Dawn of a New Era! A piece well-written by Desbele Kahsai on Awate (May 04, 2009) was the motivation for my article. It just so happened that I had the exact same topic in my mind when I noticed that what I thought would be new was already on the net (with a little twist of the knot and a little extension of the scope than the narrow focus of brother Desbele on a mini unification incident in an episode of Days of Our Lives in the Eritrean opposition drama).No offense to the two respected EDP and EPP and their dignified membership. I am taking it for granted that they…

In a couple of days, many of us will be celebrating the 18th anniversary of one of the landmarks of our history as a nation: the day we discovered that we were sold a false dream and a big lie. Those of us in the “opposition” who were the other side of the coin of Kilte gorahat hamkhushti sinqom refused to leave and chose to repackage and market good old hamkhushti for the next 18 years. The majority decided to go on ecstasy and threw themselves into each other’s arms in hugs and danced to the chorus of hade hizbi hade libi (again); not for long, though. As the party approached sibra the sweat and the stink drove dancing partners apart.…

The English translation of the President’s Independence Day speech (as it appears on Shabait) had 1623 words. Of those, 1062 words (65% of the speech) was a mumbo-jumbo that only Ghirmay Sandiago can understand on “a special interest group” that is trying to spoil Obama’s plans for change. Year after year the content and style of his Independence Day speeches have steadily deteriorated reflecting more disorientation and a tendency towards “I don’t know what’s going on” kind of confession. This year’s however feels more like “I don’t know if I will ever see again” kind of mumbling. I felt sorry for him as all I could see while reading was…

Lowlanders are celebrating the advent of a new era of hope with the formation of the “Tadamun,” or, in English, the Eritrean Solidarity Front. This has created some trepidation in some corners who now feel that they have to expose it, ridicule it, destroy it before it gets its footing, or, to form a competing block to it and dominate it. But the stagnation in Eritrea is due to the old expression about the cow who gave birth to fire.  Who is the cow and who is the fire?     Lowlanders have been waiting for deliverance for a long time. Our eagerness to embrace the Tadamun is not because we are hateful…

 “When the Protector Becomes Predator” by Dr. Bereket H Selassie (Awate, Jun 23, 2009) in which he defines “The Critical Challenge Facing Eritreans Today” was an article that I read more than three times (with a coffee break and an anger management session in between each). Don’t get me wrong! Dr. Bereket does deserve the pride of every Eritrean for his personal achievements and their appreciation for staying involved and being there for them through the long years of the ups and downs of our sad history. What I write below, therefore, should not be taken as disrespect for a national icon so high and an elder so dignified as…

“’There must be a language that doesn’t depend on words,’ the boy [the shepherd] thought. I have already had that experience with my sheep, and now it’s happening with people.”  (The Alchemist P43 by P. Coelho) On a positive note: I was glad to read on Shabait.com that, according to the head of the Metrological Office in Asmara, heavy rains all over Eritrea are promising a change from the last few years of drought thereby instilling a little bit of hope of a good harvest for so many farmers. I sincerely wish a happy and abundant harvest for every farmer in the country including the land grabbing thieves that I have been writing about. I am glad so…

I will start by clarifying a few things (that I explained repeatedly before) to set the record straight regarding any misunderstanding that might have resulted for lack of better words on my side. Just to make sure that whoever reads this article is on the same page with respect to any expressions that I had used in the past and might use in the future, I would like to make the following points clear:   1.  Neo-Nazi regime of Tigrigna supremacist:  the concept of “Neo-Nazi regime of Tigrigna supremacists” as used in my articles exclusively refers to (specific individuals) those who are active members of the inner workings of the regime, those…

Nearly all those who have been following our debate on Awate (the ones who genuinely recognized the problems of Land Grabbers and the Exclusionists of the PFDJ as real and serious) are wondering what possible solutions would come out of the debate that has lasted for months and at least on the surface seems to be getting nowhere. To those who are confused and have no clue as to what is happening or how this debate might contribute to feasible solutions to our national problems and are uneasy with what they see as strong exchange of irreconcilable positions, I say “inhale – exhale and chill down”. This is just a…

I have taken a break for the last few weeks just to watch the debate from a distance and see what it looks like to a bystander. Most of those who appeared to comment on the issues focused on the semantics of how the subject should have been framed and what kind of etiquette contributors like myself should have followed instead of cutting the bull and getting straight to how the problem should be resolved. The problem of Land Grabbers, for instance.  If “framing” is all they care about, there was even a better option (I wonder why it never crossed their minds): gather some twigs – arrange them into…

On October 29, 2009, Awate’s Gedab broke the news about a US-EU conference (organized by a European External Policy Advisory (EEPA), a Belgian NGO) on Eritrea to be attended by a number of honorable Eritrean (Tigrigna or Tigrigna-satellite) politicians and civil society activists with an esteemed spokesperson, Mr. Abdulrahman Alsaid. Mr. Spokesman in turn confirmed the news in his website (Arkokebay November 01, 2009) with an appeal for everybody to “stay tuned” for more. Our dear Selam Kidane did the same in a couple of articles on Awate without bothering to reveal anything of substance. Gebeel (the website of the Federalist Movement) quoted some Eritrean radio station expressing bewilderment at…