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In Search of Liberty

In Search of Liberty – 2nd Narration, 28/09/2018 How did WE ERITREANS get to where we are TODAY?  Every Eritrean MUST ponder on that fundamental question. A short viable answer (perhaps, an excuse) may be this: it was

In Search of Liberty – 2nd Narration, 28/09/2018

How did WE ERITREANS get to where we are TODAY?  Every Eritrean MUST ponder on that fundamental question. A short viable answer (perhaps, an excuse) may be this: it was (unbelievable as it may seem) the Act of an African Houdini, camouflaged as a LIBERATOR of ERITREA. It was a daring Act – with extraordinary dexterity, maneuvering tactic, deception, cajoling, lying, betraying and zigzagging of treachery.   Issayas Afewerki Abraha brought down ERITREA, a population of five to six million, flat on its face under his ‘BOOTS’. In thirty-year period of fighting [in the name of “LIBERTION”] Issayas Afewwrki Abraha was on his own  way to the fulfilment of his age-old diabolical, hateful and long-range plan against the entire Eritrean people. He was on his way to make himself the absolute Master of the entire Eritrean people.  And he bestowed upon himself the Presidency over the hapless society of Eritrea, with unbound authority.

No single opposition was heard from a nation that has gone through 30-year war for Liberation, for Freedom, for Equality, for Democratic Governance. NOT A BLIP of CONCERN & OPOOSTION was witnessed. In other words, ERITREANS, UNCHARACTERISTICALLY, were like the legendry ኣንጭዋ፣ አብ ማይ ዝኣተወት። To Issayas Afewerki Abraha, however, it was a CONFIRMATION of his own demeaning opinion about the Eritrean CHARACTER. He knew he was “free” in the liquidation of Eritrea, for any reason, by any means necessary.  It is a classical case of revenge madness.  He reached at the status of being respectable member of the renowned United Nations Organization, as equal member together with the mightiest leaders of Nations.  His ego was boosted beyond proportion, but he has yet more to accomplish before he is through with Eritreans and Eritrea. Again, as the insightful Tigrigna saying goes: ዘይትብላዕ፣ ዘይትስተ።

Here is an interesting anecdote: In a moment of relaxation with a comrade, over a glass of alcoholic beverage, Issayas Afewerki Abraha revealed his intention in two simple loaded Tigrigna words: “ከርእየክን እዬ”። I already referred to this anecdote in my seemingly endless commentaries. Tiring as it may sound, however, it is worth repeating it a thousand times to be etched in our consciousness as a permanent reminder of the greatest deception ever perpetrated by a SINGLE mortal human being over the ERITREAN PEOPLE.  In short, it must be an eternal LESSON to ERITREANS, in soul searching endeavour, and admit who we are.  In other words, how was it possible for one mortal individual to galvanize the entire population of Eritrea, with their eyes wide open, on the verge of jumping over a cliff to oblivion?  If the question is irritating to Dear Eritrean Readers, my only response is to say SORRY, but keep on being inquisitive as it is our natural endowment to do so for our own survival. In short, our silence and refusal to see the reality of our ‘make-up’ goaded us to self-destruction. Let us face it:  THE PROBLEM IS WITHIN OURSELVES.

Issayas Afewerki Abraha would never have succeeded had he not understood deeply the WEAKNESS of Eritreans. He realized that, when things come down to a critical level, Eritreans become their own enemies!!!  It is NOT a strange or mysterious phenomenon, applicable only in Eritrea. It happens all over the Globe. But, needless to say, that should not be an excuse for Eritreans to keep on flogging themselves to death.

Taking the time period of the last one-hundred-and-thirty (130) years, “Eritrea” [so-baptized by colonial force] was never able to identify itself by indigenous name due to the multicity of ethnicity. Like wise, the unity of the diverse people within a common concept of independence, freedom, and democracy was not possible to mushroom.  Needless to add, the fact that Eritrea is a member of the UN Organization does not automatically make it a democratic State discharging Freedom, Equality, Justice, Productivity etc. to the PEOPLE of the country.  In fact, to digress a little bit, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Nations of the MAORITY  MEMBERS  of UN Organization have NO liberty, NO freedom, NO justice, NO equality ….. in their respective so-called “free” countries that are ruled by absolute dictators who have no regard for their own people. Our beloved Africa is a glaring example – but surely NOT a consolation to Eritreans (or to other nations) by any stretch of argument. Thus, against the overall reality, perhaps, the terminology used by the President of the United States of America, though offensive, would, never-the-less, describe perfectly the situation of the under developed countries >>> “shitholes”!!!  A talkative Dictator, President for Life, of an African State, with Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph D), reacted to the opinion of the US President with ‘100% agreement’.

 Back to Eritrea:                                                                                                                                                                  In the anal of human history, we find “demented”-geniuses who had the ability to galvanize societies to their own consequential demise!!!  In Eritrea, the self-liquidation of ’thyself’ phenomenon was accomplished under the quasi-identical force in the name of “Eritrean liberation Force” and “Eritrean People’s Liberation Force” – ELF and EPLF. It is estimated that the loss of Eritreans fighting each other was much more than the loss of Eritreans in the entire 30-year war against Ethiopia. I stand to be corrected.  In any case, in  parallel with that mutual-destructive war, Eritreans were also fighting for Independence against Ethiopia.  In the end: ELF lost and disintegrated; EPLF won and continued its war against Ethiopia and admirably won that war too.

With the above extraordinary victory, Issayas Afewerki Abraha became the Idol, the hero, the saviour of Eritrea and the earthly God to the ecstatic people of the entire spectrum of Eritrea. Scholars of the highest calibre showered their admiration and allegiance to the semi-god dear Issayas Afewerki Abraha. They nudged against each other at his ‘door steps’ [so to say] to get a glimpse of attention from the ‘Emperor’. Ordinary people worshiped him like God. Any foolish ordinary citizen showing an innocent hint of less than admiration for the semi-God would meet the same fate of Mussolini of Italy right at the main avenue of Asmarina, Eritrea.

Eritrea is a victim of itself. WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. One hundred and thirty years of experience did not make a dent in our psyche to change our sociological behaviour against each other, which is based on our most cancerous diseases of RELIGION and REGION.  WE ARE OUR OWN ENEMY.  We are doomed. Call it CURSE = መርገም. By the way, had the ELF were to be the winner — instead of Issayas Afewriki’s EPLF — the end result would have been exactly the same, though aligned to another direction. Either way, however, the ERITREAN PEOPLE at large would remain exactly in the same condition of slavery, exodus, with THAT eternal appeal of “ሽገይ ሃቡኒ…...ኣይተጸብዩኒ”።   

A Word of Gratitude: I do not wish to end this Article without expressing my deep THANKS to the Management of Assenna.com for providing us with invaluable space to express our ideas, with civility [as we must]. Hopefully, ONE DAY we may come up with a REVELATION that living and working in harmony, for mutual benefit, is much better than under the bondage of slavery, fighting each other for the benefit of diabolical forces. AND THAT DAY WOULD INDEED BE A DAY OF “ASSENNA–ASSENNAYE”

Rezen

aseye.asena@gmail.com

Review overview
30 COMMENTS
  • Gezae September 29, 2018

    I wish to live on the land of great poeple,
    Ibrahim Sultan, Woldeab Woldemariam plus more.
    Land of bravery, histories of heroics sea lapping it’s shores,
    A country so diverse of islands, national parks.
    Grand estates miles and miles of beaches of golden sand.
    Big smile people, great weather, delicious food.

    • Tsehaye September 29, 2018

      Dear Gezae

      Good wish but you know where Eritreans have ended up because of that destructive wish. Here is my wish which is contrary to your wish: I wish to live in the land of great people such as Asfaha Woldemichael, Qeshi Dimetros, and Raesi Kidanemariam. If they were alive today, there would not have been so much mayhem and so many miseries in Eritrea. If they were alive today, the tragic exodus of young and old Eritreans would not have happened. If they were alive today, you would never have fled out of Eritrea to live in a foreign land. If they were alive today, the barbaric gedli would not have been created and the PFDJ mafia would not have existed. THINK BIG for a change.

    • Alazar September 30, 2018

      Gezae, what did Ibrahim Sultan achieve for Eritreans? Did he fight to join Eritrea to his Sudan?

  • Tsehaye September 29, 2018

    Dear Reza,

    Thank you for this great and very critical article. It is so refreshing to read something that is quite different perspective. Sadly, we are blinded by a false pride of the barbaric gedli to the detriment of our people’s existence. We talk more and care more about the barren land than about the people who live on it. Land first takes precedence to people first. and the outcome of that demented mentality is what we see today in Eritrea. The land has been left empty because the people has left it to live in a foreign land. ሓባእ ቁስሉስ፡ ሓባእ ፈውሱ።

  • fetsum abraham September 29, 2018

    A beautiful article full of artistic expressions. “Eritrea is a victim of itself. WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. One hundred and thirty years of experience did not make a dent in our psyche to change our sociological behaviour against each other, which is based on our most cancerous diseases of RELIGION and REGION.” I agree and the syndrome could not have been expressed better than how you did it. This is like Towelde Redda’s; “Eritrawian kab merir tarikom keymaharus tetselilom”.
    Of course there is no doubt that the dictator caused unexpected havoc in the society though the weak elite class and the civic society are responsible as well. Brother Rezen! Can you please bless us with what we have to do now to overcome the situation and protect our society? what is missing my brother and how can we fix it? thank you

    • Alazar September 30, 2018

      Fitsum, why do you think Rezen can be Mr Fixer? You are all just good at writing beautiful articles.

      • Fetsum September 30, 2018

        Hey alazar. What are you good for and what may ur contribution be? What do u expect frpm others and where do u stand in the deal?

  • Simon G. September 30, 2018

    Rezen,
    Nice article!
    However, I disagree with this statement:
    “By the way, had the ELF were to be the winner — instead of Issayas Afewriki’s EPLF — the end result would have been exactly the same, though aligned to another direction. ”
    Jebha Aabay was more civilized and democratic party. Maybe you the Old Jebha of 1960s but not the Jebha before the civil war.

    • Alazar September 30, 2018

      If your Aabay Jebha were to be winners then Eritrea would have been another Syria, Iraq or Libya.

    • k.tewolde September 30, 2018

      Simon, to supplement your post devoid of partisan biased views,there was distinct features of ELF,it was naive just like the Eritrean people it represented,broad coalition of its ethnic groups,a beautiful spectrum of our aspirations with all the intelligence,ignorance,social ills and goodness woven in it.It stretched itself thin and covered its people from Karura to Ras dumeira,alpha to omega,as long as I was there over a span of ten years plus in the front lines,we spoke our minds,challenged our military and political leaders with no repercussions,nobody went missing and everybody was accounted for,there was even times we refused order to go to our fortifications until the resolution of our demands.At times we won other times we lost however we exercised our rights prudently without disrupting organizational discipline.This atmosphere is not conducive for the tyrant to thrive so he have to create a new enterprise where he can control everything from how often you go to the bathroom to how many people can gather together at a given time.I can’t predict what ELF would turn out to be if it had the upper hand,but I am sure of one thing,ME! my people’s situation would have been totally the opposite of what it is today,guess what,there were a lot of people like me,many of them gone forever.

      • Danilo September 30, 2018

        I started reading Rezen’s article til the point Simon raised and I was ready to comment but since Simon and tewolde covered my thought satisfied because historic democratic reform were talking place inside ELF itself which was a real danger to Isayas. Thus why TPLF was called to do evil deals. However, if ELF was on post of EPLF, for sure could have been different.

        • Haregot September 30, 2018

          Abay Jebha losers and delusional morons,
          sad but truly you’ll be going to your Jebha grave yards
          with your dark criminal and banditry history
          wrapped up in your dirty blooded alien flag. Get real & live in the real world.

          • Danilo September 30, 2018

            Don’t blame me, true Eritrean knows what i said. Be realistic that I am not tagging any flag issue but expressing Eritrean harmony as it has been and will be. Your betrayal is leading you on grav yard!

          • Tsehaye September 30, 2018

            Deat Haregot,

            Thank you for reminding these old time criminals who live in hiding somewhere in the western countries. Those who say the ELF was more democratic and more benign compared to the EPLF are either the criminals who committed untold atrocities in the highland of Eritrea or they are simply the worst kind pf useful idiots. The ELF had hardly any traits of these dishonest individuals have described it. Truthe be told that for every crime the EPLF had committed during the barbaric gedli, there were at least more than 5 to 10 crimes committed by the archaic ELF. Since its inception and to tje last day of its demise, the crimes committed by this notorious organization were too many to list them here. ማሕበር 7 was liquidated in the sixties. Tne umber of innocent people killed in the 1960s, livestocks robbed and sold in Kassala were in the thousands. It was the era of the notorious Abdel Kerim who terrorized the people of ቆሓይን. It was the era of the notorious Dimai who robbed the cattle of ደንበላስ and and burned the villages of Kunama. It was the era of barbarian fanatical Jihadis. You may ask how about the 1970s? It was even worse. It was an era when this archaic organization declared “ሜዳ ኤርትራ ካብ ሓድ ውድብ ንላዕሊ ኣይጸውስን’ዩ” and wasted so many Eritrean lives fighting gruesome civil wars. It was an era when the “Falul” reform movement was liquidated. It was an era so many highland Eritreans were sent home after finishing their training because the tribalists and notorious islamists thought the organization they built to arabize Eritrea was slipping out of their hands. It was an era of the mobile prisions in the province of Seray where countless Eritreans tortures and excuted. The first Eritrean adherent of pentecostal was tortured to death in Qola Seraye. He was the owner of a shoe factory in Asmara. The people of Qohayn and Dembelas were robbed of their cattle in 1977 and 1978 respectively. Out of the 5 military ኣርካን (leaders) of the ELF, there was no single highland Eritrean individual while 80% of its fighting force was composed of highland Eritreans. How about its leaders…ሰውራዊት ባይቶ? Out of the 44 or so members, there were fewer than 10 and by the time the ELF was in the dust bin of history, there were two or 3 left. How about its foreign offices? The ELF was mostly active in the Middle East, and there was no single highland Eritrean peson in these countries. Eritrea was often portraied as an Arab country colonized by a Christian nation. Copied from Ibrahim Sultan’s speech at the UN in York, the ELF often told the Arabs that the Eritrean people were moslems. Dr. Bereket Habtesilassie’s encounter with the moslem Eritrean students in Iraq in 1975 was a testimony. To sum it up: the ELF was a barbaric organizayion whose keadership was rotten with religious fanaticism and outdated tribalism. If it had the chance to lead Eritrea, Eritrea wiuld have resembled like today’s Iraq and Lybia.

          • Gezae October 1, 2018

            Both ELF and EPLF were not democrats. Both of the had similar communist oriented programs. Democracy and communist political program are also based on different ideology principle. although superficially they seem to share the power to the people philosophically in practice the two organization structure the economy and politics fabric is markedly different ways. Hence:

            My own view is that Jebha was never been a democratic organization and there was no democratic understanding specially inside the leadership. In Jebha the additional problem related specially to its internal factors, such as religion, social order, economic system particularly its linkages to foreign influences and interventions, such as Arab political and fiscal support of the organization.

        • Haregot September 30, 2018

          My comment wasn’t meant just for you, it was meant for you all losers HADEMTI & TEBELETSITI – Gezae, simon g, k.tewolde, you and the rest sold outs.
          Clarify what you mean by I am not “tagging”, are you still tagging in your grave yard? You only brought so much damages and shames to our Eritrea.

          • Tsehaye September 30, 2018

            Correction: Dear Haregot not Deat Haregot. 😊

          • Tsehaye September 30, 2018

            Sorry guys, I just realized that there are several typos in my comment above. That is what happens when you use your cellphone to write a comment and are not blessed with long and thin fingers.

  • Gezae September 30, 2018

    7:55 p.m.

    Eritrea’s foreign minister is touting his country’s historic peace agreement with Ethiopia and calling for U.N. sanctions to be lifted immediately, calling them “unwarranted” and “a miscarriage of justice.”

    Osman Saleh Mohammed told the U.N. General Assembly’s ministerial meeting on Saturday that “with positive winds of peace flowing in our region” some Security Council members are calling for sanctions to be lifted while others are looking for pretexts “to move the goalpost” and maintain the illegal sanctions.

    The Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea and sanctions on its political and military leaders in December 2009 after U.N. experts said the Horn of Africa nation was supporting al-Shabab extremists in Somalia and had failed to withdraw its forces following clashes with Djibouti in June 2008.

    Mohammed said the previous U.S. administrations were mainly responsible for the “fabricated charges” which created serious economic damage and hurt the country’s reputation and prospects for investment.

    As a result, Mohammed said Eritrea is not only calling for the immediate rescinding of sanctions but “amends for the damages incurred and opportunities forfeited.”

    Eritrea recently restored diplomatic relations with Somalia and Djibouti.

    • Simon G. October 1, 2018

      Te-Gezae,
      How much did they pay for your EVIL service?

      • Genet Original October 1, 2018

        Simon G
        It is the end of the month and pay day is near. DIA is flush with $$$$$$ you know from where.
        Zombies are on overtime. They are rushing in to Assenna to upstage each others.

        • Gezae October 1, 2018

          Except Djibouti that did not make an explicit appeal to the United Nations General Assembly with respect to Eritrean sanctions, Ethiopia and Somalia reiterated calls for the lifting of sanctions.

          On their part, Eritrea dedicated its entire address to the sanctions with categorical demands that they have from the word go been unjustified and thus be lifted by the Security Council without delay.

          Foreign Minister Osman Saleh did not mince words about the unjust nature of the sanctions and the adverse effects that it had on Eritrea’s progress and development.

          In light of these important and positive developments, it is only appropriate and timely that the Security Council now seriously considers lifting the sanctions imposed on Eritrea.”

  • Simon G. October 1, 2018

    TeGezae, Hidat, Thehaye, Haregot, Teclay, whatever nick names…
    ደቂ-40 ተፍቲሕኩም መስለኒ። ውጸኣት መሊእኩማ ኣሰና!

    • k.tewolde October 1, 2018

      yes indeed Simon,it stinks in here.The pack of wolves are out to serve their boss,it feels like the 1970’s,they are using the same old rhetoric to divide Eritreans you can smell the stale halitosis through the medium,look what they did to our people,they held them hostage for years,destroyed our homeland and sucked the life of the nation from inside out,the rest refer to the videos and pictures of people coming out from that secretive place,that is what these venomous people do,so this is what Singapore looks like?!! You called them Hasadat Simon,it fits them right.

      • Simon G. October 1, 2018

        Agree, brother KT!
        I am looking for D.D.T. and use it as needed for these deqi-40 flies.

        • Genet Original October 1, 2018

          Simon G
          That was too funny.
          Get the D.D.T and spray away ASAP!!!
          Love it.

          • Simon G. October 1, 2018

            I am glad you love it Geneta!
            Remember, Sis: whatever Eritreans differences we have, on this forum, it is trivial. We are in sync on the critical items, mainly about our country.
            Obviously, I can’t say the same about these deqi-40s.

  • Genet Original October 1, 2018

    Yes, we are our worst enemy, because we lack objectivity.
    But I do’t know why the writer thinks EPLF and ELF endgame would be identical? Did ELF also had DIA’s evil twin for a leader? Also why do we think EPLF VS ELF? After independence, why we didn’t demand for ELF members to establish a party? Can we think for a moment about ELF or other political party were permitted to participate, could we be where we are today?

    • k.tewolde October 1, 2018

      To answer your questions G.O., absolutely not.The day the tyrant and his henchmen monopolized the field and scanned the scenery and looked at each other and said,it is party time,God forbid,did they party,at the expense of the people, the place I grew up to know has never been the same again.You can’t evict your own brother from home and expect to enjoy a peaceful meal with all the fixing.The Lord simply wont allow that.Therefore,the nation continues to ooze from a festering abscess which never healed.Till we incise and debride the offending organism,the nation will continue to drain its purulence into irreversible septic shock.I am committed to continuing to speak the truth so help me God.

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