Kiki Birhin
Dear Veterans of my beloved country, Eritrea!
Some former prisoners of EGDEF now living in the diaspora and some of our own Veterans, are suddenly dancing to the tune of “peace” of Ethiopia and I am lost. I read their articles over and over again…and I am more lost.
When Eritrean women like myself walked the streets of Africa and other countries to search for peace – not for themselves- but for the orphans they grabbed and run away from ethiopian occupation and Eritreans’ evil…I always knew that ALL of our Veterans were fighting to avenge the killing of my husband and mine. Yes! mine too, because one can be a dead woman walking.
Never did I expect what is happening in our country NOW to happen. Never did I dream to live my life as a mother and grandmother abroad. I did believe that I would go back home and walk the kids and grand kids to the monument of the unknown soldier and put flowers and find answers to all my question.
What hits me deeply now is the sudden turn around of some that chose to ignore the prisoners, the orphans, the refugees, the mothers and fathers kneeling at churches and mosques and begging God to end this agony. They forgot! it took a song by a senior citizen from Ethiopia, some flowers hanging around the necks of some…and dancing they did.
Did they forget that patriotism is Eritrea and not a president? let alone a neighboring country that says”I sing for you, you dance…and all is gone!” ..like all our struggle, our history and our pain was taken away by Maibela…I say hell no!
I need your help and you need to unite, Eritrea Veterans. What more devastation will bring you closer to walk us back home? WHAT ELSE do you need to see so you pick up your weapon of love and determination and become ONE?
The below I posted:
Patriotism is not dancing to Ethiopia’s tune and clapping to an Ethiopian senior citizen singing and trying to flatter our egos! Let us save hugs for our prisoners finally walking out of hidden jails. Hugs are for our handicapped Veterans in Kassala/Sudan, for our refugees losing their minds from torture in Libya, in Sinai and for orphans left behind by the Ethiopian occupation of Eritrea. …What happened here?
Suddenly former Eritrean prisoners of EGDEF and some are our own Veterans, and presently citizen of a foreign country that gave refuge to them write articles…. and all of the above is forgotten. Such a numb drum melody these articles are!! Before WE – your people – speak, you already tore down our pain and our being. You call our patriotism trash in your minds. But you should all remember that we are far and above from your today’s standard. We are more than you can see. And with every inch of our determination we shatter your today’s search for glamour by a country that crushed us, took our land and killed our people. The reasons we never forgot, let me remind you: we are proud Eritreans and we never change our stand when it comes to our land, to our people, to our Martyrs and to our Veterans! It takes more than clapping to the tune of an Ethiopian senior citizen singing, no matter whose’ favorite singer he might be!
Your pen armed as knife in your right hand, your left arm ready…could not scare us. Just feel your bad day and go away. If life is suddenly so good in Eritrea, then give up your foreign passports and go back so to get closer to the tune of that singer from Ethiopia.
One cut is not enough, you can try repeatedly…and again…you might see salty tears stream down our faces. But kneeling down we do not do! Because patriotism is ERITREA and NOT a president.
This time brought us closer and a superficial happiness is not ours. This time, we shine and it is our time. Like Yemane songs says “Aytegage..afalalay zeybulu nazenet….nisegum bihade…Aytegage.”
I am grateful to each of you, my country’s Veterans. Even those that side by EGDEF and now by Ethiopia, as long as they do not forget the priorities in Eritrea. We do not need Ethiopia to fix our country. And if Ethiopia comes forward the dialogue should be with the people of Eritrea.
Tesfa July 4, 2018
Dear Kiki, You are not alone!!! As much as am happy to see a dawn of peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia, am equally saddened and confused to see people with goldfish memory to forget the death of 80000 Eritrean and Ethiopian youth in the senseless war, not to mention its impact on the lost generation. My follow Eritrean’s seems to forget the sitting Eritrean leaders should be responsible for death and suffering of our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends and neighbors. The sitting Eritrean leaders are not honoring what our veterans fought and died for. In contrary, the sitting leaders been reworded and worshiped. As you might already know, am very smart and gifted to predict about future so here is my predication. Eritreans around the world who possess the same brain as a goldfish and never been to the parks on June 20th in memory of our martyrs, will go out on a street to dance like there is no tomorrow. They will scream the name of the so called leaders for protecting boarders. Ethiopian leaders will visit Asmara and poor students and neighbors who lost their beloved family member will be forced to go out on the street of Asmara and dance. Like my grad pa will say, Kalae tizarobo suk yihash
Tesfai July 4, 2018
This is very poorly written and laden with row emotions. There is no alternative to peace because we have seen the senseless wars of Jebha, Hgdef and the Weyanes. Ethiopians and Eritreans are sick of their leaders in the last 45 years. We had enough of wars. War and hate is where Issais and the Jebha Hgdef gangs feel comfortable, peace and development is threat to them. Lets all say: Yes to peace. The young generation is sick of the worn out and discarded Jebha and Hgdef way of thinking.
Lets avoid immature comments like this”Patriotism is not dancing to Ethiopia’s tune and clapping to an Ethiopian senior citizen singing and trying to flatter our egos! Let us save hugs for our prisoners finally walking out of hidden jails. Hugs are for our handicapped Veterans in Kassala/Sudan ….”
k.tewolde July 5, 2018
Tesfa,stop taking a cheap shot at a decent,honorable Eritrean mother as ‘immature’.I think you should take care of the laundry in your house first and leave ours alone,unless you are double dipping.
AHMED SALEH !!! July 4, 2018
Why do not include Weyane instead you accuse only Jebha or Shaebia ?
Be honest to yourself . Tigrai people
are victims of their leaders too .
Gezae July 5, 2018
Patriotism is putting the country before other considerations!!
The country has a variety of citizens and each and every citizen contributes or makes Eritrea what it is at present. Some of the citizens are highly conscious of their actions and wish to change the country for the better, a few are those who are too busy dealing with their own lives and seldom think about where the country is going, and the rest are – well, just there, doing almost nothing for the country. The problem is that the current state of the country ends up being a struggle for the conscious citizen and a gala time for the ones who are not bothered, but the genuine people knows that a day will come when the conscious citizen will change the social landscape of the country. They will rule the nation and make it worth living in.
Progressive Eritrean thinkers believe a patriotic citizen is more or less like the conscious citizen, he/she wants to know what is happening in the country and they show their love by wanting to change the bad things about the country. They look at the bigger picture and give up his/her individual interests for the interest of the country first and for the most. They show love and its ideals refers to a sense of unity among a country’s inhabitants and a firm will to be and to remain a sovereign government. Typically view national independence as necessary for the protection of citizens and their way of life.
Although patriots usually agree on the basic definition of what patriotism is, they don’t always agree on how a patriot should react when faced with a decision to support or resist the decisions and policies of the country. One’s personal and political opinion, status in society, religious beliefs and life experiences can affect his or her beliefs regarding just what it means to be patriotic. For example, a person’s devotion to his or her country might not go as far as supporting a decision for the nation to go to war. He or she might react in different ways, such as participating in public demonstrations against the war while supporting the country in other decisions or refusing to become a soldier to fight for the nation. Others believe that the demonstration of true patriotism in such a situation would be to accept the nation’s decision to go to war by refusing to publicly demonstrate; by becoming a soldier, in some cases; or by supporting the country’s military and its personnel
.
A patriotic citizen is not somebody who is extraordinary, he/she is a normal citizen who chooses to behave in the most righteous manner. It may be difficult in current’s atmosphere to be ethical, but it is not impossible. And a conscious citizen will do whatever is in his/her capacity to make the ethical way seem like the right way. Fighting on the highways, cursing the government officials, hijacking embassy and vandalizing people’s proprieties, opposing the peace deals and or debating or writing non sentimental unfiltered pieces are not patriotic ethics. Patriotism is a propaganda manipulation. How patriotic you are is not determined by how well you conform to what messages propaganda circulates as truth
Patriotism is not something that you can buy from the market or promise to see in your back garden; rather it is a trait of contagious and will often affect people around and this is the best way in which these conscious citizens help their country, by telling other people that the country is theirs too and they need to contribute to make it better. A patriotic attitude is marked by an understanding of a nation’s history, accomplishments, and positive contributions and also recognizes a nation’s failures and negative influence
.
Nothing repeats like history. It is more true for Eritrean politics, than any other sphere of our national life. There is a saying that it is difficult to change what one learnt as a child. Those who run away the country when it was in need them yesterday. Those did not think twice before destroying/stealing/vandalizing public property, which is financed by the tax our fellow countrymen pay, in the name of people. those selling the country for their gains political are now using patriotism as a bludgeon. And they are shedding now crocodile tears, simply pretend to sympathize with or feel sadness about someone or something that they do not really care about.
Gezae July 5, 2018
Correction:
Patriotism is a propaganda manipulation read me as Patriotism is not a propaganda manipulation
AHMED SALEH !!! July 5, 2018
selamat Simon
Even though a person who leads his life with lies and deception will flip-flop regularly but at
the end of the day TRUTH will reveal his arrogance . Now ERITREAN delegates spit the truth
to tell the world what we used to tell that the war had secrets behind SHAEBIA-WEYANE
LEADERSHIP fake relationship to use Badme as a tool to settle their issues .
HAKI TIKETN IMBER AYTSBERN , stay tuned we will hear more self conflicted comments .
The problem lies with blind supporters who prefer to close their eyes and ears but eager
to say AMEN for their leaders at any cost which cost us unstable young generation .
Simon G. July 6, 2018
I hear you, brother Ahmed!
As SAAY abbrivated the nHna Nsu Nsu nHna as NNNN, these NNNN will not use their brain and they have sold their souls to the devil. Whatever garbage he feeds them, they will continue to swallow it, without chewing that is.
Grar July 6, 2018
Are you kidding? What “Patriotism” is that? Is hating your own millennial ancestors, belittling centuries old history, burning your own languages of Tigre Tigrinya, insulting your own identity, selling your own sisters and daughters to Arab slavery in Kessela and Gedaref, ignoring Eritreans enslaved in the Arab world …. patriotism?
Patriotism is not about marking borders. Patriotism is respecting humanity and oneself, your own languages, history and identity.
Hade July 7, 2018
Eritrea as a country is finished. All you people who scream in the name of martyrs have destroyed the country. You kept quite when you should have said something thinking it will never come to your house, but guess what, your house has burned down. No more Eritrea.
Wow. July 7, 2018
Dear Kiki,
As an Eritrean, I sincerely agree with you that the patriotic attitude is something we have, whatever political affiliation one may have. However, the border dispute or tired, long stalled and overdue peace process with Ethiopia and national points you make of Eritrea are two very different subjects.
I’m no veteran by all means, but was raised in a patriotic household, as many fellow Eritreans. I find it disheartening that you are reducing them to something weak, because they want to continue something they fought for. An independent nation with good relations with their neighbour. Economically it makes sense to get along.
I personally think that we should tread carefully, it is all way to good to be true for my liking. But a positive to progress nevertheless…
Not in a defence GOE, but they cannot be solely responsible for the ongoings in Libya – the journey becomes hellish once we leave Eritrean territory. I think many would agree, or maybe not.
Kneeling down would be allowing this new found progress to continue whilst Ethiopia’s presence is still very much in Eritrea. The arrogance and attitude of that entitlement is more so annoying than the physical presence. It is truly is the principle of the matter.
Unless you are a sceptic like myself, it is a hidden agenda that would explain the negativity one would feel of normalising relations with Ethiopia.