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The Courage to Be Eritrean: Navigating a Moment of Crisis
Eritrea stands at a precipice, a chasm in the unfolding narrative of our nation. This juncture demands not merely the reflex of action, but a descent into the very core of our being—a profound interrogation of what it means to be Eritrean. As the shadow of Ethiopia’s threatened war for Assab looms, we are compelled…
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The Panopticon Writes Back: On Plagiarism and AI Simulation
I built a café once, not of stone or steam, nor chairs with bentwood backs. It had no street address, yet it knew exactly where it stood: between memory and exile, between the watcher and the watched. In my novel I & Eye, I called it the Panopticon Café. It was where silences had dialects, and…
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Eritrea’s Unanswered Question: 34 Years of Isaias Afwerki’s Rule
Eritrea’s Unanswered Question: What 34 Years of Isaias Afwerki’s Rule Reveal About Sovereignty and Survival In the beginning was the question—etched into the soul of the nation itself: Can Eritrea survive—and thrive—as a truly sovereign, independent state? For decades, global powers insisted we could not. Italy once tried to sell Eritrea to Belgium, citing economic…
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Beneath the Rooftop Howl: A Response to Tekeste Negash’s Historiography Shackled by Irredentism
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked, dragging themselves through the Negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix…” Allen Ginsberg, Howl, 1956 Disclaimer: This is not a portrait of a man, but of a method. Tekeste Negash’s body may remain in Uppsala, but his arguments walk…
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Italian Colonialism (1887-1896): The rise and fall of Shoan and Tigrayan Politics
Italian strategies of colonialism in Ethiopia, 1887 to 1896: The rise and the fall of “la politica scioana” and “la politica tigrina.” Background Italy emerged as a colonial power in 1882 when it formally took over Assab from Rubbatino, a private shipping company, that owned the property since 1869. The scramble for Africa was about…
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The Eritrean Regime and Its Neighbors
On May 24, 1991, Eritreans achieved their long-sought independence, formally recognized on May 24, 1993. Yet, true freedom remained elusive. The organization that became the ruling government legally solidified its hold—not through popular consent, but through brute force, injustice, and external alliances and considerations. Those early days were euphoric; few foresaw the wars and displacements…
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Compulsory Service in Eritrea: The President’s Psychological Shadows and Major National Tasks
Authored by: Abdu Fagir posted by awatestaff On July 12, 2025, the graduation ceremony for the 37th batch of national service was held at the famous Sawa military camp. As usual, the ceremony was attended by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, who has attended all previous graduations, senior government officials, leaders of the People’s Front for…
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Open Letter to the Organizers of the August 30, 2025 meeting.
A meeting is planned for August 30, 2025, to form a Registration and Election Commission with the objective of electing a legitimate global representative body to represent justice-seeking Eritreans in the Diaspora. Dear Members of the August 30, 2025 Organizing Committee: I understand you have planned a meeting on August 30, 2025, whose primary objective…
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Ethiopia: The Graveyard of Eritrean Opposition Movements
Abstract: This article examines the structural, historical, and geopolitical constraints that have undermined the Eritrean opposition’s ability to bring about meaningful political change. It argues that the reliance on host states such as Ethiopia and Sudan has delegitimized opposition movements in the eyes of the Eritrean people. The article proposes a shift away from failed…
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A Mirror Between Literature and History
In moments of historical rupture, when the line between remembering and rewriting blurs, we return to mirrors, not to admire or accuse, but to see again. This reflection emerges in the wake of a series of meditations on memory, language, and the ethics of naming: The River Remembers. Written during a time marked by silence…
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The Red Sea: Between Occupiers and Owners
To Eritreans, the Red Sea is all of the above; to invaders, it is just a port, a swinging door. They come and leave from the same door.
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Epilogue: History on Custodial Leash
There are moments in literary and historical critique when one feels the sharp tension between reverence and reckoning. To read Alemseged Tesfai’s five-page epilogue to his 490-page historical volume and offer a pointed critique is an undertaking that requires courage, clarity, and context. It is also an undertaking that, if not approached with the utmost…
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Alemseged Tesfai: Is that all what you are?
Debunking Ethiopia’s memos of late 1940s claiming ‘the return of Eritrea to its motherland,’ Margery Perham, a British historian, wrote in 1948 that every sentence in those memos “cried for comment and correction.” That expression came to my mind this week while reading Almseged Tesfai’s five-page Epilogue for the translation of his worthy three volumes…
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“Military Communique #1: Coup d’ Etat”
This was a common radio announcement, preceded by martial music and read in the deep voice of an officer. Immediately, fear engulfed listeners, followed by intense discussions and swirling rumors. Most people in the so-called third world instantly recognized it as a coup d’état—usually in a country they couldn’t even locate on a map. A…
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Support the 2025 Awate & Negarit Fundraising Drive
(REPUBLISHED) This year, we’re launching the 2025 fundraising drive five months behind schedule—we trust you’ll understand. For decades, awate.com and Negarit have served you as a labor of love. Our mission has always been to promote awareness and work tirelessly toward the goal of national reconciliation—a goal we remain committed to until it’s fully realized.…
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The UAE and the Horn of Africa – A Swirl of Interests and Alliances
Last time I said I would cover the UAE… Here it is. Now, this isn’t a comprehensive history. It’s a sketch—basic pointers you can expand on. But it’s important to know where you stand and what circles surround you. People are born into families that grow into clans, tribes, regions, and nations. Let’s focus on…
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صِمْدو : مقاربة جديدة للسلام، أم مناورة سياسية ؟
لا يختلفُ عاقِلان حول حاجة الشعوب والبلدان للسلام. فهو ليس محض خيار بل ضرورة ملحة للحياة البشرية على وجه هذه البسيطة. السلام أساس الاستقرار والازدهار والنماء، وتحت ظلاله تُحفَظ للإنسان سلامته وأمنه وتُصان كرامته. فالحروب تُدمِّر ولا تَبني.. تُخرِّب ولا تُعمِّر.. تأخذ من دماءِ الناس وتشربها شُرب الهِيم ولا تروي عطشها. وفيما يبدو أنها دعوة لترميم النفوس وتجاوز آثار ما خلفته حرب 2020 الدامية في إقليم تيغراي شمالي إثيوبيا، برزت مبادرةٌ تحت…
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Gaza Asab: A Peace to Start More Wars
“Ports are traditionally built to host ships that encourage trade. But Abiy envisions a port to launch his navy and battleships. Abiy Ahmed’s maneuvers in the Horn mirror the tragic ambitions of old empires… poised to repeat history.”
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The Literary Works of Bereket Habte Selassie (LL.B., Ph.D.)
A Portrait of a Political Thinker and Freedom Fighter Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great honor to speak to you today about one of the most remarkable thinkers, writers, and freedom fighters to emerge from the Horn of Africa—Dr. Bereket Habte Selassie. A legal scholar by training, a political reformer by necessity, a revolutionary…
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When the Archive Refuses to Speak (IV)
The River Remembers series “In the next part of this series, we will turn toward what fills the silence: song, orality, fragments, and resistance-in-translation. We will ask what it means to speak with a voice formed in silence and what a new grammar emerges when we no longer rely on inherited tongues alone.” We begin,…
