By Fetsum Abraham//4/5/2013
From the diary
“The day was Friday February nineteen in 1936 when the infamous General Rodolfo Graziani Governor of Italian East Africa decided to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Naples in Addis Abeba at the ‘Genete Leul palace’ [during the brief Italian colonization of Ethiopia]. Abreha Deboch and Moges Asgedom two of the most beautiful Ethiopians our country has ever produced threw ten grenades at the fascist pig and his accomplices during the celebration.
Ethiopians were hunted down like pray animals and killed [then after]. Over thirty thousand (30,000) of our people died in revenge. Graziani earned the name “butcher of Ethiopia.” Darkness fell on our country and we were given a taste of what it means to be under the mercy of an occupying force.”
Comment: Pseudo-historians distorted Zerai Deres’s account as if he did it for the cause of “his country Ethiopia” but the folk hero sacrificed his life in Rome for Eritrea. So did I believe, Abreha Deboch and Moges Asgedom against Italian colonialism in their motherland Eritrea. Attacking the Italian colonizers in Ethiopia does not make them Ethiopians by any rationality. The above statement certainly glorifies the two gentlemen respectfully but I would have presented them as Honorary-Ethiopians rather than ‘Ethiopians who made history exclusively for Ethiopia’ to get the record straight.
From the Forum
Gebez said:
“Fetsum Abraham,
You are kind of copy-pasting the same nonsense that many are tired of repeatedly reading in a series and series of articles in different websites and papers.If you had written some thing like ” ETHIOPIA, a predominantly Christian Orthodox nation has for the first time in its history a Protestant Prime Minister, a Muslim Vice-prime minister and a muslim chief of staff(three of them from minority ethnic groups as well) something which is unheard of in any country and this is thanks to the vision and hard work of the WOYANES”, believe me you would have more readers and many people who would consider you a more genuine analyser. That, at the same time, would also help you suggest a similar way of solving to the toxic and catastrophic problems the Eritrean soceity and nation are facing. Thanks.”
Response: Gebez, I am not here for fame or to be considered a “genuine analyzer”, only to share my opinion with people. Image can steal your independent mind in favor of pretension but freedom from inhibition presents one as one without modification. Like it or not, this is what you see here out of me. There is nothing wrong with copy-pasting if the content helps one’s project. That is how writers collect ideas and write about something. Plugerism is something else but what you accused me of is normal in literature.
You, however, taught me something I did not pay attention to; that “three of [the Ethiopian deputy prime ministers] were from minority ethnic groups as well” and I appreciate the Weyane’s collective vision on the matter with more emphasis on Meles’s vision for the most part. I certainly think this fair development should influence the Eritreans positively.
Daniel: ”fetsume good analysis but if woyane were dead why they don’t get out of badma?”
Response: Someone from the Eritrean government has to sit with the Ethiopians to discuss and agree on some common issues that concern the countries equally and to collect Badme back to where it belongs, Eritrea. Our government does not want to do any diplomatic effort to retrieve Badme. He has been the biggest obstacle here because an event as such will threaten his dictatorship making the situation of political prisoners and implementation of the constitution, etc. the most immediate questions of our society. Badme has been used as means of ignoring the people’s demands on “the country is in war, we can not do anything until” excuse.
No Ethiopian leader can be insane enough to open discussion on the Eritrean sovereignty after the case is completely closed with the Meles administration but there are issues that deserve maximum attention from both of us. Unlike the deceptive propaganda of the regime that dialogue will give the Ethiopians the chance to discus the ownership of at least Assab (what are the Ethiopians waiting for if this was the case specially if the US is behind such a motive), we need it to discuss common issues such as how they can use our ports using their right of access to the sea (please do not misunderstand this with ownership of our ports) for cash. We need it to reconstruct trust and willingness to cooperate on regional development with all East African societies. We need dialogue to maximize our energies for the common goal of peaceful coexistence, etc. We need dialogue to influence each other on democratizing East Africa (Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia and the recent Sudanese drive towards democracy). Badme has become not only the cause of dictatorship in our country but also as means of impeding the democratic momentum of our region by the Afwerki regime.
What is wrong with dialogue and getting Badme back in the process of accomplishing important issues with our neighbors that would help us co-exist peacefully? We cannot continue localizing the concept of dialogue with Ethiopia in view of only the Badme issue. We both need the dialogue equally and the recent offer of the Ethiopian prime Minister to go to Asmara for a chat with the president should have been automatically welcomed by Afwerki. He just does not want Badme (his only Joker for survival, though no more as strongly) in Eritrea.. PERIOD!
Truly on Afwerki’s identity: “During Badme war, why he refuse to accept the peace plan but in the contrary why he agree and late the donation for Ethiopia to transit through Port Asab? But few days after within two weeks war after he caused for 24,000 innocent human life slaughtered and after late occupied our territory in embarrassing way he accepted the peace plan? Why he enforcing real citizens to immigrate? these and many lot reasons. has nothing to do with incompetency? But with motive and hidden agenda dear Ato Fitsum. But in such situation, i mean as long as we ruling without any rule of law and constitution, in my view sorry it is must to know and concern about identity specially if the persons are high officials. Because i believe in the atmosphere where you can see instead love, hatter expanding, unless you know somebody’s original identity, any person or nation can be easily felt in danger. In my belief this taboo thema is the great cause problem for Eritrea crisis.”
Response: The issue here is Afwerki’s identity and hidden agenda (conspiracy) against the Eritreans raised by Truly, Truly and other forum members. The fact that Afwerki failed in everything (law, education, family structure, peace, justice, refugee crisis, illegal activities, economy, diplomacy, etc) indicates that this man is carrying out his hidden agenda related to his identity say TRULY et al. This is a valid theory in my opinion that I talked about in my book. Setting the identity issue aside, I suspect a foul play here whether you call it conspiracy or not except that we cannot pin point it to the level of confidently supporting the theory. I just cannot be as sure as you are on specifying the elements of said conspiracy because there is no material proof that supports your theory substantially. I cannot let my emotion overtake my commonsense in this regard to the point of your mindset’s certainty on the president’s identity vis-à-vis its entertainment of said conspiracy. I hope time will reveal everything in the future
Dawit:
“Fistum Abraham makes it clear that he does not hate either Isaias Afewerqi or Woyane. The question is: Is he capable of hating any body for any reason? Or does he practice what Jesus Christ taught, Love your Enemy? or is he preaching mischievous gospel that will lead us into pacifism as a prelude to submission. For me he sounds the latter, of course, in vain.”
Response: I do not hate either of them because hatred is not the solution but I advocate challenging them academically, intellectually and rationally including violently if necessary. Whatever you think of my objective is your opinion and within your democratic freedom of speech and, thus welcome.
“Is it possible for Isaias Afewerqi to fight for the Eritrean Independence as a prelude to establish Abai Tigrai? Yes, absolutely.”
Response: May be, but Afwerki is incapable of creating Abai Tigrai without the consent of us, Eritreans, the Tigreans and the rest of the Ethiopian. I think he is anti democracy and humanity; the Tigreans, Eritreans, Ethiopians, the Sudanese and Somalians included. Even beyond, he is anti himself as well. He does not have the charisma and intelligence to do that even assuming he was into the so called Abai Tigrai hallucination which I am not part of. He neither has the time, the capacity nor the popularity to create Abai Tigrai. He is a free falling dictator who won’t be any more shortly if we concentrate on the root cause of the problem called president Afwerki regardless of his origin or his objective. The more we concentrate on achieving our fundamental right and choice to be a democratic society, the faster we eliminate all problems created by and associated with the dictator and his system.
“There is no doubt Isaias Afewerqi has betrayed the Eritrean cause, their unity, Sovereignty and their country’s Territorial integrity. There are still many, many Eritreans who have not given up on him, who still take his treacherous lies without skepticism, who still believe that the United States is behind their frustration and agony. Unfortunately for them, they may not be aware of it but they are in denial; they refused to face the reality of betrayal, an invitation for catastrophy at the end of the day.”
Response: I agree fully. We are the cause of our suffering and no body else’s when you talk about the root cause of the problem. Our house is too filthy to be respected by external forces, ladies and gentlemen! Our own equally oppressed and humiliated brothers and sisters who blindly support this regime, our opportunist officials at home and our egocentric and selfish opposition forces who do not understand the priority of the Eritrean society are the causes of our fundamental problem. The fear and uncertainty inculcated into their minds by Afwerkism is unconsciously distorting their focus in the resistance and in the opposition forces as well in this experience where the Eritrean individual freedom is at stake. All of the above are elements of the obstacles to the Eritrean zeal for freedom more than the president who destroyed his legacy by choice. All other so-called external enemies are secondary to me that deserve maximum attention at secondary level of the challenge. A civilized socio-political structure in Eritrea will resolve the minute differences we have with our Ethiopian brothers and sisters
“Isaias Afewerqi is a first generation born in Eritrea from Tegaru parents; his father came to Eritrea as a little boy and he returned to Tigrai where was buried. Isaias Afewerqi’s wife is Tigraweiti etc.”
Response: So what if that was the case based on our traditional relationship with each other (Tigreans and Eritreans)? Why did not his half Eritrean identity stand in the way of Meles Zenawi to do what he did to the Ethiopians along with his comrades?
In so stating, I testify that Aboy Afwerki was a dedicated Eritrean who suffered a lot for the cause of his country throughout his adult life. This gentleman lived in exile (Makalle) during the Mengistu era and immediately went back to Asmara after the Eritrean independence. Aboy Afwerki is an Eritrean nationalist and I strongly believe he never returned back to Ethiopia, died in Eritrea and was buried in Eritrea, most likely in his home-village Tselot /Hamasien. I know this very well through direct information from his relatives, needless to detail in this forum. Brother Dawit needs to be careful with facts here: please do not express information with absolute certainty unless you are 100% sure of the content, especially in cyber-media because it backfires terribly to the extent of eroding your dignity and reliability as a person.
As for Afwerki’s wife, I respect her as an Eritrean who could not have proven this identity better than serving our cause as TEGADALIT whether she was originally from Tigrai or not. I am safer looking at her separately for she has nothing to do with her husband’s clinically destructive psychic fixation and brutality.
Adhanom: ” Please, the center of our struggle for change should be our nation and our people, not our personal ego, organizational interest, religion, region or ethnicity which are secondary; and they have to be tackled only in democratic and constitutional Eritrea. But, without building a democratic environment,it is hard to entertain with all ethnic or regional rights that Eritreans may need to have.”
Response: Well taken.
Yitbarek: “Fetsum, Please stick to your own eritrean story.”
Response: I am doing that sir!
Yassin Omer: “Thank you for your insightful analysis. Although I agree with almost everything you said, I disagree with one point. This point refers to the characterization of Afwerki’s contribution to the national struggle for independence. Afwerki’s contribution in this regard, as you alleges was not extraordinary, but ordinary. He skillfully manipulated the efforts and contributions of other combatants to his favor and fame. Most of the time in critical and decisive moment, like the lunching a counterattack, he was travelling overseas abandoning the field. Thus, his role is exaggerated, and hence, subject to scrutiny and verification. History will tell as soon his real role, when some of us able to conduct an biased objected profound research. Therefore, until the truth is shed, we should not romanticize him by making him a true hero — he was not a hero , but an outright astute opportunist.”
Response: Brother Yasin, consistency is again the issue here. EPLF leadership is something earned by extraordinary contribution one way or another. Quiet a few extraordinary characters evolved out of the struggle one of them being Afwerki but your “ordinary” is welcome as well. I agree with your judgment that Afwerki has been an opportunist who hurt us a lot in many different ways for his power.
Genet: “MR FETSUM
DO YOU REALLY THINK WITH ALL CERTAINTY THAT MR AFEWRKI IS AN ICONIC LEADER WHO DIRECTED OUR STRUGGLE TO SUCESS?
I sure do: he was one of the most important leaders of the struggle who finally lead it to success.
WITH DUE ALL RESPECT, HOW DO YOU CALL OUR SITUATION A SUCESSFUL INDEPENDENT?
You see, we succeeded to make our country independent of Ethiopian colonialism regardless of who is running it at this time. Eritrea is an independent nation with extremely oppressed people today fighting for their freedom from domestic dictatorship. Independence and freedom are two different things my dear.
DO YOU THINK HE BECAME A DICTATOR AFTER INDEPENDENC OVER NIGHT? Not at all but I think that his extraordinary dictatorial nature was screened by the priority of the struggle, which was independence. Afwerki should have been the same during the struggle though he had no absolute authority as today to openly expose his real self as such.
WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THIS MAN DID NOT HAVE AN ULTERIOR MOTIVE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING?
This is an open subject for any one to entertain and I do not think I ever disregarded this possibility. I think the theory is valid so to say but too premature to conclude at this point in the go because of strong information censorship in Eritrea. I hope history will reveal everything in time.
THE ORIGINALITY DEBATE, MR AFWERKI OWE US THE ERITREAN PEOPLE AN EXPLANATION WHY HE CHOSE TO LIVE IT OPEN TO DEBATE. YET, I DON ‘T THNIK IT IS FAIR FOR US ERITEAN TO BE TOLD THAT HIS ORIGEN IS NOT OPEN TO DEBATE. IT SHOULD BE OPEN FOR DISCUSSION. WHAT DOES HE HAS TO HIDE; WHAT IS HE AFRAID OF?. AS ANY OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD, WE ERITEAN HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHO OUR LEADER IS. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?
It is your right to know everything about your leader and this is not too much to ask in a transparent political system but not in a barbaric system like ours; Afwerki does not see life and society that way. He has the cake and eats it too. Afwerki has no capacity to communicate with people in a civilized manner because he is not civilized. He just does not believe in freedom of speech and information. Who will ask him personal questions in a country with absolutely no independent journalism? Afwerki is a man that will most likely die without any explanation about anything; you are dealing with a very strange scenario here!
That is why removing his system is more important than expecting anything normal or positive from this man. I do not think wasting energy on his identity is as important as investing it on his removal based on the merit though the subject is open for people interested in.
HABTE:
“Dear Fitsum; When you say “I don’t hate Isaias. I don’t like his polices and decisions he is making for Eritrea” what do you mean ? How on earth are you separating the person Isaias from his polices? Is this some kind of abstract politics or what? Your view is so contradictory and a means to confuse others. You should take a stand and be firm on it specially when it comes to Isaias. You can’t be soft on this world wide known criminal”
Response:
I do not like him but I do not have to hate him to resist his dictatorship. I do not want to waste an emotion on this spiritually devastated person because he does not deserve it. I cannot separate Isaias from his policies and I am struggling with you to remove both of them from Eritrea. My responsibility is to work hard for their removal without suffering the consequence of hatred. It is not abstract but a personal decision to control my emotions that I have been working on for years through meditation.
As far as being firm by taking a position on Isaias, I have no idea how firmer I can be.
Belay nega on Genert’s question:
“”DO YOU REALLY THINK WITH ALL CERTAINTY THAT MR AFEWRKI IS AN ICONIC LEADER WHO DIRECTED OUR STRUGGLE TO SUCESS?”
CERTAINLY
GIVEN THAT THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS”, Good answer in my opinion at least for this occasion.
“”DON T THNIK IT IS FAIR FOR US ERITEAN TO BE TOLD THAT HIS ORIGEN IS NOT OPEN TO DEBATE.”
HE IS NOT A BLUE BLOOD & & &..
HE IS A REAL HUMAN BEING WITH RED BLOOD WHO SPENT ALL HIS RESOURCE FOR THE FREEDOM OF ERITREA DESPITE THE CONSEQUENCE OF COURSE”
Response: Laughing it out loudly my friends! Belay Nega is kool. The more I read his comments the stronger I grew to enjoy him. His confusing philosophy attracts me more than his suspicious mind. “THE PRESIDENT IS NEITHER THE CAUSE NOR PART OF THE PROBLEM BUT A VICTIM LIKE ME AND YOU” says Belay Nega. The entire planet is full of people victimized by the consequence of existence itself that the theory is not exceptional to Eritreans, my brother. The president’s “victim” position should have motivated him to sympathize with and free victimized people in our country rather than victimizing them more. I have never seen a more victimized rebel than Mandela but you know what he did to his people. What did we ask more than a constitution, education and justice for the president to stand in the way and be justified by your “victimized” theory? Does being a victim of whatever is in your mind give one the license to absolutely dictate a society for life? Brother Belay needs to exit from his fixation to rationalize on his confusing theory from a neutral point of view.
The brother further use the expression “THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS” in defense of the president. I agree with Belay that our struggle for independence succeeded through extraordinary price (life and material at minimum), therefore the end (independence) justifies the means (the price). I, however, wonder if he stays consistent on whether the relevant logic that the end (current Eritrean Situation) justifies the means (Afwerki’s policy). Are Eritreans justified to use the current Eritrean Situation as the means for the resistance to the end goal of freedom from the dictatorship in Eritrea?
Jonah strikes hard again:
“On this Woyane question- I just think it is something within the Tigrinya Highlanders in Eritrea and Tigraian or Woyane in Ethiopia. Without going back a couple of centuries, I think there is some sort of sibling rivalry and mixed with PDJF’s desire to maintain power by creating an existential threat or enemy. This Woyane threat. Instead of Woyane Opportunity. If the PDJF leadership was intelligent and shrewd, we could have used the commonality of these two groups to get power access our 90+ million neighbor. But that requires visionary thinking but you can’t think like that if you are stuck in foxhole. As far as I am concerned if there is no country called Woyania- this Woyane talk, etc might be language of the past…But there is country called Ethiopia which has 2nd highest population in Africa.”
Me: Thank you J, for your extremely important contribution. The missed opportunity is the failure of Afwerki to take advantage of the relationship between the Eritreans and the Tigreans during the struggle and few years after for the benefit of the entire region. He went instead to destroy Meles and company in favor of KINIGIT and the useless Tigrean mercenaries wasting our resources in Eritrea, a terrible mistake that will take ages to repair in his complete absence from the Eritrean political life. We need to extend our focal length further into the coming generations and work hard to mend the broken relationship between the Eritreans and the Tigreans and the Ethiopians at large.
Jonah addresses this to Habte; “You can say “Whatever is your opinion of they guy [Isaias] is, here are his policies and this is negative consequences, etc.. As Eritrean, it is important for us to be vocal and change these policies for sake of country or our people” “What do you think of these policies? Do you think they are working?”
I think it easier to have dialogue this way and bring people to their sense and let them propose how the change this happen or what can be done.. All this Issias is evil, etc? Puts some supporter on defense.. Anyway, after calling Issias evil, or expressing hate- what is next? You vented. How do you rally your community around a common platform? I also think it easier when all his stupid policies/actions are documented and we work on lessons learned to make sure they are not repeated for future generations.”
Me: Thanks J; for your wisdom: say half of the population likes the president and half of us don’t, can we, however, agree on the failed policies of the regime as a common ground to change the condition of our people? Please think about this insight and let us march together for the common goal “a civilized society” in Eritrea.
Love you all and to be continued!
