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Mai Ule (ማይ ኡለ): A Play
ACT (I) CHARACTERS Ahmed Hillal (ኣሕመድ ሂላል) Abubeker Mohammed Hassen (ኣቡበከር መሓመድ ሓሰን) Hassen Mohammed Amir (ሓሰን መሓመድ ኣሚር) Ahmed Alqeysi (ኣሕመድ ኣልቀይሲ) Sulieman Hindi (ሱለይማን ህንዲ) MihreteAb (ምሕረተኣብ) SETTING: She’eb (ሽዕብ) and environs, mid to late 1971. SCENE: Mai Ule (ማይ ኡለ) river and the hills, mountains in its vicinity. ( Sitting under a shed…
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Eritrean Offspring of Muawya Bin Abu Sufyan
This is a partial script of Negarit 59–the first part of the episode was unscripted. 1.Awrajawyan Nkhun 2.Men eyyu Muawya? Entay ke b’eesu? His name is Muawya bin Abu Sufyan, the founder of the Ummayad dynasty (Ummawyeen) which was established in Damascus and reached to the south of France and to the borders of China—an…
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Defining the Malilya Syndrome
If you are a Tigrinya reader, with no knowledge of Arabic language and with no membership in any of the Eritrean Arabic languages groups on social media, chanting “Yakil”, kindly move to the next article, this reading will guaranteed be a waste of your time. Let me also inform you that I am not a…
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Dollar Crunch: Ethiopian and Eritrean Airlines
Gedab News learned of a recurring issue between Ethiopian and Eritrean civil aviation departments over the payments of balances. According to our source, “Eritrea’s bills are now past due since it has not paid for Ticket sales it owes to the Ethiopian Airlines.” On July 18, 2018, Ethiopian airlines restarted its flights to Eritrea after…
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Macbeth: A Noble Man and a Witch
Once upon a time, a witch encountered a noble man and told him that he will be a king one day. The noble man shared this bewitching prophecy with his wife. His wife pressured him to murder the king now to claim the prophesied kingdom. This was from Shakespeare’s play of Macbeth some 400 years…
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Negarit 58: A Goatskin Filled With Butter
The following is the script for Negarit 58 (in Tigrinya) which was published on October 28, 2018 – #ሓርቢጠስሚ – حرب السمن# – #HarbiTesmi —————- In this episode, the topics are 1) Tilahun Gessese’s old song, 2) Harbi Tesmi, a goatsking filled with butter, and 3) The offsprings of Muwaya, the founder of the Ummayad dynasty. 1) Tilahun…
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25 Years of Disappearance, a Tragedy of a Man or a Nation?
May 1991 was an extraordinary year for all Eritreans. It was the year in which Asmara was liberated and Mengistu’s army was routed. Eritreans were ecstatic, they saw the fruition of their 30 years of struggle and the fulfillment of their dream. Discussions were abound among Eritreans in diaspora about going back home, rebuilding…
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Nobel, a Juxtaposition of Leaders
The Nobel Prize website Summarized the rationale behind the awarding of its prize of 2019 to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in these words: “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea.” Laureates of the past There was no mention of Isaias…
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HardTalk: Group Rights And Identity Politics
Introduction: The term “Identity politics” is popularized as a political discourse in the higher educational institutions, since 1970s. Identity politics was originally emerged as a way of consciousness raising among marginalized [social] groups and as means to empower those groups who felt oppressed by the society around them [1]. The more overtly pragmatic debates about…
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Eritrean Opposition Party Transforms and Renamed HADI
Last week, the former Eritrean Islamic Party for Justice and Development (EIPJD), one of the largest Eritrean opposition organizations, held its congress and made major changes in its program, and elected a new leadership. In a statement it issued on October 19, 2019, the party dropped the “Islamic” term from its name and renamed itself…
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Gold Coins and Necklaces–Congratulating PM Abiy
Last week Ethiopia went through eventful days. Among other things, on October 9, prime minister Abiy Ahmed inaugurated the 20 hectares Unity Park in the national palace grounds in Addis Ababa in the presence of invited officials and heads of state of the region. The unelected president of Eritrea didn’t attend because he has bestowed all…
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Negarit 57: ጽዊጽዋይ ወለዶይ – My ancestral myth – أسطورة نسبي
This is a script that I used for Negarit 57, my series on youtube recorded on October 9, 2019) Today I will tell you about my ancestry trail for the last 2300 years, and solidarity with the Catholics and Abuna Abraha Francoise, the man who should be canonized as a saint. I just discovered my…
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Post-DC Voices and Identity Politics (Part II)
Introductory note “Countering dominant and hegemonic narratives is the flip-side of being complicit” (Michel Bamberg 2004). [i] In my part I, I promised that I was going to do rhetorical analysis on DC Yiakil Boito based on (mis)representation its detractors. Given the gravity the of the subject and its consequences one feels obliged to react…
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PM Abiy Has “Innovative Projects” to Deport Asylum-Seekers
President Donald Trump could save millions of dollars by seeking advice from the Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed (who discovered an innovative way to deport migrants) instead of wasting money building a costly wall on the border with Mexico. Details are still scanty, but recently Abiy Ahmed suggested ways to help deport Eritrean asylum-seekers in Israel…
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Negarit 56: ሳዋን ግርማይን ዑመርን – Sawa Omar and Girmay -ساوا وجرماي و عمر
Last week two great Eritreans departed. Omar Hassen Omran, was buried in Kessela, Sudan and Girmay Kidane, Wedi Philipo, was buried in Milano, Italy A word to the forces of good, particularly Eritreans “End and Means”, or Grabbing the neck and the process of reaching that goal The tone of my last few videos was…
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Egypt-Ethiopia: The Nile Water Crisis Resurfaces Again
The embattled Egyptian president AlSisi has resuscitated the Nile water crisis with Ethiopia. The differences over Ethiopia’s Great Renaissance Dam (GERD) that started in 2011, has sometimes bubbled and in other times erupted to the surface. When it did, it was often downplayed by occasional diplomatic niceties or escalated through media forays. But since the summer…
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Negarit 55: ቆለ ፈውሲ ፋሺስት – Voodoo treats fascism – الزار يعالج الفاشية
Most of my stories are included in my book “Of Kings and Bandits” Today’s episode is more of a story aba Zarti, Qole, and my experience with it. Now let me say something to my readers who seem to be offended by my repeated mention of the term fascists”. They think I am insulting when…
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Post-DC Voices and Identity Politics (Part I)
Introduction “ይኣክል” or “Enough” is a dynamic grassroots based process around which Eritreans globally are getting organized to make their voices heard and stand up against tyranny. Undoubtedly, the movement is marking visible gains world-wide as the fields of mobilisation get wider with renewed revolutionary fervour. But everything has not been rosy as its critics,…
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Al Sisi in Trouble: The Second Egyptian #Enough Campaign
Spring is no more, it’s fall season in Egypt; a new phenomenon that is bringing to life the spirit of the 2010 Arab is being led by an Egyptian actor and contractor, Mohammed Ali, who is not a whistleblower–he is blowing a large horn. Egypt is once again leading a social media based campaign to…
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Abu Dhabi to Khartoum Line Through Asmara
Four days after returning from Abu Dhabi where he met Mohammed Bin Zaid of the UAE, on Monday, September 9, Isaias Afwerki traveled to Sudan for a two-day visit where he met General Al Burhan and other officials. In a statement issued after the visit, the Sudanese foreign minister said the two countries agreed to…
