Category: Articles
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The World Looking At Eritrea And Ethiopia
Editor’s Note: Today’s sample is possibly a representative view of the rest of the world regarding Eritrea and Ethiopia. Sometimes, looking at yourself from the perspective of others, particularly in this age of interdependence and globalization, helps with proper self-assessment. We hope this will add to the ongoing heated debate between the citizens of both Eritrea…
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Sample Views On Ethiopian-Eritrean Relations
The following is a two part digest of some comments in two parts that appeared on the Awate Forum. The first part is by Abinet, an Ethiopian debater, while the next part is a comment by Shum, an Eritrean commentator. Abinet says: This has been my stand from day one. I always ask why fight…
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Eritrea At A Crossroads: A Book By Andeberhan Welde Giorgis
The 660 – page book is written by the scholar, fighter, statesman, Ambassador Andebrhan Welde Giorgis, where he eloquently exposes the ills of the power hungry dictator, Isaias Afwerki. To be fair to the author, he does not engage in nasty and sour personal attacks of the president, rather, he artfully shines light on his…
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The Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea: How Did We Get Here?
If one were to take a glance at the Eritrean history pages that desperately await an objective scribe and flip from the page of September 1st, 1961 to October 3rd, 2013, the vines of time that bind these two dates would surely appear as if poisoned by a tragic irony. Hamed Idris Awate’s first shot…
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A Coup In Eritrea: Reality Check
I would like to thank Amanuel Hidrat for his well researched and educational article. I really appreciate the time and energy he spent to make his articles educational; I can only say he has expanded the subject matter and it’s going to be helpful in understanding articles and arguments which revolve around it in the…
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Eritrean Police Lectures Religious Leaders (Select Comments)
On September 20, 2014, The state-owned Eri-TV, the only Television station beaming from Asmara, Eritrea, showed the Commander of the Eritrean Police Force, Col. Mehari Tsegai, giving a lecture to a gathering of “religious leaders.” The reports stated that the “meeting [was] conducted in the Central region’s administration Hall in which over 150 religious leaders…
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Aster & Sherifo: My Parents Who Have Disappeared for 13 Years
My name is Ibrahim Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo. I am the son of two veteran fighters of the Eritrean revolution – Aster Fissehatsion and Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo. Both of my parents were former combatants but now Prisoners of Conscience. Their stories and misfortunes are in the public domain. Amnesty International, Human Rights watch and other institutions…
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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…