Author: Awate Team
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Teashop culture
I have a habit of reading the ads on the Starbucks bulletin board as I wait for my coffee. Two days ago, there were for sale ads offering a chair, a table with a broken leg, and a lady appealing to the public to help her find her lost dog. She described the dog, including
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“Goush the Shepherd Did It”
In a village council, when it was on a consultation break, a restless young man interrupted and said, “It’s Goush the shepherd who broke the bull’s leg.” A dumbfounded councilman asked him, “who is Goush, and what bull are you talking about?” The Young man confidently answered, “aren’t you talking about Tesfai’s bull whose leg
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Awate.com’s Saleh Johar interviews Meles Zenawi (2008)
The following was first published in May 26, 2008. It’s the first ever interview with the late PM Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia by an Eritreans entity since 1997. The file was lost around 2012 due to some server mishap. Thereafter, several people have asked us about it but we couldn’t find it until recently. This republishing is dedicated
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Three Eritrean Opposition Entities Form A Coalition
After a long discussion between the Eritrean opposition organizations, three entities announced the formation of Eritrean National Coalition (ENC). On Friday September 10, 2021, the announcement named “September Declaration” was formally made public in a Zoom conference where hundreds of Eritreans from all over the world attended. The members of the coalition are the National
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Negarit Special: ሓዘንን ሓጎስን – Joy and Sorrow – احزان وافراح
One morning Jemal and Khalid were strolling around when they saw armed soldiers leave Shishita garrison on speeding trucks. It could have been another trip to search a house or arrest someone, only their number was large. An army car stormed Khalid’s house and hauled his father while they watched in fear. The soldiers went
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المجلس الوطنى الاريتري يساند مبادرة حكومة المنفى
المجلس الوطنى الاريتري للتغيير الديموقراطي ، المعروف أيضًا باسم “بايتو” أو “مجلس” باللغة التيغرينيا والعربية على التوالي ، هو تحالف من الأحزاب السياسية الإري .ومنظمات المجتمع المدني والكيانات الأخرى غير المنتسبة يُعرف المبادرون لفكرة “حكومة المنفى” باسم فريق العمل الوطني. ذكر رئيس المجلس الوطني الارتري للتغيير الديموقراطي في رسالته أنه بالتوازي مع التزامه بالعمل من
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Minelik and Mlelikh
Does God consider those who reject slavery as sinners? However, many offshoot narrations from the original divine books promote slavery in different forms. They could have been acceptable practices in ancient times, but they are repulsing by the moral standards of today. As far as religions are concerned, their timeless essence is virtue, compassion and
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Grave Human Rights Violation in Aksum
Disclaimer: This report is issued by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission which is established by the Ethiopian Government Investigation into Grave Human Rights Violations in Aksum City Report on Preliminary Findings Introduction In its January and February, 2021 reports on the human rights situation in Tigray, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC/the Commission), indicated that it
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A Tribute to My Friend Adhanom
On Friday, February 19, 2021, Adhanom Gebremariam passed away in the USA. His funeral will be held on Saturday February 17, 2021. Adhanom was a veteran of the Eritrean struggle. As a senior commander in the army, Adhanom commanded and fought gallantly in major battles of the struggle era. After the “independence of Eritrea” he
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Eritreans in Ethiopia Fear for Their Safety
Several Eritrean opposition members who live in Ethiopia have been facing harassment and fear since the Ethiopian Civil wars intensified. Some members whose organizations had varying degree of presence in Ethiopia. However, since Isaias Afwerki and Abiy Ahmed made a pact in in July 2018, they have been living in precarious situation. Since then, Eritrean
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The Horn of Africa: From Unitarianism to Medemerism
Sifting through endless mazes of social media outlets to find a discourse that engages one’s intellectual faculty requires ample patience and restraints of the highest order. The attendant subject matter, namely, The Horn of Africa, is no exception in that it has proliferated in magnitude, in volume, proportional to the virtual world at large. When
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Do Ethiopian Love Their Country?
It’s safe to say Ethiopians love their country more than their people. In fact, the ever warring political and military elite do not seem to mind eradicating the people and destroying the country and as long they are assured of ruling the rubble that’s left behind. Eight-hundred years of governing patterns attest to that. The
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Ethiopian War Exhibit In Triangles
Triangle-shaped structures are sturdy but also simple. In 1998-2000 war broker around the Eritrean village of Baddme, in the area the Ethiopians called Yirga Triangle. And today the initial devastating results of the current Ethiopian ethnic war is seen in a triangle whose three corners are the towns of Humera and Mettema (Ethiopia), Gellabat and
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To the West or to the East?
News coming from Sudan indicate that high level consultations are still continuing between the the tripartite Sudanese government and the PFDJ, the Eritrean ruling party. According to unconfirmed news, a delegation will fly out of Eritrea to continue discussions on political and intelligence operations. The delegation is expected to include the Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman
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The Moody Government Closed Italian Schools
After months old wrangling with the school administration, the Eritrean government finally closed the Italian schools in Eritrea. The school bell, “Sadly remains silent for the first time in 103 years in the Italian school of Asmara” as an Italian writer put it. But the fate of the Italian school was sealed once the authorities
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Dam On The River Nile
The Horn of Africa region saw two weeks of hectic travels. And Eritrean officials travelled the most. If the leaders were enrolled in a travel-miles program they would have accumulated so many travel credit. On June 25, Isaias visited Sudan and met Abdelfattah AlBurhan, the Chairman of the Transitional Military Council. And on July 6,
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Ethiopians and Eritreans Need to Have a Serious Talk
Once someone took a snide at me and called me “ambetta belitta;” it means locust eater in Amharic. He jokingly explained it’s how some Ethiopians derogatorily describe Eritreans. A large portion of Ethiopian are known for their “qnie, what’s called Wax and Gold—what they say is not actually what one hears but has another deeper
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Our Condolences to Amanuel Hidrat and His Family
In the cycle of life – from cradle to the grave – we have no allotted timeline we follow. We live life as it was dealt to us. If he did this, if she had done such and such differently, they would’ve been with us today, we say in our unguarded moments. However, deep in
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Happy Eid – ዒድ ሙባረክ – عيد مبارك
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David Copperfield, Isaias, and Dahlan
For more than two weeks, Eritrean activists guessed and speculated about the whereabouts of Isaias Afwerki. The unelected ruler of Eritrea was not seen in public for a long time. But a few days ago, curiosity seemed to have come to an end when Isaias made a four-minute appearance in a recorded video. In the early