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Compassion demands Action

Compassion demands Action By Haben Zeray Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is

Compassion demands Action

By Haben Zeray

Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed. – The Buddha.

The etymology of “compassion” is Latin, meaning “co-suffering” ,  thus a  “compassionate” person would be someone who participates in the suffering of others.   Jesus summed up compassion by prompting us for action and said, “ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”.   But most of all his teachings and  live examples were, to identify with the poor, to help and visit the imprisoned, to heal the sick and uplift the depressed. These are acts of compassion.  It is contradictory to say you are a “Christian” and not have a compassionate heart: it is Impossible, without  compassion  you are just pretending.  Further, moralists summed up compassion by giving us the ethical expression of, “Do to others what you would have them do to you”.  The Muslim scriptures urge compassion towards captives as well as to widows, orphans and the poor. To help the poor and needy, is obligatory upon all Muslims.

The following  small poem or statement is dedicated to all the prisoners in Eritrea who are suffering every minute of the day and who need our “co-suffering” or compassion.  As Eritrea is celebrating independence day, I cannot help it but think of those who are in Eritrean prisons, and the irony is many of these prisoners who are suffering right now were ones who fought to bring this same independence.  For independence to work the people must be free.

WARNING:         If this poem does not rhyme it just means you have a perfect English accent. I don’t!

The prisoner’s diary

One bullet you are dead in a hurry

Would be a gift in the land of the furry.

You rise at 5:00 am for interrogation

Tied on a tree, beaten to bleed with no justification.

Thrown back into the cell for the tears to dry

Though there is no energy left to vent and cry.

At 8:00 am we are herded to the field

Unable to walk for my feet are full of wound.

Gets pushed and shoved by the frustrated guard

Hurry! He shouts and beats me hard.

All this to answer the call of nature

The gun on my head and continuous torture.

I go back to my cell and find it ten degrees hotter,

The weather cooperates with the frustrated soldier.

Water please! I cry with a dry throat,

A cup of tea with a crumb of bread is what he brought.

Sweat all over with pain and agony,

Flat on my face I wished for slavery.

Broken spirit with a lost dignity

I am confused completely with their cruelty.

What did I do? What is my fault?

Could it be what I said or wrote?

But what if I say anything or I write?

Isn’t  It too much already when I lost my sight?

This goes beyond the physical torture

All the struggle since 1974

Sad incomprehensible closure.

Prohibited to talk,

No media to ask.

Mental anguish inside

Suicide?

NO way, not today.

There is hope someday.

What if the gallant soldiers open the prison doors

To declare me innocent and heal my aching sores

The people are compassionate surely they can’t be passive,

They must be organizing freedom to achieve,

So Suicide?

No way, not today,

There is hope someday.

It is now 8 pm I can feel the chill in my bones

Sleeping on the floor with pillow stones.

Ten years of interrogation

Ten years of submission

Slow torturous murder

Let it be! I shall not surrender.

I wish:

One bullet you are dead in a hurry

Would be a gift in the land of the furry.

 

This suffering will continue unless our activists, moral leaders and religious leaders begin to act and decide to “co-suffer” by collectively marching to the gates of PFDJ and courageously oppose these human imprisonments without any court proceedings.  Compassion demands action.

aseye.asena@gmail.com

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  • NEW HOPE ERITREA May 21, 2013

    ¨ቅልዕቲ ደብዳቤ ናብ ኣብ ኤርትራን ካባቢኣን ዘሎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ¨

    ¨ህዝበይ፣ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፣ ህዝባዊ ግንባር እምበር ኢትዮጵያዊ ኣጀንዳ ዝነበሮን ዘለዎን፣ኣነ ኣይኮንኩን¨

    ቀዳማይ፡ እቲ ነቶም ንዓመታት ዘሳቐዩኻን ሕጂ እውን እቲ ኣብ ሃገረሰብ ዝነብር ዝነበረ ህዝብና ዝጾሮ ዝነበረ ገበናት ናብ ኩሉ ከም ዝተባጽሔ ምስ ተጋህደ ኣብ ሕንፍሽፍሽ ኣተሓሳስባ ኣእትዩካ ዘሎ__ኣብ ክንዲ ብርእስኻ_ብልብኻ__ማለት ብስምዒት ዝግምገም ነገር ዘይሓቃዊ ስእሊ እዩ ዝ ህብ።እቲ ሓንሳእ ዝተሰመረካ ኣተሓሳስባ__እቶም ዘፍቅሩኻን ዝሓልዩልካን__ግናኸ ኣብ ኣሳራርሓ ዝጋገዩ__ከም ጸላእትኻ__እቶም ዝድስቑኻን ተሓጕምካ ኢትዮጵያ ትሕሸና ከም ትብል ዘገዹኻን ከም ፈተውትኻን ደቅኻን ስለ ዝርኣኻዮ፣ነቲ ሓቂ ንምፍላጥ ይጽግመካ ኣሎ።
    ርእይቶይ ንኽበርሃልካ እሞ ጽቡቕካ ዝደሊ ውላድካ ምዃኑ ክትፈልጦን ብዛዕባ መንነተይ ክገልጸልካ።ኣነ መሰረቱ ኣብ ከበሳ ዝኾንኩ እንሓጎታተይ ምዓስ ንኤርትራ ከም ዝሰፈሩ ዘይፈልጥ ግንከ ከም ከበሳዊን ሓቀኛ ታሪኽን ዝኽተል ሰብ ኣነ ኤርትራዊ ወይ ከበሳዊ ትግራዋይ እምበር ህዝበ ትግርኛ ኣይኮንኩን።ንዓይ ህዝበ ትግርኛ ማለት ጸርፊን ዝተሰንዔ መንነትን እዩ።ሃገራዊ መንነተይ ኤርትራዊ (ብትውልዲ ሃገር) ካናዳውን ኣሜሪካውን ብምርጫ እየ።ኤርትራ ተመሊሳ ናብ ኢትዮጵያ ክትከይድ ዝብል ሓሳብ ኣብ ውሽጠይ ሓደ ሚእታዊት እኳ ትኹን የለን__።ምኽንያቱ ተታሓሒዘን ካብ ዝጸድፋ__ኢትዮጵያ መምሃሪት ዩኒቨርሲቲን መዕቆብ ስደተኛ ኤርትራውን ክትከውን ን ኣኻ ንህዝበይ ኤርትራዊ ብምሕላይ እየ።እቶም ኢትዮጵያውያን´ውን ዕቡድ እንተዘይስዒሙዎም__ካብቲ ወደባት ብጻዕዳ ገንዘቦም ምጥቃም ሓሊፎም ኤርትራ ንኽደልዩ ናይ ዓለም ጸማማት ክኾኑ ኣለዎም ይብል።ትጥሕል ዘላ መርከብ ዝገዝእ ውልቀሰብ ዝዓበደ ክኸውን ኣለዎ__ኢትዮጵያውያን ካብ ናይ ሰላሳ ዓመት ስኽራን ወጺ ኦም ስድር ኦም ይሕልዉ ኣለዉ_፡ስድራና እውን የስተናግዱ ኣለዉ።ኣብ ዓራት ቢትዮጵያ ንድቅስ ኔርናስ ኣብ ሰድያ ኢና ንድቅስ ስለ ዝበልና (ንሱ ካልእ ታሪኽ´ዩ)።
    ህዝባዊ ግንባር ካብ ዝምስረት__ንህዝቢ ዝፈላሊ ሜላታት ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ መምርሒታት እውን ሒዙ ዝተስኤ ንጹር ኣጀንዳ ዘለዎ ውድብ ሕጂ ናብ ህግደፍ ፓርቲ ዝተቐየረ መሪሕነት እዩ።ነቲ መሰረት ቃልሲ ኤርትራዊ ዝኾነ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እምቢ ናይ ኣስላም ኣሕዋተይ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ዘይብለይሲ__ንሶም ተነጺሎም ክትንከፉ ከለዉ_፡ኣፍንጫ ክጉሰጥ ዓይኒ ይበኪ ከም ዝብሃል ሓቢረ ምስ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ተቓሊሱ__ነቲ ሓቀኛ ናይ መሰል ቃልሱ ኣማዕበለ___
    ተጋዳላይ ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ ዝመስረታ ውድብ ግን ፣ካብ ትውለደ ጀሚራ ነዚ ሕብረት እዚ (ነዚ ናይ ኤርትራ መሰረት)ዝኾነ ጠርናፊ መቃለሲ ዕላማ ዝወቅዕ እዩ ኔሩ።እንሆለ ድማ ኣስላማይ ኴንካ ኣብ ኣስላም ሓረድቲን ጨፍለቕትን ዝብል ድርጅት ክትጥርነፍ__ማህቡላ ክትከውን ኣለካ። ነገር ግን፣ ተጋዳላይ ኢሳያስ ንዝተስኣሉ ዕላማ ጽኑዕ ስለ ዝኾነ ነቲ እስላማዊ ህዝብና´ውን ሰሜን ባሕሪዶ ጀበርቲ እናዋቕዔ ክንዲ መርፍእ ዝነበረ ተፈጥሮኣዊ ህልኽ ናብ ጎቦ እምባሶይራ ክሳዕ ዝኣክል መዝመዞ ።ብሓቂ ንምዝራብ ኣብ ሞንጎ እቲ ሰጢሙ ዝነበረ ምትእምማን __ህዝቢ ኣስላምን ክርስትያንን ሓፋሽ፣ እቲ ስምረት ብጭርሖ እንተዘይኮይኑ__ከምቲ ኣነ ንእሽቶይ ከለኹ ዝነበረ ምትእምማን የለን__እዚ ዓይነት ታክቲክ ድማ እስላማዊ እንቅስቃሴታት ንኽህልዉ ደሪኹ።ተፈጥሮኣዊ መልሲ (ሪኣክሽን እዩ)።ካብቶም ዝሰማዕኩዊኦም እስላማዊ መሰል ዝሓቱ ሓደ እኳ ህዝቢ ክርስትያን እዚ ጌሩና ዝብል ኣይሰማዕኩን፣መሰሎም ንኽቃለሱ ግን__ሰውራ ክጅመር እንከሎ እውን ራቢጣ እስላምያ ዝተመስረተ እኮ ንሃይማኖታዊ ወጽዓ ተጻሪሩ እዩ__እምበር ኣብ ርእሲ መድሃኔ ኣለም በትኽስያን መስጊድ ክሰርሕ ኢሉ ኣይኮነን ።ብዝዕባ ውግእ ¨ሓድሕድ¨ዝፈልጦ ብዙሕ እኳ እንተዘየሎ ናይ መስተውዓሊ ሰብ ግምት ተጠቒመ__ምስ ኣሕዋትካ ተሓኤ ገዲፍካስ ምስ ወያነ (ኢትዮጵያዊ ሓይሊ)ስሙር ግምባር ጌርካ ነዚ ስንኩፍ ግን ናይ ብሓቂ ኤርትራዊ ኣጀንዳ ዝነበሮ ውድብ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ምጥፋእ እሞ ከይውዓልካ ከይሓደርካ ብጅምላ ንጀርመን ኣሜሪካ ካናዳ ምውሳዶም እቲ ኣጀንዳ ኣህጉራዊ ኣጀንዳ ከም ዝንበበረ ይግምት ኣነ__መብዛሕትኹም ሓንጎልኩም ክበጽሖ ዘይክእል ኣይትሻቐሉ፡ __ከም ኣመልኩም ኢሳያስ ተምቤንን ዓጋመን ስለ ዝኾነ ኢዩ ኢልኩም ኢድየት ኤርትራዊ ትንታነኹም ቀጽሉ። ብጌጋ ከይትርድኡኒ__ብናተይ ኣረኣእያ__(ደንጉዩ ዝተረድኣኒ)__ካብ ዝተማህረ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ዝዓበደ ወያነ ከም ዝልብም__ካብ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ንላዕሊ ድማ፣ወያነ ኤርትራዊ ሓልዮት ከም ዘለዎ ብድሕሪ ናጽነትና ዝተረድኣኒ እዩ።
    ፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስ_ ህዝባዊ ግንባር_(ህግደፍ)፣ብሃይለ መንቆርዮስን ካልኦትን ጌሩ ም ስ ኢትዮጵያ እቲ ዶብ ትርጉም ከም ዘይህልዎ ጌርና ኢና ኢሉ።ግን ኢሳያስ ምስቲ ፊውዳላዊን ፣ኮሚኒስታዊ ምቍጽጻርን___ዝኾነ ናይ ሽዋ ዝትሓወሱ ዝምባሌኡ_፡ንወያነ ብጣዕሚ ይንዕቆም ነበረ__ንማንም ሓመድ ሓፋሽን ድኻን መሰል ስለ ዝ ሃቡን ናይ ዲሞክራሲ ጩራን ስለ ዝነበሮም።ኣብ 1998 ህዝቢ ኢትዮጵያ ይግልበጦም እዩ ኣብ ዝበሎ ጊዜ__መስተውዓሊ ዝኾነ ገምጋም ወሲዱ__ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ሕቡኣት ተጋደልቲ ንኢትዮጵያ ዘባርዕዋ ኣዳልዩ ስለ ዝነበረ_፡ሕንፍሽፍሽ ፈጢሩ ኢትዮጵያ ሃገሩ ክገዝእ ኤርትራውያን ድማ ከም ኣመልና ኮንዶም ኴንና ከነገልግል (ናይ ሰላሳ ዓመት ልምዲ ኮንዶምነት ስለ ዘለና)___ነገር ግን ወያነ ሰራሕታኛ ገዛ ከይተረፈት ኣብ ምሉእ ኢትዮጵያ ሓበርቲ ስለ ዝኾና__እቲ ሊስታ ኣብ ኢዶም ስለ ዝነበረ_፡ሓንቲ ጻጸ ከይቀተሉ ዳርጋ ብሳልስቲ ኣብ ምቍጽጻር ኣተዉ።መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ፈርሔ፣ ዘይነቕሓሎም ሕቡ ኣት ከይህልዉ__ሃገሩን ስልጣኑን ክሕሉ ነደይ ኢታይ ከይተረፈ ሰጐጊወን።ገብሩ ኣስራትን ስየን ብናይ መለስ ን ኤርትራውያን ዳይፐር እናቐየርካ ምቕባጥ ዝነበረ ፖሊሲ ኣብ ዓንቀሮም በጺሕዎም ለኻኺሞም ክሶጉ ጀመሩ።ዝረሳዕኩዎ እባ_፡መቐለ ቆልዑ ምስ ደብደብና ኮነ ኢልካ ንወያነ ብስምዒት ተሲኦም ጌጋ ንኽሰርሑ እዩ ኔሩ።ምንም እኳ ኣዴታትና እተን ነፈርቲ ቆልዑ ደብዲበን ብሰላም ምምላሰን እልል እንተበላ ንወያነ ግን መሊሱ ድኣ ትዕግስቲ ገዝኣሎም እሞ ንህዝቢ ኢትዮጵያ፣ዋላ ነቲ ንመለስን ወያነን ከም ሞት ዝጸልእ ኣንጻርና ኣልዓሎ።ብድሕሪ ኡ መኻልፍን ኣደይ ማርታን ትፈልጥዎ ኢኹም ንወያነ ክሳዕ ዓዲ ቀይሕ ዘጓየናዮም______።
    ሕጂ እውን ሻዕብያ ህግደፍ ሓዚልዎም ዘሎ ¨ተቓወምቲ¨ኢትዮጵያ ዕግርግር ምስ መጸ ከም ብዓል ዓሰብ ዝቋጻጸሩ ነጻነት ኤርትራ ዘይኣምኑ እዮም።ናይ ሻዕብያን ወያነን ቅርሕንትን __መን ንኢትዮጵያን ነቲ ከባብን የምሓድር እምበር ንግንባር ጤል ዝኾነት ሃገር ከም ኮንዶም እንተዘይኮይኑ ዋጋ ዝቖጸራ የለን።ሕንፍሽፍሽ ምስ ዝፍጠር ደምሓኤን ቅንጅትን ዓሰብ ክቋጻጸሩ ይኽእሉ እዮም።በዚ ምኽንያት ክኣ እየ ነቲ ቃልሲ ኤርትራ ብህዝባዊ ግንባር ዝተወጅዔ FAKE & ANTI PEOPLE ዝብሎ።
    This is all EPLF´s homework Woyane /Eprdf ie. do not have to add a spit to a sinking ship.
    Fellow Eritreans ,it is easier to squeeze a juice out of a rock than make you understand my BBC ,CNN style brilliant analysis. Let us have a happy sinking together..I guess.

  • H.K. May 22, 2013

    Hi Haben,
    Great article and very touching poetry.
    Keep it up!!! You are always great!!!
    As you rightly said now and just now is the time of action to erradicate to the Tigrinia Speaking Dergue!!!
    To erradicate the system that uses Microscope to magnify his action!! When the country is going down the drain by inaction!!
    God bless Eritrea and its lovely citzens like you and we should pray the blinded sapporters to open their eyes and wake up!!

  • Genet May 22, 2013

    Haben,
    Well done! an excellent work of story telling.
    It rhymes just fine.
    Genet

  • Hailu May 22, 2013

    “New hope eritrea”

    please this is a comment giving not to sent your analysis, your good analysis of the situation should be sent to Assena of Emanuale so that he will publish it properly.
    Every time we open an article to read and the comments, you bombard us with large file of comment.
    So please “New Hope Eritrea” better to sent your views to amanuel rather than post it repeatedly.

    Sorry with all respect.

    • NEW HOPE ERITREA May 22, 2013

      Brother Hailu

      I agree ..anyways saturday I am going for health related retreat for 6 weeks….If doctor gives green light I will do like you said….until friday may 24 I do not have any organized articulate article..so bear with me.

      thanks..my comments are rather long.

  • Kalighe May 23, 2013

    ” ” I am going for health related retreat for 6 weeks” ”

    NEW HOPE

    Thank you for giving us a break from continued insults ..
    Is it because you mental health deteriorating ?, God forbid
    Respectfully

  • NEW HOPE ERITREA May 23, 2013

    Thanks Kalighe.

    • NEW HOPE ERITREA May 23, 2013

      Respected Kalighe ,

      This is why I shout ..our people have lost their soul. For example a very intelligent person like you would have wished me ..eg…¨New hope Eritrea as much as I find you reprehensible..however ,I wish you recovery in your illness that may have to do with mental disorder…And you are right the retreat has to do with mental illness issue.

      Thanks for you Eritrean compassion..not the Eritrea I remmember as a child..Look how bandits can twist some potentially decent person like you.

      I do not hate you..we have different way of waking our people up.I DO NOT BELIEVE IN TO WORRYING ABOUT VACUUMING A HOUSE THAT IS ON FIRE.

  • መጻኢ ኤርትራ May 24, 2013

    NEW HOPE ERITREA

    ጽሑፍካ ናይ ብዙሃት ሓሳብ ስለዚኾነ ኣጆኻ ቀጽሎ ነቲ ዕበጦ ዕበጦ ኢኻ ቀላሊዕካዮ ኣገናዕ!!

  • NEW HOPE ERITREA May 24, 2013

    Respected Kalighe ,

    This is why I shout ..our people have lost their soul. For example a very intelligent person like you would have wished me ..eg…¨New hope Eritrea as much as I find you reprehensible..however ,I wish you recovery in your illness that may have to do with mental disorder…And you are right the retreat has to do with mental illness issue.
    Thanks for you Eritrean compassion..not the Eritrea I remmember as a child..Look how bandits can twist some potentially decent person like you.
    I do not hate you..we have different way of waking our people up.I DO NOT BELIEVE IN TO WORRYING ABOUT VACUUMING A HOUSE THAT IS ON FIRE..and we do not have to be sissy qeers (homos) about our feelings being hurt.I am hurt when Eritrean males & females are being raped in Sinai.