-
The Successful National Conference: A Crucial Milestone
Prior to the convening of the national conference, there were many pessimists who thought that there was no chance in hell that it would work. “ezi’om seb sirah ay’konun”, they purported, all the while having nothing to show for it themselves, except for arrogance and hollow bravado. There were also some skeptics who in…
-
National Conference: Fertilizing Wisdom Of Our Two Giants
“Those who came with pure hearts, with malice towards none, with feelings of fellowship and eventual harmony, changed the mood.” Amanuel Sahle on “A Healing Journey.” It is our fears that invest the unconscious with fearsome characteristics of dark underworld inhibited by evil masters. But in reality the unconscious contains all the energy and wisdom…
-
Of Kings And Bandits: A Book Review
The book, Of Kings And Bandits, tells the story of a young Eritrean boy, who was forced to choose between dying in dignity, free and brave, or dying in ignominy, humiliated and afraid. Jemal chose the former; and joined a band of “bandits”, otherwise known as freedom fighters, to defy the tyranny of an oppressive…
-
Of Kings And Bandits: A Book Review
The book, Of Kings And Bandits, tells the story of a young Eritrean boy, who was forced to choose between dying in dignity, free and brave, or dying in ignominy, humiliated and afraid. Jemal chose the former; and joined a band of “bandits”, otherwise known as freedom fighters, to defy the tyranny of an oppressive…
-
Stay Engaged, Be Relevant
A friend implores that those of us who write on Eritrean affairs, do so, from a middle-of-the-road perspective. I understand the appeal: the extreme is reprehensible and the middle-road is praiseworthy. To me the art of compromise, the art of navigating from the middle is the art of peace-making, and a sure sign of political…
-
Awate.com
National Conference: An Affirmation Of Eritrea’s Founding Principles
Yemane Gebreab, the political director of Eritrea’s ruling party, the PFDJ (who is also a “special advisor” to President Isaias Afwerk), was being interviewed by Swedish TV earlier this month. The interviewer wanted to know, among other things: what was the crime of Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak who is in detention since 2001? Is he…
-
The National Convention: A Healing Journey
I, and my friend Khaled, (both from Sweden) were some of the early arrivers to the Wa’ala or the National Convention; ten days ahead to be precise. So we, inspite of our hosts insistence that we stayed put and helped out in their headquarters situated at Sar Bet, Addis Abeba, finally decided to proceed to…
-
Timar, The Rebel (Part 4)
This story was originally presented in four series at Eripost, awate.com. It is condensed from a not yet published manuscript of the same title by Amanuel Sahle. .In the 1980s Asmara was a sort of military garrison. The Derg (the communist oriented Ethiopian military junta) soldiers seemed to have lost all hope of carrying on the…
-
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…
-
من العِتَابِ ما قَتَلْ : إلى عَوَاتي دُّوتْ كُومْ *
الأخ صالح (قاضي) جوهر من التحية ما يليق بشخصكم و مني لك أطيبها وبعد في بدء التعريف أقول لك : بأني من ذات البلاد التي تنتمي و نتمي وهذا نصبينا من الهوية فلا نحمد في ذلك غير الله وحده و الذي لا يحمد في مكروهٍ سواه ، فلا نسأله عن رد هذا القَدّر إلا اللطف…
-
National Conference Elects A 53-Member Commission
Commission To Organize A Conference And Draft Transitional Constitution Towards A National Assembly Gedab News: (August 9, 2010) The National Conference for Democratic Change (NCDC) concluded its session today, August 9, 2010, by electing a 53-member Commission for Democratic Change in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference began on July 31, 2010. 330 participants representing…
-
In Support Of The Eritrean Accord
I read the Eritrean Accord with interest as I did to the Eritrean Covenant. I have objections to some of the assertions therein. Moreover, I wish the introductory note was written in a less incriminatory tone. I do not think excessive incriminations help us at this stage. Yet, I have embraced the Eritrean Accord and…
-
Good News, Bad News And Ngst Hanna
Today I have bad news, good news and anger, but first, let me begin with the good news. Good News #1: My friend Adhanom Gebremariam was sick, bedridden for weeks in a hospital where the doctors tried on him all their knives, cutting, his abdomen, sewing it again, only to cut him again. After many…
-
The National Conference: A Secure Avenue To Democracy
Seventy years in the history of peoples is a very short period, but it seems a long time to the naive. They think it is doable to change the natural course of people according to their whims and the outcome of their mess was a disaster to all Eritreans—the nescient panicky fanatics are flopping in…
-
A Moral Mandate To Liberate
At long last, the coming together of Eritreans to discuss ways and means of bringing about democratic change in Eritrea, a dream that had been conceptualized for over a decade, is finally here. Dubbed the National Conference for Democratic Change (NCDC), the convention started on July 30 and will resume for several days in the…
-
A Moral Mandate To Liberate
At long last, the coming together of Eritreans to discuss ways and means of bringing about democratic change in Eritrea, a dream that had been conceptualized for over a decade, is finally here. Dubbed the National Conference for Democratic Change (NCDC), the convention started on July 30 and will resume for several days in the…
-
Praise and Criticize
Praise and Criticize:“The Eritrean Accord: Harmonized Constitution” First and foremost, I congratulate Mejlis Ibrahim Mukhtar for taking the initiative of amending the Eritrean constitution using a mixture of the 1952 Eritrean Federal constitution and the ratified 1997 Eritrean constitution in his I for one am on record for advocating the use of the ratified 1997…
-
What The US Should Do About Eritrea
In 2006, US-backed Ethiopia invaded Somalia and removed from power the Islamic Courts Union, which it perceived as a brewing threat. To the United States, it was another extension of the global war on terror and it openly backed the invasion, claiming that the Islamic Courts were harboring terrorists responsible for the bombing of US…
