On this day, March 8, the women of the other world are celebrating for breaking chains of oppression to empower all women of the world, setting themselves free to work side by side with all men to make the world better and safer.  Because of this great day, all women are enjoying equal rights with assurance of effective rights in participating in all spheres of life of the society as well as in decision-making processes at all levels of responsibilities.  But unlike these women of the other world, this day for the Eritrean women is a day of denouncing the deplorable conditions the Eritrean women inside Eritrea are in.  Although this day is a day of shame in the leadership of the tyrant for his mistreatment of women, the Eritrean woman believes her dreams of being treated as equals will soon be fulfilled enabling her to create her own opportunities freely.  Yes, her dream of one day that the Eritrean woman will acquire the needed strength to break the chains of oppression in Eritrea.  Only thence the Eritrean woman will make sure once for all that the gender inequality, forced labor and slavery will be abolished. And, on the ashes of the ruthless policies of inequality, hatred, vengeance and economic strangulation, the Eritrean women side by side with the Eritrean men will start the journey of new Eritrea that is built on rule of law, equality, justices, fairness and equal access to and control over resources as well as equality in education, employment, power, and wealth.

Looking back, the Eritrean women, as mothers, sisters and daughters, fought side by side with the Eritrean men and gave their life, bone and blood to liberate the country and its people.  Similarly, the non-fighters or civilian Eritrean women were there serving the Eritrean revolution in all aspects of services with all they could to ensure the success of the struggle.  Most of those who were at the service of the revolution and the internally displaced people were qualified to be nicknamed “mother of the revolution” because of their dedication and care.  When those forced to flee their home due to the battles sought refuge and safety in the nearby villages, it was the Eritrean woman as mother/sister/daughter that welcomed and fed them.  As mothers of the revolution, they were encouraging the fighter before going to battles and comforting them after returning from battles.  The Eritrean wounded fighters, as well, depended on the kind and caring hands of the Eritrean women, as mothers of the revolution, for healing of their wounds and supports.

At the sight of the Eritrean women, as mothers of the revolution, the fighters never felt neglected and the internally displaced people felt sure that they would be shielded from the enemies bombardments, their insecurities were unloaded and their fears cleared.  During the battles and enemy bombardments, the Eritrean women’s strength and fearlessness were sources of hope to the Eritrean children, helping them to regain hope and power to stand as next fighters in line to reinforce the revolution or to replace those lost lives in the battles.

Anytime and anywhere the Eritrean women were there when the Eritrean revolution needed them.  Yes, it was the Eritrean woman that was always there with a lamp at night to guide those hiding fighters from the enemy and ensured those injured fighters of well-treatment until returned safely to their bases.  The fearless Eritrean woman even challenged the broad day light carrying supplies to the fighters and defying the gunnies of the enemy.

Exploring the Eritrean Women’s Strength

Many seasoned Eritrean politicians are heard saying that the Eritrean opposition does not match its talks to its walks.  Indeed, the opposition is on buy one, lose two as evidenced by their solo focus on political awareness trying to make the unconscious Eritrean conscious, while failing to synchronize the awareness of their efforts to the ongoing level of the fight against the tyranny.  No doubt, the awareness may enlighten the Eritrean person to become the voice of the voiceless.  But that voice without giving the needed suitable grounds that enable the new intakes to offer their push against the tyrant is like letting the flames of the fight against tyranny die before gasping the hopes of the voiceless.

On the part of the tyrant, he lets the Eritrean women participate without finding what his political programs are and what lies behind the doorways of her supports for him.  As a mother, a sister, and a daughter, the tyrant knows the strength of the Eritrean women and is convinced that she is the undeclared and silent leader of an Eritrean family.  Even the Ethiopian army, during the Eritrean struggle era, compared the Eritrean woman to a tiger with piercing eyes that identified the enemy of the Eritrean people from distance and denied or protected her territory like a fierce tiger from the oncoming enemy.

No doubt, the Eritrean woman once accomplishes self-discovery and regains power and strength will not consider herself lesser than those of the international women who are celebrating their March 8 day for all the achievements they have made.  The Eritrean woman, although has lost all of the sparks inside her because of the mistreatments under the rule of the tyrant, she refuses to sink to the deepest bottom under the load of despairs.  The hopes of March 8 Women’s Day propel the Eritrean women giving her new impetus to look forward, to courageously face the bleeding from amputation of rights, and prepare to overrun the tyrant’s strongholds through winning the hearts of the Eritrean women on the side of the tyrant.  Every tyranny practice is driven by top-down orders of divide and rule, mistreatment and injustices, destruction and elimination of lives, imprisonment and enslavements to which the pro-tyrant Eritrean woman is part of, while the pro-democracy Eritrean woman, as a victim of those heinous acts, resists all injustice, condemns all crimes committed against the Eritrean children, youth, mothers, fathers and the elderly in the strongest terms and calls for an end to all violations today and immediately thereby amplifying the wailing victim’s cry of ‘enough is enough.’  Although the justice seekers are resisting the Eritrean tyranny in their own way, the organized opposition groups should find ways and means to maximize the fight against the tyrant.  Together, the silent majority and the opposition groups, have to work to hasten the downfall of the tyrant thereby bringing to an end all the punches and guns directed at innocent Eritreans, eliminating all kinds of oppressions, liberating the Eritrean person from slavery and ensuring that on the ashes of tyranny all the needed democratic institutions are built.

Why the Eritrean Women Should Unplug the Support for the Tyrant  

The tyrant’s disregard for women’s rights stretches back to the days the G-15 were arrested and disappeared into dungeons.  It is the tyrant’s conviction that the Eritrean family revolves around mothers.  For the tyrant, he who controls the mother’s heart controls the family and the Eritrean children.  However, instead of using that Eritrean mother’s heart to build sound and healthy relationship among the Eritrean families, the tyrant is employing it to promote his politics of destroying the fabrics of the Eritrean society.  To establish himself as the only brutal power that silences all men, the tyrant chose to use the Eritrean women to infiltrate and strengthen his harsh censorship on the whole population.  Although those thrown into dungeons, disappeared or killed were/are the daughters and sons of the Eritrean mother, the very same mother was/is convinced to reject all as accused of betrayals.

How could the Eritrean woman be on the side of the tyrant, who devised and fomented abuses into action by throwing her children into prisons or disappearances and forced them to flee their country?  To justify his everyday abuses against innocent Eritrean children, he applies fake horrible punishments on his agents and informants in order to take precedence and make them look like normal punishments.  Yes, how come the Eritrean woman be on the side of the tyrant, who blamed the mothers that brought up concerns and issues about the fleeing youth and made them victims of his harsh punishments.

If the Eritrean woman should know, it is not an exaggeration that the change for democratic Eritrea hangs on her.  Imagine, the Eritrean woman that voluntarily has become a ring on the tyrant’s finger, never likes her own man to act like a man and yet admires the tyrant by saying there is no man like Isayas.  Indeed, the pro-tyrant Eritrean woman does not want the man of the house to stand for the cause of the family because she got him swamped with causes and cases of the tyrant.  But, how could that be possible?

According to a defector from the tyrant’s camp who crossed to the justice seekers camp, the distance between the pro-democracy and the pro-tyrant is three years.  That long of a time took this defector to adjust to the new political environment and be comfortable with the way the Eritrean opposition conducts its politics.  To the defector, the attachment to the table that served every week dinner and coffee evenings was a connection to the tyrant’s politics every day of the week.  There at the table all the attendees were made to feel like very connected to the nation and its people.  At the table each was made to believe that Eritrea and its people depended on what s/he contributed.  Not because the tyrant is fully spending what he gets from the various metal mines, the 2% taxes, and donations but because the tyrant wanted to suck out the last penny in the pocket of his supporters.  The strong feelings for the tyrant and the nation are made to be felt at the table during dinner and coffee evenings.  During the week days, all members are phone reached by phone or other means to ensure their loyalty and steadfastness.

The tables are under the control of the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) of the tyrant’s Higdef as well as the dinner and coffee evenings are run by members of the NUEW.  The NUEW members are expected to be alert, eye-opened, controlling, talky and heary in order to fully funnel all the information into the tyrant’s ears immediately without holding back any.  The men, on their part, are expected to be always on sleep-walk carrying out all the orders given by the members of NUEW.  All members claim to be non-political, signifying non-regional, non-tribal, non-religious, non-familial, yet each is duty-bound to promote the politics of the tyrant.  As non-familial, each also expected to tell on family members.  Once a family member goes the other direction, as deserter or defector, even if s/he drowned or organ harvested is not grieved on because s/he is considered to be betrayer.  Under the table’s rule, yawning is detrimental to the yawner because it triggers in other attendees a desire of withdrawal due to exhaustion and tiredness.  In case of an authorized association with opposition members, the violating member receives a message that s/he is under follow up.  If seemingly the violator is returning to strict adherence to the rules of the table, well and good.  Otherwise, plan B follows warning of the awaiting list of blackmailing, black-tainting, black-oiling, and even crushing under feet.  Plan C includes building up tensions to the extent of possibly inciting family feud that may result and lead to a step by step to divorce, imprisonment or homelessness.

Those who manipulate the hidden mechanism of the NUEW’s table and try to control the deepest feelings of the table attendees; want each member to feel addicted to the table and to be there to each other in case of need.  Each is expected to believe that a home becomes and continues to be a sweet home so long the spouses and their children are strong supporters of the tyrant.  In case one of the spouses changes heart, voices are made to start getting louder against the would be deserter or defector.  Fear of such raised voices keeps the whole family to remain loyal and in support of the tyrant with an understanding there is no hero in the settled case and if there one that to be considered the master, i.e. the tyrant in whose name the case was settled.  And, so long the family members support the tyrant they are expected to exercise political ignorance with no bounds that compels them to deny all the Eritrean problems.

The enlighten and conscious Eritrean women, on this International Women’s Day, can discuss and weave plans on how to join hands to free all those pawned in the hands of the tyrant through the traps of the NUEW.  Yes, all the enlightened and conscious Eritrean women can enforce allegiance to the nation and not to the tyrant.  Understanding that the lack of courage and lack of confrontation to stop injustice created the tyrant in Eritrea, the Eritrean women can organize all Eritreans to flock and come together to reverberate the call of ‘enough is enough’ and to  reinforce and toughen the people’s demand for the tyrant to step down now and immediately.

Celebrating March 8, the International Women’s Day

Mamino