Category: Articles
-
Calling A Spade A Spade
‘Say the truth and lie on a railway line.’ I pondered about the above quoted ancient Eritrean wisdom. The literal translation sounds a bit strange; it sounds as if it encourages committing a senseless suicidal act. But the real meaning is far from that; it stresses the value of saying the truth irrespective of the…
-
“Lynching” by the Rivers of Winnipeg
1. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3 .For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us…
-
Basil Davidson (1915-2010): A Tribute
Basil Davidson’s contribution as a writer and historian on Africa is without parallel in Europe. His active study and active involvement in the politics of liberation was also outstanding. Everyone concerned with understanding Africa owes an enormous debt to his life’s work Basil had established himself as a journalist before and after World War II.…
-
The Regime’s Development Hashewiye
Every generation lives its own life and if life on earth were stagnant, Adam and Eve’s home, furniture and utensils would have been archeologically unearthed. Adam’s spoon, trousers and bed would have been inherited and utilized by Isaias. Unfortunately, life is full of vigor and it is in a continual rejuvenation. The law that governs…
-
Unique As Our fingerprints
We, humans, are the most curious creatures. We want privacy yet we are the most gregarious of animals. We are different yet we are the same. Our interests and behavioral dispositions are as unique as our fingerprints yet there are underlying facts that make us similar…our desire to live and live happily. Even within a…
-
A Response To “It’s A Crazy World”
I have been reading awate.com now off and on for about 3 years, and there has yet to be any more relentless display of marxist ideology and miscontruing of history as there was in the last article “It is a crazy world” by Amanuel Sahle. This bad piece of journalism displays the views and, uniquely,…
-
Addis 2010: NCDC Participation And Issues (II)
After one of the group sessions, a Tigre speaking colleague who attended the conference remarked, “I do not like the Tigrinya word ግና ‘gnna’ (but). Some Tigrinya speakers express excellent views and suddenly everything they had stated is spoiled after they utter the word ‘gnna.” We had an outspoken Tigrinya speaker in our group who…
-
Sometimes A “Draw” Is Good
On September 21, 2010, the International Crisis Group (ICG) issued its report on Eritrea titled “Eritrea: The Siege State.” The ICG succinctly summarized the Eritrean history in its glories and its failings. To speak for myself, this is the best summary of Eritrea‘s history that I have read. This is an outstanding primer, which one…
-
Opposition By Default
It is a matter of common sense that any two should not dispute, that the primary task of any opposition is to call and struggle to bring about the necessary democratic changes by all possible means to achieve what the ruling government has failed to a achieve for its people. In a case like ours,…
-
Philsophical Enklil Part 2: Mystifying The Obvious
After filtering out the background noise of YG articles, what we are left with is just simply intellectual stuttering. This stuttering of YG has been going on for far too long with utter disregard to fact, truth, or decency. Day in and day out he has made a mockery of everything Eritrea and what Eritreans…
-
The Eritrean Elites And The People
Recently, I observed a relative tranquility in the Eritrean cyberspace, may be the success of the NCDC diverted the course of action into the righteous direction. A considerable number of participants also highlighted their views with regard to the event and confirmed that at least “we can sit together at the table.” Above all, Assenna.com…
-
A New Type Of Politics Needed Not A New Type Of Opposition
In the absence of a central body which monitors and “regulates” discussions of Eritrea’s state of affairs, it is not surprising to see debates turn into fights and political campaign run negatively. In the absence of an arbiter, it is normal to see some people and organizations talk louder. Because the louder you talk it…
-
To The Silent Majority – For How Long Can You Keep Your Silence?
A priest asked a dying Spanish Statesman and General who ruled his country in the late 18th century: ‘’Does your Excellency forgive all your enemies?’’ ‘’I do not have to forgive my enemies,’’ the ruler replies, ‘’I have had them all killed.’’ In Eritrea, today, every kind of available weapon is being unleashed: education, mass…
-
Addis 2010: Eritrean-Ethiopian relationship (I)
Haddis Alemayehu’s ‘Fiqir iske meqabir (love to the grave) is a literary masterpiece of Amharic literature about feudal Ethiopia that I enjoyed reading during my school days. Addis 2010 revived my memory about the novel and in a number of ways I somehow tried to relate it to the current tragic state of Eritrea. So…
-
Philosophical Enklil Part 1:Discuss Fishing Without Mentioning Fish
Recently, I have read articles written in Asmarino.com that attempted to address the existence of alleged “child soldier” in the Eritrean struggle during liberation war against Ethiopia. Yosief Gherberhiwet (YG), What the Book of Martyrs Doesn’t Say: Part I and Part II. There was also Zekre Libona (ZL) with his The Eritrean Revolution and Its…
-
Cheap Shots on the National Conference for Democratic Change:
We are heartened by the hard and imaginative work that our delegates to the National Conference put into the task of laying the foundation to heal the country from its harsh past and present, and shape the future that restores dignity, confidence and pride into our people. It is a real patriotic work and essential…
-
The National Conference And The Expectant Community
Speculations about a National Convention of opposition parties and civic organizations aiming at working on a road map for the future of Eritrea, have been on the airwaves and headlines of major Eritrean websites especially during the last six months preceding the first week of August 2010. And after a prelude of a lot of…
-
The Eritrean Covenant And Nehnan Elamanan: Two Shady Documents, You Can’t Defend In A Mixed Crowd
“ንሕና ማለት እዞም ሕጂ ኣብ ቅድሜኹም ቀሪብና እንዛረብ ዘሎና ተጋደልቲ፡ እቶም ብመጋቢት 1969 ዓ.ም.ፈ. ካብ ምምሕዳር “ቅያዳ ኣል ዓማ” ዝተፈለና ኢና። እወ ንሕና ዳርጋ ኩላትና ክርስትያን ኢና። ብደገ ናይ ኩነታትና ህላዌ ዝርኢ እውን “ሃይማኖታውያን” እዮም ይብል ይኸውን….. መንነትናን ዕላማናን ክፈልጥ ንዝደሊ ንጽሑፍና ብምሉኡ ንኸንብቦ ሓደራ ንብል። ላዕለዎት ራእስታት ጀብሃ፡ ናብተን ብትካል ምስልምና ዝምርሓ ሃገራትን ድርጅታትን…
-
Reflections: Seven Days At The NCDC
Having lived in Addis-Ababa for almost four years as an Eritrean refugee with urban status, and having strong “shaebia” sentiment, and being a member of the silent Eritrean majority, I had still many misgivings about the handling of the NCDC, but decided anyway to attend on the fourth day after the conference was started. …
-
Why did the Chicken Cross the Road? (The Eritrean Version; A Satire)
2009-2010 was a hectic year for Eritrean internet writers, users and abusers, even by Eritrean internet standards. With due regard to the seriousness of our discourse, I attempted to satirize, and caricaturize supposed dominant themes of our writers in an effort to lighten our mood and exact some humor along the way. I hope…