While the World is Celebrating the Day of Peace On Sept 21st, Eritreans are longing for Peace and Safety of Their Family Members in Eritrea

In observance of the International Day of Peace, the world is celebrating this day, the day that was first celebrated in 1982 in dedication to the world peace signifying that everyone has the right to peace, so long one intends to make it a reality.  Since peace comes from inside and from within, it cannot prevail where justice and rights are denied.  It follows that how can there be peace when poverty is enforced and the power of hatred and rule of tyranny has overcome the peace of the land. Only by ending destruction and tyranny, the peace in Eritrea can prevail by giving peace to whole country as well as permitting the return of all refugees to participate in nation building.

On the day the real Eritrean liberators triumphantly entered Asmara and declared all Eritreans liberated from the yokes of occupiers, every Eritrean person thought that peace had come to prevail forever.  But, soon the person at the helm of the liberators reversed the course by imposing “no peace, no life,” compromising the people’s decency and dignity as well as aggravating poverty and the access to medication and healthy life.  Once again the Eritrean person was forced to surrender to the forces of lawlessness and shocked to see the end of all the dreams that s/he expected to be swimming in forever in peace and prosperity.

What is the Cause of Absence of Peace in Eritrea?

The tyrant blames the absence of peace on the unresolved border conflict with Ethiopia.  If such was the case with Ethiopia, how come it didn’t create system disturbance there, in Ethiopia as a country as well in the lives of the Ethiopian people?  On the part of Ethiopia as explained by its government officials, the Eritrea’s wounds are self-inflicted.  Even though that is the evident truth, we may ask what, then, triggered the hostilities between the two countries?  Here’s what the third party witnesses:  Until the war of 1998, their glue was holding the two countries together.  Both were happy with the exchanged gifts, based on the fact that mine is yours and yours is mine.  For the gift of Baduma that Ethiopia got, Eritrea took over all the exports of Ethiopia including coffee.  When each started to break the trust, both felt the increased distrust because their respective people started to complain.  Then, each rushed to redesign their governance mechanisms to control the damages caused by their offices and to restore the lost trust.

When the government personnel in the lower level failed to piece together and glue what was broken, the upper level personnel had to interfere.  Unfortunately, the upper lever personnel ended complicating the protracted conflict by referring to old tensions and making extremely difficult conflicts over the unsettled resentments inspired by past battlefield (liberating period) accounts, where one was taking the lion’s share and the other was feeling not getting fair shares of the war booties.  Both leaders decided to open their past wounds that time had failed to heal, declaring that their wounds were incurable and turning them (the wounds) to the deadliest war of 1998-2000 between the two countries.

Until the war broke out, the late Meles of Ethiopia was trusting Isayas of Eritrea just out of fear.  To Meles, a person like Isayas who doesn’t respect his people could not be trusted.  Thus, the friendship between the two, Isayas and Meles, crumbled because of lack of trust.  Soon, to what Isayas termed as “no peace, no war,” Meles was referring to as “no trust, no peace.”

At first, most of the Eritreans thought the root causes of the conflict were with those at the helm of the two countries.  But when the hostilities have continued and persisted past the late Meles of Ethiopia, the conflict is found to be deep rooted that cannot be resolved so long the two powerful groups are ruling.  Answering the second question as to whether the conflict was due to imbalance of power between the two after the war, it may lead to a conviction, as supported by every day truth, that both countries are not comfortable with each other because one side is seen fearing being controlled or dictated terms and conditions by the other party who is perceived to be more powerful.  Although the two are restive and impatient, their restraint and avoidance of direct confrontation are permitting the stronger to get more stronger, while the weaker is seeking to balance the power through other means.  Thus, the last resort rescue of each side’s peace is to achieve it by deprivation of peace from the other.

Did the Eritrean People Give Their Permission to “No Peace?”

Previously, what the older generation Okayed the contempt of the colonizer to live with as the colonized subject, the younger generation had to fight and die to liberate the country.  Once again, what the older generation erred in monsterizing the Eritrean monster, the younger has to fight and die to regain the peace in Eritrea.  However, unlike the occupation era, “no peace, no life” has killed all Eritrean youth’s desire to fight back.  As a result, the Eritrean youth are fleeing the country in mass because they feel that peace in Eritrea is not worth fighting for.  Those who are determined to fight and die for peace in Eritrea appear to be well equipped not to be fooled again.  Because these people are committed to defeating the peace-deniers, they appear to be well equipped to conquer the peace-denier’s source of lawlessness thereby ending the “no constitution, no rights” that is imposed by the tyrant.

It is a fact that silence is the worst enemy in giving up peace.  The Eritrean youth learned a lot from their demonstrations in Geneva and New York that noise for peace pays.  They know now that the fight for peace should be continuous and not only when the necessity arises.  Indeed, peace has to be nurtured and guarded in order to be benefited from.  Only those who live up to the lasting peace are committed to fighting for peace.  And, those who sacrifice for peace are empowered to end slavery and exploitation.

On this day marking the International Day of Peace, the Eritrean youth should break their geographical and financial constraints to help each other and fight the tyranny in Eritrea by writing on all Eritrean websites and holding meetings to express their indignation and rage for not having a day of peace in Eritrea that allows each person to freely speak and write without fear.  Yes, observing this day, the Day of Peace should be a day to be celebrated every day for the Eritrean youth until Eritrea and its people join the world in celebrating the International Day of Peace.

To fight fear is to be brave.  And, to recognize bravery is to declare overcoming the fear imposed by the tyrant.  Indeed, breaking and overcoming fear deserves a start of new journey right at the top of the mountain by heralding the fight and win over fear, just like what Awate did in 1961.  Let us, therefore, say a “Big No” to a “fight or flight.”  Instead, let it be only “fight and fight and fight” until the Day of Peace is won and secured in Eritrea for all Eritreans and the Eritrean youth.

Can the Fight for Peace be Without Killing?

The late Emperor Haile Selassie tried to apply moral re-armament revolution, peaceful change, in Eritrea to counter the armed struggle of the Eritrea Revolution.  The moral re-armament was tried in Biafra of Nigeria and it was a success.  However, if there is a victim there must be a victimizer who disturbs the peace of all and the process of the designed peaceful change.  Thus, when and upon realizing that the Ethiopian government was playing the role of the victimizer, the Emperor ordered the moral re-armament revolution as unacceptable in Eritrea.

Those who fake sincerity and convince their opponents not to return with same, when they take a fighting position, they are for sure trying to trick the opponent into a submission or to unconditionally silence the opponent to the violations or abuses of power.  In line with this fact, what is the way out with the tyrant Isayas and how to stop his whacking mallet on everyone around him?  The Eritrean people may try to confront with safely the tyrant’s cruelty but if they cannot go for that, the choice is to speak the tyrant’s language.  Otherwise, the people have to quietly rise to lead a revolution of “No.”  They can say “No to plotting conspiracies against family members.  Just they have to say, “No to poisoning and dismembering the limbs of innocent Eritreans,” to each order imposed on by the tyrant.  No and never to violating the rights of individuals including their monies and properties.  No and never to injustices, crimes against humanity and “No” to bloodshed caused by “shoot-on-sight” policy of the tyrant.

The “No” revolution can be reinforced by some other efforts.  At least, on this Day of Peace, the people can come together in peace to celebrate their day of peace.  The best thing that the people inside Eritrea can do is to feed their unfed hope about the day to be celebrated is to join the world in enjoying Sept 21st as their day of peace.  And, the best thing that the Eritrean tyrant should do on this day is to avoid kindling the flames of intolerance by letting the people enjoy their Day of Peace once a year.

COIE Has Come to Give Eritreans the Peace They Long Waited for 

Most criminals get killed at the hands of other criminals or by innocents who kill them in self-defense.   But Eritreans don’t want it to head that direction, if peace is to be ever lasting.  COIE is calling for a fair trial to all those responsible for the cruel crimes committed in Eritrea.  Only when those who are accused of atrocities committed stand their trial and get what they deserve, those who died fighting for peace and others’ rights will get closure and their family members will get relief and peace of mind.

When Eritrea, the land (government) and the people, starts respecting and giving full worth to life and peace, the dreamed peace will be given the life it needs to last forever.  However, when one intentionally ends the interconnectedness between peace and life through system disturbance, the people will be experiencing “no peace, no war.”  Indeed, the word “war” in the situation of “no peace, no war” as claimed by Isayas is just a self-declared war, and it is said that that war can only end when Isayas makes peace with his own-self, allowing “peace” to take the place of the word “war” and freeing the people to enjoy the Day of Peace in Eritrea.

Those who are suffering under the rule of the tyrant may not believe that one day soon the dreamed peace and progress will unfold in place of the irrationality and oppressiveness of the tyranny.  Yes, those who are embittered with the continuing cruelty and enslavement in Eritrea do really deserve seeing, feeling, and enjoying the calmness and true freedom of the Day of Peace in order to know what they are missing.  As a way of giving back, those Eritreans who are able to help should call family members in Eritrea and wish them “a happy International Day of Peace.”  Such a phone call will let them to know what they are missing and as a step in the right direction will also remind them that they need to struggle for peace.  Let us also, by so doing, give a hand to the Freedom Friday (Arbi Harnet) Activists in raising awareness about the head-on confrontation against those who set back the progress of humanity and civility in Eritrea.

Long Live Peace, in celebration of the International Day of Peace

Mamino