Thank you our heroes, you are not slaves
Thank you our defense forces, you are not slaves; thank you our National Service heroes, you are not chattels; you are the proud Eritrean Defense Forces. I am deeply proud of you and appreciative of
Thank you our defense forces, you are not slaves; thank you our National Service heroes, you are not chattels; you are the proud Eritrean Defense Forces. I am deeply proud of you and appreciative of the services you are providing to our people and the sacrifices you are enduring under difficult situation.
yon February 24, 2014
I have seen this article. it is a fantastic piece of work. I did not know Adhanom before , and never even heard of him before he published this article called WEFRI BARNET. Any one who wants to know or understand the System that exists in Eritrea must read this articles.In one of his last articles he also clearly spells out the way forward to get rid of HIGDEF . If I am not mistaken this document was titled us” Movement for national salvation”
If any body knows where we can get his articles please let us Know. They are not on the websites any more.
Yon
rr February 24, 2014
Mahmud Saleh
If you can not call working for your owner for free indefinitliy with out any clear future what is slavery?
Isays did put Eritrea in such situation and he dicides when to put Eritrea out. Even your mind is enslaved.
selamawit2 February 24, 2014
dear writer of the article,
if you really got deep into the issue „slavery“ you should know that there are different types of slavery. the category that is the base of the so called „military service“ in eritrea is defined as FORCED LABOR – it includes also human trafficking.
Is is per definition SLAVERY! your definition is unique in the sense of single user-defined.
I am shocked how you use rethorical legedemain to banalise the situation in the „military service“ and to defame the victims who escaped that inhuman labor and who now speak out what is going on there.
It is flashy how lingustic eloquent you seem to be and at the same time how you ignore important semiotic factors in the language of Luam et al (e.g. the different kinds of relations between a word (sign) an its meaning – you don’t analyze it, you just fix it in advance the way it could be useful for your argumentation )
mahmud saleh February 24, 2014
Dear Selamawit2:
“…you ignore important semiotic factors in the language of Luam et al (e.g. the different kinds of relations between a word (sign) an its meaning – you don’t analyze it, you just fix it in advance the way it could be useful for your argumentation )”
THANK YOU FOR THAT I WILL LOOK AT IT AND YOU HAVE A VALID POINT.
I may have made myself more clear, but sometimes passion takes over. As an Eritrean I understand what the campaign is talking about. But for the intended Europeans “stop slavery” coveys a different message. If you were able to ask a platoon of National service working on any construction job if they were slaves, would they say “yes”, but if you asked them if their situation was miserable and is akin to slavery(ናብራ ኣኻልብ ኢኹም ትነብሩ ዘለኹም፡ ወይ ናይ ባርነት እዩ፡ ወይ ሓሳረ፡ መከራ….)they would probably agree with you. Then when you discuss why they are there indefinitely, they could give you some rationalization, obviously, influenced by real or perceived threats to their country and the propaganda of the government. My point is these young men and women are enduring these tough and unbearable conditions not because they are passive recipient of the harsh predicament,but because they have explanations for it. And it would be helpful to dialogue with them respectfully so that they can demand for their right. Because at the end they are the ones who will bring change unto themselves. Even on practical grounds how is it possible for European officials to compel Eritrea to stop national service?
Salamawit2: I have not accused any one who escaped that harsh situation, in fact what got started writing was the incident of Lampedusa and this was my first article.http://demo.archive.assenna.com/to-the-unknown-soul/
selamwit2 February 25, 2014
Dear Mahmud Saleh,
first of all, thank you very much for you answer and for your openness!
„sometimes passion takes over“ – yes, i really see. we are human beings and we love our brothers and sisters and it HURTS SO MUCH to see them in such situations!
here is my personal view on this issue:
being a slave has nothing to do with lack of pride, of history or of brothers and sisters, who don’t want to accept that one gets humiliated into slavery – this is also valid for „being a victim“ in general. if somebody gets vitimized or enslaved, he/she should not denial it but recognize the situation and the injustice that is happening to him/her! I think this kind of (painful) clearness is unlalienable for that resistance becomes possible.
there a some further thoughts i’d like to share with you:
1. it is obvious that you know, that there are different definitions of slavery e.g. by marx, platon etc… that’s why it It is not enough to cite a single simple, stripped-down „dictionary“ and to say „You may find similar definitions…“.
i also think it is minimum requirement to look up specialized dictionaries and encyclopedia. but properly you should refer to expertise sources (like primary sources)!
please consider this due to the high sensitivity of the issue – i would they, you owe this to Luam et al!
2. i think your intention to appeal to the pride and heroic history of our people in the „military service“ is a legitimate version of trying to empower them/us. but the problem is, it is more hidden between your lines – which is a pity, if that was your main intention.
what sticks out in your article is, that you „underrate“ and „attack“ Luam et al (unwillingly?).
wouldn’t it be better to send messages kind of
„ you are victimized, but they will never break you. stand up and fight – you are built on a heroic fundament!
( by the way, if it comes to platon, i am not sure, if he even would have defined the „slaves of america“ as slaves. And what is sure, he would not have defined himself as a slave – but it is known that he was caught and sold as a slave for a particular time.)
i didn’t read your older article yet but i will catch up now..
selamawit2 February 25, 2014
Dear Mahmud Saleh,
first of all, thank you very much for you answer and for your openness!
„sometimes passion takes over“ – yes, i really see. we are human beings and we love our brothers and sisters and it HURTS SO MUCH to see them in such situations!
here is my personal view on this issue:
being a slave has nothing to do with lack of pride, of history or of brothers and sisters, who don’t want to accept that one gets humiliated into slavery – this is also valid for „being a victim“ in general. if somebody gets vitimized or enslaved, he/she should not denial it but recognize the situation and the injustice that is happening to him/her! I think this kind of (painful) clearness is unlalienable for that resistance becomes possible.
there a some further thoughts i’d like to share with you:
1. it is obvious that you know, that there are different definitions of slavery e.g. by marx, platon etc… that’s why it It is not enough to cite a single simple, stripped-down „dictionary“ and to say „You may find similar definitions…“.
i also think it is minimum requirement to look up specialized dictionaries and encyclopedia. but properly you should refer to expertise sources (like primary sources)!
please consider this due to the high sensitivity of the issue – i would they, you owe this to Luam et al!
2. i think your intention to appeal to the pride and heroic history of our people in the „military service“ is a legitimate version of trying to empower them/us. but the problem is, it is more hidden between your lines – which is a pity, if that was your main intention.
what sticks out in your article is, that you „underrate“ and „attack“ Luam et al (unwillingly?).
wouldn’t it be better to send messages kind of
„ you are victimized, but they will never break you. stand up and fight – you are built on a heroic fundament!
( by the way, if it comes to platon, i am not sure, if he even would have defined the „slaves of america“ as slaves. And what is sure, he would not have defined himself as a slave – but it is known that he was caught and sold as a slave for a particular time.)
mahmud saleh February 25, 2014
salamawit2:
” wouldn’t it be better to send messages kind of
„ you are victimized, but they will never break you. stand up and fight – you are built on a heroic fundament!”
Beautifully said, and my point as you have observed it was trying to see those young men and women as active rather than passive waiting for a recue, as people who could change the whole equation if we could somehow communicate with them appropriately..etc.
2. I agreed with Luam in many points and actually learned from her and it’s not my intention to discourage young people from challenging us, when I said I hoped to see more of her works, imeant it. In general, I see areas where I could have polished/clarified it. I thank you for your helpful comments.
selamawit2 February 25, 2014
Dear Mahmud Saleh,
I really appreciate you openness and i’d like to add a little saying to all the critical word i said: “you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.”
or in other words:
thank you for you involvement for our people/for us!
mahmud saleh February 25, 2014
selamawit2: Thank you; I got it. I reread my article more than three times. The core ideas being the same, that these people are there reasoning out situation necessitated it, and that calling them slaves is not approptiate and actually exacts the opposite effect for encouraging them to demand for their rights, I see I could have done some editing in streamlining my thoughts and making it more effective substantively rather appearing to be more of an emotional defensive reaction….I also reread Luam’s and 79 pages of Ambassador Adhanom (by the way an interesting papers, although I disagree with some of his conclusions).As I repeatedly said it, I admire Luam’s courage to voice her opinion, and am looking forward to see similar stirring articles, by the way way eloquent and breathtakingly flawless storytelling. Again, I appreciate your helpful engagement.