Category: Articles
-
PIA interview – Summary Notes
Last week began with what appeared to be a curious finding by some pro-regime of the Eritrean diaspora, in the form of a letter dated September 17, 1945 and addressed to the then US secretary of state James F. Byrnes from the then President of a USA based Sinclair Oil Corporation (a company now known…
-
Bologna Conference: The Benefits of Non-Violent Struggle in Eritrea
I was recently invited to speak at a conference organised by EYSC (Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change) in the historic Italian town of Bologna held from 30th August to 1st September 2013. My presentation focussed on the merits of non-violent struggle against the tyrants ruling Eritrea from 1991 to present day. EYSC is a diaspora…
-
The Political Fate of Eritrea: In The Context of Our Time
The Eritrean political condition has occupied the major part of the lives of four generations of Eritreans. In the processes, such political condition has consumed countless lives creating untold sufferings; putting on regression for human and technical development. This is neither my pessimistic view nor the wishful thinking of the opposition groups that do not…
-
Statement: Network of Eritreans for Democracy, Justice and Equality (EDJE)
Statement by the Network of Eritreans for Democracy, Justice and Equality (EDJE) on the decision of the ENCDC Council’s leadership dismissing the Secretary of the Executive Committee The ENCDC represented a qualitative development in the Eritrean struggle and it motivated national forces to promote the national interests of the people. The decade long process to…
-
National Self Belief and Bologna 2013
Opposition at a Cross Road: The Less Traveled Path of National Self Belief and the Bologna Summit 2013 If you study the stories of some of the most successful entrepreneurs on this globe you will find that the attribute that sets them apart from the rest of us is usually one central factor: Their mindset.…
-
Eritrea Does Not Allow for anyone to Unbound
My Sundays begin at dawn, not with reading newspapers, but with listening to one of my favorite National Public Radio (NPR) programs, This American Life. I enjoy listening because it brings stories that one wouldn’t hear anywhere in the mainstream media and one cannot find anything better than this program if one wants to stay…
-
The Unsung Tragedy of Eritrea’s Children: Past, Present, and Future
Children can help. In a world of diversity and disparity, children are a unifying force capable of bringing people to common ethical grounds. Children’s needs and aspirations cut across all ideologies and cultures. The needs of all children are the same: nutritious food, adequate health care, a decent education, shelter and a secure loving family.…
-
What is in Our Name?
The Unionist movement, which was mostly restricted to a highlander/Christian movement, was the creation of Haileselassie. Abune Markos was instrumental in coercing ordained and lay priests to create mass bases for the Unionist movement; Tedla Bairu ushered in the Federal era while Asfeha Woldemikael, with Qeshi Dimetros, engineered Annexation. At various stages of our history…
-
If You Are an Eritrean…
The following was written on July 18, 2013 by “Haile” at awate forum in response to “Asmara”, an archetypal government supporter. It is being posted here because of your requests. It is one of the greatest take downs of the PFDJ talking points. The PFDJ defenders have somehow convinced themselves that they are the only…
-
Eritrea: The Unfinished Revolution
Eritrea is a small country in the Horn of Africa. No state census has been released since 2003, but its population is estimated to be around six million. Eritrea’s a coastal state that borders Ethiopia to its south, Sudan to its west, Djibouti to it south-east, and the Red Sea to its north. Because of…
-
Self-Definition And Self-Creation
Outline: 1. A Likely Breakthrough on the Horizon; 2. Rumblings; 3. Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia; 4. Repeating Myself – need for a framework for responsible political lobbying; 5. Theatrics aka Activism; … The pressure of history is enormous, and its judgment is the most burdensome of all. To throw a spanner in the works, a…
-
Unfiltered Notes: Eritrea’s Second Chance
First, a true story for some perspective. From their school days, my brother remembers Jemil as a gentle fellow who stayed out of trouble. Then Jemil’s never-to-be-messed-with line was crossed when a popular Ethiopian general slapped him in a public place in Addis sometime in the mid-1990s. Jemil went out, came back with a gun…
-
On the Cynics and on the Frustrated
On the Cynics You certainly have observed that now the time has come when the dead old demons are resurrected and its agents, seeing adventurous, optimistic Eritrea, at this time, standing amid its ruins, bewildered and confused, and although she knows perfectly well who the culprits were, she keeps bemusedly asking herself “whose fault is…
-
Perils Of Dependency
Outline: 1. Straw Man Argument; 2. Recycling Gedli; 3. Perils of Dependency; 4. Are we a Failed State? 5. Need for a Transitional Plan An article appeared on Asmarino.com whose content did not surprise me considering ‘the Sobering Times’ we went through these days. It appears some latter-day ‘activists’ are deliberately confusing themselves in order…
-
Our New Culture of Victimhood and Voyeurism
Virgil, Dante, Sartre, Milton and James Joyce all took turns describing hell. But it took an Eritrean, Mulugeta, to surpass them all. It is just what we Eritreans do, we are special. This is what hell is like: “Mulugeta said if he wanted to see his daughters, the traffickers would bring the girls to him…
-
Appraising Eritrea’s Social Media (Part II)
Reining our Elephant I want to start this follow-up article by thanking Haile for the following very constructive comments that he posted for the first part: “I know the topic ICT could be daunting, however your piece has come short in practical appraisal of the net effect of social media (say in the last decade…
-
Sobering Times
Outline: 1. Re-awakening the patriotic front; 2. Lies; 3. My Simple Analysis; 4. A variable we do not need; Dear reader, You may not enjoy this article for it is filled with some angry expressions which seem to be dominating my reasoning these days. Please take no offense! Here we go round the prickly pear…
-
Clipped Into Co-option
Outline Admonishing Eritrea; Brief reply to comments regarding my previous posting (Ethiopia, Tesfay Temnewo, Our youth) Clipped into Co-option I know beforehand that this article is going to stir some grumbling within some corners of our communities for two reasons: confrontational denunciations of patrons of the Ethiopian intrusion, and for diverting focus on Ethiopia rather…
-
PFDJ Toronto Mourns Its Tax Collector
The moqSel Gibri[i] Collector was dismissed, today members of the Toronto Chapter of the PFDJ gathered to lick their wounds and to counsel each other. They showed brave faces by invoking old PFDJ slogans such as: “the more we are challenged the more defiant we become and the more our victory is assured against our…
-
Adam Malakin: His Non-militant, Non-public Other Side
Adam Malakin, a prominent figure in the struggle for Eritrean statehood, passed away in May 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. Up until his sudden death following brief hospitalisation, Adam Malakin appeared healthy and sound. Adam Malakin, or simply A’m[1] Adam as he came to be endearingly known, was octogenarian. The purpose of this note is to…