Category: Articles
-
Eritreans’ Hopefulness & Tigrayans’ Romanticizing HiwHat (ምቁንጃው ህውሓት)
[Correction: we apologize for the technical mistake on the wrong Byline, it’s not Awate Team. The author is actually Beyan Negash/The Editor] “In the long vista of the years to roll, Let me not see our country’s honour fade: O let me see our land retain her soul, Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom’s shade. From…
-
Government in Exile: Eritrean Integrative Discourse
Over the last three decades Eritreans have tried to unify themselves by creating alliances or creating a new organization. Though some people may have not been considerate, no one can undermine the efforts done by Diaspora Eritreans. But there has been confusions on what our role should be on this endeavor. The divisions and aspirations…
-
ERITREA: WHAT IN A NAME
A self-contemplation that was circulating for some-time in my head was brought to surface when the curious touche-à-tout Saleh Gadi Johar humorously discussed the origin of the name Eritrea in his Negarit No 123 entitled “Eritrea and Eretria”.1 Where did the name come from? And who coined it? Johar did his own research. He was…
-
Eritrean Government in Exile: A Possible Third School of Thought
The emergence of literary national identity, Transcendentalism can be an instructive model as Eritreans are grappling toward the formation of a government in exile. In the 1820s and 1830s Transcendentalism helped marshal an emergent American culture in the definition of its literary national identity. Prior to Transcendentalism, thinkers looked at Europe’s past to create literary…
-
Tragic Tales Of Eritrean Families: Mohammed Said Abdella
Yesterday, March 26, 2021, we received a shocking news. Milkias Mehreteab Yohannes, one of the best writers awate.com ever hosted, has passed away. We will republish several of his articles on a weekly basis. This article was first published on Nov, 13, 2010//Awate Team One thing that greatly disturbed and puzzled me in my life as a…
-
On the 50th Anniversary of a Founding Father, Hajj Sulieman Ahmed Omar!
On a typical quiet day in Asmara, hours before the sunset, a group of men came to our home, located on Leonardo Da Vinci Street. None of the men were familiar to me, except for one. He was the tallest among them; he was wearing a colourful turban, a white Jalabia and a classic coat…
-
Eritrea: A Classic African dictator took over (Book Review)
Book Reviewer: Chefena Hailemariam Bjork, Christina. 2019. Eritrea: A Classic African dictator took over. Themes, Stockholm. ISBN 978-91-985588-0-7 Christina Bjork’s book which made its debut in 2019 is about the history of modern Eritrea with a focus on the armed struggle. Her book comprises of twelve sections of personal narratives drawn from her in depth…
-
Eritrean Refugees: Fifty Years of Injustice
[Editor’s note: This content was first published on Feb 15, 2017.] The Eritrean refugee’s story is a difficult one to tell. Eritrean refugees in the Sudan made history twenty years ago, by becoming the longest stayed displaced refugees in the world. The length of time, the relatively friendly atmosphere accorded to most refugees by the…
-
A Miserable Country Goes to War with Itself
Say what you will about outgoing president Trump, and despite the messenger, there are many countries in the word that fit this description, and the country in question is one of them. An epitome of the description. It is a country that recently decided to go to war with itself. I will not name this…
-
Eritrea’s Socio-Politics of Slash and Burn
Back in 1990, The New York Times had an opinion piece titled, “The Politics of Slash and Burn”. The gist of the article speaks to the beginning of down spiraling political discourse in the US where Republican candidates were encouraged to use words like ”Sick.” ”Traitors.” ”Bizarre.” ”Self-serving.” ”Shallow.” ”Corrupt.” ”Pathetic.” ”Shame” when describing their opponents.…
-
The Debate Over Arabic Language in Eritrea!
Orally told stories relate a conversation that took place in the first parliament in Eritrea in the 1950s. During a heated parliamentary debate on the official languages of Eritrea, a member of parliament from the Independence Block stood up to speak in favour of adopting Arabic as the second official language of Eritrea. As he…
-
Mesfin Hagos Should Resign From His Political Party
[This is part 3 of 3 in a series under the title of “Can Mesfin Hagos Lead Under a Banner of “One Country, One Destiny”?] “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom” Thomas Jefferson The earlier two pieces1 were meant to show how complex the Eritrean socio-political terrain can be. And negotiating such complexity requires a leadership…
-
Mesfin Hagos: Before the Egg Hatches
This is part 2 of 3 series under the title of “Can Mesfin Hagos Lead Under a Banner of “One Country, One Destiny”? The third part will follow soon. Eritrea and its people have been on a trajectory of existential threat for two decades from the very revolutionaries who brought the nation its independence. The golden egg…
-
መሰል ንኽትሓትት ነጢፍካ ግቡእ ንምትግባር…
(እዚ ጽሑፍ ዕላማኡ ንኣስተንትኖ’ዩ’ሞ መዓዲ፡ ገሳጺ፡ ምናልባት’ውን ከም ገለ ክብል መሃሪ እንተ መሲሉ ሰኣን ኣኻእሎ ጥራይ’ዩ።) ነቶም እንተስ ብጥቕሚ፡ ምድንጋርን ሰሪ እዅል ምስትውዓልን ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ዝድግፉ ገዲፍና፡ ኣብ መንጎ’ቶም ኣብ ኣንጻሩ ደምበ ዘሎና ጥራይ ከተኵር። ስእነት ተሓታትነት፡ ግሉጽነትን ምዝርጋሕ ጭቡጥ ሓበሬታን ገለ ካብቶም ስርዓት ህግደፍ ዘይቀባበሉዎ መሰረታውያን ኣዕኑድ ንቡር መንግስቲ እዮም። ኣንጻር’ዚ ወጽዓ’ዚ እንቃለስ ወይ…
-
Can Mesfin Hagos Lead Under a Banner of “One Country, One Destiny”?
It has become a cliché to say the Internet has changed many facets of our lives, and the claim of such a truism, however, can hardly be called an overstatement. Of general interest for this article rests in the social and political activism that continues to evolve as it creates a seemingly conducive environment for…
-
Book Review: Eritrea-Inception and Consolidation of Dictatorship
Published 2020, Uppsala Sweden. Text in Tigrinya. ISBN: 978-91-519-5571-1 Pp. 365 plus list of references. Reviewed by Tekeste Negash Emeritus Professor July 24, 2020 This book, Rezene Tesfazion,( RT) explains in the introduction, is about life in exile. It explores the political reason (underground political activities in Asmara before 1974) as the main reason for…
-
Eritrean Case: Theory of Internal Colonialism
Before we jump into the discussion of internal colonialism, it’s necessary to pave a way for it with an overview of formal/external colonialism due the close relationship and commonalities between them. A great number of authors and writers – including Eritreans – dealt with external/formal colonialism in detail and studied it’s effects and suffering that is…
-
PM Abiy What Does An Agent of Peace Mean To You?
We Eritreans condemn the Ethiopian Prime Minster Abiy’s recent statement where he made an outrageous claim that “the government of Eritrea is a power of peace, and not only Ethiopia, but this fact is acknowledged by the whole world.” He continued further and made a false statement that, “wherever you go in the world, there…
-
The Eritrean Misery Cycle And The Way Out
Since 2018, when the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) regime removed its face mask and its leaders revealed their true intentions and hidden agenda to undermine Eritrean sovereignty. Eritreans have consistently pursued efforts to protect their national sovereignty and attempted to block the destructive project adopted by the PFDJ regime because the entire…
-
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…