Festival participation or turn out all around the world is voluntary. The festival turn-out is just about convincing the participants to take part and not imposing. Originally, the Eritrean festivals were seeded and manured by the Eritrean Revolution to unite the Eritrean people in their fight against the foreign occupation. Turn outs used to shine the Eritrean struggle. People came together to celebrate the revolution. Their shared experiences of adversity and hardship under the foreign rule made them more steadfast and more committed to the struggle.
Although the adversity and hardship continued to get worse in post-independence Eritrean life, the festivals don’t discuss those issues nowadays. There are still swell of angers that cause mothers’ eyes to well up with tears and yet some Diaspora mothers are taking pleasure in seeing the whole population in pains and sufferings. Yes, endless sufferings. Every Eritrean is weeping in his/her way because waves of sufferings keep revisiting every Eritrean family. Indeed, the turn out should be against the full darkness in Eritrea.
The festivals are supposed to bring the Eritrean Diaspora under one roof irrespective of their political affiliations. Under one roof, the festivals would have attracted wider support and attendees. Instead, the tyrant declared Eritreans wherever they are as his in order to make easy pickings from their hard earned money. That declaration has become the reason for splitting the Eritrean Diasporas into two separate festivals and two communities.
The purpose of the festivals, according to the regime’s party, is to weaken the adversaries and protect the regime’s interest. The opposition is said to be focused its festivals to be opportunities of updating and evoking political interests in Eritreans to produce more action in support of the Eritrean people against the tyrannical rule.
The opposition asserts that the regime’s festivals are for the purpose of cover-up-messages to deliver to the world that the Eritrean people are on the tyrant’s side. The opposition reinforces its claims by presenting the relationship factor. It states, since the regime’s relationship with the local people and the Eritrean Diaspora are not fairly balanced, all its festivals are based on the principle of a pivoted lever.
The seesaw foreign policy manipulation is played using the regime’s festivals to outweigh the world’s condemnation of the regime. Whenever the force exerted by the tyrant’s cruel, brutal and catastrophic policies that draw more attention of the world; the regime uses louder and more expensive festivals to outweigh the mass of shame and destruction on the other end of the lever. If the world’s condemnation was a striking lightning, the expensive festivals of the regime are like lightning rods to absorb the bolt of the international anger.
Through higher festival turn out, the regime seeks to show raised weight of closeness with his subjects, the Eritrean people. Such fake equilibrium is more dangerous. The more the anti-people Diasporas exert weight to save the tyrant, the more Eritreans are fleeing, disappearing, starving, getting abused and locked up.
How Comfortably Connected the Diaspora is to the Festivals
The festivalists’ will determines how supportive they are of the policies behind the festivals. Their will can be free or imposed. Inside Eritrea, under the rule of tyranny, there is no free choice. But out of Eritrea, if coercion is used to restrict the free choice of the Diasporas, that would amount to illegal interference to destroy the peace and harmony of the Eritrean community.
The decision, whether the festival’s turn out is of free will or imposed, is expected to have a consequence. The festivalists are judged by their choice to make connection with the people at the festival(s). By associating with justice seekers, one stands for justice. And, by associating with the embassy staff, one is sycophant or benefit seeker at the expense of his people.
If festival participation is the essence of building a successful and effective community, then festivals should be used to bring harmony. As well, the participation may help to strengthen the linkages the Diasporas to their country of origin and cultures.
The uncomfortability at the festival(s) applies to those who are politically unaffiliated. The uncomfortability stems from the allegations exchanged between the pro-tyrant and the pro-Eritrean people or the opposition. Attached to the allegations is a political betrayal syndrome, which is about unmindfulness of the hardship and pains of the Eritrean people under the tyrannical rule. The opposition accuses the pro-tyrant Diaspora of being unmindful and dead deep inside. The pro-tyrant by being on the side of the tyrant are assuming full responsibility for all damages and sufferings that the tyrant is causing. And, the pro-tyrant accuses the opposition of being unmindful of sleeping and siding with Ethiopia, a country that is threatening the national sovereignty of Eritrea and the safety of its leaders.
Those politically unaffiliated don’t want to be affiliated. They don’t want to be victims of political emotionalism, giving away time and money that could be spent on needy relatives and refugees. Besides the time and money imposed, the embassy compels the emotionalists to outcry over the opposition’s impassivity to the Ethiopian government’s refusal to abide by the boundary commission ruling. The opposition does not impose money and time on non-members, but asks to support its outcry over the pro-tyrant’s decision to remain unmindful to the sufferings of the Eritrean people.
To some of non-affiliated, so long the two sides do not call a truce and unite the Diaspora-community, they will continue their neutrality. Yet, they will continue to be attracted to festivals by their inclination. Some of the non-affiliated have tendency towards condemning tyranny and some may have a mixed tendency towards partying and politics.
Distinctions that Make Difference in Festivalists’ Turn Out
The frequently asked questions by those unaffiliated reflect the politics of festivals as perceived and seen through their eyes. The unaffiliated politically appear to buy the opposition’s view about the tyrant. Ever since the tyrant locked up the G-15 and the journalists, he is sleepless for fear of revenge. The Diaspora’s unity and togetherness as a community is the deepest fear that is feared by the tyrant.
Most of the frequently raised questions are not inappropriate because they are about conflicting facts in what is heard and seen by them. The unaffiliated always wonder if the pro-tyrant Diasporas are born with silver spoon in their mouth to be treated with care. The ask as to why the tyrant is giving happy hours and festivals to the Diaspora, when he is giving the local people hell hours, ditches and prisons.
Some unaffiliated explain the situation differently. The local and the Diasporas are not that differently treated, claim the unaffiliated and try to prove it. Not even the generals. All are being used to shine the tyrant. The only one who is well treated is the king, the tyrant. Like what the Africans say, the tyrant has peacock’s feather in his hat. And as a king, the locals and the Diasporas are serving like his shoes. Taking the two as a shoe, the locals are stepped on like a shoe’s sole and the Diasporas are protecting as the upper part of the shoe keeping safe the foot from slipping out or any outside harm.
According to the unaffiliated, the festival’s turn out depends on the space available. They explain that a store’s limited space limits the customers’ choice to “what you see, what you get.” And, a big or spacious store can accommodate all goods allowing everything and all the customers’ choices under one roof. Thus, it is a matter of the festival’s goal and purpose that determine the size of the festival’s turn-out.
Most of the unaffiliated festivalists come to entertain themselves and meet old friends, although they well aware of the difference between the two festivals. The opposition festivals focus on updating the members on how much has been achieved and what resources are missing to attain its objectives of removing the tyranny in Eritrea. The regime’s festivals are sponsored, powered and funded by the regime’s foreign ministry for propaganda purposes or covering up the alleged crimes against the tyrant.
On one hand, the regime seeks to deny the opposition’s festivals large turn-out. On the other hand, the regime spends excessively and extravagantly on festivals to ensure big turn-out. With large turn outs, the tyrant believes he could convince the world that he commands wider public support. That is why the regime’s festivals are well financed and helped by communicators and motivators.
The unaffiliated are confused by what they hear and read about the crimes committed by the tyrant, despite the fleeing youth’s account of cruelty, mistreatments and injustice. The confusion has its own victims in that some unaffiliated buy the border issues as the reason for the Eritrean problems. Still more, the western governments’ leniency reinforce the confusion because the west is not as tough enough against the Eritrean tyrant as it is against the Sudan, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Cuba, or Venezuela.
Following the involvement of the tyrant in the Yemenis wars, the unaffiliated are getting the facts as to why the west treats the Eritrean tyrant differently. A friend of my friends is my friend is pressuring the west to appease the Arab Gulf countries. That pressure is giving a free pipe to the tyrant to finance his festivals and his party to cruise freely.
The unaffiliated appears to sense that the tyrant’s sophisticated and well financed festivals are having larger turn outs because of their many entertainments under one roof. Even the victims of the tyrant participate because there they are better entertained. That is like stabbing in their comrades’ back, yes those who are still suffering under the tyrannical rule. Unless the tyrant’s victims are music and dancing crazy seeking temporary fun, the scars on their skins and the pains they suffered deny them to be counted as pro-tyranny.
At every juncture of past confrontations with the UN, the tyrant used the Diasporas turn outs to deny the UN’s claims of crimes against humanity in Eritrea. Yet, the festival’s turn-outs never seen to save the tyrant from front pages as the one to blame for border problems and mass migration from Eritrea. The tyrant’s foreign ministry through its embassies tried the impossible to save the tyrant from the pending international criminal court for the crimes committed against the Eritrean people.
Some Eritreans believe in reconciliation. A joint turn-out may save the face of the tyrant. In that case, should the tyrant approve of reconciliation the outcome will be different. What the tyrant is failing to understand is that the doors of the embassy are to let all the people in and not to keep them out. With a policy of keeping the majority of the people out, the festival’s turn out for the tyrant’s policies is considered to be a fake support and the UN is not ready to endorse.
There are out there also come unaffiliated who believe the opposition is politically comatose to defend its politics and the victims of the tyrant. This group accuses the tyrant of weaponizing the festivals. They are referring to the recent European ruling or case law on the Turkish tyrant’s attempt to weaponize the Turkish festivals against those who oppose his rule.
The European governments fearing that the weaponized festivals could cause chaos and instabilities, decided to deny the Turkish government a permit. With that denial, the Turkish tyrant’s agents, infiltrators and government officials were kept away from dividing the Turkish communities in Europe.
The Eritrean opposition does not dispute the fact that the regime’s festivals are state sponsored and financed. As well, the regime’s weaponized festivals to control the Eritrean Diaspora are not a new phenomenon. Based on some ex-Higdef members/officials, who had a good scoop of knowledge about the tyrant’s festivals, the purpose of the tyrant’s festivals is to weaken the opposition and to divide the community in order for the tyrant to rule unopposed.
The fact about the tyrant’s weaponizing the festivals is obvious. It does not need extraordinary evidence for the Europeans and Americans to see the truth unless they want to touch it (when crimes occurred) to be sure. The west cannot disproof the themes of the tyrant’s festivals nor can they say insufficient evidence for them to stop the festivals. They saw it coming when the Turkish wanted the first of its kind. But they are not similarly treating that of the Eritrean tyrant’s, even though the Canadian government can be referred for what the embassy does and plans through the festivals.
Long Live the Great Eritrean Revolution
Mamino

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