mesfin’s recent article “All about self-liberation” has generated and stimulated discussion among the greatest notable minds of awate forum. The article and the debaters’ input provoked me to write this piece to enhance Dawit’s thesis of “self-liberation”, by framing it…
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Ahl Al-Kahaf: The Sleepers of Ephesus
Let me begin by wishing success and fruitful discussions for the organizers and attendants of the Sheffield Meeting, planed for tomorrow, Saturday, July 22, at 2pm. The two honorable men in the picture are Shiekh Mohammed Juma Abu Rashid, and Abba Shenoda Haile. The “Eritrean Justice Camp” knows both men who are visible in demonstrations…
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All about Self-Liberation
I have a friend who served as a British soldier during WWII whose stories I find quite fascinating. In fact, I have made it a habit to meet him every other day during my coffee breaks at the British Library in London. Listening to the stories of his youth, when he was deployed to…
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Massawa’s Cultural Heritage: Through the Prism of PFDJ
This investigative report was published on June 23, 2003. Two days ago, Asmara, Eritrea’s capital city was designated a “World Heritage site” for its buildings that were built by Mussolini’s Italian Fascist colonizers less than a century ago, and are affectionately promoted as “Art Deco”. Nothing indigenous about it. The 2003 Gedab investigative report focused on Massawa…
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With Qatar Gone, Eritrea Stalls To Avoid African Peacekeepers
Shortly after Eritrea and Djibouti sided with the Saudi Alliance against Qatar, the latter sent formal letters to both Djibouti and Eritrea, as well as to Mr. António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, informing them of its decision to withdraw its troops from their common border. Qatar had over 450 armed personnel guarding the buffer zone…
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Qatar: Al Jazeera in the Middle
Though the diplomatic crisis in the Arabian Gulf seemed to be moving fast, it was headed to a predetermined destination: a standstill. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were set to punish Qatar, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council that was born in 1976 and that is now crippled by old age before it…