Tag: Isaias Afwerki
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Alleged Consultation to Form a Military Wing Unfounded
Gedab Investigative Report: On July 30, 2021, an Eritrean website reported about a “consultation between Eritrean entities.” It further reported that “several Eritrean opposition organizations were engaged in preparatory meeting to form “a wide political and military entity to topple the Asmara regime.” It added, “the Khartoum consultations is led by Mesfin Hagos, an ex-Eritrean defense…
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Eritrean Leader’s Sandcastle Play
Eritrean president Isaias Afewerki recently ventured out of his hideout at Adi Halo near Asmara to travel to the port city of Massawa for some reflective moments at the beach. [Adi Halo is, of course, the leader’s infamous rural outpost which doubles as his makeshift “presidential office.” The place has an even more bizarre history…
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Kings of Kings and Colonels
In ancient times, each locality, and later each city, had a king. One of them emerged stronger and subjugated the rest. They accepted his authority over them and submitted to his rule with varying level of autonomy. Thus, he became King of Kings, who overtime became an expansionist emperor. Some historian trace that to the…
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Eritrea, Tigray, and Ethiopia: Where to from Here?
Passions in the current war (Eritrea and Ethiopia on one side) and Tigray on the other are running high akin to the war of the 1998 to 2000 where the majority in diaspora were settled on the notion of my country, right or wrong. When passions run this high it is rather difficult to distance…
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Whispering to the Eritrean Forces
Addey Abeba’s* husband and elder son died in a car accident while the family was returning home from a pilgrimage. Since that incident, the traumatized woman became over-protective of her younger son and wouldn’t let him play in the streets for fear of cars, though daily, hardly more than three cars passed in that street.…
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A Message To Tigrayans
A fed-up worker decided to quit his job. He approached his boss who was standing behind a workbench, looked him straight in thes eyes, and told him, “Give me my dues, I don’t want to work for you anymore.” The boss asked for a reason, but the worker was adamant, “just give me my dues.”…
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ELF Statement: The War In Tigrai
On June 29, 2021, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), a part of Eritrean National Council for Democratic change (ENCDC), an umbrella of the Eritrean opposition organizations issued a press statement about the conflict between the Tigrai Regional Government (TRG), led by the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF), and the Ethiopian Federal Government (EFG). In its…
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Tigray Forces Enter Mekelle City
For a critical media consumer, various media outlets are meant to serve as a way to arrive at the truth as rapidly as possible. As well, to learn more about a particular subject matter of interest. Today, I woke up to write an article on the subject of genocide in Gambella, Ethiopia under the watchful…
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Jailers and Jailed
Freedom of Expression Forum in Oslo About a decade ago I attended the exquisite Freedom of Expression Forum in Oslo, Norway, where many dignitaries and activists from around the world flocked. As a skeptic, I observed the activities of the event critically—blame it on my experience with political NGOs operating in the Third World. But…
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Eritrea’s Bittersweet Memory of A 30-Year Struggle
Eritrea has bittersweet memory of a 30-year struggle that was eked out by the botched 30-years of Governance. In 1935, little did Italy know that its decision to invade Ethiopia would lead to a World War II. Little did Italy know, too, that the Eritrean Askaris it hired to do the invasion of Ethiopia would also abandon…
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Eritrea: It is left to us!
Seasonal river In words worth describing the on/off modes of our Eritrean opposition activities in its quest for justice, the narrator of the short story “The Great Wall of China” by the 20th-century novelist Franz Kafka says describing his times: “Consider rather the river in spring. It rises until it grows mightier and nourishes more…
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Negarit 129: Wise leaders Build, Machos Destroy
In today’s Negarit 129, I will tell you some additional information about Tedros and Kassa Mirach. For instance, not many know about the differences in the Abyssinian church in the time of Yohannes: Karra Haymanot, Sgga, and Qebaat. Here are ten additional bits of information. After the battle of Magdala some British soldiers returning home…
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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…
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Negarit 127: the Mountain That Gave Birth to a Mouse
Ramadan Kareem. This is a special month, and it brings memories though most of my childhood I lived under curfew. Someday I will tell you about characters I associate with Ramadan—Amm Bekhetiay Mohammed Drar Hella, Saleh Ewaale and others. But for toady a simple wish will do; Ramadan Kareem. In addition, I am wishing the…
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Eritrea: A Victim of Modern Necropolitics
“My job is making windows where there were once walls” [Michel Foucault] Introduction In search of an integrative discourse for the Eritrean politics, within the dynamic setting of the international system in motion, this author will try to examine the Eritrean regime and the pattern of its politics in a different approach than the traditional…
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Minelik and Mlelikh
Does God consider those who reject slavery as sinners? However, many offshoot narrations from the original divine books promote slavery in different forms. They could have been acceptable practices in ancient times, but they are repulsing by the moral standards of today. As far as religions are concerned, their timeless essence is virtue, compassion and…
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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…
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Fleshing Out Our Unity Government In Exile
The response to the proposal for A Unity Government In Exile has been extremely positive and encouraging. As a follow-up, after several weeks of consultations and a “listening tour”, in this edition, the following questions will be addressed: 1. Why Government In Exile? 2. If one is needed, why with the EPLF-legacy and ELF-legacy only?…
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Ramshackle * ሓሙስ-ሓሙስ ይብል ኣሎ * آيل للسقوط
Before I begin, there is a Tigrinya saying, “Hamus- Hamus tbl alla,” I do not know its origin. If anyone knows, please let me know on the comments section. In my three recent episodes of Negarit I talked about an imminent flood building in our region. It looks like it’s in a “Hamus-Hamus” state—particularly Isaias’…
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Eulogy in Honor of Adhanom Ghebremariam by Mesfin Hagos
(translated by Semere T Habtemariam) Mesfin Hagos entrusted me to read this eulogy at Adhanom’s funeral but for reasons that are not known to me, and possibly would not and could not understand, I was not able to do so. The second-best thing I can do is to take the liberty of translating it into…